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“You’re Kalie’s friend,” she said. “You were the maid of honor at their wedding. I so hope they’re having a good time on their honeymoon.”
Stacy stepped up beside Luis. “Hello, Ms. Nash. Happy birthday.”
His mother’s smile widened. “Welcome. You’re here with Luis and Trevor?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said blushing.
The woman’s happiness spread across her face and she took Stacy by the arm and led her away from the men. Luis shook his head, knowing this was what he expected tonight. Following behind them, he heard his mother talking to Stacy.
“I have only one request. Please don’t break my son’s heart. He’s been through so much and I want him to be happy.”
Luis watched as his mother took Stacy away. He heard her words to her, but what could he say? They had agreed to no commitments, and while he was having second thoughts, Stacy’s home was over a thousand miles away and after being separated from his family for so long while he was in the military, he wasn’t going anywhere.
Plus, after today, she would never want a man like him. And he would never saddle a woman with his problems. No, his episodes didn’t happen every day, but still, it wouldn’t be fair for a woman to have to deal with his unexpected returns to the jungle.
He watched the two women’s heads go together and they talked in hushed tones that he couldn’t hear.
“Your mother is something else,” Trevor said. “Look at the way she’s stolen Stacy from us. She’s probably filling her head with all kinds of things about you and me. How we were always the troublemakers in school. But more than anything, I bet she’s trying to convince her to stay and marry us.”
That was what Luis feared as well.
“I’m not a good catch,” he said.
“I think we’re both damn fine catches. And for her, I would stop running and lay down and let her catch me anytime, anywhere, any place.”
Oh, how Luis wished it was that simple.
“But you don’t suffer from PTSD,” Luis said. “If you want to marry her, ask her. But I’m never getting married.”
Trevor clenched his fist. He looked so frustrated.
“Now, how hard would that be? I’m married to her and bedding her and you’re just going to stand there and watch? Besides, you should have seen her with you. She was genuinely concerned and she was trying to talk you out of where you were.”
People around them were talking and laughing and Luis felt like an outsider. Here, at his own mother’s birthday, he feared he would have a flashback and send everyone fleeing.
“But what if I hurt her? What if I thought she was the enemy and tried to kill her? What if I hit her? No, I can never marry. It just wouldn’t be fair.”
Trevor had a frustrated look on his face. “You’re making a big mistake. Just give it a chance. I’m not saying that she’s the one, but you need to relax and open up your heart and give the woman a chance.”
The grandkids were running around the backyard with sparklers in their hands, chasing one another.
“And what if we had children? Oh, watch out, Daddy sometimes goes nuts and acts weird. He thinks he’s a soldier again. What if I hit one of them or did something that would put them in danger?”
All his life, he’d wanted a son, a couple of boys to teach how to shoot, hunt, and fish and do all the manly things his own father had taught him. And he’d wanted a couple of girls to be protective of, who looked like their mother.
His family life had been good and he wanted to let his children grow up where he’d been raised. To watch them go to the rodeo, attend school, and become good men and women.
And then he’d joined the Navy. It wasn’t until the jungles of Africa where he’d been on a secret mission that he’d lost his best friend. It wasn’t until then that he’d seen the worst fighting of his life and thought he was going to die alongside him. Today, he knew he could never fight again because one loud boom would have him back in that forest fighting to survive.
One loud boom and his children would run fleeing from him.
“Thank you, Ms. Nash,” Stacy said as she hurried back to him.
“Elizabeth,” she said. “And remember what I told you.”
“What did she say?”
“That is between us,” Stacy said with a smile. “You’re so fortunate to have a mother and family like you have, Luis.”
