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Cindy
Luke never went to Parris Island.
After Emmeline told him that she was pregnant, I got out of that truck bed like it was on fire and left the two of them to talk. I didn’t even see him before I left for South Carolina. I couldn’t bear it.
About four months later, Stephanie told me that Luke and Emmeline were getting married. Thankfully, Steph didn’t bother sending pictures or anything. I found out later that Emmeline miscarried, and, despite everything, I felt bad for her. For both of them. But I couldn’t make myself take Luke’s calls.
Eventually, they stopped.
I did three tours. Two in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. I’d planned on being a lifer and never leaving the military—until I was involved in an IED explosion and ended up with shrapnel in my hip. It was too dangerous for me to serve again, and I was offered a desk job.
I lasted six months. I hated it.
Mostly because my heart wasn’t in the military anymore. I’d seen too much. I’d done too much. I’d said goodbye to way too many good people.
I got my Purple Heart and my honorable discharge. I got my handshake and my send-off. And then, after all that, I had to do the hardest part. I had to learn how to be a regular person again. I had to start over.
I thought about starting over in a new city, but Stephanie begged me to come back to Blue Creek. Our parents had finally split up and left town, eager to live new lives, and my sister wanted some of her family back. Steph offered me the guest room in her condo, and it was as good an idea as any.
As my plane touched down, it all hit me like a ton of bricks.
I was home.
I’d left Blue Creek with a broken heart. And by the time I returned, the rest of me was broken too.
Three
Luke
Present Day
I handed the last few contracts to Elias and he flinched. Okay, maybe I slammed them on his desk like they did me wrong. But it’d been a long fucking day, and I was tired. Sue me.
“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?” he chortled.
I didn’t bother with a response. I was being dickish and Elias didn’t deserve that.
Thankfully, Elias was always quick to forgive. “You want to get a beer or something?” he asked. “The guys and I are going out.”
Believe it or not, bythe guys, he still meant Carter and Kieran. Of course, they could drink legally now.
“Not tonight,” I answered gruffly.
Elias quickly got back to his stack of paperwork. He probably had another hour or so ahead of him, but he never complained. He liked the work. It was his comfort zone. If Carter and Kieran didn’t force him out every once in a while, he might have becomeonewith the computers and try to live among them.
“Man, I don’t mean to pry, but you’ve been…”
“I’ve been what?” I ask curtly. “Go on and say it.”
“A little off.”
“The word you’re looking for is…”
“Fine. You’ve been a real dick,” Elias stated.
I ran my hands through my hair and tugged a little, just to feel something. Usually I could get through my days at Kane Construction with a kind of professional apathy. I could keep my head down and do the work to run things without letting on how bored and dissatisfied I’d become.
Just thinking that caused the guilt to set in.
