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“Did he struggle a lot after he came home?” War changed even the strongest people. I saw it in Levi each time he came home. PTSD as well as traumatic brain injuries were serious concerns for many.
“Yeah. His last two deployments were hard, especially the most recent one. We’ve all been pretty worried about him.”
All families worried about their loved ones who served,regardless of whether they were deployed. The list of concerns, no matter where they were or what they were doing, was endless.
“I really haven’t noticed.” He’d mentioned that he had trouble sleeping, but a lot of people had that problem. Obviously, his leg was still healing, though I didn’t see how an injury that was improving would have elicited such dire concern from his family.
“He’s been trying to find his way back to what he wants and what makes him happy.” Ashley regarded me with a warm smile. “And it finally seems like he’s getting there.”
Before I could respond, Callie was standing in front of me.
“I’m a unicorn.” She smiled brightly, proudly displaying the art on her face.
In the grassy area, Kyle slowed and ran a hand down his left leg. A second later, though, he sprinted after Teddy again. A memory engulfed me at the sight. A much younger Teddy, just a few months shy of two, toddling around our backyard as Levi pretended to chase him. That was a month before he left for the deployment that took him from us.
“Can we get something to eat now?” Callie interrupted my thoughts.
“Of course. Let me see if I can convince Teddy to come with us. How about I meet you over there?” I pointed toward the area set up with tables and food.
With a quick nod, she took off in that direction, with Sophia right behind her.
I’d just gotten the kids situated with plates of food when a hand landed on my lower back. Kyle’s breath near my ear sent a shiver rocketing through me.
“Mmm, cornbread.” He snatched one of the mini loaves off my plate.
I rolled my eyes, ignoring how his closeness was making my bodyheat.
“My favorite.”
“You should get your own, then.” I sent him a saucy smile.
The smirk he shot me was devilish. “It’s more fun stealing it from your plate.”
With a shake of my head, I finished making my plate. He moved down the table, grabbing his own, and I immediately missed his touch.
When I turned from the food, my heart lurched. At least seven pairs of eyes were focused on us. Each person in our proximity was looking at us with a smile on their face and hope in their eyes. Shit. He was leaving, and even though we liked each other, this couldn’t be a permanent thing. But here we were, getting people’s hopes up.
Next to me, Kyle let out a huff, or maybe a sigh. When I looked back at some of his family, they were all of a sudden looking anywherebutat us.
“They definitely aren’t subtle.” I chuckled as we made our way to where the kids sat.
“My family is nosy. They’ve been in each other’s business for so long I don’t think they realize that outside this town, people appreciate their privacy.”
I laughed. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand what he meant but?—
“I kinda thought something similar when I moved here. People were super curious about my life story. It was very, um, strange to me…but also familiar. I liked that it reminded me of life in a military community.”
“What?” He tilted his head and frowned.
“Our lives were entangled in so many ways out of necessity, you know? But I didn’t expect to experience the same kind of thing when we moved here.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” He slowly nodded and took a seat next to Teddy, turning to make a funny face at him.
I sat beside Callie, who was eyeing me with a flat look and pursed lips.
“People are staring at you because you two are flirting.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be gross.”
It was probably time to bring up the subject of dating with her. She was obviously catching on. But I had a feeling that conversation would come with questions I wasn’t sure I had the answers to. Things with Kyle were easy, natural. After he left for New York, I wasn’t sure I wanted to actively date.
