Page 9 of Healing Home

BB nodded. “Isn’t that the truth. Do you like what you do?”

He got an odd look on his face. “I do, for the most part. I mean, there are always gripes, but it doesn’t do any good to even voice them because trying to get the military to change just isn’t going to happen.”

BB snorted. “You’re right, I’m sure. What do you do for them, can I ask?”

“I’m a special operator. I do the hard jobs no one else can do. Our SEAL team has a very high success rate, so we’re deployed a lot.”

There was no ego in his voice, which was interesting.

Then she frowned as the meaning of his words sunk in. “That doesn’t seem right. They work you harder because you’re doing a good job?”

Lincoln smiled slightly. “Yes, in a way.”

“Will you have a bit of a break, considering your teammates are wounded?”

He shrugged lightly. “A bit, maybe. We’ll just be training while they’re recuperating.”

She sighed, sinking back into her chair. “Seems like a thankless job.”

“It is, a bit,” he agreed. “But we know we make a difference.”

That was really something. BB loved getting the notes from people who seemed to live for everything she drew. After doing the Sonya series for the past several years, she’d gathered several long-time followers. She even had a social media platform, though she generally left that to her manager to run. Occasionally she would pop on and stir things up, but for the most part she left it to the experts.

Lincoln was staring at his beer bottle. He looked tired, she realized. “Why don’t you go relax in your chair for a while. Or go take a nap in bed. You look like you’re about to fall asleep over your beer.”

Lincoln grinned at her, bright teeth flashing. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had free time like this. I think my body is remembering to chill.”

She nodded. “I’m sure the time change will affect you as well.”

Heaving a great sigh, Lincoln stood, rubbing a hand over his face. “I think I might go stand in the shower for a while again. It’s been a long time since I had the luxury.”

“Be decadent,” BB suggested. “Take a bath.”

He shook his head. “I’ll drown in the tub if I do that,” he chuckled.

BB grinned as well. She loved to see the humor in his expression. “Just a suggestion.”

He paused before he left the room, looking around. “Will you…”

“I’ll be here when you get up. I have work to do,” she told him truthfully.

“Don’t let me sleep more than a few hours,” he told her as he left.

BB watched his lean form head down the hallway. She could see the weariness in the slope of his shoulders and the drag of his feet. She might nudge him in a few hours but she doubted he would get up.

After she cleaned the kitchen and stored the rest of the roast and potatoes, she settled into the couch with her sketchpad and a container of her favorite pens. But she didn’t work on what she was supposed to work on, a half-finished Sonya panel. No, instead she found her pens flowing in different directions than they normally did. She sketched Lincoln as she’d first seen him, head down as he exited the plane, carrying a huge pack on his back. The families and Lincoln’s teammates were off to the side, reveling in being together, while he stood alone, trying not to be envious of their joy. Then she flipped the page and started another panel. In this one, Lincoln had a quizzical expression on his lean face as he realized she was there for him. But there was more in his eyes. Some haunting… loneliness.

BB sat back in the chair and gazed down at the drawing. She could see the loneliness in his eyes because it was what her heart responded to. More and more of late, she’d felt the same… awareness of passing through life alone. Yes, she had Frankie, but all around her people were expanding their families and building lives together. Her manager, Belle, had fallen in love this year, and after a whirlwind courtship, had eloped to the Smoky mountains. She and her new husband had started baby-making immediately, and just had a baby less than a month ago. BB could freely admit that she wanted that to happen to her.

Rain, her neighbor down the hill, was in a hot and heavy relationship with another man she never could have imagined him with, but somehow they worked. Even her mail lady had gone on honeymoon this week.

It seemed like love was spreading like the flu, and no matter how many shopping cart handles she licked she couldn’t catch it.

Flipping the page, she starting sketching another guy that had been there. What had his name been? Swamp man? He had a bunch of little kids that were absolutely adorable crowding around his dusty legs, waiting for attention. But the grizzly man had taken a second to stare adoringly into his wife’s eyes and give her a lingering kiss before turning his attention to his offspring.

Flipping again, she sketched out Black on the gurney. She could remember his name because it was so easy. Then she drew in the wife, tears tracking down the woman’s face as she leaned over the man she loved. That had been an especially poignant scene, because Lincoln had said the man was retiring soon.

It must be hard falling in love like that, then watching him fly away into danger you could do nothing about. BB wondered how long they’d been married.

She went back to the Sonya panel and finished it, though she was a little distracted. Perhaps she would put it away for a few days before she came back to it. She didn’t think it was as funny as it needed to be.

After Lincoln had been sleeping for four hours, she tapped on his bedroom door. When there was no response, she let herself inside and crossed to the bed. He lay on his side on the mattress, breathing deeply, his face lax. “Lincoln?”

He didn’t even move. She reached out and wiggled his arm. No response.

BB frowned. The man was exhausted. She had a very strong feeling that he would sleep through the night. Turning, she left the bedroom, closing the door softly behind herself.

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