Page 9 of Since the Day We Kissed

The door was cracked.

He pushed it open and stepped inside with Hero.

At first glance, the room looked as Ethan remembered. When his vision adjusted to the dimness, he noticed new items on the walls. Nearing it, Ethan’s breath hitched.

There, in a simple frame, hung his portrait—a younger version of himself, jaw set, eyes forward, and the crisp lines of his Army Service Uniform. Beside it, a newsprint screamed a headline he’d long tried to forget:Hadley Cove Hero Awarded Silver Star.

Pride, pain, and confusion warred within him as he stood, rooted to the spot.

Since leaving Hadley Cove twenty-two years ago, Ethan had changed his number and never called or returned—even after retiring from the military and settling in Virginia.

Not once.

After what his dad had done, who could blame him?

CRASH!

Ethan’s head snapped up.

What was that?

He rushed to the window, cupping his hands around his eyes, hoping to see past the thick grime and dirt.

The only thing visible was the rain.

“Hero, with me,” Ethan called out, hurrying down the hall until he reached the front door. He threw it open with one swift motion and rushed onto the porch.

Ethan descended from the porch, each footfall producing a wet, sucking sound from the saturated earth, Hero’s soft paws pattering after him. Rain pelting them as Ethan shielded his eyes, squinting past his truck through the downpour.

At the edge of the road, his heart plummeted.

Stepping forward, he was transported to another time, another place ...

In an instant, the dreary rain vanished, giving way to a blinding, scorching light that seared Ethan’s retinas. Coarse sand ground beneath his boots with each step. The humid air reeked of smoke, diesel fuel, and burned rubber.

Twisted hunks of metal littered the road before him, barely recognizable as a Humvee. Flames licked at the shredded tires, black smoke billowed into the sky. Ethan’s mouth went dry as a strangled gasp clawed its way up his throat, erupting into a primal scream that shattered the surrounding air.“Carter. Ramirez. Davis. No, no!”

His combat boots felt like lead weights as he forced himself to move closer. The heat rolled off the burning wreckage in suffocating waves. Sweat trickled down his back beneath heavy Kevlar. His rifle hung like an anvil in his hands.

BARK! BARK! BARK!

Ethan blinked, and the arid landscape receded, bringing the rain-soaked road back into focus. Hero released another bark, dispelling the lingering wisps of the memory.

Reality hit him with full force as red brake lights pierced through the storm, flashing like a beacon in the distance. He wasn’t in Afghanistan; he was in Hadley Cove, and his body moved before his mind could catch up, legs pumping, Hero a gray blur at his side.

The air grew thick with the stench of gasoline and rain, an acrid cocktail that burned his lungs with each ragged breath.

This was far worse than he’d imagined.

Glass and metal shards were strewn across the road like shrapnel.

As he drew closer, his stomach dropped.

The twisted car came into view, crumpled against a large oak tree.

Hero bolted ahead, a streak of blue merle and white against the slick asphalt. The dog circled the wreckage, his frantic barks cutting through the storm’s roar.

Heart pounding, Ethan surged forward, reaching for the driver’s side door. He yanked it.

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