Page 68 of Coming Home

“You want me to mail them or save them for when you return?”

He laughed. “Mail them, woman.”

“We do have email and texts now,” I reminded him.

He shook his head. “Not the same.”

“I promise to write and actually send them in the mail,” I said. It made me ridiculously happy that the letters I’d written all those years truly meant that much to him. “We’ll video chat, too, though, right?”

“As often as possible.”

We hesitantly got out of the car and walked to the plane. The pilot met us at the bottom.

“The chair is already secured. I’ll take your bag, sir,” he said. “Shelby, will you be joining us today?”

“No, I’m afraid not. We’ll say goodbye here,” I informed him.

“Take your time. We’ll leave when you’re ready,” the pilot told Ben before heading into the plane to give us some privacy.

“I guess this is it,” I said, nervously rocking back and forth on my heels.

Ben raised his hand and gently rubbed my cheek, holding me like I was the most precious thing in his world. He slowly lowered his head to kiss me, taking my breath away. I was so determined not to cry. I wanted to be strong with him, but he was breaking down my resolve with his sweet kisses.

I hugged him so tightly and wasn’t certain I could pry myself away from him.

“I love you,” I told him.

“I love you,” he told me.

He looked up towards the plane and I knew the moment I’d dreaded since the moment I laid eyes on him had finally come.

“It’s going to be different this time, sport. You’ll see,” he assured me.

With one last kiss, he broke away and forced himself to walk up the stairs.

I stood there waving until the plane was in the air, then I drove back to his house, curled up in a ball, and cried myself to sleep.

When I woke up, I showered and changed, then I made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and waited with a smile for the boys to come home. I was determined to not be sad and add additional stress to the twins, who were dealing with enough already.

Just before the bus pulled up, my phone rang with an incoming video chat.

I smiled and swiped my phone to accept.

“Miss me already?” I asked Ben.

“Just landed in Casper and waiting for the next leg of my trip. It’ll take a few flights, maybe even a few days before I get back to base, but I’ll keep you updated, because I’m going to prove to you that I mean it when I said this time will be different.”

When the boys came in, I had just hung up from talking with Ben and was deliriously happy. I had no more doubts that this time. Things were very different.

Ben

Chapter 22

“Welcome home, you bastard!” Bulldog greeted me as I rolled my chair into the bunker.

“Missed me, did ya?” I countered.

“I sure as hell did. I can’t believe you just dropped me off and then left me with these monsters,” Jake whined.

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