Page 27 of Salute, To Bravery
Ian squinted at me for a second before answering, as if he was contemplating whether he was walking into a trap. “Okay, shoot.” He shrugged his shoulders before looking back out the window.
“Why don’t you like going home? This is where you grew up, wouldn’t your family be here?”
Ian pursed his lips, and the smile he had quickly fell from his face. “I don’t really have any family here anymore. My parents both died while I was deployed, and I just didn’t have anyone to come back to.”
I nodded. “You were an only child?”
Ian nodded again. “Yeah, parents wanted a whole football team but only got me.” He smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“What did you do in the Army?”
Ian laughed. “What’s the sudden interest in my life’s story? You writing a book or something?”
I could tell he was deflecting. “One, I’m just trying to make conversation. Two, we worked together for months, and no one knew anything about you. I get you’re trying to go for this whole ‘mysterious and deadly’ vibe, but come on.”
Ian let out a big belly laugh, and it made me smile. “Mysterious and deadly vibe? What?” He kept laughing, wrapping his arm around his stomach then faking wiping away tears. “Oh, that’s one I haven’t heard before.” He let out a low whistle and straightened himself in his seat.
“You didn’t answer the question.” I raised an eyebrow at him.
He sighed. “I was a grunt.”
“A grunt?” I furrowed my eyebrows.
Ian groaned. “Infantry.”
“Oh, what did you do? Like marching and stuff?”
Ian’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped before he quickly snapped it shut. “Have you lived under a rock or what?”
I was a little taken aback. “Is that something most people know?”
“I mean, they may not know the details, but most people know what the infantry’s job was. At least as a general idea.”
I shrugged. “Sorry, I actually don’t know anyone who’s been in the military. I think my mom’s dad may have been, but I never met the guy.” I sheepishly smiled. “Was I way off-base?”
Ian scoffed. “Kind of.” He laughed in a humorless sort of way and shook his head.
“Look, I wasn’t trying to make you mad. I just don’t know these things. People have gaps in their knowledge. That just happens to be one of mine.” I tried to get a read on him while also trying to keep an eye on the road, which led to me hitting the rumble strip.
Ian gripped the door. “Please keep it on the road.” I could hear him gritting his teeth.
“Sorry.” I straightened the wheel and snuck a glance at him. He was still gripping the door but had relaxed only slightly.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Ian cleared his throat. “I know you weren’t trying to make me mad. And I wasn’t. It’s just not something I like talking about, and I’m already on edge from your terrible driving.”
I huffed. “My driving is not that bad!”
Ian smiled. “Yes, it is.”
As always, I couldn’t help but smile back at him. He always had a way of putting me at ease, even when I was the one who made the conversation weird.
His demeanor changed almost instantly. “Okay, you need to take the next exit and hang a left.”
He let go of the door and rubbed his hands together like a child getting ready for his treat.
His excitement was infectious, and I found myself getting excited about what I was about it see. Turns out that it didn’t take long to see what he was so excited about. Even before I took the exit, I could see a huge building that really looked like a barn with a bright red roof, with a bunch of gas pumps in front of it.
I stopped at the stop sign and raised an eyebrow at Ian, who merely nodded his head excitedly.
