Page 77 of The Homecoming

“I wanted you to be able to get your anger off your chest and yell at me.”

He nodded. “I did do that.”

“In Spanish,” she replied. “You realize I have no idea what you said. I assume there was a lot of swearing.”

He smiled in confirmation.God, she’d missed that smile.

“So, go on, keep yelling if you need to.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to,” he replied. “So, you didn’t tell me because Jason said it would distract me and get me killed?”

She nodded. “That’s what he said at first. Then it went dark from there.” She took a drink and looked out the window. Another bright, hot day was in store. “So, I did what I thought I had to.”

“It sounds like bullshit, I’m not some amateur.”

She sipped her coffee and looked him in the eye. “I know that now. But I’m not going to make any excuses for what I felt in the moment. You weren’t here.”

“You know you didn’t have to do this all on your own.”

“Sure, I did. You were on a military mission; it’s not like you could come home anytime you wanted.”

He sighed, setting the mug down. “You didn’t even give me the option to try.”

“I know. I regret the choice I made. But I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t hear a peep from you for seven months. Everyone said you’d have a good reason.”

“Everyone?”

“The group. We’re a cult now.” Autumn shrugged.

He laughed, a sound that Autumn had missed deeply. “What?”

“We joke that we all spend so much time together, we should form a cult. I fell asleep before they picked out the name. You’ll see if you stick around.”

His lips turned up at the corners as he reached across the table and rubbed her hand. “I was gone so long because I was given two choices. I could have come home in January, but would have had to deploy again a few weeks later. Or, I could serve two consecutive tours and be done.”

She blinked. “Done?”

He nodded. “My service is up. I’m not reenlisting.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take some time and contemplate that.”

She took a deep breath and looked down at his hand resting on top of hers. His hand was warm and rough and covered hers completely. “Did Weasel find you last night?”

He nodded.

“What did he say?”

“He told me that it’d been a hell of a year for you, so I should calm down and get my ass back over here and listen.”

She smiled. “They’ve all been my rocks this past year.” The tears wouldn’t stay back. She jerked her hand out from under his and wiped her eyes, but for each she dried, two more took its place. He stood and came to her side, reaching out for her hand and drawing her up to him. He wrapped his arms around her and she couldn’t stop herself from sobbing into his shirt. Pressed against his warm, hard chest and surrounded by those strong arms, she closed her eyes and breathed him in. But, like her brother, he’d returned from the war and could be damaged. He could have been in an explosion and have a brain injury or PTSD. He could be dangerous.

She took a step back out of his arms and he stared at her inquisitively.

“Were you in any explosions?” she asked.

“What?”

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