Page 4 of A Soldier's Secret Romance

“Well, after doing some digging and searching, I signed you up on a dating site.”

“You did what, Mom?”I can feel my blood pressure rising, and I have to take deep breaths.

“Look, I know you are still upset with what happened. I know it’s why you hardly call and don’t come home. Am I proud that I lied? No, but I was tired of seeing your brother and Megan not moving on because of how guilty they felt for hurting you. I’m tired of not seeing you because I know you are hurt.”

“Mom, I’m not hurt. I’ve been busy with these missions. We’ve had to step up more because one of the teams was ambushed badly.”

“Some of that may be true, but you can’t lie to me about your feelings, Son.”

“I don’t have the time to comehome, so how am I supposed to have time to date someone?”I say, exasperated with the conversation.

“You have a year to meet and get to know a nice young lady. I will email you your login details. The dating site is Date Set ‘N Match. They have really good reviews and a ninety-five percent match rating. All you need to do is fill out the questionnaire, there are no photos allowed. You have to spend time getting to know the person, before you can meet them in person. If nothing else, maybe you come out of it with a good friend,”mom says nonchalantly.

“I don’t like this. Why don’t you tell them you lied, and I’ll promise to try to come home for the wedding,”I try to compromise.

“Son, you want me to admit to everyone I lied, I can’t do that. You don’t want everyone to think badly of me, do you?”

“Mom, are you trying to guilt me because you messed up?”

“I would never do that. Think about it, son, for me. I have to go; your father is going to want his dinner soon. I love you, son.”

“Love you too, Mom.”I sigh as I hang up the phone, taking it back to the desk while shaking my head.

“Is everything alright?” Jonathan asks when he sees me.

“Yeah. Seems my brother and Megan are getting married next August, and my mom wants me to come home for the wedding. I basically told her I can’t promise anything.”

Jonathan nods his head in understanding. “I’ll be going home to Largo in a couple of weeks to see my brother and his new wife.”

“I’m sure your brother is going to be excited to see you. It will do you some good to get away from here. These missions aren’t getting any easier.” I tell him as I clap his back and walk back toward my room.

“You might want to take your own advice, go home, and fix things with your family,” he calls out to me, but I continue walking.

I lay on my bed, thinking over the conversation with my mom, so many questions rolling around in my head and feelings I don’t even want to consider by the announcement.

I expected Jeremy and Megan would eventually get married, I expected it sooner, but when it didn’t happen right away, I allowed myself to think maybe Megan changed her mind and was still waiting for me. I guess somewhere in my mind, I wouldn't allow myself to consider they were still together.

Now, my mom tells me she has signed me up on a dating site. What is that? Why would she do that? Why would she lie? I have never known my mother to lie about anything.

There is no way I can do this, yet I find myself getting off my bed and making my way to my laptop. Opening my email, I see the email my mom sent me. In the body of the email is the link, with the login and password she used. I just shake my head and open the link to the website. I read everything that they are about. They do have excellent reviews, better than all the other dating sites that seem to be used more as hookups than relationship finding.

I decide to answer the questions and see what this thing is about. Hell, even if they do match me with someone, I’m in the middle of nowhere most of the time. They’ll get tired of not hearing from me. It will never be more, and this way, I can be honest with my mother and tell her I gave it a try. When her plan doesn’t work, then she’ll have to own up to her lie.

I spend the next hour answering the questions as honestly as I can. This is an intense process, and it’s making me question why I’m going through all this trouble when I have no desire to meet anyone.

After two hours, the profile is complete, all questions answered, and I press submit. I sit back in my chair and wonder why I just did this. I love my mom, but I don’t want another woman in my life who could rip my heart out. Mom was right, I haven’t gotten over the hurt that Megan and Jeremy both caused me. I never allowed myself to think about it when I came back three years ago. I just put my mind into the mission and then into the next until I didn’t even think about it anymore.

Sitting here, though, my mind is going back to the car, Megan’s words and the look on my brother’s face as he stood on her porch. Walking into the house and seeing the look on my mother’s face and realizing she knew. I still feel the sting of betrayal and the ache in my heart. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over the feeling of pain and heartbreak. The three most important people in my life, omitting truths to me, has made me weary of trusting anyone but my team brothers.

I know my mom means well, but I can’t see myself allowing anyone into my heart. So, I will let this farce go on, but I will ensure that whoever this site matches me with if they can find me a match, understands, I am not relationship material.

“Oh, why the hell am I doing this? I don’t want a relationship, I don’t even want to be friends. Damn, mom, what the hell have you gotten me into?” I say out loud to myself.

I look at the time and see the dining facility (DFAC) is now open, so I get up and walk out of my room, where I see Jonathan walking down the hall.

“Are you going to the DFAC?” I call out to him.

“Yeah. You?”

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