Page 100 of A Hero Comes Home

“You don’t want to know.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with the boys? It would be a vacation for you, too,” her mother said.

“No. Too much going on with the bakery right now. Maybe later.” She had to stay here, in case Jake called, or came back, or there was news about him.

Twenty-four hours later, Sally was all alone.

Her sons, with her parents, had left, carting the Switch video game system and games with them. No way were they going without those. Major Durand and Izzie had left the island. Izzie’s parents had presumably stayed for a few extra days, but Sally didn’t see them. Most of the tourists were gone. Joe and Old Mike went back to work on the fishing boat, at her insistence, since word was out that the bluefish had come in early.

It was almost like the awful period after a funeral, when the real loss begins to set in. If Sally allowed herself, she could easily sink into a deep depression. But Sally was strong. She would not allow herself to believe that Jake was gone for good.

And so she did something she hadn’t done for a long, long time. She dropped to her knees, bowed her head, and prayed, “Please, God, help my husband. And bring him home to us.”

Better late than never . . .

Jake was no fool.

And he was a soldier.

Fighting the good fight was what he was all about. Surrender wasn’t in his vocabulary.

And so, he left his pride and everything else of importance behind in the Outer Banks. Maybe it was too late for him. Maybe not. On the chance it was the latter, he drove for hours, never getting out of his truck, not even on the ferries, until he got to the nearest full-scale VA hospital. After parking and locking his vehicle, he went inside. “Where’s the mental health unit?” he asked the older woman at the receptionist desk, a volunteer, according to her name tag.

Up one flight, and over to another wing, he was directed. “Do you need an escort?” she asked kindly.

Even though he’d changed into civilian clothes and the cut on his forehead had stopped bleeding, he probably looked a wreck. Plus, he’d limped in. So, her question was understandable. “No, thank you, ma’am,” he declined. “I can find my way.”

“Use the elevator over there,” she advised.

When he got to the second floor and exited the elevator, Jake noticed that corridors to the right and left had closed doors with signs reading “Code Needed to Enter Locked Units.” Another sign said “Visitors Must Sign In.”

He went up to the desk in the center where a young male nurse sat, working a crossword puzzle. There was no one in the lounge waiting area, although a television was turned on, low volume, a newscast about a local Labor Day festivity. Jake had almost forgotten that today was a holiday.

“I’m Captain Jacob Dawson.” He shoved Major Durand’s business card across the desk. “This is my liaison, who can answer any questions about my history.”

The guy’s eyes widened and he sat up straighter at the Pentagon name and address on the card. “Friends in high places, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“What can I do for you, Captain?” the guy asked.

“I need to be admitted.”

Chapter 20

Lady with a mission . . .

Two weeks later, the boys were back with Sally in Bell Cove, and they resumed their normal school routine. Their father’s absence was a looming worry to the kiddos, but they seemed to accept their mother’s assurance that he would come back as soon as he could. It helped that she’d told them that their father had loved their song routine and was so proud of them.

Another of the many lies she’d been telling.

She cancelled plans for an addition to her bakery. Somehow, she’d lost her enthusiasm for the project. Without Jake here to watch her back and help with the boys, she needed to set some priorities. And, frankly, she felt no great loss. Bigger wasn’t always better. Thus, a surf and kite store would be taking over the adjacent space next month.

She was worried about Joe. He’d taken Jake’s departure even harder than she had. The fact that he hadn’t said goodbye seemed like a double blow to his father. Sally tried to tell the old man that it was because his son intended to come back.

Was that another lie?

And so, Jake’s father plodded on with his daily routines, just as she did. Eat, work, sleep. Day in, day out. But in a holding pattern.