Page 22 of Unveiled Wishes

“I won’t fight you.”

He leaned in even further. “I guess you’re going to have to tell me then.”

How wasn’t giving me an out, so I started with the truth. He already knew this part. “Do you remember when we had R&R, and I came with you to the Hamptons?” I tried to take anotherbite of eggs, but they tasted like sawdust. Giving up, I laid my fork on my plate and pushed it towards the middle of the table.

“Yeah, so?” He narrowed his eyes at me, remembering the trip. I knew he was analyzing it for anything that was amiss.

“I asked her to write to me.” I needed him to conclude on his own, so that I wouldn’t have to spell it out.

“Yeah, I remember. What the fuck does that mean?”

“He caught feelings over the letters,” one brother explained. It must have been someone with military experience. I wouldn’t know who it was because I was staring at How, and he was staring at me.

“You caught feelings over Emily’s letters?” His eyes narrowed at me.

I lowered my eyes, not sure if he was going to leap over the table and hit me.

“You caught feelings,” he stated. “How long did it last?”

“I ended it when I got my official release papers during the last deployment.” I had been so excited to tell her my service was almost over.

“If you’re going to be man enough for my sister, then you look at me when I'm talking to you.” He shifted back in his chair and crossed his arms so that his elbows rested on the table.

“You’re awfully pushy about something that’s over.” I crossed my arms and sat back in my chair.

“Is it really over?” he asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t talked to her since I sent my last letter breaking it off.” I’d regretted that last letter, but it had been necessary. She wouldn't accept that it was over, unless I broke her heart, and I had tried to do it as gently as I could.

“Why did you break it off?”

I took a deep breath and raised my eyes to the ceiling for a minute. I relived the past, and when I was ready, I looked back at him. “You know how you keep your release quiet until thepaperwork actually comes in so that they don’t talk you into more?”

“Fuckers almost got me for another four years that way,” I heard from somewhere down the table.

How nodded his head and made a hand motion for me to continue. The rest of the table was just as enthralled.

“My paperwork came in, so I told her, not thinking too much about it. She had just started her last semester of college and was applying to law schools.” I rubbed my hands over my face. “Her last letter told me to pick somewhere to live. She didn’t care if I wanted to stay near the base or go somewhere new. Em told me to pick, and she’d make the arrangements.”

I didn’t want to continue, but one look at How, and I knew I had to. He needed to understand why I had called it off. “I didn’t want her to use your parents’ money to set us up, so I went to check to see how much I could send her. That’s when I knew I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t have enough to support her, and I wasn’t making the money we do now. I told her she was living out a little girl’s dream, and that I was sorry I had led her on.”

His jaw shifted, processing what I had told him. “You broke her heart by letter, stayed near the base until I discharged, and then we drove cross-country.”

“Something like that.”

“She’s going to be here in a few hours. What were you planning on doing?” How asked.

“Hide in the background. I don’t want to ruin your visit when I know it’s been a few years since you’ve seen her.”

“Nope.” He grinned. “You’re going to make this right.”

Chapter 9

Don't Picture the Future

How

Emily had just texted that she was off the plane and heading towards the baggage claim where I waited for her.

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