Page 84 of V-Day
“Just stop anyone new,” Duardo told him. “It’s getting crowded in here.” He turned back to Adán. “You’re looking for a Ranger Captain?” he asked, puzzled.
“I found her,” Adán said, his voice distant. He was staring at Graves.
Graves cleared her throat. “Sir, do you mind if I drop out of formality for a moment?” she asked Duardo.
“I’m missing something here,” Duardo said. “Go ahead, Captain.”
She put her cap on the folding table Duardo was using as a desk, then threw herself at Adán, almost knocking him off his precarious balance. He dropped the cane and held her, smoothing her hair from her face, his eyes warm.
“The bit you’re missing, Duardo,” Adán told him, his gaze not shifting from Captain Graves, “is that this is my wife. Parris.” He kissed her.
Duardo sat down again. Heavily.
Then he noticed that Cristián and Chloe were holding hands as they watched Adán and Parris.
“Get out of my freaking way or I’llmoveyou out of the way!” a woman said, just outside the tent.
“But ma’am…” the corporal said.
“That’s my brother in there, you idiot!”
There was a grunt and the tent wall pushed in. Then the flap was flung aside and Téra strode in. She was dirty and had been crying, for the dried tears had made track marks through the dirt on her face. “Duardo!” She almost leapt across the tent and threw her arms around him.
Duardo hugged her, his heart doing creaky things. Then he put her to one side so he could see her face. “Minnie. Where is she?”
“Right here,” Minnie said softly, at the tent entrance.
Duardo didn’t remember pushing through the many people in the tent. He found himself beside her. He picked her up and held her, his heart running way too fast.
Minnie laughed and kissed him, then wiped his cheeks with her fingers. “I’m the one who is supposed to do that,” she whispered.
“Whatever you say, my beloved.”
*
NICK TURNED OFF THE ENGINEand let the peace settle over them.
Calli studied the glass and concrete house tucked away in the trees. “It looks exactly the same,” she said softly. “Completely untouched.”
“I was expecting a ruin, too,” Nick admitted. “The Insurrectos were petulant at the best of times. If they couldn’t reach me, they could always destroy my house instead.” He picked up Calli’s hand and kissed the knuckles. “Home, my love. For now, anyway. I don’t think either of us will be able to stand the silence for more than a week or two at a stretch.”
“It will beverygood to come back to, though,” Calli admitted. “The first time I came here seems so long ago, now, yet it’s been less than a year.”
Nick climbed out of the Jeep and moved around to her side of it and opened the door. “Come, Señora Escobedo.”
She smiled as she got out. “That sounds good.”
Nick kissed her. “Very good,” he murmured against her lips.
*
CHLOE FOUND CRISTIÁN SITTING ONan old wooden picnic bench high up the side of the valley. It had been a picnic and barbecue area long before the remnants of the war had taken over the valley. Now it was one of the few areas not staked out by the thousands of refugees from the city who were camped around the military down below.
The view from up here was why the picnic ground had been located here, although the walk up the slope to reach it was taxing.
Cristián was sitting on the table, his legs crossed. He wasn’t working on his phone or his tablet. Neither were in sight. He was just sitting and watching the thousands of people in the valley below go about their business.
“Hey,” Chloe said cautiously.
