Page 10 of Forever Fallen

“Lieutenant,” he corrected.

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

She took another sip and closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the seat, feeling a slight lethargy roll over her as the alcohol did its job.

“My last relative passed away on Sunday and I was notified Monday at a conference in D.C…” she began.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Ryan said immediately, interrupting her.

“Itwasa loss,” she whispered painfully, leaning forward, and staring at the cup. “My grandmother was all I had left, and she changed her will without telling me. Now, I am going to lose everything. So, I need to go home and see what I can scrounge from the house… before a century’s worth of my family’s history is auctioned off to the highest bidder.”

“Ouch,” Ryan winced. “That sounds awful. I am so very sorry, Sophie. No one deserves to deal with grief and the loss of a loved one like that.”

“What’s your deal anyway,” she asked suddenly, needing to turn the tables, and put him on the defensive so she could get the focus off of her. “I’m sick of crying and thinking about it. Nothing is going to change any of it except a miracle – so let’s talk about you.”

“Let’s see,” Ryan said quietly. “I’m a pilot in the Air Force and burning up my only vacation for the entire next year in order to help out some friends.”

“That’s awfully sweet,” she admitted. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“No, I actually don’t. It’s going to be complete nightmare fuel for any single man in this world or the next,” he replied candidly. “My friends are all happily married now - and one of their loco wives has got it into her skull that she needs to play matchmaker for me.”

“Eww… yeah, that never works,” she flinched and held up her plastic cup to toast his. He tapped his cup against hers and continued speaking.

“Exactly,” Ryan retorted. “I’m going to have a parade of eligible women thrown at me in the hopes that I’ll find ‘the magical one’– and then I get misfortune to abandon her, before returning to Afghanistan for at least another year. Tell me how that is healthy or long-term?”

“What woman would want to be a part of that?” Sophie sputtered in disbelief.

“Exactly!”

“Both our lives are pathetically tragic, Ryan,” she said, holding up her cup as he tapped his against it. “We are sad,sadpeople…”

“If they didn’t need a pilot and my friends didn’t need help so badly? I would have steered clear of them, that much is for sure…” he said, taking a large sip. “The last email I got said there were three girls for me to meet once I got settled in… I didn’t even bother to reply.”

“I wouldn’t either,” she agreed, taking another sip of her drink. “Grandma Ruby’s will said that I had to move into the house and prove I was married by Friday – or I lose it all.”

“Today is Wednesday,” he strangled out to keep from choking on his drink, looking at her in surprise.

“That’s what I said!” she hissed, feeling justified in her outrage and slightly pleased that he understood exactly what her plight was.

“Can you believe that? I have to prove that I have a stupid husband within forty-eight hours, or I lose the house, the property…everything. I grew up there and all my memories are in that house.”

“You moved out?”

“Yeah – and I probably shouldn’t have now…” she said regretfully. “I’m not sure if it would have been the same conditions if I was there the entire time.”

“Why’d you leave?” he asked curiously.

“Yonder is just some little, bitty blip on the map and…”

“Did you sayYonder?” Ryan froze, looking at her over his glasses and hesitating, his drink in mid-air on the way to his lips. “Yonder, Texas?”

“Yeah,” Sophie nodded. “I’ve got a plush job in Dallas and have an apartment there, but drive down every weekend to Yonder. I was doing chores around the house for Grammy and trying to help out. There’s literally nothing in that town and I like having the easy conveniences of the big city better…”

“In…Yonder?” he repeated bluntly. “Yonder, Texas. Did I hear you right?”

“Yeah, Yonder… why?” she asked in confusion, realizing he was stuck on the name of the town and had repeated it a few times. “It’s a family surname and my ancestors were one of the first families there. Nothing really to brag about, but still…”

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