Epilogue

Jamie:

10 years later I never thought I'd be back in Gulf City. That first year gone, all I'd wanted was to come back and regain what I'd lost. My friends. My girl. Then I got used to being away. It became easier with each passing day until it lost its power over me.

I became a part of a new family. Had new friends. Even a new girl. My platoon. They were the ones I wanted to be with now, but they were back on base in Georgia, and I was here.

I didn't want to be here, but I had no choice. There was a funeral, and no matter how I felt about it, this was where I was supposed to be.

Mourners packed the church, but I paid little attention to any of them. They didn't recognize me. They wouldn't. My once scraggly blond hair was buzzed short. My lean frame had bulked up considerably. I wasn't the Jamie Daniels they knew. This new Jamie had seen things, done things, that changed a person.

I kept my head up, catching the attention of quite a few people with my dress uniform, but managing not to be pulled to the front.

I watched as my brother, looking just as he always had, sat in the front pew. His mother, having had a service in Washington D.C. wasn't there. Two people joined Jay, and I recognized them at once. Colby, dressed in a stylish suit, was greeted by each person he saw. His face had grown leaner, losing the softness of youth. Callie stood beside him, standing tall in her elegant black dress. Her hair was different - dyed dark chocolate and sitting just above her shoulders in soft layers. Gone was the simple long braid. This version of Callie was older, more mature; mesmerizing.

For the first time in ten years, the confidence I'd cultivated slipped.

She put her arm around my brother, and I wanted nothing more than to feel her touch, see her smile.

I slid out the back after the funeral, needing to drive around for a little while to regain control before I saw all of them.

Control. It got me through my missions. I became a ranger because I wanted to do something big with my life. I was good at it. We ran into the situations everyone else ran from.

How did Florida feel more like a minefield than that?

He's dead, I told myself. My dad was gone. So why did the thought of him still make me feel so inadequate?

I pulled to the side of the road in front of a house with too many memories and a street that overflowed with cars. The place looked the same as it always had. That porch was the first place I'd ever gotten my heartbroken. My face had been broken by my father's fist in that entryway. Hell, pretty much every room held a memory like that. His anger had seeped into the walls themselves.

I stood by the open door, watching the people who only knew the face my father put on, not the real man.

A young boy was sitting on the bench by the door, and I stopped, not quite ready to go in.

“Hello,” I said, stalling the inevitable.

He looked at me with wide eyes. “Are you a soldier?”

I laughed, the sound seeming foreign in this place. “I am. What's your name?”

“Jackson.” He puffed out his chest. “You can call me Jacks. I'm nine.”

“Well, hello Jacks, I'm Jamie and nine is a very good age.”

“Jackson, your mother is looking for you” a familiar voice called, coming outside. Kat looked at me in astonishment. “Jamie Daniels.” A grin formed. “I didn't know you were coming.”

I stood, giving her a hug. “No one did.”

“Oh, this is going to be good. None of them have talked to you in ten years. Boy, you have some explaining to do.” Her face softened. “It's so good to see you. I'll handle Jacks. You go on in.”

I breathed deeply, pulling open the door. The place was packed, but as I walked through, only one person caught my eye.

She was standing in the kitchen, putting out dishes of food with the help of a few other ladies from town. Grabbing a pot of coffee, she glanced up, letting out a yell as she dropped the pot to the floor.

I rushed forward, crushing her to me. In my dreams, I'd held her so many times over the last decade. But now, here, this was real, and for the first time, I knew coming home was the right thing to do. The only thing to do.

Callie sucked in a shaky breath, pulling away as she did. Before I knew what was happening, I was kissing her, and her fist connected with my jaw. I fell back against the counter and saw Colby and Jay laughing nearby.

“We'd do the same if she hadn't beaten us to it,” Colby said. “Ten years, dude.”

Callie looked from her brother to Jay to me. She shoved me once more and stalked away.

“Mom.” Jacks trailed behind her. “Why are you beating up the soldier?”