Chapter 3

“Eddie,” Tyler said, “Go find Jack. I want him to meet Ward, too.”

“Okay,” Eddie said, before leaving the room.

Tyler turned back to Ward and put a hand on his shoulder. “When I heard you were back in Summerville, I hoped I’d get the chance to see you again.”

Ward had an almost overpowering urge to take Tyler in his arms and kiss him. However, he knew Eddie would be back with Jack soon so let it pass.

As if on cue, Eddie returned with a younger boy in tow. Jack looked to be about seven, had dark brown hair and brown eyes. There was a shadow of Tiffany in his face. He shyly hid behind his brother.

“Go on, Jack. He ain’t gonna bite you,” Eddie said as he pushed Jack out in front of him.

Ward came forward and knelt on one knee. “Hi, Jack. Your daddy and I were good friends when we were little. We met at school when we was just about your age.”

Jack looked at Ward for a moment and said, “I’m seven!”

“Wow, that’s really great. What grade are you in?”

“Second, when I go back to school,” the boy replied.

Tyler walked over to them.

Ward stood up. “He looks a lot like—”

“Yes, he does,” Tyler interrupted.

Ward shook his head. “Sorry…again.”

“It’s okay.”

Tyler turned to his kids. “Boys, why don’t you guys play one of your Xbox games?”

“Really?” Eddie asked. “We already had our hour.”

“Yes, really,” Tyler said with a big smile. He looked at Ward. “This is a special occasion.”

Ward smiled back, feeling warm and happy.

“Wow,” the two boys said in unison.

They dove for the TV console, pulled open a drawer, and took out two controllers. Eddie booted up Grand Theft Auto

“Eddie?” Tyler said with a warning in his voice.

“Okay, okay,” Eddie said and chose Plants vs. Zombiesinstead.

The boys began playing.

The two men sat down on the sofa.

“You’re doing a good job—Dad,” Ward said, impressed with Tyler’s parenting.

“I try,” he said as he watched his sons play their game. “It’s a lot harder now without their mom.”

Ward waited, not knowing whether to pursue a conversation about Tiffany or leave it to Tyler to bring up.

After a time, once the boys were fully engrossed with the zombies, Tyler turned to face Ward and said, “Car accident. She was driving home from the grocery store and a drunk ran a red light. At least she didn’t suffer. They told me it was quick.”

Ward put a hand on Tyler’s knee. “How are you doing?”

“I’m coping. Taking it a day at a time.” Tyler looked again at the kids. “It’s hardest on Eddie. Jack was young enough, that although he took it bad at first, he seems to have adjusted”

“But Eddie.” Tyler shook his head. “I don’t think a day goes by that he doesn’t bring her up in some way. Lots of times he’s angry about her leaving us. Most of the time he just talks of memories of her. It’s been almost two years. I’d have thought it would have gotten better by now.”

“We all grieve in our own way,” was all Ward could think of to say.

“So, what about you?” Tyler asked. Ward sensed Tyler wanted to move away from talking about Tiffany. “What was it like over there?”

“Hell, a lot of the time. The difference in our cultures makes the whole experience pretty bizarre, makes it hard to deal with the locals. And you’re always expecting something bad to happen. The stress level is pretty high, even though a lottta the time we was just hanging around on base waiting for an assignment. That got old pretty fast. You really couldn’t go anywhere off base for a break. They weren’t all that happy about us being in their country.”

Tyler got beers for himself and Ward, and made popcorn for the kids. They sat, watched the kids playing their game, and talked for a long time.

Finally, Tyler said, “Okay, boys, time to brush your teeth and get ready for bed.”

There was the expected grumbling and begging for five more minutes on the game. Tyler gave in once but then firmly sent them off.

“I better be going,” Ward said, looking at his watch.

“You don’t have to,” Tyler said, looking searchingly into Ward’s eyes. “Why don’t you stay the night? We’ve got so much to catch up on.”

Ward hesitated.

Tyler misinterpreted Ward’s silence and dropped his eyes. “Of course, if you don’t want to,” he said quietly.