Lynnette Kent - Matt's Family

Kristin blinked back tears. “Poor Jenny. Can I talk to her?”

“Um, sure.” The phone changed hands.

“Mommy?”

“Hello, sweetheart.” She bit back the urge to comfort and console—that would only give Luke and Sarah more problems. “I hear you have new shoes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I bet the mountains are pretty.”

“The roads are all twisty.”

Kristin laughed. “I remember that from when I was a little girl. What’s your favorite thing you’ve done?”

A long silence. “Can I come home?” Tears thickened the small voice.

“Jenny, love, why would you want to do that?”

The mumbled reply wasn’t clear, but Kristin got the message.

“Your daddy is so happy to have you and Erin there, Jenny. He and Sarah would be sad if you left. You know that, don’t you?”

Jenny’s reply was a small sniff. “Yes.”

“That’s my girl. You’re going to have a great time.” She put as much conviction as she could muster into her voice, though she felt precious little. “I love you, sweetheart. Now, let me say goodbye to your sister.”

Erin came back to the phone. “Mommy, when are we coming home?”

“You’ve got so much to do, I guess it will be a while yet. Your dad’s got some great ideas. The time’s going to fly. And then we’ll all be together again.”

This time Erin sighed. “I guess so. I love you, Mommy.”

Kristin’s eyes burned. “I love you, too. Sleep tight.”

“Bye.”

“Bye, Erin.” She clicked the button to end the call and stood for a moment leaning against the wall, her eyes closed with her fingers. After just three days, she wasn’t sure she could bear this any longer. Maybe she and Matt should go get the girls, bring them along on the trip to Virginia. The drive from here to Banner Elk in the mountains was about eight hours…

“I got your suitcase. Are you ready?” Matt stood in the bathroom doorway again. “Everything okay with Erin and Jenny?”

“Yes, I think so.” Kristin straightened up and eased past him into the bedroom. “They miss…us…a little bit.”

“Yeah, I imagine.” Only the slightest edge to his voice betrayed that he knew the truth. “And we miss them.”

She nodded.

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want to go get them?”

Her eyes filled up again. Matt gave so much, to the girls and to her. She couldn’t ask him to give up this trip.

Taking a deep breath, she managed a smile. “No. They’ll be okay. Luke and Sarah will see that they enjoy themselves. And we’ve got some battlefields to visit, right?”

His blue eyes searched her face. Kristin hoped she’d hidden her worries well.

“Yeah, we do,” he said. Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, dropped a light one on her nose and brushed her lips with his. He started to draw away, but his arms came around her hard and tight and he found her mouth again, in a kiss that started at a fast burn and only got hotter.

Then on a shuddering breath, Matt straightened up. “There,” he whispered. He cleared his throat. “That’ll give us something to look forward to at the end of the drive.”

His hand slipped to hold hers and lead her out of the bedroom. Comforted, aroused and suddenly eager, Kristin followed him without a backward glance.

AS THE FIRST HOUR of their vacation passed, Matt discovered the flaw in his plans.

He and Kristin weren’t used to talking anymore.

Of course, they actually talked every day. About the girls, about the day’s schedule, about what Erin had done and who Jenny had played with. They talked about his parents, and hers. About furniture to buy and car repairs, checking accounts and insurance premiums. All the plain “stuff” that made up normal life.

But take those things away, and what was there to say?

Judging by the last sixty minutes of driving…Nothing.

Matt glanced across the car. She seemed calm enough, her excellent legs easily crossed, her shoulders relaxed, face turned to catch the scenery speeding by the side window. A movement in her lap caught his eye. Her hands were clasped loosely. But one thumb tapped an anxious tattoo on the other.

Okay. Kris was nervous about this, too. What could they talk about?

He said the first thing that came to his head. “I got a surprise phone call the other day.”

“Who was it?” Obviously willing to break the silence, she shifted in the seat to face him, curling her legs up underneath her.

“Lee Holt—he was stationed with me up at Fort Bragg.”

“Where is he stationed now?”

Matt suddenly had second thoughts about where this conversation would lead. “Uh…he’s been out of the Army for about three years.”

“Oh, really? Did he stay the full twenty before retirement?”

Matt cursed his own stupidity in ever bringing up the subject. “No, as a matter of fact. He was a couple of years behind me.” The next question was predictable and unavoidable.

“Why did he get out so early?”

“After…Africa…he didn’t have the heart, he said, to stay in.”

“He was in Africa with you?” The sudden chill in the air had nothing to do with the air conditioner.

“Yeah.”

“For all five years?”

“Uh…no. He was there for about two and a half years, I think.”

“He came home before you did?” Kristin dragged in a painful breath. “And he didn’t tell us you were alive?”

“He couldn’t do that, Kris. Our mission was classified.”

Kristin stared at her husband. Oh, God. She and Luke had still been sleeping apart at that point. If she’d thought for one moment that Matt would come home…

Jenny would never have been born.

She covered her face with her hands. “I can’t believe anyone could have been so heartless.”

“He had a responsibility to the Army. And he was under strict orders to keep quiet.”

She dropped her hands and looked over at Matt’s grim profile. “Could you do that? Would you have done that to some other wife?”

His knuckles whitened as he gripped the wheel. “Kris, I can’t—”

“Are you doing it…right now? Is there someone still left over there, someone whose parents or wife or children believe he’s dead?”

Matt didn’t answer. Kristin turned to stare out the side window again. There was some logic here, she supposed, from a military point of view. Too bad the military had long since stopped being human.

Perhaps her husband had, as well. “You’ve never said very much about what happened to you over there.”

She turned her head to watch him. For a minute, she didn’t think he would reply. Then he cleared his throat. “There’s not much to say.”

“Or not much you can say?”

“That’s part of it. But outside of what’s classified, there’s not much to tell. Each day was about the same as all the others.” His resistance vibrated like an electric field between them.

“Did you have books?”

“No.”

“TV?”

“No.”

“What did you eat?”

Matt slapped the steering wheel with the heel of his hand and muttered an ugly word. “Look…I’ve worked hard every damn day of the last four years forgetting the details you’re asking for. Remembering takes me back. I don’t want to go there again. Can we just drop it, please?”

He could have hit her, and she would have felt better. Her grievance quickly became guilt. “I’m sorry,” Kristin whispered. “So sorry.” She covered her eyes with her hand to hide the tears.

“Aw, Kris…” They rode in silence for a long time, until at last Matt cleared his throat. “What do you feel like having for lunch? Where’s a good place to eat in Wilmington?”

Kristin sat up straight. If he made an effort, so would she. “I don’t know. Let’s see what we find when we get there.”