Chapter Twenty

Eight long days passed.

There had been lighthearted banter between Luke and the ladies all week. But underneath, awkward tension still prevailed when Diana was alone in the room with Luke. He was such a good man, and he deserved more out of life than she was willing to give. But with each passing day, she wanted to be with him more and more. To be held and kissed like he’d held and kissed her on the back pew of that church, to know that feeling of closeness, of breathlessness—she wanted it so badly.

They’d just finished breakfast when Diana’s phone rang. She squealed when Rebecca’s picture appeared on the screen, and answered it on the second ring. “Can you talk longer than a minute this time?”

“Maybe all of five, but don’t put it on speaker, Mama. We know about the divorce. Daddy spilled the beans when I talked to him this morning. I called to say happy Veterans Day like we always do on this day, and he told me. Zoe and I decided it was best to tell Natalie,” Rebecca said.

“Happy Veterans Day to you,” Diana said. “I never would have believed that I’d be saying ‘Thank you for your service’ to my daughter, but I am. And is Natalie going to call her mama tonight, too? I’m right here with the rest of the folks. Should I put it on speaker?”

“Just tell them all hello for me,” Rebecca said.

“So what’s going on in your world today?” Diana asked.

“Well, I wanted to talk about this Luke fellow you mentioned. I kind of remember him from Smokey’s funeral. Handsome dude. Is he there in the room with y’all, too?”

Diana sneaked a sideways glance over toward Luke. “I want to talk about you. It’s only about four more weeks until basic is over. Any idea at all where you might be going for training?”

“So Luke is there, too,” Rebecca giggled. “Okay, then, we’ll talk about me. Natalie and I both tested high in the intelligence field. I’m really hoping and working toward eventually getting into the cyber program, but that’s later on down the road, like after officer training school. Still don’t know where I’ll go for training, but I’m ready to dive into it,” Rebecca said.

“And where’s the AIT located?” Diana held her breath.

“Goodfellow Base at San Angelo,” Rebecca giggled. “I signed up to see the world, and I get sent to a base only a couple of hours from home. But after twenty-four weeks of training, we’ll both probably be sent overseas, like maybe Germany.”

Six months. At least Diana would have her close by until summer. “How do you feel about that?”

“Well, you could drive down and see me once in a while there, and I enlisted to serve, Mama, so wherever I’m needed is where I’m willing to go, just like Smokey was. And I’ll get to see the world.”

Scratch any grandchildren for a long time, Diana thought.

Carmen’s phone rang, and she took it upstairs, answering it on the way up to her room. “I’ve been sitting in the living room eavesdropping on Diana’s call and hoping that you’d call.”

“Rebecca’s dad told her about the divorce, Mama, and she told me and Zoe. I was mad as hell at first, but I’m over it now. Are you all right?”

“I’m working through it. This trip has helped.” Carmen sat down with a thud on the floor beside her bed.

“I saw it coming this summer when he was home. I just didn’t say anything because I wanted to be wrong,” Natalie said. “He was all the time taking phone calls outside or in the garage, and I heard him whisper ‘Love you, too’ one time. I convinced myself that he was talking to Grandma.”

The lump in Carmen’s throat was at least the size of an orange, maybe even a grapefruit. “I agonized over telling you. I didn’t want the news to upset you so much that you had trouble in basic.”

“I’m just worried about you, Mama. What are you going to do? Can we keep the house? Will you get a job? I can send money home, but it won’t be enough to . . .” Natalie paused for a breath.

“Honey, I’ve already got a job offer, working on the base with children, and we can keep the house. You aren’t to send a dime home. You take care of you and enjoy life. Now tell me what’s going on with you other than this. Do you know anything about AIT yet?”

“Well, me and Rebecca have been singled out to probably go to . . .” She talked on nonstop about the possibility of training for her job at Goodfellow. “And you can drive down and see me on weekends the six months I’ll be there.”

“What about Zoe?” Carmen asked.

“She might get a chance at being a combat medic and will be getting part of her training, if not all of it, right there at Bullis. She’ll be coming right back to where she started for the training, and her folks are moving to Virginia. Go figure how fate works,” Natalie giggled.

“We’ll all help take care of her for sure, but that is kind of weird.” Carmen laughed with her.

“Give everyone my love, Mama, and tell Tootsie the next time I call we’ll put it on speaker so I can talk to her, too. That will probably be next Sunday, if all goes well. It’s just great to hear your voice, and please don’t worry. We’ll be fine. After all, we’ve spent most of our lives alone. This isn’t anything new. Don’t get me wrong. I love Daddy, but he’s a son of a bitch for the way he’s acted,” Natalie said. “Love you. See you.”

“See you. Love you more,” Carmen said.

Since she was a little girl, Natalie had refused to tell Eli or anyone goodbye. She said that was a bad word that made her cry, so she just said, “See you.” She’d even whispered those words to Smokey as she walked past his casket at the funeral.

Carmen put her head on her drawn-up knees and took several deep breaths. Natalie knew and wasn’t hysterical. That brought her more closure than anything else had until now, including splitting a shed full of wood.

Joanie took her call in the dining room and was just hanging up when the rest of the family joined her around the table. “I guess y’all know about everything I do. Can you believe my kid could be coming right back to Bullis, not twenty minutes from our house, and we’re selling it and moving to Virginia?”

“I’ll take good care of her. Don’t you worry one bit,” Tootsie said.