The Second Half
Page 30
“Our phones were turned off so they wouldn’t ring during the presentations,” Ken said.
“The door was locked, and you left that note for Marit: ‘Gone to school Career Day. Your green beans are in the shed.’”
Mona smiled. “I didn’t know she was going to get off work and come to the presentation until she walked in.”
“My driver was putting my duffel on the porch. I told him, ‘Get back in!’ and he drove me right there.”
“Wow!” Mellie’s eyes widened. “You have your own driver?”
“One of the perks of being a captain, sweet.”
Ken wagged his head. “No communication from you at all. We didn’t know what to think, and then we were told MIA.”
Steig lost his happy smile. “I’m sorry. I really am. I promised to Skype, and it never happened. The mission was top secret. The first thing the bad guys do is try to wangle information out of the family. We didn’t want anyone to know who I was or where I went or what I was doing or who my family was for your protection. My immediate supervising officer—my handler if you will—was the only one who knew about the operation. As far as Major Paget knew, I really was MIA. And incidentally, the mission is still secret. I was in a zone where American military is never supposed to be. So I can’t discuss it, but it was nowhere near Pakistan. That’s just where I shipped out from.”
“Real cloak-and-dagger. Sounds like something you only see in the movies.” Ken smiled. “We’re proud of you. But I probably don’t have to tell you that.”
“Thank you.” Steig gave Mellie a squeeze. “So how is school?”
“Great. My teacher says my reading is awesome.”
“You tested eighth grade a year ago.”
Mellie nodded. “Now I’m adult level.” She shrugged. “Mostly.”
“Wow. That’s great.” Steig groped around in a side pant leg pocket and hauled out a folded-up piece of paper. “So you can read this, right?”
She unfolded it and smoothed it out on her lap. She studied it a moment, frowning as only a serious ten-year-old can frown. “These are…are these discharge papers? It says honorable discharge.”
Mellie passed the paper to Ken. “I have to say, our mission was completely successful, but I nearly died accomplishing it. Dumb luck that I didn’t.” He smiled at Mona. “Or the power of prayer. It was a wake-up call, so to speak. Do I want to keep going in the army, or do I want to be a father and raise the kids? The kids don’t have a mother, and maybe next time I wouldn’t be so lucky. I talked to my base financial officer, and he worked out an early retirement where I still get full benefits.”
“Do you regret your choice?” Ken handed the papers back to him.
“No. Well, sort of. I loved my work, and I’m going to really miss it. Cloak-and-dagger is exhilarating. Addictive even. It’s an adrenaline rush like no other. But the kids are more important, so I grabbed my chance. I’ll go to Washington, where I’m going to be decorated for my service, me and three other guys. Then it’s over.”
“What’s decorated?” Jake asked.
“Where you get a medal and an award.”
“Which medal?” Ken asked.
“Medal of Honor.” Steig said it so offhandedly.
Mona clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from crying out loud. The highest award the armed forces can give. Her son.
Thank You, God! Her heart and soul were still ringing with Thank You!
Most of all, best of all…
Steig was home for good.
Also by Lauraine Snelling
Someday Home
Heaven Sent Rain
Reunion
On Hummingbird Wings
One Perfect Day
Breaking Free
Praise for
Lauraine Snelling
SOMEDAY HOME
“The story is inspiring and hopeful. Snelling tells a wonderful tale of fresh starts, resilience, loss, and love in this perfect summer read.”
—RT Book Reviews
HEAVEN SENT RAIN
“Snelling’s story has the potential to be a big hit…The alternating narrators make the tale diverse and well rounded. The premise of the story is interesting and the prose is very moving.”
—RT Book Reviews
WAKE THE DAWN
“Snelling (One Perfect Day) continues to draw fans with her stellar storytelling skills. This time she offers a look at small-town medical care in a tale that blends healing, love, and a town’s recovery…Snelling’s description of events at the small clinic during the storm is not to be missed.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Snelling’s fast-paced novel has characters who seek help in the wrong places. It takes a raging storm for them to see that the help they needed was right in front of them the whole time. This is a strong, believable story.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Lauraine Snelling’s newest novel will keep you turning pages and not wanting to put the book down…Wake the Dawn is a guaranteed good read for any fiction lover.”
—Cristel Phelps, Retailers and Resources Magazine
REUNION
“Inspired by events in Snelling’s own life, Reunion is a beautiful story about characters discovering themselves as the foundation of their family comes apart at the seams. Readers may recognize themselves or someone they know within the pages of this book, which belongs on everyone’s keeper shelf.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Reunion is a captivating tale that will hook you from the very start…Fans of Christian fiction will love this touching story.”
—FreshFiction.com
“Snelling’s previous novels (One Perfect Day) have been popular with readers, and this one, loosely based on her own life, will be no exception.”
—Publishers Weekly
ON HUMMINGBIRD WINGS
“Snelling can certainly charm.”
—Publishers Weekly
ONE PERFECT DAY
“Snelling writes about the foibles of human nature with keen insight and sweet honesty.”
—National Church Library Association
“Snelling’s captivating tale will immediately draw readers in. The grief process is accurately portrayed, and readers will be enthralled by the raw emotion of Jenna’s and Nora’s accounts.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A spiritually challenging and emotionally taut story. Fans of Christian women’s fiction will enjoy this winning novel.”
—Publishers Weekly
Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
Which character did you most closely relate to and why?
What surprising things have happened in your life that forced to you to change and grow?
In the novel, Mona struggles with worry. Do you identify with this problem? What helps you to overcome it?
What advice would you give to this family to make times of change easier to manage?
Ken has difficulty making the transition to retirement. Have you ever struggled with a major life change, such as changing jobs or moving to a new place? What was the hardest part? What about the experience was rewarding?
We are encouraged to set goals and make plans, but what do you do when things happen to cause those goals and plans to be dumped or at least put on the back burner?
Though Mona and Ken had raised two children, they found it challenging to transition back into the role of being parents to their grandchildren. Why do you think that was?
We always have the choice to turn to our Father for help but often we don’t until we are totally struggling. Or drowning. How can we help each other turn to Him first and learn to thank Him and praise Him even in the hardest times?
Depression attacks so many of us, making daily living such a struggle. If this has happened to you, what did you learn from it? And how do you keep it from attacking again?
What do you think the characters learned about themselves and each other by the end of the novel? Did you
take away anything from their experiences that might help you in your own life or help someone you care about?
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Also by Lauraine Snelling
Praise for Lauraine Snelling
Reading Group Guide
Newsletters
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Lauraine Snelling
Reading Group Guide Copyright © 2016 by Lauraine Snelling and Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Cover design by JuLee Brand
Cover imagery by Getty Images
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for
ISBNs: 978-1-4555-8617-2 (trade paperback), 978-1-4555-8616-5 (ebook)
E3-20160517-DA-NF