Fresh-Start Family

by Lisa Mondello

  Tag’s insides ached just thinking about it. His parents had had to deal with so much over the past few years. Losing their only grandchild and daughter-in-law at a time when they didn’t even know if their son was alive or not. Then all the pain had to be relived again when Tag returned to the States and then made the decision to move to Nebraska. His family hadn’t wanted to let him go. He couldn’t blame them.

  “I’ll call them.”

  To Wolf’s credit, he left the subject alone.

  “Have you eaten?” Tag asked.

  “Plane food. Peanuts. Chips. Can of cola. I could use some real food, though. But if we eat, we’re going out. I remember what your cooking was like.”

  Tag laughed. “I’ve gotten better. I wish you’d have let me know you were coming in. I would have picked you up in Valentine.”

  “If I’d told you I was coming, you would have done your best to talk me out of it. And don’t say you wouldn’t.”

  “Then I’m glad you didn’t. It really is good to see you.”

  Wolf picked up one of the flyers. “Cute kid. Who is he?”

  “A kid from town.”

  Wolf looked at him knowingly. “Just some kid, huh?” He dropped the flyer on the table and looked at Tag. He knew better.

  “So are you going to jump right into grilling me or wait until you have a full belly?”

  “I wasn’t planning on making this visit all about D.C.”

  “Good. Because I’d love to show you around.”

  “But since you brought it up.”

  “This isn’t about Nancy and Crystal,” Tag said.

  “I know. But it is about what happened in Afghanistan, and your CO has been pretty determined to get me to convince you to go to the award ceremony. In fact, my phone’s been ringing off the hook. A lot of people were saved because of what you did back there.”

  “And Pike. He paid a bigger price than I did. He didn’t come home. I don’t need reminders of what happened there. Those memories already visit me every night.”

  “I’m sure they do,” Wolf said, his voice full of sympathy. “And I know you must be feeling pretty raw, but there’s a lot of people who want to acknowledge what happened there and the people involved. Including Pike.”

  “I haven’t spoken to Pike’s family since I came back.” Tag sighed. He really didn’t want to relive that memory, either. Pike’s fiancée hadn’t had to say a word, but her thoughts had been loud and clear. Why had the extremists who’d captured them spared Tag and not Pike? How had Tag been able to finally escape alone?

  Wolf obviously sensed Tag pulling back. He took the flyer and read it. “So who is this kid, really? Are you dating his mom?”

  Tag couldn’t exactly say that his relationship with Jenna wasn’t moving in that direction. It was. But sharing this little slice of peace that he’d found in Jenna was harder than he’d anticipated.

  “Silence,” Wolf said, “says it all. Who is she?”

  “My neighbor. Her son has a serious medical condition. I fly them to Valentine a few times a week for treatment. She’s a really nice woman. You’d like her. And Oma would love her.”

  Wolf nodded. “I’m happy for you. Is it serious?”

  “I just moved here…but yeah, she’s pretty special.”

  Wolf smiled. Guys didn’t exactly go on about feelings, and Tag and Wolf never really had. They didn’t have to. They just knew. What little he’d said was enough.

  “Sometimes time doesn’t mean a thing. It didn’t take me more than a week to know I wanted to marry Brooke,” Wolf said. “Sometimes you just know.”

  Tag didn’t elaborate more. The only woman he’d ever heard his cousin talk about was a girl he’d met and fallen in love with in college. Unfortunately, the marriage never happened, and it took a long time for Wolf to move forward from it.

  “Jenna will be here in a little while. She wanted to cook me dinner tonight and then go out to put up these flyers.”

  “I hope she cooks better than you.”

  Tag laughed. “Yeah, she does.”

  Normally he would have waited to introduce family to an important woman in his life. But today felt like the right time, and Tag knew his cousin would fall head over heels for Jenna and her family. He knew he had.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jenna was pleased when Tom took it upon himself to invite his cousin Wolf to join them for lunch rather than visit with him alone back at his house. Progress, she thought. They’d made a lot of it over the last few weeks.

  They enjoyed a simple lunch of hamburgers and fries and laughed a lot as Wolf and Tom relayed stories of their childhood, much to Brian’s delight. But after lunch, when Wolf volunteered to help Jenna clean the kitchen, he wasted no time getting to know Jenna and find out just how deep her relationship with Tom really was.

  “I didn’t just come here for a visit,” Wolf said, sitting at the table as he drank a glass of lemonade.

  Confused, Jenna asked, “What did you come here for?”

  “Two things, really. If you’d ever met my Oma, then you’d know that once she gets something in her head, it’s hard to change her mind. They want to give Tom the Medal of Honor for his service in Afghanistan, but he’s determined not to go. Oma sent me in part to change his mind.”

  “He told me a little about the award ceremony,” Jenna admitted, picking up the dirty dishes from the table and dropping them into the sink to ready them for the dishwasher.

  Wolf’s surprised look brought her back to the night Tom had told her about Crystal and Nancy.

  “He didn’t tell me much, but I read about some of it in the newspaper and he filled in a little more,” she added.

  “I’m surprised. He usually doesn’t talk about it at all.”

  “That much I figured out.”

  Cautiously, Wolf asked, “Did he talk about his family?”

  A sadness enveloped Jenna. “Yes, he told me about Nancy and Crystal.”

  Wolf shrugged. “Maybe coming out to Nebraska was a better idea than any of us thought. Tom seems more at ease than I’ve seen him in years. You’re good for him.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. She felt that her relationship with Tom was growing, but to have validation from someone who knew Tom so well felt good.

  “Then I guess he probably also told you about the offer at Fort McCoy.”

  Jenna placed a dirty dish into the dishwasher. “To be a trainer like you? Yes, though he only mentioned it.”

  Wolf scrubbed his hand over his head. “Seems we had no reason to worry about him coming to Nebraska like he did.”

  “He’s family. Of course you worry.”

  “He told me he hasn’t made up his mind about taking the job at Fort McCoy. Would you go with Tom if he decided to leave here?”

  When she looked at Wolf, she realized his direct question was out of concern and not just being nosiness.

  “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I’m not sure a move like that is right for me or my family. Besides, Tom hasn’t made his decision yet.” And I already did that once, she thought as she bit her bottom lip.

  Was she really going to walk away from everything she’d just found again, like she had when she’d gotten married to Kent? She’d been fighting with herself for days about what she’d do. But in truth, Tom hadn’t asked her how she felt about leaving Chesterfield when he talked about the job offer in Wisconsin. Would he even want her to go with him?

  She’d only just found her place here again in Chesterfield, and Brian’s place, as well. It wasn’t about the what-ifs, which were uncertain. It was about the things she was certain about—home and having the support she’d needed for so long.

  “It’s a good offer for him,” Wolf pointed out. “He can still do what he loves but be home, where he can be with his family. I think he needs this.”

  “Are you afraid I’ll put pressure on him to stay in Chesterfield?”

  Wolf shook his head. “Tom has always made his own decision
s. I love my cousin. He’s been hurt by life enough. But I’d be lying if I said I liked the idea of him staying in Nebraska when so much of what’s left of his family wants to be part of his life, too. We miss him. But he’s his own person, and it’s clear you’re special to him.”

  “It makes things complicated.” She didn’t expect Wolf to understand her fears and concerns.

  “He told me about Brian’s condition. There are good hospitals in Wisconsin.”

  “I don’t doubt it. But since you know my son is sick, you must understand that my whole support system is here in Chesterfield.”

  “Tom’s is in Wisconsin. At least, it used to be.”

  She shook her head. “We’re getting ahead of things. Tom hasn’t asked me to do anything with him other than put up some flyers for the fundraiser.”

  Wolf smiled. “Fair enough. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “You’re not. You’re just proving what I’ve suspected for a while.”

  “What’s that?”

  “That there is a whole world of Tom’s that I don’t really know anything about, including his family and how much they really mean to him.”

  “I’m glad he has a friend in you, Jenna. And since you’re a good cook, I’ll be sure to pass on the word to the family that he’s being well fed.”

  They both laughed.

  Jenna had vowed that when she returned to Chesterfield, she’d put her needs and Brian’s first. She’d traveled the world with a man who was never there, and over and over again, he had let her down. She couldn’t risk that with Tom, but she knew she was already in too deep to go back and change the way she felt about him.

  If the fundraiser went well, then Chesterfield would have everything she and Brian needed except for one thing. If Tom took that job in Wisconsin, at Fort McCoy, it wouldn’t have Tom Garrison.

  Jenna glanced out the kitchen window and saw that Tom and Brian were headed back toward the house. Tom was staying in Chesterfield, at least for right now. But he had no roots in the town. And after meeting Wolf, Jenna knew he had a strong family connection back in Wisconsin. Maybe his need to hide from the world would subside and he’d decide to take that job at Fort McCoy.

  And then there was Brian. Oh, Jenna knew Tom adored Brian. But Tom had already lost a child and was still grieving. No one knew how long Brian would be able to remain healthy or if he’d become sick quickly, like his father, and die before anything could be done to save him. How could she expect Tom to ride the roller coaster of worry that she lived?

  As the duo barreled through the kitchen door, Jenna pasted a smile on her face and decided now wasn’t the time to think about it. She’d just enjoy what she had right now and let the Lord worry about the rest.

  Spring days had a way of making you feel hope, Jenna thought as she sat in the lobby of the clinic. Earlier in the day Chesterfield Medical had been abuzz with activity like she’d never seen before. A table had been set up in the lobby for people to make donations to the dialysis machine fund. The generosity of the townsfolk had her in tears more than she wanted to admit.

  Although she hadn’t seen some of the people in years, she recognized many of the faces. All of them gave warm well wishes to both her and Brian. She was equally surprised by the number of people who so willingly came out to give blood and test to see if they were a match to one day give Brian a kidney.

  She thanked the Lord endlessly during the day that she lived in a place where the hearts of the people she knew were huge.

  By midday the stream of people had slowed to a trickle, and they decided to go home and celebrate with hot fudge sundaes. Back at the farmhouse, Jenna pulled out the tub of chocolate ice cream and the whipped topping and set them on the table.

  “Do you like nuts on yours?” she asked as Tom reached up to pull some glass bowls out of the cabinet.

  He placed them down on the counter and reached over to the tub she’d just opened to scoop out a generous fingerful.

  “I like the works,” he said and then reached over for another fingerful.

  Jenna swatted his hand away and grabbed a spoon from the drawer, being careful to use her fingers that weren’t already sticky from melting ice cream.

  “Wolf said you weren’t going to the award ceremony in Washington, D.C. Is that true?” she said.

  His face went from playful to serious in a matter of seconds. “And he asked you to talk to me?”

  She shrugged. “He didn’t have to. I offered. He told me about Pike and how he was killed while still in prison with you. Wolf wanted me to understand what you’ve been through.”

  “We were plotting an escape. Somehow our captors found out about it. I made it out, but when I got to a place where I was covered, I realized Pike wasn’t behind me. He’d been right there, and then he was gone.”

  “What happened?”

  “I can only guess, but I think Pike knew he was caught and decided to hang back and give me a chance to get clear. And since the extremists had someone to give their attention to, it worked. I escaped. But Pike was killed.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Tom drew in a deep breath. “I don’t want to go to this ceremony alone.”

  “Wolf said your whole family is going to be there. Your grandparents, your parents and Wolf.”

  He smiled warmly. “Not everyone. Unless, of course, you and Brian decide to come. If I go, I’d like you both to be there.”

  A lump formed in her throat. “Brian would love that.”

  “Maybe we can make a quick stop in Wisconsin on the way back. It might be nice to spend a little more time with my family.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Tag reached past her and grabbed another fingerful of ice cream. Unlike the last time, she didn’t swat his hand away. Instead, she felt happiness and quiet contentment at the way Tom was behaving as if she and Brian were already part of his family.

  “This has already gone a little soft,” she said.

  “It’s best that way.”

  “Brian thinks so, too. But if he wants to have some before it becomes soup, he’d better get in here.” She bent over the sink and hollered out the open kitchen window. “Brian!”

  “He said he was going out to the barn,” Tom said. “Probably playing with the piglets again.”

  She looked in the direction of the barn but couldn’t see him. “Brian! Ice cream’s melting!”

  She’d managed to place two messy scoops of ice cream into the first bowl when she was startled by Brian’s piercing cry. The spoon slipped from her wet fingers and dropped into the bowl with a clank before bouncing out and crashing to the floor, splattering ice cream. She left it there and raced out the screen door with Tom.

  “Brian!” he hollered as he ran.

  Jenna’s heart pounded in her chest as fear consumed her. She’d heard many cries from her son over the years, but nothing like the one she’d just heard.

  When they reached the barn, Brian was sprawled out on his back, writhing in pain as he held his arm. Jenna dropped to her knees alongside Tom.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  Through his hysterical tears, Brian confessed, “I tried to jump out of the loft like the soldiers do in training, and I missed the hay bale.”

  “Oh, no,” Tom said.

  “What is he talking about?” Jenna said.

  “It’s my fault.” Tom bent over and assessed Brian’s arm. “It doesn’t look broken, but it could be a bad sprain or a fracture.”

  “Broken?” she asked Tom. Her panic rose up in her throat. Her baby might have a broken bone? “You’re not supposed to be doing things like this, Brian. You know that.”

  “Let’s get going.” Tom scooped Brian up in his arms and raced to the truck. “Call the clinic on your cell phone. You have it with you, don’t you?”

  “There’s no service at the house, only on the way to town. My purse is inside. I’ll grab it and call once we’re on the road.”

  “I’ll meet you in the truck.
”

  Brian was inconsolable. Tears rained down his white cheeks and dropped on his dirty shirt. Every move Tag made caused Brian to cry out. Tag didn’t want to extend the pain Brian felt any more than he had to, so he moved quickly, propping Brian up with one hand and opening the truck door with the other.

  Carefully, he placed Brian in the middle seat and put his seat belt on.

  “Where’s Mommy!” Brian cried.

  Jenna ran out of the house with her purse and a pillow in her hand. She was out of breath as she climbed into the truck next to Brian. Brian’s cries increased as his mother drew him near.

  “It’s starting to swell,” she said. “The ice I shoved in the pillow case should help a little.”

  “Good thinking,” said Tag. “Don’t worry, Scout. We’ll be there soon.”

  Tag drove in a fog, not realizing what he was doing as he took each corner. It was as if the truck was driving itself.

  “Good,” Jenna said. “The doctor is already here. His car is in the parking lot.”

  After parking the truck by the front door, Tag jumped out and eased Brian into his arms so as not to hurt him any further. Jenna ran ahead into the clinic. Carol was already coming through the door with a wheelchair.

  All told, from finding Brian on the ground to getting to the clinic, a total of eight minutes had probably elapsed. Yet, to Tag it felt like a lifetime. How had Jenna survived all these years with this worry? How did any parent?

  No matter what had happened to him in that prison, this seemed a thousand times worse. He’d lost a child, but he’d never lived with the constant fear of losing one before. That job always seemed to be left to the one left at home.

  It’d been ten minutes since they’d taken Brian to get his arm x-rayed. Her father had met them at the clinic and accompanied Brian while Jenna went to see if Tom was still in the waiting room. His face had gone ashen when he’d seen Brian on the ground, and he’d been quiet the whole way to the clinic. To her surprise, he was still there.

  Tom looked up as she approached, his expression filled with worry, and it broke her heart.