Battlefield of the Heart

by E. A. West

“Only sometimes,” he said with a chuckle. “Once you have a camera, I’ll have to take you to one of my favorite places to photograph.”

  “Where is that?” Ellen asked.

  “Mounds State Park. It’s beautiful year-round, and it’s constantly changing.” His face lit up as he talked about it. “There’s one section of the river I’ve been wanting to visit, but I haven’t had a chance recently.”

  “Why don’t we go tomorrow?” Cindy hoped he’d agree. He looked so much more animated than usual just talking about going there. She wanted to see how much he’d relax once he was actually in the park.

  “That would be awesome.” He put his arm around her. “I think you’ll love it out there.”

  Peter returned before Cindy could reply. He held up a black leather camera case. “This should work for whatever you want to do. I even put in fresh batteries, so you won’t have to worry about that.”

  She accepted the heavy case. “Wasn’t this Grandpa’s?”

  “That’s right,” he said as he returned to his chair. “He left it to me, hoping I’d take up photography again, but I just never had the love for it he did. I’m sure he’d approve of me giving his camera to you.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” She unzipped the case. A camera and three lenses rested inside, along with a flash and a couple of other things she couldn’t identify. “Looks like I need to pick up some film.”

  Peter chuckled. “No, you don’t. That’s the digital camera your grandfather bought just a few months before he died. I figured you’d prefer it to the old 35mm.”

  Danny reached toward the case. “May I?”

  “Sure.” Cindy handed it to him and watched him pull out the camera body and examine it.

  He took a quick look at the lenses then met her gaze with a smile. “This is top of the line stuff. You can have a lot of fun with it.”

  “Well, I can once you teach me the proper way to take a photograph.”

  He attached one of the lenses to the camera body and checked for an SD card, then lifted it and aimed it at her. “To take a photograph, you look through the viewfinder like this. Then you adjust the focus, like so, and press this button.”

  She rolled her eyes as she accepted the camera and looked at the close-up of herself on the back. Well, if he wanted to play that game… She grinned and lifted the camera, aiming it at Danny. “So, what I’m supposed to do is this?”

  She snapped the picture as her parents laughed. Danny leaned over to look at the image she showed him and nodded. “Yes, that’s the way it’s done.”

  Chapter Twelve

  As they drove away from the Waymire house, Danny smiled at Cindy. “I like your parents. Now that they know I’m not going to do anything horrible to you, they’re pretty laid back.”

  She settled deeper in the seat, amused by his melodramatic statement. “Yes, they’re laid back, but I seriously doubt they ever thought you’d do something horrible to me. They’re just overprotective.”

  “Sounds like my parents.” He glanced at her again, his good humor fading, and then returned his attention to the road. “Don’t be surprised if they’re less friendly to you than your parents were to me at first. They want to shelter me from life, and they don’t always realize there are other people in this world who can handle my problems.”

  She reached over and rubbed his shoulder, wishing she could reassure him, but he knew his parents and she’d never met them. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

  “If they try to cause too much trouble, I’ll remind them that I’m almost twenty-six.” Danny put his hand on her knee with a faint smile. “One of these days they’ll realize I’m a grown man who’s capable of getting along with other people.”

  Heat raced through her at his touch, and she covered his hand with hers. “Maybe I can help convince them of that.”

  He chuckled and gently squeezed her knee. “You can’t stand discord, can you?”

  “Can I help it that I like to see people get along and be happy?”

  “I hope not. That’s one of the things I like about you.”

  He laced their fingers together, and her heart tripped over itself at the warmth of his palm pressed against hers. Hopefully, he’d continue to be affectionate with her around his parents so they’d catch on that he could have a normal relationship in spite of the PTSD. She was a little worried about what they might say to her, but she trusted Danny to stand up for her, if necessary.

  His parents’ house turned out to be a one-story ranch house with fall flowers along the front. Danny pulled into the wide cement drive leading to the attached two-car garage and turned off the engine.

  “This was home for a year before I joined the army.”

  Cindy turned to find him studying her. “Where did you live before that?”

  “Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, California, Texas, New Mexico, and briefly in Guatemala.”

  “Your parents didn’t like staying in one place for long?”

  “I told you they used to be missionaries. Their job was to go in, build or rebuild a church, and locate a pastor in the area to run it. We never stayed anywhere more than two years.”

  She couldn’t imagine moving that often. “Where were you born?”

  “Laredo, Texas,” he said, looking up at the house. “My parents were serving in Mexico, but my mom wanted to be closer to family when she had me. Her parents lived in Texas, so my parents crossed the border about a week before I was due, and then stayed for another two weeks after I was born before we all went back to Mexico.”

  “Wow, two weeks old on your first trip out of the country?”

  He met her gaze. “Yeah, and then I spent most of my childhood in various parts of Latin America. My first year of school here in the U.S. was a bit of a shock since I’d already had four years of school in Spanish-speaking countries. I got along real well with the recent immigrants, and we all dealt with our culture shock together.” He chuckled and shook his head. “There’s nothing like being an American citizen and suffering culture shock from fifth grade in an American school.”

  She couldn’t begin to imagine culture shock from fifth grade. “That must have been strange.”

  “It was a little strange since I was the only Spanish-speaking kid who wasn’t Hispanic, but I survived well enough.” Danny opened his door. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to my parents.”

  Cindy climbed out of the truck and joined him by the hood. He took her hand, and she felt his tension as they approached the front door. She prayed his parents wouldn’t be too overprotective of him this afternoon; he’d had a rough couple of weeks and could use some time to just relax and not worry about anything.

  He opened the front door and led her inside. An older couple sat reading in the living room, but they both laid their books aside and stood with expectant smiles as Cindy closed the door behind her. Danny maneuvered her close to his side as he spoke.

  “Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Cindy Waymire. Cindy, my parents, Tom and Linda Flynn.”

  Linda stepped forward to take Cindy’s free hand in both of hers. “I’m so glad to meet you, honey.”

  “Yes,” Tom said, “Danny’s told us a lot about you.”

  Cindy glanced at Danny in surprise as his mom released her hand and stepped back. “You have?”

  He put his arm around her with a smile and gave her a hug. “Of course.”

  She slipped an arm around his waist and turned her attention to his parents. They both watched closely, and she had a feeling they were taking mental notes on everything she said and did. She was pretty sure she’d come out on top, but she had no way of knowing for sure how they’d score her.

  “So, what have the two of you been up to this afternoon?” Linda said.

  “Meeting each other’s parents,” Danny said.

  His mother quirked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  Cindy smiled and nodded, praying the woman’s curious tone was a good sign. “Yes, my parents only live about twenty minutes from here. Danny
gave me a ride over there to pick up a DVD and a camera, and we ended up staying for lunch.”

  “A camera?” Tom looked interested. “Danny enjoys photography.”

  “That’s the main reason I picked up the camera,” Cindy said, casting a glance at Danny. “He promised to teach me what he knows.”

  “Have you seen any of his photographs?” Linda asked. “He doesn’t always like to show them off.”

  “I’ve seen a few.” She hadn’t noticed a reluctance to show her his photos. Of course, most of what she’d seen had been taken around campus and town. Maybe he had other photos he didn’t like to share?

  Tom raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so you’ve seen his photos from Iraq? He also has several from Afghanistan that are quite… interesting.”

  Danny’s arm tightened around Cindy’s shoulders as he spoke in a tense voice. “Dad, don’t go there.”

  “I just think your girlfriend should see what you’ve been through.” Tom turned to Cindy. “Danny doesn’t like to talk about his post-traumatic stress disorder, but it affects every area of his life.”

  She couldn’t believe the way Tom was acting. Had he forgotten his son could hear every word? “He’s talked to me about it, and I’ve done some reading of my own on PTSD.”

  “Honey, I don’t want to scare you,” Linda said, “but there’s a big difference between reading about it and witnessing the effects of it.”

  “She’s seen it.” Danny glanced at Cindy, allowing her to see his struggle to contain his temper. He returned his focus to his parents. “More than once. Now, let it go. I don’t want to deal with this today.”

  “Okay, Danny,” Linda said, her tone soothing. “Why don’t you show Cindy around while I check on the potatoes? I’m making your favorite potato salad.”

  “Sounds good. We’ll come find you in a little while.”

  He guided Cindy down a short hall to the left and around the corner. She glanced at him, noting his distant gaze and fidgetiness as he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hands with an almost spastic movement. The muscle in his jaw twitched. The conversation with his parents had caused a complete change in him. Did his parents know what they did to him by treating him like a child? She was pretty sure they’d care if they knew, but it was difficult to tell from her brief encounter with them.

  Danny opened a door on the left and motioned her ahead of him. She went inside and immediately knew it was his room; two large moving boxes were stacked by the foot of the double bed.

  He closed the door then turned to face her. “I will never understand why they do that.”

  The hurt in his eyes was too much for her. She stepped close and wrapped him in a hug. “They want to be sure I’m not going to freak and run at the first sign of PTSD.”

  “I told them they don’t have to worry about that,” he said quietly, holding her close. “Obviously, they didn’t listen.”

  “They’re just trying to protect you.” She leaned back to look into his eyes. “They don’t want you to hurt any more than you already do.”

  He traced his fingers along her jaw. “Your perceptiveness never ceases to amaze me.”

  He tilted her face up to kiss her, and she melted. The tenderness in him, despite everything he’d been through, still surprised her. She’d never met another guy so concerned about her feelings and so gentle with her.

  Sighing, he released her. “I know you’re wondering about those photos my father mentioned.”

  “It’s obvious you don’t want to talk about them.”

  “I don’t, but my father is right. You should see some of what I had to deal with. Maybe it’ll help you understand me a little better.” A faint smile touched his lips. “And maybe you can use it for your veterans paper.”

  He went to the closet in the corner and retrieved a shoe box from the top shelf. Then he carried it over to the bed and sat down, motioning for her to join him. She took a seat beside him as he lifted the lid. Photographs packed the box, and she caught a glimpse of a soldier in the desert before Danny picked up a stack of the prints.

  He slowly flipped through them, taking care not to let her see them. “Some of these are hard to look at.”

  Cindy put an arm around his shoulders and leaned against him. “Hard for who? You or me?”

  “Both. I’m not going to show you the worst ones. You don’t need to see that much.” He paused and handed her a photo. “This was in Afghanistan.”

  She lowered her arm to take the print. As she looked at the picture in her hand, she wanted to cry. A pair of tearful Afghan men stood side-by-side as they looked at a blanket-covered body near a destroyed building.

  Danny’s soft voice broke into her thoughts. “That body is a seventeen-year-old boy. He was the son and nephew of those two men. One of our missiles went off course, and he was in that house when it hit.” He handed her another photo. “I took this one after half of my squad ran into a roadside bomb in Iraq.”

  This time, Cindy couldn’t keep the moisture from springing to her eyes. Several soldiers, obviously upset, stood with arms across shoulders and gazed at a mangled pile of smoking metal. In the background, a trio of soldiers knelt over a body, apparently working to save the person’s life.

  She glanced up to find Danny staring at the photo she held. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with this.”

  He shrugged. “It’s part of being a soldier during wartime. As bad as that looks, we only lost one. Two more needed surgery. The other one needed some stitches and had a few burns.”

  “But it was still a terrible thing.” Cindy had a feeling he was downplaying just how much the incident had affected him and everyone else who had witnessed it.

  He shrugged again and flipped through a few more photos. “Not all of it was bad. Here, take a look at this.”

  Cindy traded photos and smiled. A cluster of black-haired, swarthy-skinned children grinned at the camera, each of them holding a clear plastic pencil case of school supplies. “They’re adorable.”

  “They were also really glad to get the school supplies. A friend of mine helped rebuild their school. Alex had already finished his enlistment, and when I told him about the new school, he started a campaign to collect school supplies. He sent me a couple of huge boxes packed with full pencil cases and packages of paper. My captain arranged for us to personally deliver everything since it was my connections that got the school supplies.”

  Danny showed her a few more photos of happy civilians: a group of kids kicking a soccer ball around with a couple of soldiers, a smiling woman handing some kind of baked good to a soldier, a group of men grinning and dancing in the street.

  Finally, he put all of the photos back in the box and returned it to his closet. “My parents tend to forget the good memories I brought home with me. They seem to think only the bad things matter.”

  “Well, the bad stuff is most of what we hear about, but I’m sure you already know that.” She joined him by the boxes at the foot of the bed. “Thanks for sharing some of the good stuff with me.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I want you to understand that not all of my enlistment was bad. Yeah, the bad stuff is what’s giving me problems now, but I’d gladly do it all over again. Things like seeing the excitement of those kids when they received a few school supplies make it worth dealing with the tough parts.”

  “I’m glad you have the good memories to think back on.” She wrapped him in a hug. “Maybe we can find a way to show the general public some of the good things our military is doing. We hear so much about the negative and the tragic — we need to hear about the good as well.”

  “Military websites have the good news posted. It just rarely hits the mainstream media as anything other than a brief mention on a slow news day.” He held her close then sighed and released her. “We better go assure my parents I haven’t gone completely off the deep end. If we stay in here much longer, my dad’s liable to show up at the door all worried.”

&nbs
p; He took her hand, and they left his room. Cindy looked at the trio of pictures on the wall at the end of the hall and tugged on Danny’s hand to stop him. Seeing the photograph of him in his dress uniform, she fully understood why women swooned over men in uniform. He was gorgeous, if a bit younger than he was now. And his eyes were brighter, less haunted, although not as idealistic as the guy in the next photo. She forced her mind back to why she’d stopped him in the first place. “That’s you, but tell me about the others.”

  “You don’t want to know about my photo?”

  She caught the teasing twinkle in his eyes and decided to play along. “Maybe you’d better tell me about it. The guy in this picture looks awful young to be you.”

  “Hey, I’m not that old.” Danny chuckled and tapped the three gold stripes on his uniform sleeve. “This photo was taken soon after I made sergeant.”

  “You look good.” Cindy smiled at him, noting his reminiscent expression. “I bet you were an awesome sergeant.”

  “I did my best.” He touched the frame surrounding a portrait of a brown-haired young man in navy whites. “This is my little brother, Andrew.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “He’s handsome.”

  Danny grinned and slung an arm around her waist. “He’s also engaged, so you’re stuck with me.”

  She laughed and indicated the pretty redhead in the third photo. “Who’s this?”

  “My older sister, Sarah. She opted not to join the military like her brothers.”

  “What does she do?”

  “She’s a first grade teacher out in California.” Danny pulled her back down the hall and indicated a portrait she’d passed without noticing. “This is Sarah’s family. That’s Aaron, her husband. The little squirts in front of them are their twins, Alyssa and Michael.”

  “They’re a good-looking family. How old are the kids?”

  “They just turned three last month.” He led her to the end of the hall again and around the corner into the kitchen. “If you want to know about my niece and nephew, ask my mom. She loves talking about her grandkids.”