The Soldier's Homecoming

by Patricia Potter

  “I might be able to help you there. Charlie and I are moving back to Denver. Doug and I are getting a divorce.” It was said in a monotone voice, but Jenny saw the pain in her eyes.

  “A divorce?” Jenny couldn’t hold back her surprise. “I thought you and Doug were the perfect couple. What happened?”

  Lenore shrugged. “The old, old story. He found someone younger. And thinner. A friend told me he was cheating. I didn’t believe it at first, but I hired a private investigator. He produced a lot of photos. Doug didn’t even try to deny it. I think he was actually relieved. He just didn’t have the guts to ask for a divorce, and he didn’t want to share any money. The photos, though, bought me a nice settlement.”

  “I’m sorry, Lenore. I really am.” Jenny didn’t add that she thought Lenore was better off without Doug. She’d never liked him. He was an executive in their father’s company. Too good-looking. Too oblivious to other people, unless they could do something for him. Too much like her father.

  “The settlement will give me enough to buy a condo,” Lenore said, “and Charlie and I are moving here to be close to Mother. I’ll have to go to work.” She hesitated. “I got a real estate license in California and made some sales. I was pretty good at it. More important, it’s the kind of job where you control your own hours. I can be there for Charlie and for Mother.”

  Jenny nodded. Her sister would be good at real estate. She was attractive and smart. She’d studied business in school until she met Doug and married him before finishing her degree.

  “What does Father think about that?”

  Lenore shrugged. “He disapproved, of course, but all he really cares about is the company.”

  “I wish Mother would leave him.”

  “She’s afraid of being alone. He’s convinced her that a woman is worthless without a husband.” Lenore grinned suddenly and added, “That’s why he was always on your case. You disproved the theory. Unfortunately, I was a slow learner.”

  “But now I support myself and I’ve got to get back to work, starting with the equine therapy programs. I’m only too familiar with the military and the burdens they carry when they leave. I really want to tell that story.”

  “Well, you’ll have a place to hang your hat if you need one,” Lenore said. “You can move in with us. Charlie would love to spend time with you. She reminds me a lot of you when you were a kid, although she’s more withdrawn. She’s curious and reads all the time. She’s read everything she could find about you and written by you on the internet.” Lenore paused, and then said sadly, “Spending time with you would take some of the sting away from the move. Sometimes, no matter how rotten the father, the daughter forgives him.”

  Jenny wondered if Lenore was talking about herself, as well as her daughter. It warmed her heart that Charlotte—Charlie—was interested in what she did. Jenny hadn’t seen much of her niece, but she remembered a pretty blonde girl who looked at her shyly and was very polite.

  “She’s hurting,” Lenore continued. “But I don’t want her around our father or my ex-husband. I remember how Father tried to make you into something you weren’t. So did I, and I regret all those lessons I forced on you about makeup and dressing to attract the opposite sex. And some of the comments I made about you being a nerd.”

  “I was,” Jenny said with a grin. “I still am.”

  “I don’t think so,” Lenore said. “I’ve kept up with you. You have a powerful voice. I’m really proud of you.”

  Jenny didn’t know what to say. She finally found her voice. “What about Mom.”

  “The condo I’m buying is just a few blocks away. We can see her often and avoid the house when Father’s around. In the meantime I’m going to try to convince Mother to ask Father for a divorce, or at least leave him and move in with us. She’s so unhappy although she doesn’t want to admit it.”

  “How’s our sister, Stacy? I haven’t seen her since I went overseas?”

  Lenore just shrugged. “She says everything is fine. Stacy started a home decoration business which is why she couldn’t get away to see you. Mac supports her and the kids are doing well.” She hesitated, then added, “I don’t want to push you, but I’d really love for you to move in with us after closing on the condo. You wouldn’t have to worry about looking after Charlie. At ten, almost eleven, she’s quite responsible.”

  Touched by the unexpected offer, Jenny nodded. “Thanks. I’m not sure what I’m going to do next but it might well be a godsend.” She changed the subject. “Have you mentioned your move here to Mother and Father?”

  “I told Father before coming here. My ex didn’t have the guts to tell him about the divorce so I gave him the unhappy news. He disapproved. Of the divorce of course, not the behavior that prompted it. I’m telling Mother tonight.”

  “She’ll be happy to have you here and disappointed by the divorce,” Jenny predicted. Like Father, their mother would rather be miserable—which she was—than admit a failed marriage.

  “I’ll stay out of the way unless you need support. How does Stacy feel about it?”

  “Stacy echoes Father. As always. It’s my fault and I wasn’t a good enough wife.” She paused, then added, “It’s ridiculous to still feel like a child asking permission to go to a movie.”

  “Well, I certainly never expected to be here when I hit thirty-two,” Jenny said.

  “Just think about moving in with us,” Lenore pled and left the room.

  Perhaps now was the time to explore some possibilities. If she moved in with Lenore, their mother would still have them both nearby for company. It was time to start thinking about subjects she could sell to various publications. In addition to the horse therapy idea, another came to mind: rehab and family challenges. For the first time since the injury, she felt excited. Stimulated. It wouldn’t be what she had been doing, but it would be writing. Travel pieces, human interest stuff. A lot of papers used stringers or freelancers. She knew how to find stories, to look under a headline and find something no one else had.

  Her thoughts turned back to Lenore. Maybe the move would be good for both of them. Maybe she would get to know her sister and niece better in the bargain.

  CHAPTER THREE

  TWO WEEKS AFTER his last rehab appointment, Travis limped through the Denver airport, using a cane, but no brace or crutches.

  He hated the looks tossed his way. Pity. Curiosity.

  The cane wasn’t necessary for short walks, but on the longer ones, he sometimes needed assistance.

  There was one advantage, though. The agent at the check-in desk in Dulles International Airport took one glance at his military identification and then his cane, and upgraded him to first class. He’d dreaded the long flight from Washington to Denver with his bad leg scrunched up.

  He didn’t have any baggage other than his carry-on with an extra pair of jeans, shirt, skivvies and a toilet kit. He didn’t think he’d stay more than two or three days. He just wanted to meet the participants, listen to their plans and then make up his mind as to whether he wanted to return for a longer stay.

  In the meantime, he’d looked up other vet programs around the country. They’d ranged from small mom-and-pop programs with weekend stays for the veteran and family to months-long stints aimed at teaching skills that could turn into civilian jobs.

  He hadn’t mentioned anything to Danny, who had not yet been released from the hospital. He didn’t want to get the kid’s hopes up. Except he knew Josh Manning well. Manning wouldn’t have contacted him, certainly wouldn’t have paid for his airfare, if he was not deadly serious.

  Once aboard the plane, Travis gratefully slid into the window seat and placed his cane underneath. He leaned back and sighed in relief as he stretched his legs out in front of him. The right one ached from the long walk. It was galling to remember the ease with which he used to make a ten-mile trek.

  The spaci
ous room meant he could sleep. He had taken a cab to the airport at 5:00 a.m. for the 8:00 a.m. flight and then the flight was delayed.

  Once in the air, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He wanted to be fully awake when he arrived. He’d looked up Covenant Falls on the internet and knew it was located on the plateau, in the shadow of the San Juan Mountains. Manning said he would pick him up at the Denver airport and drive him to Covenant Falls.

  Not for the first time, he doubted the wisdom of the trip. Was it simply a do-good ploy on his ex-sergeant’s part? And what qualifications did Travis really have aside from a seventeen-year-old college degree? His confidence had melted away over the past two years. Still, the invitation got him out of his nondescript furnished apartment, and he looked forward to seeing Manning. Most important: this program might give him a real goal.

  He still hung onto a thread of hope that maybe his career wasn’t over. Maybe—just maybe—a desk job could lead back to the battlefield. He didn’t like war, but he respected the men under his command, and he felt he should be out there with them. A loss of one was like a loss in his own family. Hell, they were his family.

  He slept until lunch. The small steak that arrived was tough, and he cut the meat awkwardly with his left hand. The loss of two fingers on his right hand made it unsteady despite all the rehab. He was still learning, still retraining what remained of his hand. He was grateful the woman seated next to him didn’t ask if he wanted help, but he was all too aware of her curious gaze.

  * * *

  TRAVIS SPOTTED JOSH MANNING the moment he entered the Denver airport baggage area. Josh and he were both around six-two, and though his former sergeant looked relaxed in a pair of jeans, blue denim shirt and jacket, his green eyes held the same steely edge they always had as he studied the incoming passengers.

  Josh grinned when he saw him and walked over. “Major, it’s damned good to see you.”

  Travis nodded. “Same here, but I’m not Major to you any longer. It’s Travis.” He held out his maimed hand and Josh took it in a strong handshake.

  “I was damn sorry to hear about what happened to you,” Josh said. “Are you out now?”

  “I’m on medical leave now. I have a little time to decide whether to accept a desk job, if one becomes available. You know how army budget cuts are. There’s no certainty that they’ll have a job for me.”

  “Is a desk job something you even want?”

  Travis shrugged his shoulders and accompanied Josh toward the door. There was an ease about him that had not been there before, a peace in his eyes that Travis envied. After a long walk, they reached a weathered Jeep with the top up, and he saw a dog sitting like a sentinel in the front seat.

  “Amos?” he asked. The former military dog wagged his tail enthusiastically.

  Josh grinned. “Sure enough. I found him a year and a half after Dave died. He was a mess. So was I. It was hard to tell which one of us was the worse.”

  Travis leaned over and offered his good hand to the dog. Amos licked him.

  “He remembers you,” Josh said. “He doesn’t do that with strangers.” Josh made a gesture, and the dog scrambled over the seat and sat alertly in the back seat.

  Travis awkwardly fit himself inside and looked back. “Sorry I took your place,” he apologized to Amos, who barked and wagged his tail again.

  “It’s okay with him. He knows you’re an old friend.”

  “I’m glad you found him,” Travis said. “Lieutenant Warner told me how he’d mourned for Dave. It got so bad, he had to be sent back to the States.”

  “Well, he ended up being my savior, along with a kid and his mother.”

  “I can’t imagine you with a wife and kid.”

  “I can’t either. It’s been a year and a half since I married Eve, and I still have to pinch myself to realize it’s real. Me, married to the mayor of the town?”

  “Have to admit it shocked me, too.”

  “I was in pretty bad shape when I arrived. Neither Dave nor I had any family, so we made each other the beneficiary in our wills. He owned a cabin in a place called Covenant Falls and all he talked about was moving there after the service and starting a wilderness adventure business with me. When he died, I inherited it.”

  He paused. Then he added with obvious pain, “It was a virtual wreck, just like me and Amos were. Dave was like a brother to me, and he died saving my life. I think the only thing that kept me from hitting bottom was thinking I was responsible for saving the damn cabin.”

  Travis was caught up in the story now. “Go on.”

  Josh fell silent for a moment, and then he shrugged. “Covenant Falls is...unique. There’s about three thousand people in and around town. Then there’s a number of small ranches within a fifty-mile radius. Probably three quarters of the population are over fifty and have lived there all their lives. Its history is interesting—it was one of the earliest trading posts in Colorado. The founder was a Scotsman who saved the life of a Ute chief and in return received protection from the tribe. Thus the name Covenant Falls.”

  “Sounds interesting,” Travis said and meant it. He’d always liked history, especially American history.

  Josh gave him a crooked smile. “Yeah, but all I wanted was to be left alone, fix the cabin, sell it and get the hell out, especially when brownies and cookies and other baked stuff started appearing on my doorstep. I really didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone, particularly civilians. Then a very pretty mayor ambushed me in the backyard,” he continued. “I’d decided to resign from the human race, but it turned out the town had different ideas. Before I knew it, I was volunteering to join other vets in reroofing houses. For free.”

  He sounded chagrined and Travis laughed. Josh had been all warrior and all business. To think of him turning from tiger to pussycat was intriguing. Maybe Covenant Falls was unique. The man looked years younger.

  “You’re staying then.”

  “Yeah. I’m even part owner of an inn. It’s part of what Jubal and I are thinking about.”

  “Jubal? Not Jubal Pierce?”

  “You know him?”

  “I know of him. There’s not many Jubals in the world. He had one hell of a reputation in the Special Forces community until he disappeared several years ago. It was big news when he returned from the dead. How did he end up here?”

  “I mentioned on the phone it was complicated. When Eve and I got married, I moved in with her and her son. I wanted Dave’s cabin to be used by a veteran. An army chopper pilot named Clint was recommended by a military psychologist I knew. He was followed by Lieutenant Andrea Stuart, an army surgical nurse, and then Jubal, who was invited by Clint. They went way back. We’re all in on this project, but Jubal is the driving force.”

  Travis looked out at the mountains to their right as they drove south. “Looks like great horse country.”

  “The land around Covenant Falls is even better,” Josh replied. “It hugs the mountains and is off the beaten path. There’s some really fine ranches in the area. At least five want to be included in our project. But we don’t know where to start. We’ve been researching different Horses for Heroes programs, including several that include multiple ranches. Now we need a battle plan and you were damn good at that.”

  “How did this all get started?” Travis asked.

  “Riding helped Jubal immensely after he returned. He’d lost his team in Africa and was aimless until a rancher invited him to ride one of his horses. He says it changed his life, gave him a purpose. I think it’s important to him to help other veterans now. He knows how difficult it is to come back. All of us do. We decided to participate, but none of us knew how to start, what we would need, what kind of program works best for veterans. And us.”

  “And you think I do?” Travis said with a raised eyebrow.

  “I know you’re damned good at planning and implementi
ng plans. All we know is that contact with horses seems to be very therapeutic. We know there’s different types of programs but they don’t come close to meeting the demand.

  “Right now,” Josh continued, “he’s thinking of a long-term project, teaching vets the care of horses along with horsemanship. There’s jobs available in the field. But he’s open to other ideas. What we would like you to do is visit ongoing programs, learn about their pros and cons, staffing needs, requirements for a nonprofit and VA Administration grants.”

  “Is that all?” Travis asked incredulously.

  It was startling to see the smile spread across Josh’s face. “Probably not,” he said. “But it’s the beginning.”

  “Can you find a job for the young soldier I told you about?”

  “I’m sure we can. Jubal is working with another rancher on the program, and they both need help with horses. You think your soldier will be interested? If not, I’m sure we can find someone in town.”

  “I’ll talk to him. He’s a city boy but I think he’ll grab anything. He’s really a good kid and smart. And scared.”

  “He’ll have a lot of support here. The town loves its veterans.”

  Travis nodded.

  “I’ll take you to the cabin first,” Josh said. “I know you must be tired from the early flight. If you’re up to it, we’ll have supper later at Jubal’s ranch. Some other folks will be there.”

  “I’ll be up for it,” Travis said. He’d been growing more and more interested as Josh spoke.

  They arrived in Covenant Falls late in the afternoon after stopping for lunch along the way. There were no traffic lights, only a few stop signs. Josh pointed out the City Hall, medical clinic, veterinarian’s office, bank and real estate office. With a glance at the back seat, Travis noticed Amos was regarding the world outside with intense interest. It was good to see the dog thriving. Maybe now that he was in the United States again, he would adopt a dog.