Notes from Home

by Dirk Greyson

  Anyway, that’s enough of that. With just a few days to go until the holidays and the fact that I’m done teaching classes until January, I think I’ll volunteer at the crisis center for a few days. I determined that I wasn’t going to be maudlin while you were gone, and I’m going to do that. There are people who are really hurting, and I’m going to help them this year. :)

  On a happier note, Mom and Dad are having a family get-together on Christmas Eve this year. My sisters are all coming, with their kids. Even Kevin is driving in with Anna from St. Louis to spend the holiday with the rest of the family.

  “Shit,” I groaned, lowering the page to my chest with a sigh. Dex’s two sisters, their husbands, the kids, and now even Dex’s brother and his family were going to be there. Fuck and blast, the only person who was going to sit at that holiday table without someone next to them was going to be my Dex. My hand shook a little, and I stopped it, lifting the letter to continue.

  It’s going to be great to have all the kids around for the holidays, though on Christmas morning, it’s going to be just me, Mom, and Dad. The others will be spending the morning with their families, and then in the afternoon, everyone is coming over for Christmas dinner. It should be something else. My only consternation is how I’m going to tell Mom and Dad that I’m not going to church with them. Still, I’ve decided to stick to what I believe.

  I hope you have some plans for the holiday wherever you are, and I hope those include at least a little Christmas cheer and a nice dinner. I know you told me that the guys don’t tend to put up decorations when you’re on assignment, but I hope you manage just a few so you can get in the holiday spirit.

  I turned toward the lineup of envelopes and smiled. Dex had provided the cheer and hadn’t even realized it. These envelopes brightened my room and brought a lightness to my heart that hadn’t been there since I had left a month ago. I wished more than anything that I could be back to spend the holiday with him.

  I’ll be thinking of you, and I’m sending you all the warmth, love, and holiday cheer that I can. Please know that I love you and that I will be hoping that you are okay and are able to come home as soon as possible. No matter what day you return, I can guarantee that it will feel like Christmas, my birthday, and a damned Happy New Year all rolled into one.

  Merry Christmas.

  I love you,

  Dex

  My throat closed up and I could barely breathe as I slipped the letter back into the envelope and set it with the others. I stared at the envelopes as a wave of longing washed over me. I tried to push it aside, but it wasn’t happening. Every fiber of my being told me that I shouldn’t be here. That I needed to somehow get the hell out of this place and home to Dex. But that was impossible. I had orders, and I couldn’t just leave. Where in the hell was I going to go? We were in the middle of sizzling nowhere, and the only transportation wasn’t mine to command. No, I had to just suck it up and make the most of it. The assignment would be over eventually, and then I could go back to Dex. I had to think about that and hold it in my heart, because right now it was all I had.

  Chapter 4

  “THE TRANSPORT is here,” Henry said inside our quarters. “The three of you going home for Christmas have ten minutes to gather your things and get your ass on the truck, or it’s leaving without you!” There was a hint of joy in his voice.

  Hurried footsteps sounded on the plywood floor, and I stayed still. There was no need for me to hurriedly get ready, and seeing the others’ excited faces was only going to depress me more. I’d go out and say goodbye when they were ready to go, but not a moment before.

  “Hollister,” Henry snapped.

  I bounded off the bed and hurried to where he waited, wondering if I’d done something wrong. His voice had that tone, and Jesus, all I needed right now was a dressing down. That would be the icing on the crap cake that was this day.

  When I reached him, he handed me an envelope, white, with a sleigh on it. “This one isn’t as good as the others, but we figured it would make a nice surprise.”

  “Excuse me. You…?”

  Henry smiled. “All of us, actually. I had the envelopes, but the guys helped deliver them. Dex asked that they be a surprise, and we got a chuckle out of you trying to figure it out. Anyway, this isn’t from Dex, but us. Jameson was the one who decorated it, in case you were wondering who was crafty.” He grinned and pointed to direct my attention to my hand. I fumbled with the envelope, but Henry stopped me. “Get your gear. You have five minutes and the truck is leaving, so snap to.”

  I barely had a chance to think before my feet had carried me back to my cubicle. I grabbed my bag, stuffed in my clothes and kit, as well as the small gift I had bought for Dex on my trip here and had intended to give him when I got home. I also gathered the letters, placing them into a larger envelope for safekeeping. My wallet and ID followed, and then I raced through the quarters, saying goodbye and Merry Christmas to everyone as I passed, my feet barely hitting the ground. The back door of the transport truck was open, and I bounded in, slammed it closed, and the truck pulled away, crossing the desert, away from our patrol area. I was going home.

  In the seat, bouncing as we drove as quickly as possible, I managed to check what was in the envelope this time. No letter, just a computer printout with flight information and a hastily scribbled Merry Christmas in black ink on the top. “Jameson?” I questioned, realizing who wasn’t in the truck. The others just smiled, and I realized it had all been a put-up job. Damn, I was lucky in so many ways, and now I just had to keep it together for a while longer.

  Chapter 5

  I THOUGHT I would never get there. A military transport to Frankfurt that I swore shook my insides all to hell, and then a civilian flight to Chicago that was delayed. It was snowing, and the airport was a madhouse when I arrived, with weather delays everywhere. I managed to get to my plane to Milwaukee, and it boarded and then sat and sat. Finally, we took off and then landed in Milwaukee at about sunset on Christmas Eve. I was exhausted, excited, hungry, tired, and everything else I could imagine. But Dex was just a few miles away, and I’d walk them if I had to.

  I hadn’t had a chance to make any arrangements to get out of the airport, so thank God for Uber. I called one, and the Focus that showed up half scared me to death, but beggars can’t be choosers, and I loaded my bag and settled into the back seat of the warm car, hoping to hell the freeways were clear enough to get me as close as possible.

  Highway traffic crawled through town, but as we headed north, it grew less, and we finally made the turnoff onto Silver Spring Drive. The surface roads were plowed, and we headed toward the lake. At least the roads were somewhat clear.

  “Can you pull into the mall, right there, and wait for me? It’s still open, and I need to get something that I have set aside. They promised it would be ready as long as I got there by closing.” And it looked like I was just going to make it.

  “Sure,” he agreed, and pulled into the mall parking structure.

  I got out and rushed across to the enclosed mall. I could tell the stores were getting ready to close, and I raced through the mall and into just the place I needed.

  “I’m Johnny Hollister,” I said, and the girl behind the counter took one look at me and smiled.

  “We’ve been waiting for you, and so has he.”

  WHEN THE driver pulled to a final stop, I thanked him, gave him a huge cash tip, as well as the one through the app, wished him a Merry Christmas, and hauled myself and my gear out of the car before carefully lifting the tabbed box off the seat. He drove away, and I stood at the edge of the street looking at Dex’s parents’ house, with lights strung on the shrubs out front, covered with multicolored glistening snow, and a wreath on the door, the diamond-pane windows glowing.

  I took a breath, inhaling the fresh snap in the cold air, and then hefted my bag and headed toward the front door. I knocked quietly and heard footsteps approach. The door opened, and Dex’s mother stood in front of me, her mo
uth open, and then her hand snapped in front of it. She lowered her hand and smiled, her eyes filling. “Dex, this last delivery is for you.” She stepped back, and I went inside the small entry area, gently setting the box and my bag on the floor.

  “What is it, Mom?” Dex asked as he came closer. “Oh my God!” Instantly my arms were filled with Dex, shaking and crying, and damned if I wasn’t going right along with him. “You’re here.” He held me tight, his voice breaking. “I wasn’t… you weren’t… how did you…?” He buried his face in my neck and quieted as I sighed and closed my eyes as everything fell away except him.

  When I opened them, I found we had an audience of smiling and curious people. “This must be Johnny,” a slightly older version of Dex said. “It’s good to meet you.”

  “The box is whining,” a little boy said, pointing.

  “It’s your Christmas present,” I told Dex.

  The boy tugged at the top of the box, and a black nose with a white spot popped out. “A puppy!” the boy shouted.

  Dex backed away and lifted the little guy. He wriggled in Dex’s arms, trying to get to his face, licking and squirming and just happy.

  “You said you wanted to get a dog someday, and I thought that we could get one together. This is my last assignment. I informed the team on my way home. When this is over, I’ll be here to stay.”

  Dex set the dog on the floor. Tears ran down his cheeks as he hugged me once again. “You, the puppy, your news….” I held him tighter as he shook once more. “Best Christmas ever.” Then he kissed me, and I had to agree.

  DIRK GREYSON is very much an outside kind of man. He loves travel and seeing new things. Dirk worked in corporate America for way too long and now spends his days writing, gardening, and taking care of the home he shares with his partner of more than two decades. He has a master’s degree and all the other accessories that go with a corporate job. But he is most proud of the stories he tells and the life he’s built. Dirk lives in Pennsylvania in a century-old home and is blessed with an amazing circle of friends.

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/dirkgreyson

  Email: dirkgreyson@comcast.net

  By Dirk Greyson

  An Assassin’s Holiday

  Flight or Fight

  Hell and Back

  Lost Mate

  Notes from Home

  Playing With Fire

  DAY AND KNIGHT

  Day and Knight

  Sun and Shadow

  Dawn and Dusk

  YELLOWSTONE WOLVES

  Challenge the Darkness

  Darkness Threatening

  Darkness Rising

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Notes from Home

  © 2019 Dirk Greyson

  Cover Art

  © 2019 L.C. Chase

  http://www.lcchase.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-206-8

  Digital eBook published December 2019

  v. 1.0

  Printed in the United States of America