The food came. Jenny grabbed one of the two cheeseburgers the second the plate was down, but she paused before eating long enough to look up at Maude with a blinding smile. “Heavens, but that smells good.”
He was just as hungry, and they both concentrated on hamburgers and fries. He was impressed. When she finished with the first burger and french fries, she fastened her gaze on him. “Your turn to tell your life story.”
“You still have a burger left.”
“That’s dessert. A dignified pause is warranted,” she explained patiently.
He chuckled. He was both relieved and yet oddly saddened to be leaving Covenant Falls the day after tomorrow.
“Fair’s fair,” Jenny persisted. “I get to ask a question now.”
“Okay,” he said. “Ask.”
“How long have you been in the army?”
“Seventeen years in September.”
“Do you want to stay in?”
“Depends on the job. My injuries, both leg and hand, will keep me out of the field.”
She studied him for a long moment. “Why did you join the army?”
He shrugged. “Nine-Eleven, like a lot of people my age. A close friend died in the South Tower.”
“What were you planning to do?”
“Sports management. High school or college athletics. I’d just received my undergrad degree and was planning to get my master’s, but sports didn’t seem that important after Kevin died. Instead, I went into officer candidate school.”
“What about your family?”
“There isn’t any,” he said in a flat tone that ordinarily would have warned most people off. He’d already said more to her than he remembered telling anyone else. More explanation would carry too much pain.
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