Lizzie and Trent had broken up after that, and Lizzie had run away to be a musician, abandoning not only Trent, but Seth, too. Seth had been more hurt by her abandonment than he’d ever admitted to anyone. He and Lizzie, as twins, had done everything together as children and teenagers. Then Trent had entered the picture, and everything had been destroyed.
Seth had worked a few jobs in Fair Haven before moving to Seattle, not wanting to hear his parents complain about his throwing his life away. He had a few friends from high school working in Seattle, and he’d moved in with them. Sometimes there were women, but mostly, Seth struggled to find a purpose.
He’d never been a great student. He’d enjoyed woodworking, but after Lizzie had left, somehow he couldn’t do that anymore. Maybe it was because she’d encouraged him to do it in the first place.
Then he’d gotten a knock on his door from a recruiter that had changed his life.
Seth had joined the Marines just short of his twenty-first birthday, serving three tours in five years. He’d moved up the ranks, and he’d quickly become close friends with a number of other Marines. Max had been his closest friend.
But then Max had been killed by an IED during Seth’s last tour, and everything about his involvement with the Marines seemed pointless. Max had left a wife and little girl behind, but worst of all, Seth had survived when Max had not.
Seth had walked away with only some cuts and bruises, but Max had been too close to the IED. He’d been killed instantly.
So Seth had told his CO, Staff Sergeant Felix Loyd, that he was going on inactive duty instead of signing up for another tour, despite the fact that he’d have been close to attaining sergeant status if he’d stayed on active duty another year or two.
Sergeant Loyd hadn’t been happy with Seth’s decision. He’d called it a total waste. “You’re one of my best and brightest,” he’d said. “What the hell are you going to do back in Nowhere, Washington?”
And in a way, Sergeant Loyd had been right. Seth hadn’t known what he’d do back here in Fair Haven.
He drank his coffee, and then around seven o’clock, he got dressed and went down to the shop to get some work done.
Alan wasn’t there yet, but Seth didn’t mind. He had a table he wanted to finish, and although Seth appreciated Alan’s input, sometimes it was easier not to have the old man hovering.
He didn’t even hear Alan enter, he was so deep in his work, and after he’d finished the last leg of the table, Alan gave him an appreciative slap on the shoulder.
“Great work, son. I’m impressed.” Alan inspected the table. Although Seth called him Old Man, Alan was no more than fifty. His gray beard lent him an older air, and Alan had embraced the title without protest.
Seth stood up, wiping his forehead. “Thanks. I need to polish it up, but it should be done by tomorrow.”
“I’m still impressed you could return to woodworking after years of not doing it and be this good. I’m not sure even I could do that.”
Seth shrugged, embarrassed. He was so used to the military, with its no-nonsense commands and lack of straightforward praise, that hearing Alan’s compliments now made him uncomfortable.
“At this rate, I’ll be hiring you full-time.” Alan gave him an assessing look. “Unless you have other plans?”
“Not particularly.”
“Excellent. We’ll talk about it later. I need to finish up this chair today.”
By the afternoon, Seth had almost forgotten about the nightmare that had awoken him that morning. Working with his hands, feeling the grain of each piece of wood, sent him into a kind of trance. He’d forgotten how much he’d enjoyed this work.
His idyll ended, though, when his phone rang and he saw it was none other than his CO calling him. Seth frowned. What the hell did Sergeant Loyd want?
Seth knew very well that, even though a reservist could be called up at any time, generally speaking, it was pretty rare. Yet seeing Sergeant Loyd’s name flash on his phone caused him to feel—panicked? Excited? He didn’t know how to identify this particular emotion.
“This is Thornton,” he answered, stepping outside for some privacy.
“Corporal, hello—how’s it going? Where are you again? Bellingham?”
“Fair Haven.”
“Right. Never been there. I wanted to call you because I have an opportunity that I thought you’d be perfect for.”
Seth leaned against the wall of the building, his heart hammering, wondering what the hell Sergeant Loyd had in mind this time.
“We need more guys—guys like you, Thornton—and I’ve wracked my brain to find somebody else, but you’re the man I need. I could get you reinstated to active like that if you accepted.” Seth could hear him snap his fingers. “Then you’d be on tour again by October.”
Seth couldn’t believe it. It was one thing to be called up again while on inactive duty; it was another to have a choice in the matter.
“What’s the job?” he asked.
Sergeant Loyd gave him the lowdown, telling him again that Seth was one of his best guys, and if he took this last tour, Seth could be promoted to sergeant if he wanted.
“I know you’re on inactive, but I told you that was a total waste. I think you know it, too.”
“When do you need my answer?”
“The sooner the better. Let’s say by July fifteenth. That’s when I have to turn in my paperwork.”
Seth assured Sergeant Loyd he’d give him his answer by then, and then he stood, staring at nothing, as he thought. He couldn’t help but agree with his CO: what was he doing in Fair Haven? Woodworking and hanging around? He’d excelled in the Marines, moving up the ranks with ease, and the only reason he’d decided not to take a fourth tour was because he’d thought he was done. Max’s death had changed his outlook: life was such a fragile thing. Could he really test the limits of his own mortality a fourth time?
But now that he was basically a civilian again, he felt lost. Adrift.
Then he thought of Rose, of her pointing a gun at him, and his vow to keep her safe. He rubbed the back of his neck. What would happen if he left her, and this ex-boyfriend of hers hurt her? Or worse?
The thought was unbearable. Even though he’d only known her a short time, she’d affected him deeply. She’d made him want to do more than just drift along in life without any purpose.
And what if another tour ended up being his last?
If Rose had known that Seth Thornton, her seemingly unassailable neighbor, suffered from nightmares just like she did, she might have just laughed. It was too ridiculous, too melodramatic.
But that night, she didn’t know of Seth’s dreams. She only knew of her own, and she wished that she could be rid of them once and for all.
She always dreamed the same dream: the day when Johnny had brought her to his apartment and told her he had a deal for her. She’d been all of twenty, naïve and sheltered, and Johnny had charmed her the moment she’d met him. He was handsome and witty, and he told her she was beautiful.
When you grow up with a brother and no parents, and that same brother tries to hide you from the world in his best effort to keep you safe, it ironically creates a situation where you become vulnerable to people. People like Johnny.