He pulls into a cute little subdivision with houses that all look alike. He parks on the street in front of a brick house with flowers on each side of the walkway and an American flag waving on a post. All the potted plants, the beautiful flowers, the welcome sign, all of it, makes you happy just looking at it. But my heart stutters in my chest, knowing what pain is happening inside.
Cole walks around the truck and helps me down. I grab his hand and walk with him to the front door.
Peggy is a pretty woman in her late thirties or early forties. She seems genuinely happy to see Cole and surprised to see me.
“I brought my friend with me. I hope that’s okay. Peggy, this is Hope,” he tells her.
We’re following Peggy through her house and stop in the kitchen. “Absolutely it’s okay. Hope, it’s so nice to meet you. We can have some tea and sit on the back porch. Cole, Jeremy is out in the garage if you want to go see him.”
Cole looks at me questioningly, and I nod my head, assuring him I’m fine.
I can’t help but watch him walk away, appreciating the way his butt looks in his blue jeans.
I blush when I realize that Peggy caught me ogling him. But we both have a good laugh over it.
I follow her out to the porch, and we sit in rocking chairs looking out at her backyard. Like the front, there are flowers everywhere. ‘I love all your flowers.”
She smiles, taking a sip of her tea. “Thank you. When Jeremy went in the service I started gardening. It sort of helps me deal with stress.” She laughs then, pointing out at all the flowers taking over the majority of her yard. “You can tell I’ve been stressed a lot.”
I ask her about her kids and learn that she and Jeremy have fifteen-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. They both play sports; their son plays baseball, and the daughter plays basketball. We talk for what seems like hours about nothing and everything.
She of course asks about me and Cole. When I tell her that this is our second date, she seems openly surprised. “And he brought you here? To deal with this?”
I laugh then. “Oh, he didn’t want to. But when he told me about you and Jeremy, I wanted to come. I wanted to meet you, but I don’t know how to explain it. It’s obvious that Cole’s hid himself from the world because of his scars…”
“Scars! That man is gorgeous. No one cares about those scars,” she huffs, and automatically I like her more than I already did.
“I agree. He seems to think I care about his scars, but I barely even notice them.”
I’ve always been the type to put it out there. Some people appreciate that, and some people don’t. “I’m sorry about your husband’s injuries. Cole told me a little about it on the way here.”
She stops rocking for a second and then starts again. “Yeah, I was just happy to have him home alive. I didn’t care about his injuries; all I cared about was having my husband back. But he’s determined that the kids and I would be better off without him.”
She shrugs her shoulders easily, like it’s no big deal. But I can tell it’s a huge weight she’s carrying on her shoulders. “Cole said that in the army, Jeremy took care of his whole group—squadron, I think he called it. I imagine that he was the same way here, with his family. Always taking care of you all. And I guess with his injuries, he thinks he can’t do that anymore.”
Peggy huffs, “Stupid man. I don’t need him to take care of me. We just need him here with us. We can take care of ourselves.”
I lean up in my rocker and cover her hand that is gripping the side of her chair. I hold on to her, wanting her to hear my words when I say them to her. “I know that. We women can take care of ourselves. There’s no doubt about it. Especially if he’s been gone a long time, you’ve had to take care of everything. But maybe—and tell me if I’ve overstepping because quite frankly we just met.” I laugh softly. “But maybe Jeremy needs to take care of you. He needs to know that he is needed, and you can’t do this without him.”
Her face softens at my words, and it’s like a light bulb goes off in her head. She’s staring back at me for the longest time, and I’m worried that I did indeed go too far. What do I know? I’m just an outsider looking in.
A lone tear rolls down her cheek, and before I know it, the floodgates have opened. I stand up, pulling the other woman into my arms. She cries, sobs wracking through her whole body as she holds on to me like a lifeline. I don’t say anything. I don’t want to tell her it’s going to be all right and everything will work out. I don’t have any idea if that is true. So I just hold her and let her cry. Obviously, this has been bottled up inside her for a while now, and she’s held it back. I hold on to her and let her get it all out. I clench my eyes shut because I can feel the hurt and anger she’s held on to for who knows how long.
A movement in the corner has me raising my head, and I’m looking straight into Cole’s eyes. Concern is written on his face, and I lift my lips into a half smile, wanting to reassure him in some way. It’s obvious how much Jeremy and his wife mean to him, and like him, I want them to be all right. He watches us for the longest time, his gaze unreadable. Only when Peggy starts to pull from my arms does he go back in the door he was standing at.
“I’m so sorry, Hope. You have to think I’m crazy. Goodness.” She pulls a tissue from her pocket and wipes her eyes and nose. “You just met me, and I’m crying on you like a baby. I won’t be surprised if you never want to come back here again.”
I know she’s embarrassed. I know already what a strong woman she is, and she probably never lets go like that. “There’s no reason to be sorry. Sometimes it’s good to let it out. I’ll let you repay the favor to me sometime.”
She nods her head and falls back into her chair. I set easily down beside her and start to rock again. We talk more about her kids and about how I want to be a nurse. Time slips away from us as our new friendship builds over tea, flowers, and trying to solve the world’s problems.
6
Cole
“Everything okay inside?” Jeremy asks me as I walk into the garage with two soft drinks. We’ve already talked for awhile, and I can tell he doesn’t want me here. He’s mad at the world, it seems, but I don’t care. I’m not leaving here until we have a discussion, and he realizes what he’s doing to his family. Cheap talk is over and done with.
I shrug my shoulders, not knowing what the right thing to say is. Do I tell him that his wife is falling apart inside? Do I tell him that he’s pushing away the woman that he’s sworn to love for the rest of his life?
“Peggy’s crying.” I tell him softly, handing him his drink.
He takes a deep breath and lets it out loudly. “I’m destroying her, Cole. Fuck, she deserves better than this,” he says, waving his hand at the wheelchair he’s in. Jeremy lost both legs from the knees down. For a man that has always been so active and independent, I understand how he must feel.
I stare at the can in my hand and try to think of things from his perspective. I can’t tell him what he’s feeling is a bunch of shit. If I was in his place, I’d probably feel the same way. Hell, I don’t want to saddle a woman with me because she’d have to look at my ugly mug for the rest of my life. But it’s different with Cole and Peggy. They were together way before any of this happened.