Harper stared at her lap and pretended not to hear the gasps.
Sophie, on her left, poked her under the table with her foot.
“Harper was on her way to Fremont when we met. And that’s where she’s headed in a week or two. She got some opportunities that she’s really excited about and I’m happy for her. She’s a great girl.” Luke paused awkwardly and Harper sneaked a peek around the table. Shock, disappointment, confusion.
“Geez, when you got up I thought you were going to propose to the girl,” Mrs. Moretta announced. No one laughed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Well that was horribly painful,” Luke said as he shut the driver’s door.
The dinner was over. Thankfully, most of the festive feeling had returned by the time dessert was served after Luke’s truth bomb, but it had been touch and go for a while. Harper patted his knee. “You did what needed to be done.”
“Did you see my mom’s face? I feel like I just kicked my way through a litter of puppies,” he groaned.
Harper laughed. “Poor baby. It’s fine. It’s over and you’ll never have to do it again. Everyone understands that we’re both fine with the decision. Sure, maybe they think we’re chicken for not trying to stick it out for Max and Lola.”
Luke pulled out of the restaurant’s lot and headed for home.
“They all thought I was going to propose and then I had to go and crush their dreams,” he sighed, running a hand over his head. “I feel like such an ass.”
“If it makes you feel better, I thought you were going to propose, too.”
“Very funny, brat.”
Harper snickered and patted his leg.
“So how do you feel?” Luke asked, changing the subject.
“About all this?”
He nodded.
Harper sighed. “Guilty, sad, worried. You name it and I feel it. How about you?”
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. I worry about pushing you out the door and leaving you out there on your own.”
“I’m a big girl, Luke.”
“I know you are, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about you.”
“There’s always a mix of excitement and anxiety involved with deploying. I’ve done it before, so it’s not so much the ‘unknowns’ as it is the ‘knowns.’”
“Like?” Harper asked.
“Like kids who never have enough to eat. Some of the people there who will never trust us. The sandstorms. The monotony. The danger. But then there are good things, too. My unit has a strong bond that comes from a kind of intense shared suffering.”
“And you’re in charge?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah, I’m the commanding officer of our infantry unit.”
“Is that a lot of pressure?”
“Not when we all work together and do what we’re supposed to do. I have a great group of men and women who, for the most part, make it all easier.”
Harper nodded. “What’s it like to come home? Does it feel like you’re living two different lives?”
“Sometimes it feels like it’s easier to deploy than to come home. You go from getting shot at and facing life and death decisions every day to trying to decide which burger to order off of the menu. It always takes a little while to remember that just because our families and friends aren’t at war, it doesn’t mean that how they live their lives is any less important.”
