I had one leg in my window when Marla called. “Hey, Jagger?”
“Yeah?”
“If you ever want to talk about your dreams or…anything, I’ll always be here for you. Even if my window isn’t next to yours anymore.”
“Thanks, Marla.”
***
The following morning, I got an early start on the drive down to Maryland. Sergeant John Nelson’s family lived in a small town along the coast that looked really nice as Idrove through. My heart grew heavy as I turned onto his street and passed a dad teaching his little boy how to ride a bike. My friend would never get to do that because of me.
Nelson’s house was a small blue Cape. There was an old push-mower in the middle of the front lawn, which was almost knee high and only half cut. It looked like someone had given up in the middle of the job. The front door was open, except for the screen door, and I could hear a kid’s show playing from a TV inside somewhere. I took a deep breath and knocked.
A woman who looked vaguely familiar came to the door and smiled. “You must be Jagger.”
“Bridget?”
She opened the screen door. The bottom was wood, so I’d only seen the top half of her until that moment. When I saw the rest, my heart leaped into my throat.
“You’re…”
She rubbed her very swollen belly and smiled. “Eight months along. John got leave to come home for our son’s first day of kindergarten. It happened then.”
I closed my eyes. “I had no idea.”
“How could you? I hadn’t even told John yet. I had so many complications with my first pregnancy and wound up bedridden for four months. John was such a worry-wart, and I didn’t want him to not be focused while he was where he was, so I didn’t tell him. He was supposed to be discharged when I was six months along, so I figured he’d come home to a big surprise.”
I swallowed.
Bridget stepped back and waved me in. “Well, come on in.”
I panicked and thumbed behind me. “Actually, could I…finish mowing the lawn for you?”
“Sergeant Langston, I can’t let you do that, even if it does take me all day to get through it.”
“It’s Jagger. I’m not a marine anymore, so no need for the honorific.”
She smiled. “My husband would disagree. He always said,Once a marine, always a marine.”
I looked back at the lawn. “I’d really like to mow, if it’s okay with you.”
She shrugged. “I’m not going to stop you.”
I extended the box in my hand. “These are the things we spoke about on the phone.”
Bridget took the box, and I took my time mowing the rest of Sergeant John Nelson’s lawn. It was hot as hell today, but I didn’t mind one bit. After, I put the mower back in the garage, and then I couldn’t avoid his wife or going inside his house anymore.
Bridget opened the door with a tall glass of lemonade in her hand. “For you.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
The contents of the box I’d brought were laid out all over the table—things I’d won over the last few years of playing cards. Most of it was stupid—a belt, a cell phone charger, one left sneaker, a toothbrush, a piece of paper with his Netflix password. But there was also a leather wallet I thought she might actually want to keep. Bridget lifted the sneaker. “I wondered why there was only one when they shipped home John’s things.”
I smiled. “I figured maybe the belt and wallet might be nice to have.”
She picked up two small photos I’d never seen before and held them out to me. “These were inside his wallet.”
One was a photo of me and Nelson with our arms around each other. I swallowed. “We took this the night we finished basictraining.”
