"It would only be like five people, although we're thinking about adding a sixth. He's not a widower, but he never remarried after getting divorced years ago." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's not that big of deal, really. Instead of making a chicken pot pie for myself and eating it all week, I'll cook a meal each day and share it."
"You really enjoy cooking and serving others, don't you?"
Charity let out a lengthy sigh. "I thought I was ready to retire, but I honestly don't know what to do with all of my free time."
"Count me in. I'd love to help any way possible."
Maybe if she focused on serving others during the holidays, she wouldn't feel her mom's absence quite so acutely.
CHAPTER 22
Damon:Just thought I'd send a quick message while I have internet access. I'd call, but it's three in the morning there, and I really don't have much time. It's been a long week! I had hoped we'd make it back to base camp next week, but I'm not sure we will. Things haven't gone as planned.
Damon rubbed his tired eyes as he thought about all that had gone wrong over the past two weeks. The first mission didn’t go as smoothly as planned, but they managed to remove a high value target, who disclosed the location of a former military facility now controlled by the Taliban.
The two units—Damon’s and the seal team they were working with—were supposed to destroy the facility. But the Taliban must have been tipped off, because they walked into an ambush. Thankfully, his unit all made it out alive. Unfortunately, the seal team suffered a casualty.
Now, before returning to base, they had do reconnaissance to locate and confiscate a large weapons cache owned by insurgents.
Damon:I miss you. I can't believe Christmas is in a few weeks. I wish I could be home with you for the holidays. At this rate, I hope we make it back to base camp by Christmas so I can at least talk to you on Christmas Day. I love you! I can't wait to hear you say it again.
Christmas with Grace.
Now there was something to add to his bucket list. Thoughts of snowball fights followed by drinking hot cocoa in front of a fire with her snuggled in his arms warmed his body. He dreamed of sleigh rides at the ranch and kissing her under the mistletoe.
"Yo, Lancelot, we're moving out." King's deep voice pulled Damon from his daydreams.
"Coming." Damon pushed away from the wall of the small internet café.
They’d spent most of their time these last twelve days in smaller villages, so everyone was taking advantage of being in city of Al Khidr in Southern Iraq.
"Mind if I drive?" King asked.
They always took turns driving, rotating positions in the Humvee. Every time King was slotted to sit in the back seat, he volunteered to take an extra turn driving. Most of them agreed to let King take their turn, because even though they all found the lack of leg room in the back seat uncomfortable, they were at least five inches shorter than King's six-foot-seven frame. He also outweighed them by at least forty pounds of pure muscle. No one wanted to cross him.
"Knock yourself out." Damon motioned to the driver's door then climbed into the rear passenger seat, where King would sit in the rotation.
They were supposed to be vigilant as they crossed the desert terrain, but Damon's eyelids grew heavy.
McDonald nudged his arm just as his head was about to start bobbing. "Did you get a message off to your girl?"
Mention of Grace had him wide awake.
"Yeah. It would have been nice to talk to her, but..."
"I hear you. I sent my wife a text message then called and left her a voicemail too. She likes to hear the sound of my voice, since she knows it’s easy not to say it like it really is in a text."
Wish I'd thought of that.
Damon laughed. "Let me guess, you left one of your PG-rated, yet innuendo filled messages."
McDonald wiggled his eyebrows. "Is there any other kind?"
McDonald had a wife and two kids at home. They seemed happy, but Damon knew she worried about Ronald. He worried about them too, especially after missing the birth of his second child a couple years ago while they were in Afghanistan.
Damon didn't want that to be him and Grace. He wanted to kiss her good night, not wish her sweet dreams over the phone. He wanted to hold her in his arms when she was upset or missing her mom. He hated the idea of her spending Christmas alone.
She wouldn't technically be alone, he knew that. But even though Paige and his mom would include her in their festivities, it wouldn't be the same for Grace without her mom.
