He smiled and kissed me. “And I love you, Commander. Don’tyouforget that.”
I wouldn’t. I couldn't.
When we got out of the car, I put on my aviators that allowed me to do surveillance with no one knowing… I met him behind the car and walked by his side to the front door.
He rang the bell as a dog barked from inside the house.
“You don’t have a key?”
“I do, but I don’t want to scare her. And that’s Winston.” He smiled as the dog began to whine.
The door swung open as a woman who looked as if she’d had no sleep stood before us. The dog came bounding out as the woman turned and walked back into the house.
“Hey buddy,” he said, squatting down to pet the dog. “I told you I’d be back.”
Brent stood and looked up to where his mother had been standing. Raising his brows, he let out a weighted sigh as we entered the house.
Winston followed as we walked toward the woman sitting on the sofa with her head in her hands. Brent went over and sat down beside her.
“Mom, how are you?” he asked quietly.
She looked up at him, void of expression, then over to me. “Terrible.” She looked at the bandage covering his stitches and the bruising under his eyes. “What happened to you? And who’s this?”
Before he could say anything, I stepped forward and offered my hand. “I’m Commander John Langdon, ma’am. We spoke on the phone earlier this morning. I’m sorry for your loss.”
She blinked at me. “You work with him?”
“I do.” Fine choice of words, as Brent smiled at me. I raised a brow as I took a seat.
“Mom, John is my husband.”
Her face crumpled and her eyes furrowed. “Husband? What are you talking about?”
“We got married last New Year’s Eve in Vegas before John’s last deployment.”
She wiped the hair out of her eyes. “Why did you marry a man? Is this a joke, because it’s not funny. Your father would…” she trailed off as the realization that he was gone set in.
Brent reached out to wrap his arms around her while she cried into her hands. “Can I get you anything? Do you want something to drink?”
“No, I just want your father back,” she cried.
“I know,” he whispered to her. “Me too.”
I looked around and found a box of tissues on an end table. Pulling out two, I handed them to Brent for her. She took them and dried her face, but didn’t return his hug, but patted his leg. My heart broke for him.
“Have you eaten, Mrs. Trainor? I can go get you something if you’d like.”
She shook her head no as I glanced at Brent.
“Have you slept? We can handle things if you want to go lay down, Mom.”
“I have to go to the funeral home when your uncle gets here. We have to make the arrangements.”
“Okay, we can go with you,” he offered.
The door opened quietly as a man and woman walked in carrying two small suitcases. Mrs. Trainor looked up, then got off the sofa. I watched in disbelief as she walked over and hugged the man, then the woman. Standing, I moved over beside Brent as he stood from the sofa.
The man walked over and Brent stepped forward. “Hey Uncle Pete. It’s good to see you.” The man reached out and pulled my husband into a hug.
