“Hey, let me walk you out,” Fallon said quietly, raising his dark eyes to Erik’s.
“Sure,” Erik told him.
Fallon had come to them quiet and reserved. Erik wasn’t sure how much of that was from his service and how much was just his way, but when Fallon spoke, Erik listened. He’d be a few minutes late for Lydia if he had to.
They walked through reception and out into the cold clear night. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground from the big storm a few days ago. But the roads had been miraculously cleared just in time for the holiday.
Trinity Falls was laid out in front of them like aChristmas card, complete with snowy sidewalks, twinkling lights on the storefronts, candy cane decorations hanging from the lampposts, and a starry sky shimmering above that was almost too pretty to be real.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Erik said.
“I’m glad to be here,” Fallon agreed, his eyes on Erik. “Listen, I just wanted to tell you how much this means to me, to all of us. You’ve done so much for the vets around here. And we’re really looking forward to your wedding.I’mreally looking forward to it. Thank you for inviting all of us.”
It was more words in a row than Fallon had ever said to him before, and Erik was grateful for every one of them.
“I appreciate that,” he said, clapping the other man on the shoulder. “It means a lot to me to have a crew to share the day with.”
The man nodded, but Erik suspected he had more to say, so he held his tongue.
“Holidays are hard,” Fallon said at last, swallowing. “For a lot of us. It’s good to have something to look forward to.”
“For me too,” Erik said, pulling the other man close and hugging him. It was hard to open up like that, and he had a feeling Fallon might not have had a hug in a long time.
Fallon squeezed him hard for a moment.
“I better get back in there,” he muttered as he pulled back. “I’m almost up on stockings.”
“Thanks for doing that, by the way,” Erik said. “Hopefully, we’re brightening a lot of people’s days tomorrow.”
“It’s brightening a lot of people’s nights tonight,” Fallon said, before giving a wave and heading back in.
Well, he was right about that. One thing Erik had discovered right away during his own transition home was that helping others always made him feel better. He’d opened the Center with the idea that a rural community would be peaceful, but still have lots of opportunities for his veterans to volunteer. And he’d been right. Not a day went by when they didn’t get a call from a local farm, or the fire department, or the library asking if anyone wanted to pitch in on something. One of his guys was even teaching football to the elementary school kids.
From what he’d seen so far, the vets loved the little town, and the town loved them right back, as evidenced by the lavish meals inside and the goodies for the stockings, plus the offers of a room to stay in, or furniture or repairs for the Center, and what seemed like a never-ending supply of hand-knit hats and scarves for the vets who had never lived in a snowy climate before. Some of his guys had even gotten job offers and really settled down in Trinity Falls.
Of course, others were just here as a stopping pointto catch their breath and ease the transition, or to get help to navigating the training programs, scholarships, and other support they had earned through their service.
No matter the reason, Erik and his only employee, Samantha, were here to help. And it felt good to see all the smiling faces and hear them joking around in that cozy room.
Even Erik himself felt healed by the place he had created to help others. If that wasn’t a sign that he was doing the right thing with his life, he wasn’t sure what would be.
He puffed out a plume of breath into the chill air as he reached his SUV and hopped in, turning the key and sending a blast of that cold air through the vents.
Taking in the sleepy little town in all its Christmas finery, he decided it wasn’t a bad thing to just sit here for a few minutes and let the engine warm up.
He felt a pang of guilt that he wasn’t in more of a hurry.
I should be speeding out of town, desperate to reunite with my fiancée,he thought to himself.I haven’t seen her in over a year.
The thing of it was, though they had been dating for two years, he and Lydia hadn’t really spent all that much time together in person. Maybe it was only because he had always tempered his feelings for herwith patience, but lately, he stayed busy with work and didn’t find himself really longing for her.
Lydia hadn’t even called him back much these last few weeks, just sent some texts here and there that were more businesslike than romantic in any way.
It was probably just wedding stress on her part. But Erik was starting to worry that he was more excited about the big wedding he’d planned than he was about actually being married to her.
But it would all be fine. They never really had one of those relationships that people write songs about. For them, it was more like two good people who enjoyed each other’s company. And getting married seemed like the next logical step.
As he pulled out of his parking spot, he tried not to think about any real reason he might feel torn about marrying Lydia.
