“You getting back with your high school girlfriend?” Jose asked. “Rosanna?”
“No way… that ship has sailed. But who knows? I’m hoping to run into someone here. Just don’t know if it’ll happen.
Jose laughed, but there was sympathy in it. “We’re a bunch of fucking messes.”
“What about you?” Jack asked, grateful to shift focus. “Anyone back home you're trying to win over?”
Jose's expression darkened slightly. “Emma Bunswick. We dated in high school. I was crazy about her.”
“Bunswick? Is that Terry Bunswick’s daughter? The Drug Task Force captain?”
“Yeah.”
“Damn, that’s about as bad as me with Emily.” Jeremy laughed.
Jose snorted. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.”
“And? What happened?” Jeremy prompted.
“I joined the Marines right after graduation. Told her I'd come back for her, that we'd make it work.” Jose's jaw tightened. “But she headed to college, and we just went in different directions.”
“Where is she now?” Jack asked.
“You wouldn’t fucking believe it. She’s also back on the Shore.” Jose's smile was sad. “I see her around town sometimes. She's always friendly and asks how I'm doing. I just never worked up the courage to ask her out again.” Jose raised his glass. “So here's to us. Four idiots who thought we were being heroes by walking away from the women we loved.”
Jack, Trevor, and Jeremy raised their glasses with Jose, the clink of glass against glass somehow both celebratory and mournful.
“So what do we do?” Jose asked. “Just accept that we screwed up and move on?”
“No.” Jack's voice was firm. “We do what we should have done in the first place. We fight for them. We show up, day after day, and we prove that we're here for them.”
“And if they don't want us back?” Jeremy asked quietly.
“Then at least we'll know we tried,” he said. “At least we'll know we didn't give up without a fight.”
Jeremy nodded slowly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “You're right. I just wish Aiden would give me five minutes to explain. To apologize.”
“Maybe he will, eventually.” Jack clapped Jeremy on the shoulder. “But first you've got to show him you're serious. That you're not going anywhere this time.”
“To staying,” Jeremy said, raising his glass again.
“To not being idiots anymore,” Jose added.
“To second chances,” Jack finished. “And to the women brave enough to consider giving them to us.”
They drank, and Jack felt something settle in his chest. He wasn't alone in this. Jeremy, Trevor, and Jose understood what it meant to walk away and regret it. To serve their country but lose their hearts in the process.
Through it all, Jack felt the last pieces of his decision clicking into place. This was where he belonged. Not on a ship halfway around the world, not in a barracks in California, but here. Among people who knew his history, who'd watched him grow up, who'd welcome him home without judgment or expectation.
They said their goodbyes, and Jack climbed into his SUV. As he drove back to his parents' house, his mind replayed the evening. The American Legion meeting. The conversations at the pub. The easy way he'd slipped back into the rhythm of Baytown life.
This was right. Coming home was right.
Now he just had to figure out how he could make it work with Rachel. How to show her he was serious about staying and building a life here. How to earn back the trust he'd broken.
But that was a problem for tomorrow. Tonight, Jack just let himself feel grateful for the community that had welcomed him home, and hopeful for the future that was finally starting to take shape.
17
