Page 50 of A Hero Comes Home

The ass!

Dinner was ready by five; so, Sally set everything on warm and waited. And waited. And waited.

At five fifteen, she expected the truck to pull into the driveway and the kids to come barreling into the kitchen bubbling with excitement over their excursion. The school was only three miles from here. At five thirty, she figured the bus might have been a little late. By five forty-five, she grew worried. At six, when she finally heard the roar of the truck’s motor and the shouts of the kids, she was alternately relieved and angry.

They came running into the kitchen, giving her a quick hug, then rushing into the living room for their two-hour video game fix. They were permitted only two hours per day during the summer, and there would be a one-hour limit come fall on school days, after homework, according to the rules Sally insisted upon. In the midst of their chatter, she caught the words burger and fries and The Bay Shack. When Jake sauntered in, he carried a doggie bag with The Bay Shack imprint on it.

“You took them out to eat? Without letting me know?”

“We brought you some food, too,” Jake said, plopping the bag on the table, as if she should be happy at the surprise. Just then, he took a look around the kitchen, saw what she’d prepared, and said, “Uh-oh!”

“Listen up, oh, clueless one,” she said, trying to keep her voice down to control her fury. She put her hands, which were shaking, on the table and leaned forward. “I get that you were upset, but you didn’t give me a chance to explain. Kevin just stopped by to see if I was all right.”

“No, you listen,” he said, seething back at her, his hands on the opposite side of the table, leaning forward, too. Their faces almost met in the middle. “I don’t give a damn if you want to continue your affair with good ol’ Kev, but at least have the decency to do it in private.”

“Affair? Affair?” she sputtered.

“Shhh!” Jake cautioned, looking toward the living room where the creepy ambient cave sounds of Minecraft could be heard at a high volume.

“Don’t you shush me,” she said, although she lowered her voice. “Where were you all afternoon?”

“Driving around.”

“For three hours?”

“Yeah. I was pretty upset, but I calmed down. That’s why I took the kids out to eat and brought you food. A peace offering. Some peace, huh?”

“Here’s a news flash, Jacob. I never had sex with Kevin or any other man since we’ve been married, but, if I decided to, I sure as hell wouldn’t need permission from you.”

She could see that she’d startled him, and he started to apologize. “I’m sorry if I overreacted—”

“If? I’ll give you if, Mister Ass-of-the-Month!” With that statement, she went over and lifted the pot of linguine with clam sauce and dumped the contents in the sink. “Thank you very much, Sally,” she said in a fake male voice, “for preparing my favorite meal, even though you were scared to death when the kids were an hour and a half late. Thanks for the fucking phone call. And, oh, thanks for worrying that I might jump off a cliff. Like I ever would! Ha, ha, ha.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just regaining my sanity. By the way, who’s Major Durand from the Pentagon?”

He had been gaping at the mess in the sink. The pasta and sauce could go down the disposal, but the shells would have to be picked up. His head jerked up suddenly as he realized what she’d asked him. “How do you know that name?”

“It popped up on the caller ID of your phone a few days ago when that oddball ring came on. You know, brr-ing, brr-ing, brr-ing.”

“That brr-ing, brr-ing, brr-ing caller ID doesn’t come up automatically,” he replied with a decided note of sarcasm. But then he tilted his head in question and stared at her suspiciously, as if she’d been deliberately invading his privacy. “His calls are on a private, secure app.”

A private, secure app with the Pentagon. Interesting. “Yeah, well, you were out in the garage lifting your stupid weights, and the phone kept buzzing, and I thought it might be important, so I punched a bunch of buttons till it stopped and the caller ID came up. Big fat hairy deal!” She glowered at him.

“And you never bothered to mention it to me?”

“So sue me!”

Jake hated that expression. It was what people said when they lost an argument. “Calm down.”

“No, you calm down, you clueless moron. And don’t worry. I didn’t read any of your precious secret messages.”

“Good.”

Sally felt as if the threads that had held her together the past few weeks were frayed and beginning to unravel. Any minute now she would start bawling. And so she picked up her car keys and purse and headed for the door. “I’m going back to the shop where I’m wanted and needed and appreciated. See you later. Maybe.”

“Sally, don’t go. Let’s talk.”