Page 8 of Her Honorable Hero

“But Mommy found my brother, but her leg got broke.” Hope pointed down to her mother’s leg. “I member her in a cast. I made a flower on it.”

She stopped. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Not a single ice cube clinking could be heard.

“Jeremy?” Hope turned to her brother.

He took a moment to respond. “Huh?”

“What’s the next words?”

Jeremy carefully turned the page of the stapled papers. He pressed the corner tight.

“It says you disappeared, Hope.”

Hope whirled around and faced the group of fascinated listeners. “I got losted. Nobody could find me. Mommy was hurted and couldn’t get off the train and we needed the Marines like my Daddy.”

“What about the Navy?” someone called out from the back.

“No,” she shook her head emphatically, making her curls swing around her face. “Just Marines like my Daddy,” Hope said firmly.

Loud laughter sounded throughout the room.

Hope looked around in surprise. She looked down at her parents for reassurance, and when she saw Mike give her a thumbs-up, she started to laugh, too. When the chuckling finally subsided, the same voice that had called out about the Navy shouted out for Hope to continue. Miranda was pretty sure it was Wyatt Leeds, a member of Griff’s SEAL team.

“My mom ‘splained that the train was tipped over. It took lots of strong mens to pull it up. But I was losted. I was probably looking for my family, so I crawled outside. Everyone was looking for me.”

She turned to Jeremy. “Was I crying or was I brave like you?”

Jeremy was clearly dazed by the question. Miranda looked over at Susan, and she saw her friend had a similar look as her son. Hope’s childlike account of the terror was too much for both of them. Miranda remembered the exact moment she’d spotted Hope’s tiny form outside the train. Joy and panic had poured through her at that moment, a similar torrent of emotion that was flooding through her right now.

Mike maneuvered Susan next to Miranda. “Stay close,” he whispered to them both. Then he bounded up onto the stage and pulled his two children close to his chest, his head bending down low.

“Dad, I don’t know if I was brave,” Jeremy’s forlorn whispered words echoed across the room through his mic.

“You are the strongest little man I know.” Mike’s voice didn’t need a microphone.

Jeremy’s big eyes stared up at the man he clearly adored. A look of profound understanding passed between them, and the boy smiled.

Hope wiggled in her father’s hold. “I needs to tell the rest of the story.”

Mike grinned. He raised one of his knees so that his little girl could hop on, and she settled herself, then she turned to her brother and thrust out her hand. “Jeremy, give me the paper.”

Hope twisted around and looked at her audience. “The train was broke. My daddy and bunches of you tied rope around it to try to pull it so it wouldn’t fall over and splash into the water.”

Jeremy leaned across Mike’s lap. “Tell about Billy.”

Hope grinned. “Billy was a hero too, even though he was just a kid. He helped save people when he was a surfer. He called for help.”

Miranda remembered her feeling of relief when she’d seen Billy’s bright gold hair on the train.

“But the bestest heroes were my dad and Randa. Dad got my mom off the train and married her.”

Laughter roared throughout the crowd, carrying Miranda along with them.

“Why are they laughing?” Hope asked Mike.

“You made it sound like I married your mom that day. I would have too.” Mike kissed the top of Hope’s head.

Hope frowned, and wagged her finger at her audience. “They had a wedding later. I was a flower girl.” She turned over the paper that she plainly wasn’t reading from and cleared her throat.