No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology by Elizabeth Knox (black authors fiction TXT) 📕

softly. In the back of her mind, she felt he may think her unstable and unreliable to know her past.

“I don’t have a problem with your performance. I want to know if I should expect a disgruntled husband to show up on my doorstep.”

“Not mine. I mean no. I don’t have a husband.”

“Someone else’s husband?” He glared waiting for her answer.

She opened her mouth to deny it but couldn’t. That’s how it all started, so she nodded.

“Hmm,” he twisted his lips unapproving.

“Not for the reason you think. And I’m sure no one is looking for me. My parents were gone by the time I graduated high school and I began housekeeping for someone who was a family friend. Anyway, her husband was caught cheating. When confronted, he told her it was me to protect his girlfriend. Sadly, the wife believed him instead of me, even though we had been friends our entire lives.” She lifted her shoulders and took a deep breath before continuing. “I had always dreamed of traveling and seeing the world. I had no family and no reason to stay put any longer, so I left town. That was years ago and now, bouncing from town to town has just become a way of life. And honestly nowhere has captured my interest or felt like home, so I keep going.”

She glanced up and saw no judgement in his expression.

“Maybe I have a bit of gypsy in my blood.” She smiled. “The longest I’ve stayed in one place is six months. And that’s when I found Tasha. She belonged to the elderly lady I was sitting with. When she passed, the family was deciding what to do with her. I thought she would be the perfect company for me, so I offered to take her. And she has been a blessing, I’m never alone and she’s a great listener.”

Leo only nodded.

Chapter Nine

“I’m going into town today. Need anything?” Leo asked, grabbing his jacket from where it hung on the back of a chair.

Shaking her head from where she stood at the sink, she told him, “Not that I can think of at the moment.”

Leo squatted and scratched Tasha’s ears before heading toward the stairs and down to the garage.

Just after noon, Leo strolled into the general store. He knew he was a bit earlier than usual but believed someone would be there before him. He paused at the chairs arranged in the corner of the building before passing the few short aisles to the register.

“Hello, Mabel,” he greeted the gray-haired woman behind the counter.

“Hey, Leo. I have a letter here for you,” she said as she reached underneath the counter.

“From whom?” His forehead wrinkled watching her reach across the wooden surface with a long white envelope.

“I believe it’s from Sam. It’s just addressed to you. But Charlie told me that the young man who has been driving Sam here lately dropped by and left it while I was away.”

Nodding, he accepted the letter and walked back to the heater where he dropped into a chair. Carefully opening the flap, he pulled out a sheet of paper and silently read. His stomach turned and he felt his breathing change. Sweat threatened to overtake him as he stared at his friend’s handwritten words.

“Hey, Leo,” Tom greeted as he spun a chair around and straddled the seat. Propping his crossed arms on the back of the chair, he studied Leo a moment. “Are you alright?”

Leo only shook his head slightly without uttering a sound.

They sat in silence until the rest of the group were present.

“Anybody know where Sam is? I haven’t heard from him since last week,” someone asked. He didn’t even register who spoke. His mind was trying to maintain control. He didn’t need to have an attack here. Not now. He had a promise to keep.

“He’s in the hospital,” Leo announced. “He requested we take the meeting to him. He’s waiting for us.”

“Hospital? What’s wrong?” Tom asked. “He’s healthy for an old coot his age.”

“You know we’re all good at hiding what’s on the inside. It’s what we’re good at,” Leo said.

“What are you saying?” Ryan narrowed his eyes on Leo.

“He wants to see us all one last time,” Leo explained.

The group went silent as the meaning sank in. Without a word, each of them rose to their feet and walked to their vehicles. Thirty minutes later, four trucks parked next to each other and the drivers, still silent, entered the Veteran’s Hospital. Regaining their composure, they gathered in the room and carried on as if nothing were out of place. Laughing and talking, discussing personal ideas and hopes, the two-hour meeting was broken up when the nurses agreed that Sam was becoming too tired and needed to rest.

“Leo,” Sam’s voice was strained and weak as he called to Leo before he stepped into the hallway.

Turning back, Leo saw his old friend motion him back into the room. He returned to the chair nearest to the bed and listened.

“I have always thought of you like a son. Maybe because you’re just as ornery as I was at your age. Maybe the fire in your hair. I knew you had the stubbornness to match that fire.”

Leo grinned at that as he strained to hear his friend’s faint voice.

“I remember the first day you happened into Mabel’s store and I detected something eating at you. They say kindred souls can recognize each other. I recognized the demon in you. I had the matching demon. It’s time you find a little lady to help keep that demon at bay. My gal was an angel and she handled me well. So patient and understanding, even when she didn’t really understand.”

“Sam, I don’t need a woman.”

“Sometimes it’s not a woman to fight the demons.”

“Alright, now—” Leo began to contradict him again when he continued to talk.

“Leo, I’ve relied on you more than you know at times. You’ve been a gift to me coming after my angel of a wife left