The Reunion (20 page)

T
hree hours later in Keller, Texas, Karen got her things together at the model home where she worked and headed out to meet her brother for lunch. Last night they’d had a big welcome-home party for his son, Steven. He’d just gotten home from Afghanistan that afternoon. His leave allowed him to stay home through New Year’s. Karen was so excited.

She was sure having Steven home would revive her Christmas spirit. After the party, Steve had stopped her at the door, asked her to meet him today for lunch. She had a pretty good idea why. Sometime last week, Dave’s video had arrived, the one he’d made about Aaron Miller. Karen couldn’t bring herself to watch it. She’d given it to Steve, asked him to watch it first. He probably wanted to discuss what was on the tape.

“Hey, Karen, before you leave, can I talk to you a minute?”

Karen looked up. It was Gail. She had just hung up the phone. “Sure, I’ve got a minute. What’s up? You need anything while I’m out?”

“No.” Gail stood and walked over, a serious expression on her face. “I’m going to feel awful if you find this out from Steve instead of me.”

That didn’t sound good. “Find out what?”

“You asked me a couple of weeks ago to stop hounding you about Dave. I bit my lip at least a dozen times since, but you know I did my best to stop.”

Karen nodded. She really had.

“Well . . . your brother called me yesterday.”

“Why?” Steve never called Gail.

“He asked me all kinds of questions, about you . . . and about Dave.”

“What kind of questions? Did Dave call you?”

“No. But Steve is concerned about you. That’s why he called. He just wanted my honest impressions on some things, and you know how he is. He asks really good questions, and I—”

“What did you tell him?”

“It’ll take too long if I get into all of it. Just know, I gave him permission to tell you anything I said.” A worried look came over her face. “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m just trying to be a good friend.”

Karen didn’t like the sound of this. She glanced at her watch. It was time to go. “Don’t worry about it, Gail. I’ll be fine.” She hurried out the door, now wondering if she really did know why Steve had asked her to lunch.

Karen walked into Steve’s favorite Tex-Mex place, not far from his law office. He was already seated. When she got to the booth, he’d already ordered her a Diet Coke. He was munching on chips and salsa.

“Hi, Karen. I already ordered you that chicken strips salad. You seem to always get that here. But the waitress just left if you want to change it.”

She sat across from him. “No, that’s fine. I’d probably look at the menu for five minutes and order that anyway. Guess you’re in a bit of a hurry.”

“I am. I have to scoot in about forty-five minutes.”

She took a sip of her soda. “So how’s Steven doing? It was so great seeing him last night. I guess you guys are going crazy having him home.”

“We are. That’s partly why I’m in a rush. I’ve got one more client I have to see today, then I’m taking the rest of the afternoon off to do some Christmas shopping with him.”

“That ought to be interesting, the two of you men on a shopping spree.” She wanted to keep asking him questions about her nephew but realized he was in a hurry. “So, what’s up? I thought you might want to talk about that video I gave you, but Gail just told me about your phone call yesterday.”

“You sound a little upset.”

“Not upset . . . well, maybe a little. She said you were asking her all about Dave.”

“That was the main reason I called.”

“So . . . why didn’t you just call me?”

“I did better than that. I asked you to lunch. I just called Gail to get her thoughts. You consider her a friend, right?”

Karen nodded. “A good one.”

“I just wanted to see if she’d made the same observations about you that Aileen and I have.”

“What are you talking about?”

“About you and Dave.”

“There is no ‘me and Dave.’ We’re still on hold for now.”

“I know, and I know you asked us to stop bugging you about it when you came back from Florida. Gail said you asked her to do the same thing. But you’ve got to know, when Aileen and I talked with you last week, I was doing my best to gently nudge this situation.”

Karen thought a moment. “I recall you were helping me sort things out about our birth dad.”

“I was, mostly. But I really wanted to talk more about you and Dave. Last week, you didn’t seem ready.”

“I’m just . . . I just wanted to slow things down. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Seems more like you’ve shut things down.”

“No. I just thought I’d take some time off, give the whole thing a rest, see how I felt after that. Thought maybe I’d wait until after Christmas or New Year’s. If I still feel strongly about him then . . . I’ll give him a call.”

“You said ‘still feel strongly.’ So you do have strong feelings for him?”

“Well, yeah. I guess I do. But we were just moving way too fast. And then this whole thing with our dad came at me out of nowhere. So, why are you bringing this up now? Is it because of what you saw on Dave’s video?”

“Probably. I’m sure that stirred the pot. And I do want to talk about it. But I keep thinking about what happened between you and Dave. And from listening to Gail, she said almost the same thing Aileen and I were thinking.”

Karen waited, but he didn’t continue. “So . . . what is it?” Karen said. “Do you really like Dave or something? I thought you guys only talked once or twice on the phone.”

“I don’t know him well.” He took a drink of his iced tea. “But I think I know you pretty well, as well as anybody does.”

“Okay, so what have you, Aileen, and Gail figured out about me?”

“I guess it’s just . . . we haven’t seen you
that
happy for such a long time.”

“You mean when I was with Dave?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it when you called me and said he’d asked you to fly to Florida with him, and you wanted to say yes.”

“I couldn’t believe you thought I should go,” she said. “You’re my big brother. Why did you?”

“Because I could see the effect he was having on you. I’ve wanted you to be happy for so long. That’s what I saw in your eyes and heard in your voice when you talked about Dave. I knew Greg had hurt you so badly and so deeply. And I knew you haven’t opened your heart to any other man since. I knew how closely you’ve been guarding that heart against being hurt again. So I figured, if you were willing to open up so quickly to Dave, after all you’ve been through, you must have seen something very special in him. And I guess I believed God must be in it, because I knew you wouldn’t dare open your heart to love again for just anyone.”

Karen set her glass down. Steve really did understand her, maybe better than she understood herself. She felt her emotions beginning to stir, as if they were starting to break out of the box she’d locked them in the past few weeks.

“Let me ask you something,” he said. “You’ve put yourself, me, Aileen, and Gail on this moratorium. Nobody can talk about Dave Russo. But be honest, have you stopped thinking about him?”

“What?”

“How often do you think about Dave?”

“Some.”

“How much is ‘some’? Once a day, every few days? Once a week?”

She looked away. The truth was, she thought about Dave all the time. When she caught herself, she’d force her mind to think about something else.

“That’s what I thought,” Steve said. “Karen, you’re in love with the guy. Gail thinks it. Aileen thinks it. And I do too.”

“I can’t be in love. We hardly know each other.”

“Well . . . knowing someone does take time. But you can’t turn your heart on and off like a switch. I knew I loved Aileen within two days after we met.” The waitress walked up with their tray of food. “By the way, I also want to talk with you about Dave’s video.”

She was glad the waitress had come and that Steve had changed the subject. They both stopped talking while the waitress set the food down. After, Karen said, “So you watched it?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. And . . . I couldn’t stop crying.”

Oh great
, she thought. Now she knew she didn’t want to see it.

“After Steven and I finish Christmas shopping this afternoon, I’d like to stop by your apartment. I want to play it for you.”

“I don’t think I can do that.” She felt a rush of tears, but she shut them down. “I’m not ready.”

“I’ll be there. Just you and me. Karen, look at me.” She looked up. “You need to see this video. I think we need to see it together.”

“Okay,” she said feebly, reaching for a napkin.

“And after we watch it,” Steve said, “there’s something else I need to ask you about. Something pretty important.”

D
ave and Aaron sat together in the first-class section on a nonstop flight to Houston. Dave had briefed John Lansing earlier on the somewhat fragile hold Aaron had on things most people take for granted. Like flying. Like staying in hotels. Like eating food in restaurants. Like buying brand-new clothes. John had given Dave the green light to spring for the first-class tickets, mostly to honor Aaron. Dave was glad because it also gave them a better atmosphere to talk.

On the car ride to the airport, Dave had kept the conversation light, drawing Aaron out on day-to-day life at the trailer park. Aaron wasn’t a big talker, but he had some good stories. Now on the plane, with almost three hours together, Dave hoped to get into some deeper conversations. They were at cruising altitude now. Aaron was just getting back from the restroom. Dave got up to let him slide by into the window seat.

“They cram a whole lot of bathroom in that little space,” Aaron said.

“They sure do.”

“Could live the rest of my life never using that toilet again.” Dave smiled. “But I don’t mind these seats one bit. Way more comfortable than I was expecting, and there’s plenty of room. You always hear people complain about that.”

“Actually, the whole plane’s not like this, Aaron. This is first class. You probably didn’t see the rest of the seats, since we came in right up front. Back there, they cram three seats in the same space we’ve got here. And see all this leg room? Back there it’s about half.”

Aaron looked over his shoulder, then whispered, “I suppose these seats cost a little more money then.”

“A little bit,” Dave said.

“I can’t get over all the trouble John and the other men are going to on my account. Do you remember Hammer and Redman’s names? I know you told me once.”

“Hammer’s name is Allan, and Redman’s name is Paul. Allan and Paul.”

“Hammer is Allan, Redman is Paul,” he repeated. “I need to get it straight. I’m going to be seeing them tonight, right?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. The get-together is tomorrow. John’s the only one who lives in Houston. Allan and Paul are probably traveling there today like we are. The plan is for me to rent a car once we land, then drive to the hotel. We’ll all meet at the hotel tomorrow.”

Aaron repeated their names again. “Do you know if they changed much since the war?”

“I’ve only met John. But I did see that picture of the four of you at the hospital in 1970.”

“That’s how I see all three of them in my head,” Aaron said.

“John’s face looks much the same. He’s a little heavier, got a little less hair. And it’s gray like yours. I have no idea how much the other two have changed. But I’m sure you’ll be fine after a few minutes. None of these men were with you when you received the Medal of Honor, right?” Dave thought he knew the answer to this. He was hoping to get Aaron talking about the war.

“No, the hospital was the last time I saw them. It was months later I got the medal, after they shipped me to a hospital in the States.”

They looked at each other, Dave hoping Aaron had more to say. But he didn’t. He smiled, turned, and looked out the window. Dave watched him a moment, trying to think of something else to keep the conversation going. The flight attendant came by, asked if they wanted something to drink. After she took their orders, Dave said, “Aaron? Can I ask you something?”

He turned from the window. “Sure.”

“It’s something about the war. If you’re uncomfortable talking about it . . .”

“Is it something for your book?”

“I might like to include it in my book someday, if you ever change your mind.” He smiled. “But right now, I’m just curious. John told me what he remembered that day in the creek. He said he was certain he was going to die that day. Allan and Paul too. He still has no idea why you saved them. He especially feels bad considering how they treated you before then. It wasn’t like you were saving good friends.”

“No, I suppose not.”

“So why’d you do it?”

Aaron thought a moment. “They were going to die if I didn’t.”

“But . . . you almost died when you jumped in.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

“Weren’t you afraid of dying?”

“Wasn’t thinking about it right then.”

“John told me he lived in constant fear, every single day.”

“He said that? I don’t recall him ever looking like he was afraid.”

“He was. He said it about drove him crazy. How did you overcome it?”

“Not sure I did. I remember being that afraid. All the time. Every hour of every day. Got so bad I thought of killing myself a number of times, hoping to get relief.”

“That sounds like the kind of fear John talked about.”

“Fear’s an awful thing.”

“But you got control of it.”

“I think I just buried it awhile. Actually, fear’s why I started volunteering to be point man all the time, on patrol. I knew I couldn’t kill myself, figured I’d let the enemy do it for me. It’s a weird way to think, but it’s what I did. The guy on point was often the first to get it. When I wasn’t on point, I’d just sit around being worried sick about how many days I had left till it was my turn again. I finally decided, the heck with it, I’m just going to be on point every chance I get. That way I didn’t have to live in fear all the time. I figured if my number’s up, it’s up.”

“Did you ever get shot or wounded before that day in the creek?”

“Nope, never did. An odd thing, considering the chances I took. I started thinking, maybe God was looking out for me. Maybe my number wasn’t up till he said it was up. That’s why I had to help Tex, Hammer, and Redman. It was supposed to be me out there on point that day. It was my fault they got pinned down.”

“You blamed yourself?”

Aaron nodded. “See, after a while, being on point so much got my senses trained to spot things. I never would’ve walked into that big open area of the creek. I saw Redman heading right into a trap. I shoulda spoke up, tried to stop him. It was my fault, what happened.”

“So you don’t think you deserved the medal?”

He shook his head no.

“But Aaron, you saved three men’s lives. And got hurt pretty bad in the effort.”

“Maybe, but doesn’t seem like a man should get a medal for doing something he should’ve been doing all along. And I wasn’t being brave. I was scared to bits running out in the open like that.”

It was extraordinary hearing how Aaron’s mind worked, but Dave felt he had to speak up. “Aaron, I’ve interviewed a lot of men who won medals in battle, and read a whole lot more interviews in books. Most of those men were just as scared, and most of them didn’t feel like they were worthy of the honor they received. But believe me, from what I’ve heard, they gave the right medal to the right man this time, and for the right reasons.”

Aaron seemed puzzled, like he couldn’t absorb what Dave just said. The flight attendant came back, set a Diet Coke in front of Dave, a cup of coffee in front of Aaron. She mentioned she’d be back in a few minutes to take their orders for lunch.

“They’re going to feed us lunch?” Aaron asked.

“Looks like it. Usually something nice in first class. As good as some restaurants.”

“Billy told me all they give folks anymore is peanuts. Some airlines don’t even do that. Guess I’ll wait and see what they’ve got on the menu. Decide if I’ll eat that or my sandwich.”

“You brought a sandwich?”

“It’s up there in my suitcase.”

“That’s fine, Aaron. You eat whatever you want. And when you’re done, this airline even brings around these nice hot towels to wipe your hands with.”

“Hot towels for your hands?” He sat back and looked out the window, then repeated quietly, “Hot towels. Well, I’ll be.”