Home to Stay (The Long Road Home #2) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,32
excited to have you come for an official visit. We’ll start with some questions, if you don’t mind, giving you plenty of time to talk, and then a few of our parents have sent in goodies.”
“Whatever you have planned will be fine with me,” he said, holding her gaze before smiling toward the class.
Leaning closer, she lowered her voice. “If we start with the snacks, the sugar rush will create havoc. This way, they can get on the bus and get home before they start bouncing off the walls.”
His smile widened, threatening to melt her resolve to keep their contact professional. Clearing her throat, she led him to a tall chair in front of the class.
“Thank you, but I prefer to stand if you don’t mind.” He waved toward the chair and added, “Please, Ms. Carrington. I’d be honored if you’d sit.”
“Oh… sure.” She approached the chair and startled as his hand encircled her arm as she hefted up into the seat. “Thanks,” she said, wishing the feel of his hand on her didn’t make her heart race. Now facing the class with him standing next to her, she called on the first student to ask their question.
“Why did you join the military?”
He nodded at the solemn-faced boy. “Well, my father had been in the Army. I got to live in lots of different places when he was able to take me with him. I liked seeing new places and meeting new people. I always thought of him as a hero, and I wanted to be like him.”
“What kind of food did you have to eat?” That question came from a little girl, her cheeks puffed from her wide smile as she stared up at him, her eyes beaming.
“When I was in the United States, my food was just like yours. We had a cafeteria or could cook our own food, or we ate out. But when we were overseas, sometimes in really remote areas, we had to take our food with us or eat what we could find.” He hesitated, casting a glance toward Lucy. “It was sometimes a bit strange… like, I’ve eaten snakes and sometimes bugs.”
The class erupted in groans mixed with laughter. Lucy lifted her fingers to her lips, unable to hide her smile. Casting her gaze up at him, she nodded for him to continue.
“I suppose the most important thing we had to do was to make sure our water was safe to drink. You can go a lot longer without food than you can water. So, we had ways to make it potable… drinkable if it was… um… not clean.”
“What did you do in the Army?”
“I was the Engineer Sergeant of a special team of soldiers. I had to be accepted into the training program and then there were almost two years of training. I made it through, and my job was to be able to build things, like bridges and buildings. I was also trained to be able to demolish things, which means I got to safely… uh… knock things down when necessary.” His brow furrowed as he shot another look at Lucy.
She offered a little nod to indicate she appreciated him making sure his comments were appropriate for ten-year-olds, even if most of them had played video games that included pretend explosions and more things than she wished they’d been exposed to.
One of her quietest girls in the class raised her hand. “What were the best things about being in the Army and what do you miss the most?”
He sighed lightly and nodded, appearing to give great consideration to her question. “I suppose it was the friendships. My teammates. We got up every day and knew what needed to be done and we accomplished it together. We felt pride in what we did. We cooperated at all times. If we didn’t, one of us might get injured or worse. But we really cared about each other. When one of us succeeded, we all succeeded. And I miss that now that I’m out.”
The kids peppered him with a few more questions, but Lucy tuned them out, his last words resonating deep inside. His loneliness. His lack of friends. His lack of purpose. I asked him to talk about himself, but he wasn’t ready. That reality slammed into her and a gasp slipped from her lips.
He jerked his head to the side to look at her, but she plastered another smile on her face, ignoring the unspoken question in his furrowed brow.