A Soldier to Love Read Free Page A

he wanted her face to haunt him also.
    He ran a finger lightly over the picture Mara was looking at the camera her light caramel skin a wonderful and complimenting contrast to her mother’s. Each had deep set eyes and pudgy noses. Mara was only two inches taller than her mother’s five foot five and she was a lovely young lady. Mara was the reason he had a picture. Mara had informed him, through the e-mail containing the picture of her and her mother at Mara’s Junior ROTC Ceremony that she had seen his request to her mom and since her mom didn’t like pictures much it was possible he wouldn’t get one. So she had saved her mother the trouble of not sending one and she had sent it. Eric would be forever in the child’s debt for doing so. 
    He turned his gaze to Elsie she was so beautiful and this beautiful woman had been writing to him for the last six months. When his Commanding Officer had asked for volunteers for the care package program, for an US Junior ROTC project, he had signed up reluctantly not thinking he would receive a package from anyone, beside his Aunt in Tennessee. He ran his finger lightly over Elsie’s face she had sent him his favorite candy, something he had mentioned in his initial letter to the program; all because he missed having it, a pillow which bore the logo of his favorite candy, he kept the pillow in his foot locker not wanting the sand, dirt or his fellow soldiers touching it with dirty hands, and finally a handwritten note in the most beautiful writing he’d ever seen. Her lettering was curved and spoke of a person who enjoyed a personal note of ‘thanks ’. After he had seen all of that he’d written her back with his own personal note and a request to become pen pals. He loved his Aunt but he needed someone to talk to who wanted to talk more about the world then the latest gossip in Hanson, TN.
    “Hey, Eric?”
    He faced fellow Ranger Adam Jones he had known the man since they had formed this unit a few years back. “What’s up?”
    Jones, as he liked to be called, nodded towards the picture in Eric’s hand, “I’ve never seen that before,” he replied. After Eric’s broken engagement to Maggie he Jones had seen the man take a short trip into spiraling out of control. Several times Jones had had to pull him out of bars because he was so drunk he was about to start a bar fight.
    “Those are my girls,” Eric replied.
    “Cute”
    “Cute is for monkeys and puppies. They’re beautiful.”
    Jones chuckled slightly, “are they the reason the drinking has stopped.”
    Eric looked at his friend, “that noticeable.”
    “Remember, I was the one who pulled you out of the bars.”
    Eric nodded, he would forever be grateful to the man for having his back “thanks.”
    “Always. So this is who has stopped the drinking and acting a little reckless.” There had been several times when Eric has gone into a dangerous situation not caring if he lived or died
    “I can’t go to Elsie a mess. She won’t stand for it. Not with Mara around.”
    “Sounds like she won’t stand for a lot of things”
    Eric released a breath, “everyone heard our conversation.”
    “Yeah,” Jones shook his he had had the same conversation at one point with his wife so he knew what Eric was going through.
    “I-”
    “Meghan was the same way.”
    Eric shook his head, “come on Meghan is the sweetest woman I know, besides my Elsie”.
    “Now but she balked at being with me at first too” Jones said to him “listen many think officers make a lot of money and some do but mostly our benefits are what people are after.”
    “Elsie -”
    “Isn’t like that I’m sure but she is use to taking care of herself. She is willing to ask for help when she desperately needs it but other than that it’s just her doing what needs to be done.”
    Eric nodded, “She was a single mother she had no choice.”
    “Making ends meet the best she could”, he nodded “Been there. Meghan was a single Mom before we