Summer of Two Wishes Read Free Page A

Karen Lockhart, sat on Macy’s right. Karen clutched the small gold cross she’d worn since Finn had joined the army, and her new dress and matching jacket rustled with her fidgeting. Macy looked down at her clothing—a new print skirt and sweater set, courtesy of Laru. She also wore a necklace of tiny seed pearls that Finn had given her for her twenty-second birthday the first year they were married. On Macy’s left were her mother and Emma. There had been quite a discussion at home about who would come with Macy, and they had collectively decided that given the circumstances, the fewer companions, the better.
    Jillian smiled at her now and rubbed her shoulder. “ Relax ,” she said.
    Macy wished Laru had come instead of her mother. Her mom meant well, and Macy envied her ability to take traumatic surprises in stride. But her mother kept watching Macy expectantly, as if she believed Macy would collapse at any moment.
    What really annoyed Macy was that she did indeed feel on the verge of collapsing.
    Don’t crumble.
    She twisted her wedding ring around her finger and bounced one leg nervously. The army said Finn had been a war prisoner, a true hero who’d managed to stay alive and escape by sheer will and cunning. He was coming home today. He was coming back to her.
    Breathe in. Breathe out.
    “I just keep trying to imagine what he’s been through,” Karen said.
    Macy did, too.
    “I think of my baby over there by himself with those awful people, scared and…and alone .” She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut.
    “I don’t understand how the goddam army could have screwed this up,” Finn’s father said gruffly. He sat with his legs stretched long beneath the table, his beefy arms folded over his chest and exposed from the elbows down by his short-sleeved western shirt. After years of working the Lockhart ranch, his arms looked like tanned leather.
    The Lockharts had been ranching in the Hill Country for more than one hundred years. There were three pieces in all: Finn’s ranch, bought from his brothers Luke and Brodie after their grandfather had left it to the three of them; the Lockhart homestead, on which Rick still ran cattle; and Uncle Braden’s piece, the largest of the three, about an hour away, south of Austin.
    “They were so sure he was dead,” Rick continued angrily. “Did they even look for him?” He made a sound of disgust. “Well, I guess it hardly matters now, because my boy is coming home,” he said, his voice catching.
    They’d originally been told that the armored vehicle Finn had been riding in had been hit head-on by a suicide bomber. The fire had been so intense that the only thing they were able to recover was a charred dog tag. They’d confirmed Finn’s death with DNA and had given that single tag to Macy. It was so badly burned that she couldn’t make out anything but FINN R. Not even the LOCKHART .
    Macy had buried that piece of tag. What else was she supposed to do with it? Hang it on her rearview mirror as a reminder of his brutal death?
    “Have you heard from Brodie?” Jillian asked Karen, referring to Finn’s brother, who’d flown to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, where they’d taken Finn to be debriefed and evaluated. Macy had talked to Finn several times, but their conversations had been short and filled with disbelief and wonder at hearing each other’s voices.
    “Not since yesterday,” Karen said. “But he said Finn looks good and his spirits are great.”
    “Of course!” Jillian exclaimed. “He’s coming home!”
    “I know ,” Karen said, beaming. “I tell you, I can’t believe it. But then again, I always had a feeling he was alive. I never told anyone because it just made me sound plum crazy, but I just had this feeling , you know?” she asked, pressing her fist to her heart. She looked heavenward. “Thank you, Jesus!”
    “Did Brodie talk to Finn about…about all that’s happened since he’s been gone?” Macy’s mother could