The Wounded Read Free Page A

only crush, and my brother’s best friend.” He
    bestowed an affectionate smile on Jase. “We were meant for each other. He just needed some convincing.” The muscle twitching in his
    upper arm made Michael believe that, under the table cloth, Mark had just squeezed Jase’s hand.
    Terri gave a dreamy sigh. “And now you’re married.” She stroked her hand over Greg’s shoulder.
    “Yep. All legal.” Mark raised their joined hands to display his wedding band.
    Michael glanced at Jay, who seemed riveted by the tale. Jay deserved a shiny band as well as a home. Even if the state of Alabama wouldn’t
    acknowledge them legally at the moment, the thing Michael wanted most in the world was to sweep Jay into his arms and ask him to spend the rest of their
    lives together.
    Now wasn’t the time, in a roomful of people. What if Jay said no? Michael still had a lot of issues to work on, and naturally outgoing Jay might
    get tired of Michael’s wanting to hide in the house all the time. He’d not even been home to see his folks in ages; especially since
    Michael wasn’t ready to travel so far from home.
    At the end of the meal a speaker approached the podium, breaking into Michael’s thoughts. The woman Michael had met in the hallway stood beaming
    to one side. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the speaker began, “although she needs no introduction, allow me to introduce a special
    guest, Lisle Finney.”
    Murmurs grew at a nearby table. “Holy shit!” someone hissed. “I didn’t know she was blind.”
    Michael shot a glance at Jay. “Who’s she?”
    Jay’s eyebrows reached for his hairline, and then he frantically began punching buttons on his iPhone before passing it over. The petite blond
    smiled from the screen, surrounded by dozens of busts of men and women. Michael had gotten as far as “blind from birth” before the lady
    herself called his attention back to the podium.
    The woman from the hallway addressed the crowd. “I was born perfectly healthy, ten fingers, ten toes. As I developed it quickly grew apparent
    that I wasn’t like other children. My birth mother, feeling she wasn’t up to the task of raising a blind daughter, gave me up for
    adoption.”
    Oh shit. While Michael’s father hadn’t been up to the task of being a father at all, he couldn’t imagine his mother giving
    him up for any reason.
    Despite the harshness of the words, the lady smiled. “My adoptive parents couldn’t understand the problem. You see, they say I was
    perfect, but you know how biased parents could be.” A few people chuckled.
    Her smile fell. “My birth mother did me a kindness. If I’d grown up with her, I might have limited myself, as she saw limitations.
    Instead, I was taught there was nothing I couldn’t do. Otherwise, who’d believe a woman who’d never seen a face could sculpt
    one?”
    A trio of men entered from a door behind her, each carrying a likeness of himself—a startling likeness.
    She continued, “The first bust I created was of my uncle when he’d returned from Desert Storm. He often babysat for me while he stayed
    with us during his recovery, and was indulgent enough to sit for hours.” Another man entered, carrying yet another bust, this one of a man with
    scars marring half his face.
    Even from a distance Michael couldn’t miss the misty eyes or Lisle blinking back tears. “He later told me that during that time
    he’d often thought of taking his own life, but stuck around so I could finish my work.” She managed a weak smile. “I took my
    time. Since then I’ve created twenty-seven works of men and women whose lives were forever changed by war.”
    The men placed the sculptures on tables then found a seat in the banquet hall. “My uncle credits me with giving him new purpose. He stopped
    mourning his losses and set himself to helping others. May I introduce the great man himself, Raymond Finney, founder of The Wounded?”
    The man who rolled a wheelchair up to give Lisle a quick