Unpredictable Love Read Free

it.”
    “ You don’t mess up everything, Amber,”
Jory assured.
    “ Almost.”
    “ Not today. I’m proud of you. Well
done.”
    Nan pulled a small box out of her pocket.
“In honor of learning to cook, I’m awarding this pin to Amber, for
bravery and valor facing off with the stove,” she announced,
handing the box to the young woman, who opened it with eager
fingers.
    Inside, nestled in velvet, was a small gold
and ruby pin. It had belonged to the girls’ mother.
    “ Mom’s pin! I love it. I love it. Put
it on.” Amber handed the piece of jewelry to her aunt, who fastened
it on the collar of her niece’s blouse.
    “ It looks beautiful,” Jory put
in.
    “ You know I’ve saved some of your
mother’s pieces to give to you girls, when the time is
right.”
    “ Like Mom’s wedding band?” Jory asked,
before taking a forkful of the casserole.
    “ That’s for you. Your mom always
wanted that to go to you, on your wedding day.”
    Amber coughed then looked away.
    Jory noticed Nan stare at the young woman.
“You okay?” the older sister asked.
    Amber nodded, taking a sip of water. “Sorry.
Choked on saliva. But she doesn’t get that until she gets married,
right?”
    “ Right,” Nan confirmed, narrowing her
eyes.
    “ Good. I mean. Since you’re not
serious about Archie, it’ll be a while before Nan has to dig that
out of storage.” The younger one shifted in her seat.
    Jory watched her aunt continue to
stare at Amber, who looked away, casting her gaze on her
plate. Something’s up. Jory
shrugged. Something was always up with Amber, so she didn’t give it
a second thought. The truth would come out eventually. It always
did.
     
    * * * *
     
    Jory hadn’t set out to craft boring
correspondence to SSGT Stevens, but as she wrote, she realized how
uninteresting and predictable her life was. She sighed when Nan
entered the house Saturday morning with the mail.
    “ Another one for you, Jory. This young
man likes to write.”
    “ I thought he’d be discouraged by how
insipid and stupid my letters are. Guess not.”
    “ Guess not.” Nan smiled as she hiked
up the stairs.
    Jory put the envelope in her pocket, saving
it for bedtime.
    She’d taken to retiring early so she could
savor Trent’s words in solitude. She liked to read through fast to
get the facts then reread them two or three times. When she went
back over them, she’d dig out the hidden loneliness lurking between
the lines. Although he never mentioned fear, upon second and third
readings her observant eyes picked up the hints of anxiety in his
many references to home.
    His easy phrases, speaking to her as if she
was just on the other side of the back fence, sucked her in.
     
    Milky Way was my favorite candy when I was a
kid. What was yours? Do you like baseball? I’ve been a Yankee fan
since I could throw a ball.
     
    Before she was aware, he’d become a friend
somehow, ingratiating himself.
     
    Did you ever have to deal with bullies when
you were a kid? If I had been there, I’d have beaten them up for
you. I had my share, being on my own, and figured out early how to
take them down.
     
    He revealed pieces of his personality with
every letter.
     
    I didn’t like school much. Except in the
eighth grade. I had Miss Armstrong for math. God, she was gorgeous.
Best figure of any female in the school. I got an “A.” But she left
to get married and move to Minnesota. That was the end of my
interest in school books. That’s why I joined the Marines.
     
    With patience, she’d fitted them together to
form the image of a man she could almost touch.
    Sometimes, she’d reread three or four before
turning out the light. She’d tacked his picture on the wall next to
her bed. He was the last thing she saw before falling asleep and
the first thing in the morning. Jory had planned to wind down the
correspondence, but every day she eagerly awaited mail delivery,
and a new peek into the mystery man who had inched his way into