A Soldier's Return. Judy Christenberry

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СКАЧАТЬ looked at Carrie out of the corner of his eye, over Rachel’s dark head. She was the only woman he’d met since his arrival who hadn’t hugged him. That was too bad.

      “We thought it would be months yet!” Rachel exclaimed as she took a step back, tears streaming down her face. She whirled around to a brown-haired man who came in behind her. “J.D., it’s my brother, Jim.”

      “I figured,” the young man drawled as he stuck out a hand to shake Jim’s. “J.D. Stanley.”

      “This is my husband, J.D. We just flew in from west Texas. I was going to drive in tomorrow, but J.D. insisted we fly. I’m so excited you’re here!”

      Then she must have remembered why she’d come and she asked, “Have you heard anything about Rebecca?”

      “Mom just went back,” Vanessa replied. “Her pains started coming faster.”

      Just then, Vivian came running back in. “Rebecca and Jeff just went into the delivery room. I’d better call Betty after all. Looks like we’ll be home for dinner. And Joey will want to know what’s happening.”

      “You didn’t say hello to Rachel and J.D.,” Will said, taking his wife by surprise.

      “I can’t believe you arrived so quickly.” She hugged both of them. “We’ll need to tell Betty to add two more for dinner.”

      Will looked at his watch. “Better tell her around seven for dinner. I wouldn’t count my chickens before they’re hatched,” he said with a chuckle. “And ask how Danny’s doing,” he added. Then he looked at Jim. “That’s our son.”

      Jim nodded. He hadn’t forgotten. He sent a grateful look toward Carrie. According to her earlier explanations, he figured, he’d now met all the family.

      When Vivian finished her phone conversation, she turned back to her husband. “Danny’s fine. And Joey’s so excited, he couldn’t talk long. Betty was taking cookies out of the oven.”

      J.D. laughed. “That boy’s got his priorities right.”

      Rachel slapped his arm. “Shame on you.”

      “Don’t worry, honey,” J.D. said, giving her a brief kiss. “I’d choose you over cookies anytime.”

      Vanessa looked at Jim with a grin. “They’re newlyweds. Just ignore them.”

      “Rebecca’s labor seems to be so fast this time. The doctor said that was normal for a second baby.” Vivian looked at her husband, and apparently Will seemed to know what she was thinking at once.

      “Don’t even think about it, Viv. We were lucky the first time. I don’t intend to push our luck.” He kissed her and Jim could see the concern in his eyes.

      “They’re kinda newlyweds, too,” Vanessa told Jim with a sigh.

      “You feel a little left out?” he asked her quietly.

      “Yeah. But I have a good friend in Carrie. We met our freshman year at SMU.”

      Carrie smiled at Vanessa, nodding. It seemed a little strange to Jim that Carrie, who appeared to work for a living, was friends with a young lady who apparently had her way paid for her. But that was none of his business.

      Of course, they were both beauties. They had that in common.

      Vivian jumped up from her seat to pace the room. “I’ll be so glad when the baby’s here. What did they decide to name her?”

      Vanessa shrugged her shoulders. “They have several names picked out, but I don’t think they wanted to make a final decision until they met her.”

      Rachel was smiling. “Rebecca sent me a picture of the sonogram.”

      Will grinned. “Yeah. She showed it to all of us, including Joey. He wasn’t impressed!”

      “He said she didn’t look like Danny,” Vivian said with a smile.

      “Maybe she’ll look like her mama did when she was a baby,” Jim said softly, struck by how strong and vivid the memory was. In his mind’s eye he could see Rebecca as a baby, her full head of dark hair, her pink face scrunched up as she cried. He could never tell her apart from her twin, Rachel. But his parents could.

      “Yes, she and Rachel were pretty babies, just like Vanessa,” Vivian said. She put a gentle hand on Jim’s forearm. “We have a picture of all of you just before the accident.”

      Jim frowned. The accident that took their parents and shattered their happy home. How many times had he thought about that day? How many times had he thought of what it’d be like now if his parents were still alive, or if he’d managed to keep all the kids together?

      “I’d love to see the picture,” he told Vivian.

      Rachel spoke up. “You don’t have a picture of all of us?”

      “No. They only packed a few of our clothes.” Jim paused and looked down at his clenched hands. He’d never forget that day the social services worker came and took them from the house. He’d tried so hard to be brave, but the tears had fallen freely when he’d left the house that last time.

      “I remember David had a teddy bear that he slept with all the time. They left it behind. I heard he cried a lot….” He couldn’t prevent the pang of guilt that jabbed him at the memory. “Then I didn’t hear anything else about him after that. Finally my foster mother told me someone had adopted him.”

      Vivian reached out to cover his clenched hands and gave him a sympathetic smile when he looked at her.

      Will sat up. “Did she give you any details? Whether it was a local adoption…”

      He shook his head. “She said to stop worrying about David, that a lady had come to get him and she and her husband adopted him. That’s all.”

      “Sounds like it might have been local,” Will said slowly.

      “Or it could’ve been a lie just to stop me from bugging her about him,” Jim said quietly, his jaw tight. That would have been like his foster mother.

      Vivian stared at him. “But, Jim, you were only nine. Of course you couldn’t do anything.”

      Jim shot her a sharp look and couldn’t keep the anger from his voice. Anger at himself. “I was the oldest. I was supposed to take care of my brothers and sisters.”

      “I’m sure you were a big comfort to Wally,” Rachel said softly.

      Jim shrugged. “Yeah, right. I didn’t get to see him but once a month. Then when I got older, we talked on the phone every once in a while.” His expression darkened with the memory. “Then he followed me into the marines…and died. Some comfort.”

      “But that wasn’t your fault,” Vanessa cried.

      He turned to look at his youngest sister. “He joined so we could be together. It was my fault. We—”

      Jim’s explanation was interrupted СКАЧАТЬ