“Yes. But the rain stopped. I found a cave. I was able to get a fire going. I was warm. My stomach was full. I had a good rifle with plenty of ammo. I wasn’t happy, but I was…”
“Alive and free?”
“Yeah. I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t stop thinking about that day you never came home. The day they killed Mike and Frank. I decided that night I was going to either put an end to this or die trying.”
She shook her head, unable to believe everything he went through. One man. Thousands of people now living free.
“So the question is why did you do it? Why not just run away? Why not go off and start a new life somewhere?”
He turned and looked at the rain again. It was coming down in sheets. Small puddles were forming all over the driveway.
“Because,” he said, shrugging. “What is life if you can’t live free? Make your own decisions? How could I live when I knew you probably wouldn’t live much longer?”
She had no answer for that. She squeezed his hand. He looked down at her. She looked up at him and smiled sadly.
“Well,” she said, gazing out towards the water, “I’m glad you chose to keep going. I can’t imagine being a single mom.”
It took a moment for her words to take their full meaning. He stood and grabbed her, squeezing her hard enough to hurt.
“Really?”
“Yes! Yes! I just found out today!”
Their tears mingled as they held each other. Their embrace continued and they stood in their moment of happiness until they were too tired to stand anymore. Eventually they were sitting on the balcony in separate chairs, holding hands across the space between them.
“Honey?”
“Yes Patton?”
“What do you think of the name Chevelle?”
Jennifer looked at him, smiling, her face crinkling up in that way he thought was so cute.
“Chevelle? What kind of name is that?”
Patton looked at her and smiling said, “the best, Honey. The best.” He paused and then said, “What do you want to do this afternoon?”
“I dunno,” she replied, looking out over the lake. “I hadn’t really thought about it. How about we just sit here for a while?”
About the Author
Layne is named after his father’s best friend Bob Layne, who was killed in Vietnam. He is a veteran of the United States Army, joining shortly after 9/11. He holds degrees in political science and has avidly followed American and world politics since the 2000 election. His writing has been featured at AmericanThinker.com. Layne loves baseball, reading, writing, and spending time with his family. He is married, a father of four, and hails from Ogden, Utah.
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Layne D. Hansen.
AU photo: Lindsey Waite
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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ISBN: 978-1-4808-6058-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4808-6059-9 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903271
Archway Publishing rev. date: 06/18/2018