eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781477265659 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 08/31/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 180 |
| File size: | 233 KB |
Read an Excerpt
COME WITH THE WIND
By EDDY GUERRIER
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Eddy GuerrierAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-6564-2
Chapter One
HOMECOMING
The wind was blowing through her, loosening her, as if to tell her that he was almost there and to be a little more patient. She was waiting on the deck with the other women. Their men were coming home after their tours of duty. She had grown to dislike looking at the sea from this vantage point. She remembered how it used to be fun going to the beach and playing with the waves. The water was friendly, and the sand under her feet was soothing and relaxing. Those were the good times of a long-gone naïve youth. Now she was a grown woman with two kids—a boy and a girl, Kevin and Ivy. She was married to a captain from the Marine Corps. This was his third coming home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, a harsh land. Every coming home was, for her, a time full of apprehensions. So far, he has been blessed while serving his country in these two far and hostile countries. She had to hold onto that. The wind was caressing her auburn hair and whispering words of patience in her ears, words untranslatable to her at that moment.
Yesterday, the wives had had a session with the army psychologist, who always had a few words with them in order to prepare them for this moment. She knew the routine. Even when your husband has not suffered any apparent wounds, you should always remember that he was coming to rest from fighting a war, the shrink would say. A soldier is a particular breed of man who voluntarily went to serve his country with honor. We all owe the soldiers our freedom.
When she'd met Bill, the war with Iraq was in the middle of what they called The Surge. For sure, he fought with valor, and the medals on his proud chest were the proofs of this. He looked so handsome in his uniform, always brushing away some invisible dust from his blonde hair. He looked so invincible. She always told herself that no bullet could go through this proud chest. So far, God has proven her right. When Bill held her warmly in his arms, his first words were always, "I'm home, Cookie." How many times will she have to hear these words knowing that soon she will hear again, "Don't worry about me; I will be fine," when the time came for him to go back to his troops? He only called her Cookie anymore, and sometimes she would tease him about it, asking, "Do I need to remind you that my first name is Catherine?" This always brought a smile to his face as he responded, always the same way, "You mean Queen Catherine."
She did not wear a uniform, and she had no medals on her chest to display to the world the war she was also fighting for the country that they so dearly loved. She was wearing a simple dress that molded to her beautiful body. She stood there silently while the other women were chatting with each other—the better to hide their nervousness. This time, she was more apprehensive than the last times. The wind was telling her to be prepared for something, but she continued to ignore the something that was about to challenge her life and the oath that she took looking so lovingly for this man. What was it this time?
She received news as often as Bill could write or send even short messages. She knew he had not been wounded and was in perfect health. Many times she wished that there were no televisions or radios giving the news on IEDs, letting them know the number of fallen heroes or wounded. At least she had the children. They were good kids, always asking when Daddy was coming home. They lived in a beautiful house out in the suburbs, but the master bedroom was too empty too often. She often longed for the children to wake up so there could be some noise in the house.
Kevin was fourteen, and Ivy was eight. When they left for school, she had the entire house by herself and a long day ahead of her with her thoughts. The afternoons were always a time of relief for her. She always wanted to know how their days went. She was thankful that she had her children and never ashamed of being a simple soldier's wife. Bill and she were both only-children; they had no siblings. That's surely one of the reasons that she was glad they had two of their own. Growing as a lone child was no fun at times, regardless of the many gifts she received from her parents. Those gifts always seemed to her like get-out-of jail tickets they bought from her in order to go about their affairs without any guilt. Now, when someone was talking about how rich someone was, she just smiled. She had her own definition of what being rich really was. For her, love and attention were priceless. Companionship was a treasure the gods gave to make the journey on Earth a bit more amenable.
Bill never wanted them to live on the base. His parents were both dead but had left him economically comfortable. One day he told her that she should hire a maid, but she always declined the offer, fearing what her days would be like if another person were busy going about duties that should be hers, only to witness her loneliness and encounter her strange flashes of humor. No, she preferred it this way, and the hardship made her feel, in a way, closer to her husband.
She loved her husband very much and knew it was reciprocal. They had spent their honeymoon in France in a little town near Strasbourg. Bill spoke fluent French and German, and surely, with God helping, he would have a good job in the Foreign Department one day. But this would come only after Bill retires from the army ... if he ever does. When he was home, he certainly seemed to enjoy taking her out. He showed her how to use a rifle and how to shoot, and from time to time, they went hunting. But whenever he had a deer or any other animal in his visor, he always said "boom" and fired his rifle to scare away his prey. She was a good shot. They kept their rifles locked in the basement in a secret compartment unknown to the children. He was a good dancer, too. When he was in college, he'd even won a contest. He loved all kinds of music and taught her how to dance many styles. He was truly a good teacher. Bill loved country-western music. They took the children to Jamaica once, and he took a liking to Reggae music, which he also learned how to dance to. He had a good collection of CDs and also had inherited his parents music collection.
Their house was full of pictures of both their parents. Both of his had died too early—of cancer; their journey having already taken them to that grand transition to another dimension—but she briefly knew them. From day one, his parents had adopted her and showed her the values of a strong family. Her folks were still alive and living in Florida; they had made a successful career in the real estate business, and were very busy people, always negotiating some new deal that was impossible to let go of or to get away from. Still banking on that get-out-of-jail ticket.
The wind started to pick up, and it was beginning to get a bit chilly. Winter was approaching, but the end of the Indian summer was one of the times she loved the most, especially where you could witness the colors in the trees. At last, they could see the ship approaching the deck. It was a big ship full of soldiers well alive. She said to herself, My darling has arrived.
When Bill finally held her in his arms, it was like heaven on earth. He said, "I missed you so much, Cookie," and proudly spent a few minutes introducing his wife to a few fellow officers whom she had never met before. Finally, they took the road back to their home, picking up their children from school on the way.
Kevin and Ivy were so proud of their dad and very happy that he could make it home for a few days. They decided they would just have an early Halloween. Dinner was wonderful, and everybody was in a joyful mood. From time to time, Catherine was looking at Bill with anticipation and curiosity. On the surface, he had not changed, just a few wrinkles under his eyes and a certain rigor under that smiling face. Obviously, he had been under a lot of stress. Bill did not talk much of his deployment in the Marines. All she knew was that he was a member of the intelligence section of this branch. She also knew that he loved being in the Marines.
She left Bill alone with the children to take care of the evening chores. While in the kitchen cleaning up, she heard them laughing and laughing. The kids were old enough to put themselves to bed and Bill could probably use a little time to relax, so she went upstairs and took a long relaxing bath. Bill had his own bathroom adjacent to hers. The master bedroom was built that way for privacy; so they never had to run into each other answering the call, as he put it. She stepped out of the tub and took a good look at her body. After two kids and a lot of exercise, she could honestly say that she still could turn it on, but she only had eyes for her husband. She finished her ablutions and put on a very sexy negligee and slowly walked toward the bed. Bill was already in it, looking amused at her in the half-light. "May I ask you what you are smiling at?"
"Sure, you are such a beautiful woman: my wife."
Their foreplay took a little longer than expected. Bill was obviously excited, but for some odd reason, could not keep up his erection. With a lot of tenderness in her voice she said to him, "Don't let this bother you, my love; we have plenty of time. I want nothing more than to be in your arms." This did not stop him from trying to satisfy her through other means; and it was good.
During the night, Catherine awoke to Bill having a nightmare. He was mumbling words in his sleep and very agitated. Following the psychologist's instructions, she did not try to wake him. However, she left the bed and slept the rest of the night on a loveseat they had in the bedroom. The morning after was awkward; Bill did not leave the bedroom when she started her daily routine. Around nine thirty, she heard the children's noises, and he was laughing too. They had brunch since it was a Saturday and there was no school. Then they went to an amusement park that was on the other side of town. She did not want to bring up what she had to say in front of the children, and Bill sensed it. But when they had a moment alone while the kids rode around on a carrousel, he did not waste a minute getting right to the point. "Cookie, he said, "I hope that you were not too disappointed?"
"The joy of having you home in itself is a blessing—why should I let such a trivial matter affect me?" Then she added, "You know, you had a rough night; it seems to me that you were having a nightmare, honey You are home with us; there is nothing for you to worry about! You are well and safe," she reassured him. Bill looked at her with only tenderness in his eyes. His gaze wandered around for a few seconds and then he turned his attention back to the children on the carousel ...
There was something unfamiliar to Catherine in Bill's demeanor. He looked fine, but from time to time, he was distracted and any unfamiliar sound made him a bit edgy. The previous times he'd come home, she had not noticed these peculiar and sudden changes of attitude. But this tour of duty for sure had left some unseen after-effects. That's what she thought, anyhow. For the remainder of the weekend, they did not try to make love, and the brief uneasiness that was between them faded away quietly. He rested and made the most of his vacation days with his family, and she did not ask him how long he would be home. Usually, on the day before his departure, he would go into his routine of packing up his gear. It simply meant that it was time to go.
One day, while the children were still at school, a dark sedan came and parked in the driveway. Two men in civilian clothes got out. Obviously, Bill was expecting them, since he went straight to the door and invited them into his office, passing the living room without a word to his wife. Catherine could not say how many hours they spent inside, but she heard Bill come out of the office once to fetch coffee and cookies that she had gone ahead and prepared. When it was time to go pick up the children from school, she took Bill's car, which was parked in front of the house, rather than hers, which was blocked by the dark sedan, Upon her return, the car was gone. She was relieved mostly so that she would not have to answer to the inquisitive minds of the children. When they walked in the house, Bill was sitting in the living room by the window, lost in his thoughts. For a minute, she felt dryness in her throat and said to herself, "It must be time for him to leave."
The afternoon went by, and Bill was truly lost in his thoughts even as he took time to chat a bit with Kevin and Ivy. They figured out that their dad was deeply preoccupied. After they went off to do their homework, and Bill and Catherine were alone at the small dinette they had in the kitchen, he told her point blank, "Cookie, I'm not going back for the moment to Afghanistan, I have a new assignment here in the States. The gentlemen you saw coming here are top brasses in the Marines Intelligence, and they came here to give me my new orders."
Catherine asked, "Will you be staying home?"
"When I can," he answered. "I will be travelling sometime throughout the country and I'll have to be very careful. But these trips will be short and quick. You know what bothers me the most is that I am not used to have my work in my family's vicinity, and I told them about it. Needless to say, I cannot give you any details! But one thing, to be on the safe side, is this: when I'm not home, keep a loaded gun where I showed you in the bedroom and have them change all the access codes to the house. When I come home, you will have to open the door for me, and I don't even want to know the new access code. But be reassured that you and the kids are in no danger—you just never know with these people."
Everything was done according to Bill's instructions. The following days went by quietly and peacefully. One morning, he put on his uniform and went to the base. Catherine always felt a twinkling of love and pride when she looked at Bill in his uniform. He was so good looking. She went back to their wedding day, when she became Mrs. William Peterson Macknally. Their album was full of memorable pictures. Of all the years they'd been married, Bill was never home on a full-time basis, and yet she had no complaints regarding their marriage. He was a loving husband; she had no economic problems, and thankfully, two healthy and wonderful children. Their love making resumed itself normally, and the nightmares went away. In a word, they were happy. On occasion, when Bill was free, they visited a few acquaintances, but they very seldom had people coming to their house. This, among other things, was the advantage of not having a house on the base!
One day, Bill came home with a gentleman called Robert. That was how he introduced himself. Like her husband, Robert was tall and good looking, but unlike Bill, his hair was dark. It was obvious to Catherine that the two men were good friends, and just like Bill, Robert never spoke of the Marines or the wars they'd been in. All that she knew was that they had met in Iraq and been good friends ever since. He had very good manners and apparently enjoyed the company of Kevin and Ivy too; that was good enough for her.
On Bill's free weekends, Catherine and Bill would the family up to the mountains or down to the beach. Bill enjoyed the sensation that any breeze or wind could bring him—he would always say he knew how to speak to the wind—and the children loved the open places where they could fly their kites. Soon enough, Robert was sharing these precious moments with them.
It was something of a paradox that Bill had a thing for French perfume. He wore it any time he was at home and not on duty. In fact, so did Robert the many times he came to visit. It was not lost on Catherine they shared this predilection, and she pointed it out to them. They made nothing of it. It felt good, they said. She had to admit that whenever they were outdoors and the breeze blew, the fragrance was very pleasant. Bill was sure to wash it off when he went to work, leaving his bottles of perfume at home and taking only plain soap and unscented deodorant.
His new assignment at the base allowed him to come home regularly. He had to spend a few days away on occasion, but so far these trips hadn't lasted more than a week. Catherine felt she was actually leading a more regular life, with a husband at home most of the time. On Saturdays after they all had breakfast, they usually did their laundry together. The laundry room in the basement had two washing machines and two dryers. They never mixed the children's clothes with theirs, and like many women, Catherine always washed her delicate underwear by hand. But this Saturday, Bill had to attend some hearings downtown, and she was by herself in the laundry room while the children were busy doing their homework. She routinely sorted out the clothes to be washed, and as usual, before putting Bill's underwear in the machine she put it to her nose, enjoying his musky smell. His masculine scent always aroused the feminine in her.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from COME WITH THE WIND by EDDY GUERRIER Copyright © 2012 by Eddy Guerrier. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
1 Homecoming....................12 What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You....................19
3 The Worst That Can Happen....................55
4 A Strange Alliance....................85
5 The Summer Wind....................121
6 It's an Ill Wind that Blows....................159