“For six months, I survived overseas by thinking of my wife—then I came home and found out my own family had been destroying her.”
CHAPTER 1
For six months, I survived overseas by thinking of my wife.
Then I came home and found her afraid to touch me.
Emily stood in our kitchen in Charleston, South Carolina, wearing one of my old sweaters even though the house was warm. Her face was pale. Her smile was too small. Her hands were tucked inside her sleeves like she was hiding from the world.
“Welcome home, Jake,” she whispered.
Just my name.
No hug.
No kiss.
No tears of relief.
Behind her, my mother, Diane, walked in wearing diamond earrings I did not remember buying and a necklace that looked far too expensive for a retired school administrator.
“There’s my hero,” she said, kissing my cheek.
My younger brother, Tyler, leaned against the dining room doorway with a champagne glass in his hand.
Then I saw his wrist.
My watch.
The limited-edition watch Emily had given me before deployment, the one engraved with Always come home.
Tyler lifted his wrist and grinned.
“Looks better on me, doesn’t it?”
Emily lowered her eyes.
Something cold moved through my chest.
That night, when I reached for her hand in bed, she flinched so hard I froze.
Not surprise.
Fear.
“Emily,” I whispered. “What happened while I was gone?”
She turned her face into the pillow and said nothing.
Outside the window, my mother and brother laughed beside the pool, their champagne glasses glowing under the blue lights.
May you like
I had come home expecting peace.
Instead, I had walked into enemy territory.
