Embattled Minds (Military Romance) (Lost And Found Series) by J.M. Madden Read Free Book Online Page B

into the vehicles to go back to her dad’s house. Drew fell asleep in the back seat, little action figure clutched in his hand.
    “I think one more load and we should be done,” she told Zeke, just to break the silence of the truck.
    He glanced at her. “Are you sure? S-seems like there’s still a l-lot of stuff there.”
    “I know, but I can’t take everything. I’m only taking what I know I’ve bought. Eventually Dad will get out of jail and come home.” She rubbed a hand across her forehead. “I feel guilty enough taking what I have. It’s going to break his heart when he discovers we’ve moved out.”
    “You can’t keep worrying about that,” he told her firmly. “If one of the-the waitresses came in, bl-black and blue, what would you have told her to do?”
    “Move out. And not to hesitate.”
    Zeke nodded, waving a big hand as if to say ‘there you have it’.
    In her mind, she knew she had taken the correct path. It was just hard telling her heart that.
    She ordered several pizzas to be delivered for lunch as they finished loading the trucks. The snow had tapered off and a weak Colorado sun was shining. While the guys ate, Ember wandered through the house, looking for things she’d forgotten. She ended at her father’s den, reluctant to enter. There probably wasn’t anything of hers inside, but she was going to check.
    When she opened the door, the smell of her father’s favorite leather chair rolled over her, and her heart clenched. She wished for a time when everything had been good. When Mom had been cooking in the kitchen and their shared laughter had filled the air.
    Dad’s worn scrapbook lay on the floor. Crossing the room, she retrieved the leather-bound tome and sank into the chair. A tumbler of his favorite Kentucky Bourbon sat on the end table, as if he’d just gotten up to close the blinds or tuck his grandson into bed. She flipped the book open to the page it had been spread to.
    It was a news article, dated from March first, nineteen sixty-eight. ‘ The Marines have prevailed at the Battle of Huế…at the cost of 5000 civilian lives ’. She recognized her father’s old Company name, and knew that he had been in Vietnam at that time. Her eyes drifted over the words of what had to be her father’s history.
    Zeke came in a few minutes later with a stack of pizza for her and a cola. Ember stared at the plate in his hand, honestly surprised he’d thought of her. “Thank you.”
    He set the cola beside the glass of bourbon. “If I’m bo-bothering you I can go.”
    She shook her head, looking back down at the news article. “Do you know anything about this battle? My father has never said anything about it. But there are several derogatory articles about it in here, and I recognize my father’s company name.”
    Zeke knelt on the floor beside the chair and she turned the book to him. He read for a few minutes, then glanced up at her self-consciously. “I didn’t get through the who-ole article, but I recognize the name. Huế, pronounced way , was a major cl-clash be-tween the North Vietcong and the Marines and South Vietnam. The N-north snatched power and held the city for a month. The Marines couldn’t get a break and were…outnumbered. But they f-f-fought on, and recaptured the city. B-but, most of it was gone. Like eighty p-percent of it. That was when support from home started to change.”
    “Really?” She’d never have known any of this, but was willing to take his word for it.
    He nodded, tilting his chin so that she didn’t see as much of his face. She’d noticed throughout the day that he would shift to keep the more damaged left side out of view.
    Wish he wouldn’t do that.
    Those marks were badges of courage. Nothing else.
    “They couldn’t get h-heavy…heavy artillery into the town, so they were l-l-l-l-literally under weapon fire every day. And they had an agreement with the g-g-government not to bomb anything. So they couldn’t get air