Garden of Angels by Lurlene McDaniel Read Free Book Online Page B

glowing. “Papa, Darcy, I want you to meet Barry Sorenson.”
    “Barry Sorenson, Specialist Fourth Class, Electronics,” the man said. He saluted, then shook Papa’s hand. He turned to me. “And I see that beauty runs in the family.”
    I felt my face turning pink. Barry Sorenson was gorgeous. Tall, trim, black hair in a buzz cut and dark blue eyes—plus, he could have stopped a charging bull with his smile.
    “Pleased to meet you, son,” Papa said. “Adel’s told me many things about you.”
    When?
I wanted to know but didn’t dare ask.
She’s never said a thing to me!
    “And she’s told me about you and her mother too, sir,” Barry said. “Thank you for bringing her all the way out here today.”
    Barry put his arm around Adel’s waist. They looked into each other’s eyes and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was head over heels in love with my sister. But then, wasn’t every man who ever laid eyes on her?

Six

    Papa said, “Adel tells me you’re in special training.”
    “Yes, sir. I’m attached to a Lockheed training and missile control project, but once that’s done I belong to the army one hundred percent. I don’t get passes off the base very often, so I appreciate your making this trip to bring her to me. I know these are difficult times, with your wife’s illness and all.”
    The way he said the words “bring her to me” sounded intimate and made a shiver run up my spine. Adel sure could pick winners.
    “Yes, Joy’s illness is hard on me and the girls, but she wants us to go on with regular life, so that’s what we’re doing,” Papa said. “She’s a fine, brave woman.”
    Adel said, “Want to get a cola before you get back on the road, Papa?”
    “All right.” Papa put his hand on my shoulder. “How about you, Darcy? Care to wet your whistle?”
    Wild horses couldn’t have dragged me away from the opportunity.
    We walked to a stand that sold sodas, candy and snack items, bought what we wanted and sat together at a nearby picnic table. Papa said, “Adel tells me you hail from New York City.”
    “I was born upstate,” Barry said. “My parents moved to the city when I was ten. My father’s a cop and Mom works for an insurance company. I have an older brother. He served in Nam with the marines in the late sixties.”
    Another shiver shot through me as I recalled video of the war I’d seen on TV. “Is he okay?” I blurted out, without thinking. They stared at me and I blushed, realizing that I was once again being nosey. “I’m—um—studying Vietnam in school,” I explained, hoping to smooth over the awkward moment. “All I know about Vietnam is what I read in newspapers, or see on TV, which isn’t so much anymore. I’ve never talked to anyone who’s been there firsthand.”
    “Kyle’s home in one piece,” Barry said, his eyes serious. “I can’t say he’s okay, though. He’s in and out of the VA hospital.”
    “Why’s that?”
    Adel flashed me a look that said
Would you
hush up?
and slipped her hand into Barry’s.
    Papa said, “Perhaps this isn’t the appropriate time to talk about this, Darcy.”
    Barry said, “It’s all right. America still has personnel over there, but people forget because it’s not in the news as much as it once was. As for my brother, he was never wounded in the flesh, just in his psyche. He suffers from what doctors call post-traumatic stress. The things he went through during his combat were so bad that his mind can’t let go of them. He’s had a lot of trouble fitting back into the normal world.”
    I’d never heard of such a thing.
    Papa said, “In World War Two, it was called combat fatigue or shell shock.”
    “Were you in World War Two, sir?”
    Papa shook his head. “By the time I was eighteen and old enough to sign up, the war was over. In those days, we counted it a privilege to fight for our country. I missed Korea because I had family obligations and Vietnam because I was too old. I admire men who