Chương 7
“Come in.”
He entered but did not sit until she pointed at the chair.
Up close, the scar on his jaw continued under his collar.
He looked younger than he had in the driveway.
Thirty, maybe.
“Colonel Mercer said you might have questions.”
“I have too many.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am.”
He looked alarmed.
“I’ll try.”
“Did Daniel call everybody ma’am?”
“No.”
“So you can stop.”
A tiny smile appeared.
“Yes.”
They sat in the hospital room listening to the fetal monitor.
Alvarez looked at it.
“That’s her heartbeat?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
His eyes became wet.
Hannah pretended not to notice.
“What did he say?” she asked.
Alvarez looked back at her.
“When?”
“At the end.”
He inhaled slowly.
“Not much.”
“Please.”
Alvarez rubbed his thumb across one knuckle.
“He was trying to keep the radio working. He kept telling us where to move. A couple guys were panicking. There was a lot happening.”
“Did he say my name?”
Alvarez closed his eyes for a second.
“Yes.”
Hannah’s body went rigid.
“What?”
“He told me if he didn’t make it, I had to tell Mercer about you.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Alvarez looked almost apologetic.
“He said, ‘Tell the colonel my wife’s gonna have my kid, and my dad’s being an asshole about the house.’”
Hannah stared at him.
Alvarez’s mouth twitched.
“I’m sorry.”
She began laughing.
It was awful.
She laughed until she cried and cried until her stomach hurt.
“That,” she said, “is the most Daniel thing I’ve heard all day.”
Alvarez laughed too, once, then covered his eyes.
“He saved me.”
The room changed.
Hannah stopped laughing.
Alvarez lowered his hand.
“I was one of the last three,” he said. “I froze.”
“You?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t look like someone who freezes.”
“That’s because people who freeze look exactly like everybody else afterward.”
Hannah absorbed that.
“He came back for me,” Alvarez said. “He didn’t have to.”
Hannah looked at Daniel’s letter on the blanket.
“Yes,” she said. “He did.”
Alvarez nodded.
They sat quietly.
After a while he asked, “What are you naming her?”
“Daniel wanted Emily.”
“That’s nice.”
“I hate it.”
Alvarez looked startled.
“He knew that,” Hannah said.
“Okay.”
“He kept campaigning.”
“What do you like?”
“June.”
Alvarez considered.
“That’s nice too.”
“Thank you.”
“Is she due in June?”
“October.”
He frowned.
“Then why June?”
“My grandmother.”
“Oh.”
Hannah looked at him.
“I’m allowed to name her June in October.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t.”
“You looked judgmental.”
“I was confused.”
“That’s safer.”
For the first time since the garage, Hannah felt almost normal.
It lasted perhaps thirty seconds.
Then Alvarez looked at Daniel’s letter and started crying.
Not loudly.
He wiped his face with both hands and apologized.
Hannah became furious.
“Stop saying sorry.”
He looked at her.
“You knew him too.”
Alvarez nodded.
“You don’t have to act like I own all the grief.”
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“He talked about you all the time.”
“Good things?”
“Mostly.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“He complained you bought decorative pillows.”
“I bought two.”
“He said seven.”
“He counted the couch cushions.”
“That sounds like him.”
The monitor ticked on.
Outside the curtain, a cart squeaked down the hallway.
By evening Hannah was cleared to go home.
She did not want to go home.
That surprised her.
For weeks she had defended the house as if keeping it meant keeping Daniel. Now the thought of walking through the front door made her feel physically sick.
Mercer returned in civilian clothes carrying a paper cup of terrible hospital coffee.
“You don’t have to stay there tonight,” he said after she admitted it.
“Where would I go?”
“A hotel. Your sister. We can help arrange something temporary.”
“My sister is in Phoenix.”
“Hotel, then.”
Hannah stared at the floor.
“I don’t want them to chase me out.”
“Leaving for one night isn’t surrender.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
She looked at him.
“You and Daniel really did like each other.”
Mercer sipped the coffee and grimaced.
“He would have said the same thing.”
Hannah decided on a hotel.
Before leaving the hospital, she called a real estate attorney whose name appeared in the legal packet. The attorney, Camille Brooks, answered on the third ring and told Hannah not to rely on anyone’s summary—not Richard’s, not the Army’s, not even hers until she reviewed the recorded documents.
“I can meet you tomorrow,” Brooks said. “Bring everything. Do not sign anything your in-laws put in front of you. Do not remove original documents from the property if ownership is disputed without making copies and documenting what you take.”
Hannah liked her immediately.
“Do I own the house?”
“I’m looking at a county index while we speak. There appears to be a recorded beneficiary deed naming you. I need the full document. It is a strong sign. I am not giving you a final opinion over the phone.”
“Fair.”
“Who is occupying the house?”
“Too many people.”
Brooks paused.
“How many?”
“Four adults besides me.”
“Were they paying rent?”
“No.”
“Written lease?”
“No.”
“Then even if you own it, do not physically throw them out tomorrow. Occupancy and notice rules still matter.”
Hannah closed her eyes.
“Of course they do.”
“Real life is irritating that way.”
Hannah smiled.
“Yes.”
“Also, photograph your belongings and the current condition of the house tonight if you safely can. If tensions are high, bring somebody.”
Hannah looked at Mercer.
“I have somebody.”
The next morning, she returned with Mercer and Alvarez.
The military vehicles were gone.
The street looked ordinary again.
A sprinkler clicked across the lawn two houses down. Someone had put a recycling bin out early.
Mark’s car was gone.
Lauren’s was still there.
Richard opened the door.
He had shaved.
The normality of that bothered Hannah.
“You brought him again,” he said, looking at Mercer.
“I invited him.”
Richard stepped aside.
The house smelled like bacon.
Judith was at the stove.
May you like
She turned when Hannah entered.
A bruise had begun forming lightly along Hannah’s cheek. Judith saw it and looked away.
