Waiting for You(33)

Erin stared at him, confronted with a sudden realization.

She wasn’t intellectually curious about his work…or about him. She wasn’t interested in him at all, in fact. At least, not romantically.

She was interested in him because he counseled veterans. She was using this nice man…using him for information that might help her understand Jake.

“Frank.”

“Yes?”

“I have a confession to make. I’ve realized, just this moment, that I’m a terrible person.”

Her date looked indulgently amused. “I doubt that very much. What makes you think so?”

“My only excuse is that I didn’t realize it until now…at least not consciously. But the fact is…I have this friend. This friend who just got out of the Army a few months ago and has some…”

“Issues?” Frank finished for her, after a moment.

“Yes. Some issues. And when we started talking that day at the gym and I realized you have firsthand knowledge of this stuff…” she bit her lip. “I’m so sorry. I honestly didn’t set out to…to…”

“Pump me for information?”

“Well…yes. If you want to get up and leave right now I’ll completely understand. I—”

“Erin, don’t be silly. There’s no reason we can’t enjoy the rest of our dinner together. And I don’t mind answering any questions you have about combat-related stress. I had an ulterior motive in being here, too, you know. So we’ll call it even.”

“What ulterior motive?”

“Do you really have to ask? A woman as beautiful as you are?”

Erin blushed, and Frank laughed. “So, no harm done. Go ahead and tell me about your friend.”


On Friday night she was a few minutes early to meet Mark and Jake at the restaurant they’d chosen, but Mark was already there. He looked worried, and told her that Jake hadn’t come to work that day and hadn’t returned his calls.

They waited for half an hour, and then Erin tried Jake on her phone. The call went straight to voicemail.

“Maybe we should check on him,” she said to Mark.

Mark thought about it. “If both of us go to his place, it might seem like we’re ganging up. Jake doesn’t talk to me, anyway. But he might talk to you. I think you’d have better luck on your own. But if you want me to go with you, I will.”

“I don’t mind going alone.” She hesitated. “What do you think is going on? Has anything like this happened before?”

“A couple of times,” Mark said. “Back when he first got home, he went on a couple of…binges. He’ll do some heavy drinking and kind of…withdraw. But that hasn’t happened in a while. He’s been doing a lot better ever since…” he trailed off, looking at her. “He’s been doing better,” he finished. “So maybe he just has the flu, or something. Do you know where he lives?”

She didn’t, so Mark gave her the address.

“If he needs anything, give me a call. Okay?”

“Okay.”

As she drove to Jake’s apartment, she thought about what Frank had told her yesterday, what Allison had told her a few weeks ago. Would Jake ever consider seeing a counselor? Or would that seem like a weakness? He was such a strong, self-reliant man…could a man like that ever admit he might need help?

It almost seemed, sometimes, like Jake didn’t believe he deserved to be happy. And if that was the case, then he’d never ask for help. He’d just go on living in darkness.

The address Mark had given her was a large house that had been remodeled into apartments, one on each floor. She saw Jake’s truck and his Harley in the driveway.

He had the ground floor apartment, and she went to the door and knocked. She waited a minute and knocked again. She was about to knock a third time when the door opened.

Jake stared at her blankly. He wore a pair of jeans and no shirt, and there was a day’s worth of stubble on his jaw. His eyes were bloodshot.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. His voice sounded rusty, like he hadn’t used it in a while.

Erin’s scalp prickled. “You were supposed to meet Mark and me for dinner.”

He rubbed a hand across his eyes. “I was?”

“Yes. You were. When you didn’t show up or answer your phone, we got worried. So I came to check on you.”

His hand dropped to his side. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Why not?”

“You…” he shook his head. “You shouldn’t have to see all this.” He gestured vaguely at the apartment behind him, but when Erin looked, it wasn’t cluttered or messy—in fact, it seemed curiously empty, with very little furniture and nothing on the walls.