alone was dead-on. She hated it but she couldn’t imagine how this stranger had picked up on it so quickly. Both of them seemed uncomfortable with the subject, so she decided it was better to switch to a less personal topic. Seth wasn’t big on conversation, which left her pretty much on her own.
“What are your plans for the holidays?” she asked.
“Home with my family. After that...” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter to him one way or another.
Having grown up in Harland, the baby in a large, loving family, Lisa couldn’t begin to understand his careless manner. But God wired everyone differently for a reason, and she never questioned His logic.
As they headed down Main Street, she noticed everyone had gotten into the spirit. Garlands and multicolored lights framed every window and door, and wreaths hung from the vintage streetlights. Up ahead, she heard a Santa bell ringing, followed by a hearty, “Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!”
After a few blocks that felt much farther, they reached Harland Hardware. The brick building was like all the others in town, old but well kept, with a blue-and-white-striped awning shading the glass-front door. Red, green and silver garlands were draped everywhere, and a set of speakers was pumping some kind of shop tool Christmas song out to the sidewalk.
“Now I’ve heard it all,” Lisa commented with a giggle. “Did you know drills and saws could even play ‘Jingle Bells’?”
“Nope.”
She’d finally had enough of his distant manner. “Seth, do you think I’ve been pleasant?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t hate brunettes or waitresses on general principle?”
“Course not.”
She gave him a chance to elaborate, but he didn’t take it. No one had ever treated her so coolly, and she was done putting up with it. Glowering up at him, she demanded, “Then what is it about me that you don’t like?”
“Nothing. Honest,” he added, as if that would help.
“You could’ve fooled me.”
* * *
Lisa huffed so hard, her bangs fluttered above her crystal-blue eyes. As she glared at him, Seth pitied any guy foolish enough to fall for her. Sweet as she appeared to be, behind that amazing smile was tempered steel. No man alive could possibly handle all that attitude.
Even though the top of her head barely reached his shoulder, she didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by him. She also didn’t seem inclined to end their pointless staring contest, so Seth broke it off.
Looking behind her, he was almost surprised to see the latest rechargeable power tools displayed in the store’s large bay windows. A building like this seemed better suited to old-fashioned planes and handsaws. As he reached for the large brass handle on the door, his heart suddenly seized in his chest, and he could barely breathe.
Panic attack, he reminded himself, pulling away from the door to take a deep breath and give his nerves a chance to settle. Hard as he’d worked to get them under control, they still flared up when he found himself in unfamiliar territory. That was why he sometimes froze up when people talked to him. He’d made enough progress in his recovery to understand what caused the bizarre reaction. He just didn’t know what to do about it.
A quick glance around showed him no one was paying any particular attention to him, which was a relief. Lisa’s concerned look told him she’d noticed, though, and he forced himself to act as though nothing was wrong. To avoid her gaze, he looked into the other window, pretending to admire the latest in battery-powered drills.
The face reflected in the glass looked petrified, and he let out a disgusted sigh. It was a hardware store in a Podunk little town, run by a friend of Aunt Ruth’s. Thinking of her gave Seth’s confidence a much-needed boost. Honest errand or sham, she believed he could manage this, or she wouldn’t have sent him. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint her. Once his heart had settled into an uneasy trot, he reached for the handle again.
As he opened the door and stepped back for Lisa to go through, the bell overhead chimed in welcome.
“Is that Lisa Sawyer?” The gray-haired man behind the counter gaped in obvious disbelief. “Never thought I’d be seeing you in here, princess.”
“My nickname,” she muttered to Seth. “My big brothers think it’s hysterical.”
“Is it accurate?”
“What do you think?” she demanded in a haughty tone he thought matched her nickname pretty well.
“I think I’d rather not know.”
“Smart man.” As they reached the counter, she greeted the owner. “You should be nice to me, Gus. I brought you someone to talk shop with. Seth Hansen, Gus Williams. Seth is Ruth’s nephew.”
As the two men shook hands, Seth noticed the Semper Fi tattoo on Gus’s forearm. Faded but still clear, he could tell it had been there a long time.
“I’m not much for tools and such,” Lisa announced, wrinkling her cute little nose in distaste. “I’ll be in the decorating section.”
She went left, looking up at the aisle markers as she went. Gus chuckled and called out, “Head to your right, you’ll find that stuff in the back.”
With a melodramatic sigh, she changed direction and turned down an aisle advertising window treatments. Turning back to Gus, Seth was surprised to find the man smiling at him.
“Marines,” he said proudly. “How ’bout you?”
Gus’s quick assessment kicked his pulse up again, and Seth waited a beat to make sure he spoke normally. “How’d you know?”
“Son, it’s written all over you.”
Feeling awkward, Seth ran a hand over his crew cut. Maybe if he let his hair grow out, people wouldn’t peg him quite so easily. Sure, and he could get an earring, too. His mother would love that.
“Oh, it ain’t just the hair,” Gus told him. Leaning in, he added, “It’ll get easier, I promise.”
Inexplicably, Seth blurted out, “It’s been almost two years.”
“Some recover quicker’n others.” Gus frowned. “Some come home but never quite make it back, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Seth had seen a few of them when he was in the hospital. Staring vacantly at nothing, muttering to themselves, imprisoned by memories that might never let them go. Watching them had been the motivation he’d needed to push himself hard every single day, even when his body had protested. With relentless determination, he’d whipped through his rehab in record time.
However difficult normal life was for him, it was a cakewalk compared to others.
“I pray for ’em every day,” Gus confided. “Those poor souls need all the help they can get.”
Seth
