Chapter 23

I stopped and faced him. “You sound hesitant about the whole thing.”

He turned to study the waves. “I never thought I’d see anyone from my unit again, and the memories…they’re painful.”

“He’s not forcing you to stay,” I ventured.

“No. It’s me who’s…You know what? It doesn’t matter anyway.” He started walking away and I grabbed his arm to halt his progress.

“Murphy.” He shook off my hand and averted his gaze. I tried again. “Look, whatever’s going on with you or may have happened to you, I think it would be good for you to talk to someone who might understand.”

I walked around to face him, our bodies close together. “You need closure, man. I don’t know you well or claim to have much knowledge about human emotion, but you need to get the stuff festering inside you out and dealt with. You’re so walled off, no one can even talk to you, not really.” I stepped back. “Anyway, those are my thoughts. Take ‘em or leave ‘em.”