Chapter 57

“Soldier to soldier, body to body, heart to heart. I assumed they would be from a soldier to someone at home,” I said. “But this one is one soldier to another.”

“Yes. Just like Jefferson and Daniel.”

The line Goose had pointed out, back before the tornado had struck, was about marriage.

Sometimes, I think about marrying you. That’s how strong my feelings are. Everyone else can get married,Davis had written, presumably to Garret, as they both served in Vietnam.High school friends can marry. Other soldiers can marry the one they left back home or someone they met while serving. My brothers can marry, and my sisters, too, why not me? Why the hell not us? Even if we’re two men, shit, man, I believe our bond is just that strong.

“The spell…Nami’s spell, Halloween, these letters…Everything that happened all summer long, every bit of it suddenly makes sense, now.” Goose was on his feet, and then the twister hit. The church shook. Things crashed outside, and the lights went out.