She pursed her lips. “It’s my duty as a daughter. I get that, even if I want to pout. Daddy worked his entire life for this position, and for the next one up. I understand that. I’m upset and I think he made the wrong choice, but I love him and support him.”

“He knows that. He really struggled with the decision to bring you home. He and I spent some time in prayer over it.”

“It’s done now. And like a friend reminded me, Katangela is not the beginning and end of mission fields. I just need to decide where to go.” She added, “And pay isn’t a barrier.”

“Your skills and education are worth pay, even if it’s a stipend compared to what your aunt Kate paid you.” He studied her face. “Now, favorite albeit only niece, tell me about how God worked on you for the last six months. I can see it in your face, I want to hear your words.” He cocked his head slightly. “Or explain why you look completely exhausted.”

Hot tears sprang to her eyes. She could talk to him. He would keep her confidence, and he would pray with her and for her. “I’ve been having nightmares,” she whispered. A tear slid down her cheek, and she closed her eyes. “They’re so vivid that I put off going to sleep so I don’t have any more.”

He reached for her hand. “Let’s talk about that.”

CHapter
twenty

FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

Rick stood on the corner of Maple and Sixth and looked up at the sign for the Hammerhead Bar and Grill. His mouth watered and his stomach growled. He glanced over at Bill. “Ready, brother?”

“As ever.”

The two of them had spent eight years in the military together. The Army had assigned them to the same units at the same times, they had deployed together, and they had returned together. Whenever they arrived at a new military installation, they always asked around for where to find the best burger, then on Fridays they would go rate them. Whenever they returned from deployment, they always had that first meal in the States at the best burger restaurant.

This deployment, Bill had returned home from Germany a week ahead of Rick’s return from Africa. He’d waited for Rick to get that burger.

Rick had no words to express the happiness that filled his heart when he saw Bill standing, joking, and moving like a twenty-nine-year-old and not a ninety-year-old. He didn’t realize how much stress he’d carried over Bill’s injury until he saw him recovered, ready to get back to work.

They sat at their usual table, waiting on the fully loaded burgers cooked medium-well. “So,” Bill said, “Peña Colada said you got a phone call last week.”

An uncomfortable feeling, almost an embarrassed anxiety, filled Rick’s chest. “Yeah? What’s the point of the scuttlebutt?”