Alex’s wary tone caught Jorden off-guard. He pulled up a chair and joined them. The night wound down after the colonel left around midnight. One never left until the top ranking officer made the first move, in this case the colonel. Noel then excused himself, shaking Alex’s hand and touching Jorden’s shoulder.

“Aren’t you on the clean-up committee?” Jorden asked.

“No, I’m done for the night.”

Tired and ready to leave, Jorden got up to find her shawl. She spotted the line to the cloakroom. Before long, she felt a tap on her shoulder. “Are you looking for this?” Alex handed her the shawl.

“Where did you get my shawl?”

“Remember, I organized this. You could have asked me, and I would have gotten your shawl. I’m not that bad. Let’s go. It’s been a long night.”

“It sure has,” Jorden muttered to herself, not saying a word on the drive back to her apartment. Alex walked her up and gave her a perfunctory hug and kiss.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“I’m exhausted. Some things didn’t go as I planned. Sorry, I’m in a lousy mood.”

Jorden didn’t say a word while shrugging her shoulders with resignation. She could see Alex’s wall forming.

“Don’t be upset. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Fine.” Jorden’s voice shook. How could Alex leave like this? At the least, he could have given her a better explanation. What’s wrong with him? Jorden wanted to shout.

Chapter 32: January 1970

Chapter 32

January 1970

Wedged into the window seat, Jorden looked into the dense cloud coverage. She shifted her position lifting her wrist to check the time. It was almost two—Alex had already left Hawaii going in the opposite direction to Vietnam. Coming and going seemed to be part of their lives.

***

Previous Year – March 1969

After the Twelfth Week party, Alex seemed to bounce back to his cheerful self—until he announced his latest news. She watched him pull into the parking lot and dart in to avoid the wind and rain. She had the door open when he reached the top of the stairs.

“Hi . . . how’s my girl?” Alex looked past her, but not at her.

“What’s happening?” Jorden sensed something wasn’t right.

“I got my orders for Vietnam. I’m scheduled to leave at the end of May.”

“I knew you were leaving, but we still have three months.”

“I wish.” Jorden followed Alex’s gaze out the living room window. The wind carried broken twigs over the parking lot—twirling them in the wild currents before they dropped. He shifted his footing to face Jorden.

“And? What aren’t you telling me?”

Alex seemed to hesitate. “It means I have two months of training and it won’t be here.”

“W–w-where?” Jorden stammered.

“It’s in North Carolina.”

“How many miles from here?”

“It’s about four hundred miles from Columbus.”

“When are you leaving?”