Brayden’s dreams of her had kept him going

Brayden’s dreams of her had kept him going during his recovery. Physical therapy. Aqua therapy. The ache around his hip intensified and he balanced his weight between the cane and the suitcase handle to stay upright.

The front door opened.

Alex, a year older than Zoe at twenty-nine, stepped onto the small porch. Tall and lean, his fitted maroon t-shirt seemed baggy over his khaki cargo shorts. He’d styled his black hair so that it was buzzed on the sides but long in the front. “Brayden?”

Brayden forced his dry throat to work. “Yeah. Hey, bud.”

The dogs raced out of the house, charging right for him.

A shrieking whistle stopped the spaniels and had them tucking their tails as they circled, wanting to obey the order and check out the newcomer at the same time. Didn’t they remember him? 

Grandma Clark had dyed her hair a silver-purple and it puffed around her head like a cotton ball. She pushed by her grandson to study Brayden with astute brown eyes.

“Looks like we’ve got matching canes, Brayden. Come on in from the street now before the neighbors start talking.”

Brayden stepped forward, his left side stiff.

Alex took the two porch stairs in one leap down to land on the sidewalk next to Brayden with a clomp of brown leather work boots. “Does Zoe know you’re coming?”

  Brayden shook his head.

  “She’ll be surprised.” Alex’s mouth quirked indecisively. Brayden knew exactly how Alex felt. 

Grandma Clark sniffed. “She sure will.”

“Zoe doesn’t like surprises, not even on her birthday,” Alex said. 

Excerpt from Returning Home by the Sea by Traci Hall
Included in Love in Times of War
No longer available

"This anthology consists of twelve wonderful stories with the inherent theme of love and war contained in them. Out of the twelve authors, Uvi Poznansky is the only one that I was familiar with previously. So, in addition to becoming acquainted with new authors in this set, my 'to be read' pile has grown considerably. That is not a bad thing with the wind chill of a minus 10 as I write this review!!" 

-Off Grid...And Loving It... TOP 500 REVIEWER