Sarge (Time Served MC: Nomads #9)

PROLOGUE

ALMOST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

SARGE

“I’ve always known you’d be the one to roam.”

“What are you talking about, Ma?”

“You work just as hard as your brothers, but you’ve always had your eye on the horizon rather than the fields in front of you. It doesn’t surprise me that you’re going to leave and explore the world, although I’d rather you did it in a safer way.”

“How did you know I was planning to leave?”

“Leavenworth isn’t exactly a booming metropolis, Graham. I knew your intentions before you even opened the door to the recruiting office.”

“I knew Mrs. Perkins saw me!”

“She sees everything, and then she tells everyone all about it. When are you leaving?”

“I’ve got to finish some testing, but they said I’ll be gone in a month.”

“If that’s the case, then we’ve got quite a bit of work to do before you go. I’ll tell your father this evening after dinner, so I’d make myself scarce around that time if I were you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I had dreaded this conversation, but not enough to change my mind. However, there was one thing that worried me even more than my father’s reaction to the news that I’d be leaving the farm. “Are you mad at me, Ma?”

“Of course not, Graham. I love you and want you to be happy, and right now you don’t think the farm will fulfill you. Go out and explore, but someday you’ll come back here and be content.”

“I don’t think so. I want to build a career in the Army if I can.”

“If that’s what you want to do, then I know you’ll succeed, son. No matter how far you travel or what you see out there in this great big world, I want you to remember this farm will always be your home.”

“It might be, but I’m not coming back.”

◆◆◆

TWENTY-NINE YEARS AGO

As soon as she answered the call, I exclaimed, “I’m getting married, Ma!”

Mom chuckled before she said, “I might have guessed that was coming.”

“How did you know?”

“A mother knows, son.”

A little sheepish, considering I knew her views on sex before marriage, I admitted, “We’re having a baby.”

“You’ll make a wonderful father, Graham. I can’t wait to watch your children grow up on the farm just like you did.”

“I’m not coming home, Ma. I’m going to stay in the Army until they kick me out.”

◆◆◆

ALMOST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

“I’m so glad to have you home, son.”

“I hate to admit it because you’ll just say ‘I told you so,’ but I’m glad to be back.”

“It will be nice to have someone else around who can reach the top shelves.”

I laughed because Ma had plenty of men around who were all taller than her. “Still not a fan of ladders, huh?”

“If God wanted my feet to come up off the ground, he’d have given me wings.”

“I don’t start at the sheriff's department until next week, so you’ve got me full-time until then. Fabiella can help too.”

Mom muttered something, but before I could ask her to repeat herself, she announced, “I’ll need you to bring those boys over so I can spoil them, and then you can go out with your brothers and prune my fruit trees.”

“All of them?”

“I thought the Army kept you boys busy.”

“They did, but we didn’t have to take care of the trees.”

“You’ll get back into the groove of things sooner rather than later. There’s a lot to do around here, as I’m sure you remember.”

“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

“I guess I’ve said that once or twice.”

“I haven’t heard you say it today.”

“Now I don’t need to since you think you’re smart and beat me to it.”

◆◆◆

TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO

“I’m sorry I have to leave you again, Ma.”

“I understand why you are leaving even better this time than I did the last time you left us.”

“I just couldn’t let a monster like that live another day.”

“You know it’s best to cull the herd when it needs it, and you did just that. Now, you’ll be paying for it for a long while, but you knew that might happen.”

“Will you watch over the boys for me?”

“They’re at the house with your father and the girls right now. Once they settle you somewhere, I’ll bring them to see you.”

“Don’t do that, Ma. I’ve already talked to Fabiella, and she and I agreed . . .”

“Her opinion doesn’t matter, son. Fabiella moved into town the day after the police arrested you.

Whatever lines she’s been feeding you since then have been bull-hockey.

We’ve had the boys since she left, and I even convinced her to sign a paper saying they’ll live with us until you come home.

I got Albert to draw up divorce papers for you to sign, and I left them with the guard.

I’ll wait in the foyer for you to sign them, and then I’ll take them straight to his office so he can file them. ”

“What?”

“She wanted to take the boys to Kansas City, and I convinced her they’d be better off at the farm with me. We made a deal, and it will be official once you sign those papers and Albert shows them to a judge.”

“Ma! What . . . I just . . .” I took a deep breath and blew it out.

Of course Fabiella wasn’t going to stay on the farm and wait for me to get out of prison.

She didn’t even wait for me to get home from work in the evening before she went out on the town to do God only knew what.

The fact that I didn’t care who she ran with or what she did with them was telling, but I wanted to keep my boys with me, so I ignored her indiscretions even though it felt like she tried to make me the laughingstock of the town.

But now the state had locked me up, and I would be here for years, while she was out there to do as she pleased. However, she no longer had my income to support whatever bad habits she’d developed since we came back to my hometown, so it made sense that she’d look elsewhere for money.

“How much did you give her?”

“I offered her a lifetime lease on the three acres where your house sits at the edge of the property and promised ten percent of the income from the fall crops until the boys come of age.”

“What?” I exclaimed so loudly that I heard the guard start walking my way. I glanced over and shook my head, and he frowned before he walked back to his post near the door. “Ma, you can’t afford that!”

“No, what I can’t afford is to have my grandsons gallivanting around Kansas City while their mother does her best to forget they even exist. Whatever I have to pay to make sure that doesn’t happen is well worth it.”

“I’m sorry, Ma.”

“Keep your chin up, Graham. You did what you felt was right, and now you’ve got to make sure and protect yourself so you come home in one piece. You hear me? We’ll go on like we have been out here while you focus on making it home as soon as they let you free.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

◆◆◆

SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO

“It’s great to finally have all my boys home together.”

“You knew it would happen eventually, didn’t you?” my sister-in-law asked.

“Of course I did. I was right after all, but then again, aren’t I always?”

I took a sip of my coffee and frowned at my mom, but I didn’t have to say anything because everyone around the table started arguing with her.

“You were wrong about that rainstorm we got last week,” Grant, my oldest son, said cheerfully. I knew how he felt, because none of us often got to say I told you so to my mother. “And you were wrong about when the last freeze would come two years ago.”

“Oh, so you’re keeping a list?”

“I’ll admit it’s a short list, but I’ve got a few things on it.”

Laughter filled the dining room. Ma’s table was full, just how she liked it, and since we’d run out of room around the table, the younger kids had been sent outside with paper plates to eat on the porch, just like my brothers and I used to eat with our cousins when we were young.

Garrison, my youngest son, added, “And you were wrong about how much moisture we’d get over the winter.”

“Son, I’m pretty fantastic, but even I can’t control the weather.”

As everyone laughed and talked among themselves, swapping stories and trying their hardest to find more instances when Ma didn’t get things exactly right, I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“I’m glad to be home.”

“You might be, but you’re not nearly as happy as I am. There’s work to be done and not enough hands to do it.”

“Come on, Ma! Admit it. You missed me at least a little, didn’t you?” I asked, gently bumping my shoulder against hers. “Give me something.”

“I’ll give you a smack on the hand if you don’t finish the food on your plate. I didn’t cook it to feed the hogs, and you’re much too skinny. When winter comes, you’ll be no good to me unless you’ve got a little fat on you for warmth.”

“Fat or skinny, at least I’ll be home.”

I knew it was all the recognition I’d get when Ma said, "That's what I’ve been waiting for.”