Chapter Thirty
CLARA
Clara awoke to the sound of “Jingle Bells” coming from her phone. Startled out of a deep sleep, she rolled over to check it.
It was just a text, although a long one. Clara read it sleepily, her eyes still blurry from one of the best nights of sleep in a long time.
Good morning, sweetheart, sorry I fell asleep on you last night.
I know this deployment will be hard, but I’m here for you.
Also, I told your parents about Brent, and they decided they’re coming home for Christmas.
They said they can always take their cruise next year, but that they want to be home to support you right now.
So it looks like we’ll all be together this Christmas!
At the end was Gram’s signature emoji, the one she ended every text with—the adorable hug emoji with the smiley face and splayed-out hands.
Clara blinked her eyes several times to make sure she was seeing it correctly. Yes, this was undeniably from Grams. Her grandmother had sent her this message!
It took a minute for her thoughts to fully catch up. She sat up with a start. Her phone was playing “Jingle Bells” again! It wasn’t playing “Blue Christmas.” If she never changed her ringtone, then that meant . . .
Clara’s eyes widened. Brent had never left.
Her heart raced as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes to look at the date on her home screen.
It was December 5, the day he was scheduled to leave for his deployment.
She quickly tapped on the calendar app, her eyes going straight for the year.
There, staring back at her, was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.
It was the year she had met Brent. It was the year he had told her he was going to deploy. It was the year she had made that stupid wish. It was the year she had wanted to see.
Relief flooded Clara’s entire body. She closed her eyes and said a sincere prayer of gratitude. She was back where she needed to be.
Her eyes widened as she saw the time on her phone. She should have been on base already. She needed to get there immediately. Clara was not going to let Brent leave without seeing her. She only hoped she wouldn’t be too late.