Chapter 6: A Family's Fate
Denise and Jeremy pulled themselves off the floor and Jeremy tucked her back into bed promising to return soon. Once he was gone Denise slid out of bed and grabbed a box that was hidden in her closet. It was filled to the brim with love notes from Frank. He wrote to her every day after he met her. She had said she couldn't date him because he was in the army. She said her mother was an emotional mess because of her father and she didn't want to end up like that. And then Frank said to her what he would there after say every time he deployed.
"No fear" Denise said mimicking his voice. As she shifted through the letters she remembered why she fell in love with him. Although most thought him to be a tough no nonsense Major she knew better. His letters were the most romantic things she had ever read. They talked about the army and his loyalty to his buddies and fellow army men. They talked about how much she did for him. That just thinking about her lifted his spirits. He said he was proud of her and that he had never been so proud of anyone. She was doing a good thing helping people like that. But what got her the most was that in every letter he would talk about himself. About how he loved fishing and how he loved to go to the shooting range. And every time he did that he included her. No one had ever done that before. He just assumed she would be his. No one had ever fought for her like that. Told her he wanted her and that he was going to keep trying. Then one day a letter didn't come. She watched the news right after and found out his plane went down. She had cried for days. Exactly twelve days, three hours, and forty three minutes later he had appeared at her door step. All he had was himself and open arms. She had fell into them and the rest as they say is history. But now history was repeating itself and she couldn't do it again. He always came home and he always had open arms waiting to wrap her in. Denise looked at each letter before putting it away and getting off the bed.
Denise walked around her home for the hundredth time. But for some reason she couldn't stop. Every time she passed a room she saw her husband. She saw him trying to drag the furniture into their new home. Jeremy then eight years old was running alongside him trying to help. So finally Frank hoisted his son into the air and spinning him around like he was in a plane. Jeremy would laugh hysterically his eyes twinkling in delight. She saw her husband lying on the couch in exhaustion after returning from a deployment. And Denise would lay there with him. If she moved away his arms would search until she moved back. But the most painful room to pass was the bedroom. All the time they made love would circle her mind and trap it like a vice. They did everything in here. Fight, make up, make love, and be together. Nothing mattered but them when they were in this room. Nothing was more important than her. Denise felt her knees buckle and she collapsed on the floor in sobs. She pulled Franks pillow from his bed and inhaled his sent. Deciding she couldn't take it anymore she grabbed her keys and left the house.
Claudia Joy returned shortly after that and panicked when she saw the car was gone. She called Pamela and Roxy and told them to get over to Denise's house. When they got there she explained that Denise was gone and they had to find her. Pretty soon others joined the search as well. Pamela and Roxy's kids and their husbands. Michael, Amanda, Emilyn, Jeremy and Roland. Even Roland's wife joined in on the search. Soon most of the post had come together to find their missing Army wife. Everyone knew it was a long shot that she would still be on post but it was worth a shot. No one was going to give up. They may fight and spread rumors but loyalty meant something. Not only to their country and their husbands but to each other. No matter their differences they were all Army wives. They were all pulled together by some unbreakable force that kept them strong, that kept the post running. And leaving someone behind was not an option.
They had been right when they thought that Denise was no longer on post. She was driving down a back road to her and Franks secret spot. Before they had Jeremy they would spend all day there. It was a quiet patch of sand that had some river peaking out form the trees that covered the area so it was impossible to see if anyone was there. Denise hoped the thick trees hadn't completely covered the sacred spot. She was reaching the spot she would need to park her car and walk a ways into the woods before she made it to the small clearing. Headlights blurred her vision for a second before they turned off their high beams. She saw the car swerving to the left than the right, slowing down than speeding up. She decided it was better if she just got out of these peoples way. But before she could do that the car swerved hard leaving no time for Denise to react. The cars hit head on sending both flying in different directions. Denise's car flipped several times before finally landing and exploding into flames.