Page 50 of All We Carry Home

“Why do you still work here, then?”

“Because they need the help.” She looked around. “I thought if I forced myself to come back again and again, I might get over it.”

Ah, her “form new bonds” approach. “I’m not sure grief works that way, Eva.”

She flinched as if I’d physically landed a blow. I regretted the effect, but she probably needed to hear those words.

“How did Bill die?” I asked softly. I’d already rubbed the wound raw, so we might as well fully unearth it.

She looked at her hands, scrubbed clean but scarred and blemished from blisters and scrapes. “He didn’t think it was anything other than a chest cold.” Her voice was dry, detached. “A cold that lasted several years. Turned out to be lung cancer.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head. “He always took better care of the animals and the people around him, compared to himself.”

“Sounds like you’ve followed in his footsteps.” I pointed to the wrap around her wound.

Her jaw tensed, and she gave me a harsh look. “I’m doing the best I can.”

“Maybe he was too.”

The anger in her eyes broke and turned into sorrow.

I couldn’t hold back any longer and reached for her hands, but a girl’s voice cut in.

“Eva?”

We turned as Annie walked up to us. Eva’s expression flipped to that of the ever-professional nurse. “What is it, Annie?”

“Peter’s asking for you.”

She nodded and stood, and this time, I followed her into the boy’s hospital room but kept my distance. Peter sat up in bed, his hair still draped over his face but a grateful, tired smile peeking through. Eddie beamed to the side, his jovial nature shining through like a ray of sunlight in a stormy day.

How easily this all could have turned for the worse. Every day had been like that in the war, and hundreds of my men hadn’t been so lucky to recover from the brink of death.

Eddie had a second chance with his son.

I had a second chance with Eva. I couldn’t take a moment for granted, and I would do everything I could to see that her farm was safe, the legacy of Bill Birkstrom preserved.

At least, as much as she’d allow me.

If we didn’t cast aside the weight of all we carried, it would crush us.

Twelve

Eva

MAY 13

“The wound looks good,” I said as I wrapped clean gauze around Peter’s ankle.

Eddie smiled down at his son as we sat at a small table in the barn’s apartment and I checked the healing from the snakebite. Only a handful of days had passed, but Peter was a young and healthy kid, and the swelling was almost gone.

“Can I help you with Phantom today?” Peter asked, his eyebrows lifted in hope.

Eddie’s face flashed with concern.

I smiled at Peter reassuringly. “I’d love your help, as always. I think Phantom finds your presence soothing.”