DEERS office hummed, too loud

ted as Captain Michael Turner's

ords were flat

certificate, started to shake.

wasn' t just the shock of the clerk's words. It was a mem

this was the moment

National Guard Captain, had a new family at Fort Cypress. Brenda, she called herself a

thing to him. An und

base schools. Just me, alone in our small Texas town, s

el. His dismissive tone, the w

, Sarah. You woul

t Cypress, Les small and quiet besid

on during a moment of my exhausted inattention. Gone. Sw

d abandonment. The town'

ing too many pil

clerk. Les, my Les, stood beside me, small hand clutching mine, lookin

clerk prompte

. The memory was a fire in my gu

I knew what Brenda was. I

dignity, depended

houlders. The tremo

risingly firm. "A very serious mistake. And Cap

ed my hand

y eyes were on the clerk, hard and un

re. This was about survival. This was m