She scanned the crowd of people dragging luggage behind them as they exited Sea-Tac airport and took their places on the sidewalk. Kristy tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel as she inched forward behind the row of cars. A huge smile spread across her face when she spotted him standing at the end of the curb away from the large crowd.

He was handsome standing tall on the sidewalk in his Army greens with his shined shoes and pressed uniform. His green pants were perfectly creased in front and his jacket was buttoned. He was holding only a backpack and was peering through dark shades. The rounded lenses of movie-cop sunglasses. He’d only been gone thirteen months, but, as the car moved closer, Kristy thought he looked like he’d aged nearly ten years.

He was trying his best to politely ignore the petite blonde that was obviously interested in him and was trying way too hard to engage him in conversation. When Kristy pulled her car over next to him the blonde was holding her phone out and showing him something on the screen. He made a comment and the blonde laughed too hard and pushed his shoulder in a last stitch effort to flirt before he left. When he saw Kristy’s car he picked up his backpack and bid the blonde woman farewell.

He opened the back door and flung his backpack onto the seat and Kristy flipped down the visor and checked her makeup in the mirror. She straitened her necklace as he climbed in the passenger seat.

“Come here!” Kristy held out her arms for a hug, but he surprised her by planting a kiss on her cheek. She wiped her palm across the spot. “Ew. What’s with you?”

“Don’t wipe it off! I told her you were my girlfriend.” He laughed and explained when she raised an eyebrow at his uncharacteristic affection. Kristy laughed with him and pulled away from the curb toward the freeway.

“Who was she? Trixie from Ohio coming to check out the big city?”

“Amber from Michigan. She’s totally psyched to be visiting her friend, Victoria, who goes to college in Seattle and she has a pug back at home named Pugsly.” He chuckled and removed his green wedge cap revealing brown hair that matched Kristy’s trimmed in a perfect crew cut. He pulled his glasses off and Kristy got a good look at his face.

“What happened to your face?” She narrowed one eye in a slightly disgusted look.

“This is what I look like. You got a problem?”

Kristy rolled her eyes. “No really. What happened to you?” She pointed her pinky finger at the light bruises and scrapes on his face.

“Just training.” He turned away from her and stared out the windshield. “No big deal. How’s Gram?” He needed to change the subject.

Kristy sighed. “She’s okay. She’s already at the cemetery making sure everything is set up just right. She’s exhausted though. I’ve been over there every day trying to help her out.” Kristy let out another sigh. “She’s really excited to see you. She’s been looking forward to it.” She took in a breath and looked over at Alex. “I have too.”

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too.” He smiled as he took in the sight of her as they headed toward Tacoma. He recalled wondering just the day before whether he would ever see his sister again. It was good to be home.

They arrived at the cemetery thirty minutes before the funeral started. “Can you grab my shoes? They’re behind the seat.” Kristy asked as she dug through her purse for her lipstick.

She smacked her lips together and ran her fingers through her hair before she took the shoes from him. “Thanks.”

She was wearing a snug black dress with a V-neck and cap sleeves. It hugged her slender figure perfectly and flared out just below the hips before coming to rest a few inches above her knees. She closed the car door and saw Alex leaning against the open passenger door tapping his thumb on the hot metal and staring at the asphalt below.

“You okay?” She asked him over the roof of the car.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “It’s my first funeral since dad’s.” Alex let his voice trail off at the memory of the stark white hospital walls. At barely thirteen, Alex was old enough to know they’d been saying goodbye since the results had come back. The CT scan had revealed a subdural hematoma, the result of a fall off of a roof, and nothing could be done.

Alex, Kristy, and their grandparents sat with him in the hospital until he could no longer breathe without a respirator. The family said goodbye and took their father off of life support. Alex took his death hard. Since then, the siblings had been inseparable.

Kristy’s eyes filled with sympathy. “You need a minute? I can stall for you.”

“Naw. Then I’d owe you.” He pushed the door closed and met Kristy at the front of the car. “And Gram needs us.” They walked side by side to their grandfather’s gravesite.

When they got closer they saw their grandmother, Claire, wandering through the rows of chairs. She had set a program on each chair and was making small adjustments to keep herself busy. She turned a flower arrangement slightly, she brushed some invisible dust off the casket, repositioned a chair in the front row. She finally lifted her head and spotted her two grandchildren coming toward her.

“Alex!” Claire opened her arms and hurried toward him. She was wearing black slacks and a black sweater that hung open over a simple V-neck top. She had a gold heart pendant on a chain around her neck along with the matching earrings that her husband had given her years ago. She wore silver rimmed glasses and her short, white hair was curled just the way she liked it.

Alex bent down slightly and she threw her arms around him. He hugged her back and when she pulled herself away she was wiping her eyes. “You look so handsome! What happened here? Are you alright?” She pointed to the same injuries to his face.

“I’m fine. Just got hit by a rock.” He smiled reassuringly. She didn’t look completely satisfied with the answer, but she let it go for now.

“How was your flight?”

“Everything was fine, Gram. I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. How are you? Do you need us to do anything?”

“No, I think I have everything just right.” She took a look around. “Come sit down. Tell me what you’ve been doing.” She took his hand and he followed her to the front row of chairs. The three of them sat down and Alex told them about being in Afghanistan and some of the guys in his unit. Before they knew it, friends and neighbors were joining them, and soon every chair was full and the music started.

They sat graveside under the shade of a large oak tree. A blanket of clouds blocked out the sun. It was a simple funeral. Just a small gathering of people. No long hymns or speeches. As Kristy stared at the hole where her grandfather would rest, a young woman belted out the words to Amazing Grace. An Army officer knelt down on one knee in front of Claire and handed her a folded up flag. He turned and saluted the casket and returned to his place in line with the other soldiers. A prayer was read and the casket was lowered as the guns started firing. Kristy sucked in a short breath with each crack of the twenty-one shots.

People began to line up to say goodbye to the three of them. Claire, Kristy, and Alex dutifully shook the hands of everyone who came to pay their respects to Henry until they were left standing alone at his gravesite. Alex leaned in toward Kristy and spoke quietly.

“Gimme the keys. I’ll get the car.”

Before he pulled the car around, Alex sat in the front seat, alone with his thoughts for a few moments. Alex and Henry had always been close. His grandfather was his guide and mentor. After their father died, Henry gladly filled the void. He was the reason Alex had gone into the Army. He took a deep breath to compose himself and drove the car up the hill to his shrinking family.

Alex let out a long whistle when he headed back toward them. “Look at all these flowers.” They gathered up the vases and large arrangements of flowers that were left and put them gently in the back seat of the car. “You should give some to Kristy so she has something to cover up the smell of my funky socks.”

Claire paused and looked at him, “You sound just like your granddad.”

He grinned and squeezed her with one arm.

“Come on, Gram,” Kristy finally joined them. “Let’s get you home.”

Kristy and Alex each took one of Claire’s hands and led her to the car. She sat in the front seat clutching her late husband’s flag. They gave the grave one last look before Alex drove them away.

Once back at Claire’s home they unloaded the flowers and set them in every room. When Kristy had helped her plan the funeral, Claire decided not to have a reception. She didn’t want to entertain people at her home on such an emotional day. Kristy had tried to talk her out of her decision, but now she was grateful that she had stuck to it. Her emotions had been through the wringer today and she was exhausted.

“I started some laundry for you. Alex warmed up some leftovers for dinner and then we will be out of your hair for today.”

“Thank you. You two take such good care of me.” Claire gave them both a warm hug. “Alex, honey, thank you for making me dinner. I’m going to eat and then turn in early. You can come by tomorrow and do my dishes.” She teased him.

“You got it.”

They lingered a moment longer before they said goodbye and climbed into Kristy’s car. Alex drove them toward her apartment.

“I worry about her living alone,” Kristy stared out the window and thought about Claire. “Do you think we should talk to her about moving into a home, or at least one of those communities for seniors?” Alex could see the concern in Kristy’s face as she thought out loud.

“She would never leave that house, Kris. Her and Granddad have lived there since before Mom was born.”

Knowing he was right, Kristy turned toward him, “But what if something happens to her? They used to look after each other. We can’t be here 24/7 to make sure she’s okay.”

“You worry too much.” He shifted in the seat and rested his other wrist on the steering wheel. “Look, let’s talk to her about getting one of those ‘help, I’ve fallen’ buttons so she can call for help if she needs to.”

“Life Alert?” Kristy raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah, that. You know, just in case her and her friends get a little crazy on Friday night, spill the keg, slip and fall; you never know.” Kristy rolled her eyes.

“And we can call her neighbors and ask them to let us know if she’s not doing okay.” Alex said more seriously.

Kristy nodded, “Yeah, okay.” She paused a moment and then turned to Alex again, “Are you doing okay?” She knew how close he was to their grandfather.

He thought a moment and let out a long sigh, “Yeah, it was his time. I could use a drink though. Care to join me?”

“Can I be your wing woman?”

“No! Last time you told that hot girl I was gay and her hairy friend hit on me all night!” He swung his free hand in her direction playfully.

Kristy blocked his hand and laughed uncontrollably. “I forgot all about that! Okay, no dudes. I promise. Should we stop at my place first so you can change?” He was still wearing his formal dress uniform he had worn to the funeral.

“No way. I’ll get way more action with the uniform.” He winked at her. She rolled her eyes and laughed.

With bright eyes and a killer smile, Alex didn’t need the uniform to attract women, but he liked to joke that it was why he joined the Army. The truth is it was the only place he could go after high school to stay out of trouble. When Kristy was five and Alex was eight their mom dropped them off at their grandparents’ house and never came back. Their dad called the police and hung up posters for months, but eventually there was nowhere else to look. They never found out what happened to her. The only thing she left them was a trace of her when they looked in the mirror.

Their father raised them alone until his death. After that, Claire and Henry took in an angry teenage boy and his scared little sister. Alex refused to talk to anyone about it and ended up spending a lot of time with Henry. He eventually decided the best thing for him to do was follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and join the Army. Now Henry was gone too, and Alex was the man of the family. He would have to be extra careful from now on. He had to be there for them.

A handful of beers later, the two of them pulled the car up to Kristy’s apartment laughing together and singing whatever was on the radio. It was good to be together again.

“When do you have to go back?” Kristy inquired as she cleared off the futon so he could make his bed.

“My flight leaves Friday morning at nine.”

“Geez, they don’t give you long, do they?”

Alex shrugged. “Naw, but my C.O. was cool. He gave me as many days as he could.”

“Do you have everything you need?”

“Yep, I’m good. Thanks, sis. Sleep tight.” Kristy disappeared into her bedroom and Alex turned the TV on. He flipped through all of the channels a couple times before he gave up and turned it off. He put his headphones on and settled into his makeshift bed on the futon, and drifted to sleep to the slow melody of Hotel California.