Homecoming Hero

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Wolf shook his head, his uncompromising glare relaying the message No, no. Not me. Not me. He already had a “ministry opportunity.” And her name was Hailey O’Brien.

That was the one good thing about The Dream. Whenever it came, he always woke up more determined to carry out his promise.

“No pressure, Wolf,” J.T. clarified as he perched on a corner of the metal desk. “For now, let’s focus on your first class. I’d like to set it up for next Wednesday.”

That soon? “Any specifics you want me to cover?”

“I’ll let you decide.”

Oh, J.T. was good, tossing the responsibility back at Wolf, making him engage in the task from the get-go. No pressure? Yeah, right.

An awkward silence fell between them. Wolf refused to be the first one to speak.

A mistake. J.T. steered the conversation in a personal direction. “What’s your story, Wolf?”

No way were they going there. “I was wondering the same thing about you.” Wolf shoved his hands into his pockets. “Why’d you leave the military?”

J.T. shrugged, oh so casually, but Wolf noted the closed-off look that filled his expression. Denial. Yep, he recognized that one immediately.

“I was called into ministry.”

Wolf didn’t buy it. “A soldier doesn’t decide to leave the Army one day and become a minister the next,” he challenged, suddenly very interested in what the good pastor had to say next.

“You’re right. My decision didn’t come overnight.” He readjusted his position. The new placement of his leg looked almost unnatural. “Long story short, I’m a better pastor than I was a soldier.”

Which raised a lot of unanswered questions. Like the fact that J.T. was sitting here. With Wolf. At Fort Stewart.

“How’d you get on post?”

The guy broke eye contact. “I drove.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

J.T. sighed. “I was given a medical discharge two years ago.” With slow, purposeful movements, he lifted the left leg of his cargo pants. The ratty hem traveled past a shiny, metal ankle and stopped midway up a plastic calf.

A prosthetic. Wolf drew in a sharp breath.

That kind of injury could easily turn a man bitter. Wolf had seen it happen often enough. But J.T. hadn’t let his disability hold him back. Instead, he’d gone into ministry.

What kind of faith did that take?

More than Wolf would ever have.

An unexpected wave of awe and respect filled him. Despite losing a leg in combat, J.T. had a certainty that radiated from him. He knew his purpose in life.

Wolf didn’t have convictions like that. Not anymore. Despite his recent promotion to captain, he didn’t have any real direction, either.

He realized now, as he stared at the certainty in J.T.’s gaze, that he’d lost more than his friends that day on the Iraqi roadside. He’d lost his faith. And no matter how many Army chaplains quoted Romans 8:28 to him, Wolf didn’t believe God worked all things for the good to those who loved Him. Not anymore.

J.T. dropped his pant leg back into place and put on his pastor face. “My turn for a few questions.”

Wolf nodded. J.T. was a brother in arms, one who’d had the courage to reveal his career-altering injury. Wolf owed him the same courtesy. “All right.”

“Why did you seek out Hailey as soon as you arrived back in the States?”

Wolf forced down the litany of emotions the question awakened and focused only on words. Words he could do. “I made a promise to Clay, right before he died.”