Unpredictable Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

the
envelope. Hmm. Two pages.

    Dear Jory,
    Wow. Your letter blew me away. How did you
do all that stuff? You weren’t even eighteen yet. You took care of
your sister, managed to move in with your aunt, and get along with
her? That’s a pretty sad story. You must be strong to go through
that and survive.
    I lost my parents too. But I was much older.
I was 26 when they died. Dad first, from cancer, then mom, a year
later, from grief. I’m an only child, so I didn’t have to look out
for a sibling. How did you do it?
    My uncle came for me. He helped me sell the
house, pay off their debts, and find a room to rent. I lived there
until I was deployed and ended up here. I get how you miss them. I
still want to ask mine stuff too.
    Especially my dad. He was military too. It’s
been seven years, but I don’t think that ever goes away.
    If I was there, I’d find a way to make you
forget. Heh heh. There I go, getting dirty again. You’ll have to
straighten me out when I get back. Or maybe make my dreams come
true.
    Hey, this letter is supposed to be about
you! I wish I could wave a magic wand and make you smile. Suck the
sadness from your heart. I’m sending you one, monster bear hug to
make you forget. Us orphans have to stick together.
    I’m impressed you made it without going
nuts. That shit isn’t easy. I think you must be an amazing lady. I
can’t wait to meet you.

    Yours,
    Trent

     
    Jory couldn’t believe how similar their
stories were. As she read his letter, he seemed to be sitting right
next to her. In her mind, she heard a voice she imagined as his,
reading it aloud. His words were comforting.
    She touched the paper then brought it to her
lips. So many people had said they knew what she was going through,
but no one really did. That was the other hard part—the loneliness.
Nan had been a good listener, but she’d grown up in an intact
family. Although she tried hard, she couldn’t quite get the
emptiness engulfing Jory.
    This was the first time she’d felt a
connection with anyone about her loss. Deep down inside, something
from Trent touched her through this letter. It was a game changer.
No longer could she shrug him off as some stranger she had nothing
in common with. Now, she had something so basic, so essential, so
down-to-her-core the same with him, she trembled at the thought. He
got her. Through the mail, he got her, got who she was, how hard
her life had been.
    Tears flooded her eyes. She returned his
missive to her pocket to keep it dry as she searched for a tissue.
Jory had given up hoping to find someone who’d understand that part
of her life. She’d closed it off, put it on the shelf to gather
dust, to forget the fear, the sadness, and the uncertainty she had
faced at seventeen.
    Now, she had opened it up for SSGT Trent
Stevens. She had put aside her fear of seeming childish or stupid
and shared her feelings. He didn’t disappoint. He hadn’t made fun,
or ignored it, or pretended it wasn’t important or serious. He had
done the right thing. His understanding lifted the darkness from
her heart, even if only temporarily. She smiled as she wiped her
eyes and blew her nose.
    Maybe her mom had sent Trent to
comfort her. Then, she shook her head at the notion. Don’t get all mystical. Take it for what it is. A
great guy who gets you.
    Jory pulled it out and read it again.
She loved his support, until it got to the part about meeting. Her
blood ran cold. That would be the day when this attachment would
break. Her heart slowed and depression closed in around her, like a
dark cloud. So? We meet. He hates me. We
part. So what? Nothing ventured, nothing lost.
    But she didn’t believe her own bullshit.
Anticipating his correspondence, putting life on hold to write
back, kept Jory on a high. Love? She shivered at the thought.
Friendship was more like it. One thing was set in stone—it was much
too late to call it off.
    Sometimes, she got nauseous when she thought
about the day of reckoning. He’d