CHAPTER 1: Chapter 1 - The House at the End of Oak Street

Sergeant Ethan Walker had pictured his homecoming so many times that it had become a private movie in his mind. His mother, Margaret, would be standing on the porch of the old white house at the end of Oak Street. She would cry before he reached the steps. He would drop his duffel bag, wrap his arms around her, and finally feel like the world had stopped trying to take pieces of him.
Then he would see Vanessa. Beautiful, polished Vanessa, the woman he planned to marry. She would laugh, run to him, and tell him she had counted every day until he came back.
That dream had carried him through months of military service.
Now, as the taxi pulled away, Ethan stood at the foot of the driveway with his uniform jacket folded over one arm and his duffel bag in the other hand. The late afternoon sun turned the windows gold. His mother's rose bushes still leaned against the walkway, stubborn and bright, just like she was.
Several cars lined the curb. His aunt Linda's blue sedan. His cousin Mark's truck. Vanessa's black SUV.
Ethan smiled faintly. Maybe his mother had invited people over for dinner.
He climbed the porch steps, reached for the doorknob, and froze.
From inside the house came the unmistakable sound of his mother crying.