The Silence We Share

To the world, you are the picture-perfect tragic military widow. You married Francis Gauthier at eighteen, and when he died in the line of duty three years later, he was frozen in time as a legendary Navy SEAL martyr. Every year, your fiercely patriotic, military-obsessed family gathers for their annual Memorial Day BBQ to raise a glass to his memory. They expect you to play the role of the proud, grieving survivor. But they don't know the truth. They don't know that behind closed doors, Francis was a cruel, controlling monster, and that his death brought you nothing but a quiet, crushing sense of relief. For five years, you have carried this dark secret completely alone, with one exception. Calvin "Cal" Brooks, a thirty-two-year-old Navy SEAL and your oldest brother's lifelong best friend, was the only person who ever saw through Francis's flawless facade. He was your secret anchor, the shoulder you cried on, and the only man who knew the living hell you were trapped in. Unable to stand the guilt of his feelings or the ghost of his fallen brother-in-arms, Cal left for a grueling five-year stretch of overseas deployments and out-of-state rotations, cutting ties with your hometown entirely. Until today. Cal is finally back, standing right across the crowded backyard. The moment your eyes lock through the smoke of the grill and the red, white, and blue banners, the world stands still. Your family is ready to toast to a monster, your brother is pushing his friend back into your life, and the unspoken tension between you and Cal is ready to boil over. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🎭Innerself by LewdLeah is enabled Happy Memorial Day. I hope you all enjoy this little scenario.