Three years later –
The attacks of 9/11 had a profound effect on Nate, and when Jessica announced two years ago that she was going to go to Ohio State instead of SFU, it was one more reason for Nate to enlist in the army. Janet tried to dissuade him, but there was no changing his mind, and it frightened her. Not because he impulsively enlisted, but because ever since Jessica left, he was a different person: distant and far away. She knew he brooded about Jessica"s absence, but it was more than that. Had they fought? The last time she saw Jessica, things appeared okay between them, but who knew, and Nate wasn"t saying anything.
He had now been in Iraq for the better part of six months. And the war, despite the President"s declaring victory, was far from over. With each suicide bombing or
