Free The Songbird and the Soldier by Wendy Lou Jones Page B

last three words had him by the guts: ‘Come home soon.’
    Andy breathed deeply to calm his nerves. One more day, he thought, one more day. If he could make it through unscathed back to Kandahar, he was home and dry. He wondered if he could shave another day off his parents’ visit. He would certainly try. Seven days was a lot to ask when there was a beautiful woman waiting for him back home. Maybe he could get away with five? It was time enough to get some scoff down him and get his clothes properly clean. He would, of course, have to sit through the usual round of ‘we’re glad you’re back safe’ from his dad, with heavy undertones of ‘but wouldn’t you have had a better time if you had gone over as an officer?’ His father, he had learned across the years, had always been a disappointment to Andy’s grandfather, a Lieutenant Colonel - who had received the Military Medal, don’t you know - failing twice to even get in. So he knew a lot about how to make someone feel worthless.
    Andy’s older brother had been protected from the pressures of living up to his father’s expectations and had got out early. Simon was now earning megabucks in the city and certainly seemed to be the ‘golden boy’ in his parents’ eyes.
    Still, he would do his duty and check in for a while. But Sam would be waiting for him. For him. He should catch up on his sleep while he was at home, because sleep would be the furthest thing from his mind when he reached Sam.
    He wrote back a quick note, wondering who would get there first: the letter, or him?

Chapter 6
    Ten more days, Sam thought as she cycled into work. That meant five kid-free days with the shops open. Her dress was a little crumpled that morning, the iron being of low importance when unpacking the day before. There were bags under her eyes from the sleepless nights of worry: first with the move and then and perhaps more terrifyingly, with the impending arrival of Andy.
    On several occasions throughout the day, Sam lost her train of thought and had to be reminded by one of the children, Jimmy being the most outspoken of the kids to come to her rescue. ‘Miss Litton, are you dead?’ was not a question she got asked on a regular basis.
    On the days that followed, Sam started to make her house look more like a home. On Friday night she finished school and began making a list of everything that had to be done before Andy’s arrival the following week. The hairdresser’s was booked. Everything had to be waxed and as soon as possible - no pain, no gain. Fresh clean bedding was a little presumptuous, but… just in case. What was she thinking? This was going to be a first date. She shouldn’t even be thinking about going that far yet; she didn’t want Andy to think she was cheap. But was it actually a first date? And how far was too far when you had been conversing in letters for some time? She wished she knew the rules for something like this.
    Sam arranged a night out with Kate and Chloe the night before he was due to arrive, for moral support. It was their night to be at the Crown anyway, so she had been pretty sure they would turn up. A new outfit for confidence and some new underwear, just in case, and last but not least she needed to get some good food in.
    The nerves began to rise as she picked up her newly connected phone and rang Kate, eager for some reassurance. Kate answered and knew exactly the right words to put her friend at ease. It was a strange thing, the friendship between the two. They were different in so many ways, but they had always been there for each other. Most people struggled to understand why the two of them had remained friends for so long. They just had, and that was all they knew.
    “It’ll be your turn soon,” Sam told her.
    “I know. But if you think you’re going to catch me worrying my arse off about what’s going to happen when he gets here you’ve got another thing coming. I know exactly what we’ll be up to. And so does