Chapter 5 - Dawn Over the Hill Country
The sun rose slowly over the rugged hills of central Texas the next morning, bathing the limestone landscape in a brilliant, warm wash of gold and amber.
I stood on the wide front porch of the quiet Airbnb I had rented for the weekend, holding a steaming mug of black coffee, watching the morning mist burn off the live oak trees.
My phone buzzed on the rustic wooden railing.
I picked it up. It was a text message from an unknown local number. I swiped to open it.
Morgan, the message read, typed with clumsy, uncharacteristic punctuation. I don't expect you to forgive me for how things went down last night. But... I want you to know I’m sorry. I was wrong about you. If you ever want to talk... let me know. — Dad.
I stared at the screen for a long, quiet moment.
There was no anger left in my chest. No bitter resentment. Just a profound, liberating sense of emptiness—the kind that comes when a heavy burden you’ve carried on your shoulders for thirty-eight years is finally unstrapped and dropped to the ground.
I didn't call him back. I didn't text him an angry reply.
Instead, I held my thumb down on the screen, blocked the number permanently, and watched the digital message dissolve into nothingness.
A car door clicked shut down the gravel driveway. I looked up to see Marcus Brody stepping out of his sedan, carrying two breakfast tacos wrapped in foil and a fresh cup of coffee.
“Morning, Colonel,” Brody called out with a bright, easy smile as he walked up the porch steps.
“Morning, Marcus,” I smiled back, taking one of the warm tacos from his hand.
“Where to next?” he asked, leaning against the wooden railing and looking out toward the horizon where the Texas highway stretched endlessly into the bright morning light.
May you like
I took a bite of the taco, looking past the rolling hills toward Washington, toward the Pentagon, toward the complex, demanding, and deeply meaningful life I had built entirely with my own blood, sweat, and unyielding strength.
“Back to work,” I said, my voice steady, clear, and utterly unburdened. “Let’s go home.”
