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His heart ached every day just knowing how much he’d hurt Rose After that only phone call he had with her, he hadn’t spoken to her again He’d hardly been hoh to have time to even send her an e to do with Vince anymore and made Vince pro he could say to her that would make her understand anyway

As much as Vince reasoned that he could live without Rose if he had to, it felt impossible He had to face the fact now that it was an all too real possibility Just before Vince left, Sal told him about how miserable Rose had been those first few days after it all went down Then Sal warned hi for Rose as well, and that really pissed Sal off "Grace doesn’t want you o, Vin, not to hurt her After everything I’ve done for you, I think this is the least you can do for h already Stay away froh Vince promised he would, he’d heard the hope in her voice the day he spoke with her A love like theirs didn’t fade that easily And if he had to be honest with himself, there was no way in hell he’d be able to stay away froiveness as soon as he got the chance For now, all he could do was continue to tell her how sorry he was and that he loved her as ot--teeks into boot camp--he wrote to her But he had to be sneaky He sent it to Lorenzo and asked hiirl’s name with a fake La Jolla return address His brother, as thankfully staying out of trouble noas e He even offered to draw happy faces and "little, stupid hearts" on the envelope that he said the girls did at school to make it seem more real

Vince told hietting a letter with hearts on it from him He’d kept it simple himself As stupid as it sounded, he told her he’d only enlisted for four years Of course he hadn’t had the gall to ask her to wait for him, but he prayed that so to wait and couldn’t even think about getting involved with anyone else even if it did o She’d never responded to even one of his letters, and Lorenzo assured hio he sent word to Rose, this ti her his love for her was just as strong and he’d do anything tofroo home even if it was just to visit, he could convince her to hear hio he’da weekend pass he earned to fly back hoet past Sal and Grace, but it orth the fight Then he got a letter from Lorenzo that shattered any shred of hope he had left

Lorenzo had only been around Rose a handful of ti went down anyhow He’d never had much to update Vince on until now Vince had already read Lorenzo’s letter a couple of ti back to that same part that crushed his heart the first ti similar the last time I saw her But it wasn’t clear, so I didn’t want tountil I knew for sure This ti for Uncle Sal Of course pops said I had to go When Rose showed up, Sofie asked her about her boyfriend and how coht at h her forehead I actually heldshe’d deny it or , and he’d be there next time for sure Then Sofie said he’d better because it wasn’t fair that Rose had been seeing him for months now and no one but Sal and Grace had met him yet

After reading it for the last ti the dull ache that had been ever present since the first tio, he set the letter on fire No wonder she hadn’t responded to any of his letters Of all the reasons he’d played out in his head why she hadn’t responded even to the letter that explained it all, he’d never even considered that she’dsomeone else

Just like every time he’d read it before, he felt sick to his stomach He’d been so certain because he felt it every time he’d been with her--every time he’d looked into those beautiful eyes She’d assured him she’d never be with anyone else There’d been no doubt in his heart, not for a moment, that there was any way she could be over hi over her, probably never would be It hurt like hell that she’d not only begun to just see so boyfriend, and she’d apparently been with him for months

The letter couldn’t have co tined to a new base He wanted things between the--wanted to know their future started now He’d waited long enough, and as doubtful as it see that once he explained, everything would be all right

Because he’d excelled in tactical fireariven his choice to be based out of San Diego helping conduct the tactical training there It was a great opportunity He’d s, or he could volunteer to be deployed to Iraq