In a Book Club Far Away(12)

It was like Adelaide was meant to be this Army wife, and there was no doubt that although she was new to Fort Fairfax, she had already been brought into the fold of the spouse social life. On the other hand, Sophie had to fight for her position as part of this community. Being a girlfriend didn’t garner the same respect. Other spouses assumed the term girlfriend meant temporary, when in fact, she and Jasper had been together longer than many of their friends’ marriages.

But so far, so good. She didn’t feel judgment from this group, and she loosened up as the minutes passed.

“We should really talk about the book.” Adelaide’s voice took Sophie from her thoughts. “It’s obvious that everyone seemed to connect with it. Which is great because I have a list of questions.”

“Oh, I like this,” Sophie said, settling into her seat. Themes, characters, plot—these were the things she wanted to discuss. Sophie read avidly and even reviewed books on a website called Goodreads, where anyone could spill their thoughts about a book. Since e-readers had come onto the scene, as flimsy as they sometimes felt in her hand, her library had grown rapidly.

To think she almost hadn’t come.

Fort Fairfax was Sophie and Jasper’s fifth duty station, a surprise—meaning, it wasn’t on their request list. His aging parents lived in Orlando; they’d both wanted to be within a day’s drive of them. In their almost ten-year relationship, they’d both agreed that they would always aim for southern locations, and so far had lived in South Carolina (Charleston was charming), Georgia (Savannah was delightful), Kentucky (those hats!), Alabama (not her fave), and most recently, close enough to New Orleans to properly celebrate Mardi Gras with her favorite guy.

Upstate New York wasn’t on their radar, and yet, there she was. And though almost two months had passed, she still hadn’t accepted that this was going to be home for the next two years. Her heart was still taped up in one of the boxes stacked floor to ceiling in their apartment.

She was tired of trying to find a spot for her old records, and what was she going to do with the curtains that once again didn’t fit the dimensions of her current windows? And moving into these military towns just outside of post, versus on post, where new and bigger housing was being built, was more salt to the wound that she wasn’t considered a legal spouse and, therefore, was not allowed to live on post.

Adelaide’s face lit up. “Great! So this is my question: Would you have volunteered to save your sister, knowing you would have to kill to survive?”

Sophie knew her answer, but she didn’t jump in right away. She scanned the room, which seemed to have sobered as each person looked at one another for an answer.

Across from her, Regina tipped her wineglass away from her lips and set it down on the coffee table. “Oh my God, totally.”

Sophie hummed an agreement.

Everyone eyes swung her direction. Whoops. Naturally, she felt compelled to answer. “I’m with Regina. I would have volunteered and thought about it later. Because we’re talking about Prim here, my own flesh and blood.”

Regina pointed at her in high praise. “Exactly.”

“Oh, I don’t know what I would do,” Liana Folger said. She was originally from South Dakota, and she’d introduced her favorite hobby as knitting. She was, in fact, wearing a tricolor sweater she’d knit herself. “I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have done it. I just don’t know if I would have volunteered like that. It takes time for me to make decisions. To think things through, I guess. There’re pros and cons to everything.”

“That’s just not me.” Sophie felt the need to distinguish herself as loyal and steadfast. “I make a decision and a commitment for better or for worse.”

“So you would commit to kill others to keep your family alive?” One of the men had raised his hand—Frank Montreal. He was married to a woman in the MP, or Military Police, unit. Cheeks pink from his drink, he wore rounded spectacles and was sitting cross-legged on the ground. “I mean, isn’t that what the military does, in some cases?”

After a moment of silence, the room exploded in conversation. Wine be damned, the banter flew. The conversation meandered from the country’s role in Syria, to its responsibility with refugees, and then to the portrayal of killing as part of life in The Hunger Games. After a bit, Sophie took a sip of her wine and found the glass empty and her mouth gloriously tired from talking and laughing.

By God, she might have found her people.

“So what does everyone think about doing this regularly?” Adelaide asked once the conversation lulled, setting the book down on the coffee table.

This time, Sophie didn’t hesitate. “I’d love it. It will help pass the time, too, with the deployment.” She was greeted with a collective nod from the group.

“How shall we choose books?” Colleen Lasseter, a woman who lived in Adelaide’s building, asked.

“Let’s do it the easy way,” Adelaide answered. “Whoever wants to host can pick the book. Is everyone okay not voting for a lineup? This will make it flexible for people, since I’m sure some of us will pop in and out throughout the year, especially during the holidays.”

Regina tentatively raised her hand. “Uh… is there, like, a mandatory ‘you must read the book’ rule?”

Sophie smiled and answered for her. “I don’t think there should be, right? I used to be in a book club where there was a minimum-page read and it kept folks from coming. We should try to stay inclusive.” She looked at Adelaide for confirmation. Already, Sophie felt a little protective over this young officer. This deployment had to be Regina’s first as a spouse.