All for One - Love, War, & Ghosts
One week only! 99cents on pre-order
YES! All for One - Love, War, & Ghosts is available to pre-order on Amazon for $0.99. Those orders will be added to first day sales and help boost ratings. It’s scheduled to go “live” one week from today, July 1, then I’ll raise the price. Thank you to those of you who read advance copies - I’m still going through notes you gave me to make corrections. Please remember to post reviews:
Goodreads is taking reviews now; Amazon should open for reviews July 1.
Note: I signed up as an Amazon affiliate, so when you purchase after using one of these links to Amazon, I get a little bit extra. Thanks.
In case you’re not sure you want it, here are the first two chapters:
Ancient History
Time plays games on us as we age. Events that are ancient history, moments that altered the course of our lives, seem to have happened yesterday. People and times we thought we left behind have immense importance later in our journeys. Decisions made with youthful certainty come back to haunt us.
The Musketeers
Through the nineteen fifties and sixties, three boys grew up together in a small town that could have been anywhere in the United States. It could have been your town. The boys could have been your friends.
Everyone, even teachers and parents, called the three boys the Musketeers because they always did everything together. Janet, a sword-fighting tomboy when they were little and a good sport as they became teens, was an honorary fourth Musketeer.
Cathy, the girl next door to Janet, was a year behind them. The two girls played together as toddlers, but when Janet’s mother gave her more freedom to go play in the park across the street without direct supervision, Janet discovered it was much more fun to play with the boys than have tea parties with Cathy. On rare occasions the younger girl was included as a damsel in distress. As they got older, the two girls remained friends. They just didn’t spend much time together, especially when the Musketeers moved up to high school a year ahead of Cathy.
So it was, at the end of one beautiful fall day Cathy’s freshman year, the two girls were chatting in the hallway when the three Musketeers came jostling their way toward the exit. Rob was in the lead, as usual, but when he saw Cathy he stopped and stared, mouth open, as if he’d never seen her before. Henry and Dave continued on toward the front door, calling back for Janet to join them. “We’re heading to the Tastee Freeze.”
Rob tore his gaze away from Cathy and followed his friends, but turned back to say, “Janet, bring your friend.”
His smile warmed Cathy from the inside out and she returned it timidly.
Soon the group of four became five friends who did everything together. Instead of sword fights, there were movies and bowling and bonfires at the beach.
A few weeks after that first ice cream came a party at the lake. Cathy joined the circle around a spinning bottle, hoping it might point to Rob when she spun it. Instead, a pimply-faced boy she barely knew gave her a slobbery smack on the lips. Cathy pulled away as if bitten. When the boy laughed and asked if that was her first kiss, anyone could see it had been. But she gave pretending it wasn’t a valiant try. She wiped her hand across her mouth and shook it as if to get rid of excessive slobber, then gave the boy a withering look, got up, and walked down the beach away from the gathering.
Rob had felt a strange contraction in his chest when that boy kissed Cathy. He found himself following her away from the party, taking her hand in his without a word, just a quick gentle squeeze. They walked hand in hand all the way to the point, far from the bonfire, until they could go no further. He turned to face Cathy, still with that odd feeling in his chest. They stared into each other’s eyes for long moments, then he leaned forward to kiss her, gently exploring Cathy’s lips and mouth with the tip of his tongue until she responded in kind.
The next three years, most of their dates included the other Musketeers and Janet, but everyone recognized Rob and Cathy as a couple. When Rob got a worse-for-wear old Ford Falcon, Cathy would squeeze up against him as he drove while Janet sat on her other side and Henry and Dave rode in the back. The girls had decided on this seating arrangement, because a girl in the back seat with two boys would have the town gossips deciding she did it with both of them.
Janet stopped hanging out with the Musketeers part way through their senior year, hoping the boy she was crushing on would notice her. When he invited someone else to prom, Janet reclaimed her spot in the group and they all went together—though Rob and Cathy ended up crowned king and queen.
They were everyone’s favorite couple. They’d been together for almost three years and never had the tiffs and break-ups other teenage couples had. Sometimes Rob got upset about current events, but Cathy blocked out most of that unpleasantness or diverted his attention. Kissing him usually worked.
Then the middle of May, Rob took Cathy for a walk by the lake and told her she should date other people and have fun her senior year of high school. At first she thought he was just being gallant and didn’t really mean it.
She stopped and faced him. “I love you. I don’t want to date anyone else.”
He shook off her hand. “I’m leaving. One way or another. Who knows what’s going to happen. Don’t sit around waiting for me.” He turned away and moved quickly back toward his car, sure he was doing the best thing for her.
Cathy’s heart shattered. She didn’t connect this to the news from Ohio because she had blocked that out completely. She thought it meant he wanted to date other girls at college. Tears poured down her face as she watched him leave her. She’d never said the words before, neither of them had, but she’d been so sure they felt the same way about each other.
July 1, 1970
The only way for Cathy to avoid Rob was to avoid the Musketeers altogether. She didn’t go to their graduation or any of the parties that followed. She sat home alone, not leaving the house for days in a row.
On the first of July she looked out her bedroom window and saw Janet standing by the curb, clearly waiting for the guys to pick her up. I’m going to be alone the rest of my life. I miss all of them. Cathy blinked to stop her tears, got a tissue from her dresser, and blew her nose. Enough feeling sorry for myself.
She hurriedly rinsed her face and rushed out to join Janet. “Hey, what do you guys have planned for the holiday?”
“Nothing’s set yet.” Janet looked up the street instead of at Cathy. “We want to get through today first.”
“What’s today?”
“The lottery. We’re going to listen together on the car radio.” Janet hugged herself.
“Why? The guys don’t have to worry about that until next year.” Why waste a beautiful summer day listening to names being drawn for the draft?
“Henry’s older. He did kindergarten twice.” Janet grimaced. “His birthday is July 9th. I hope he gets number 300 or something.”
A cold rock settled in Cathy’s stomach. In eighth grade she’d been required to discuss the news each day. It was supposed to build a habit for conscientious citizenship. A vision of those nightly clips from Vietnam came to her now—dead and maimed bodies, brought in from battle on helicopters, complete with the daily body count as if they were keeping score. She had avoided current events ever since, kept it distant. Now it was too close. “Henry’s my friend, too. You all are. I should be there.”
Janet shrugged. “I don’t know if there’ll be room. Dave’s kid brother Steve has been riding along with us sometimes.”
At least he wasn’t a new girlfriend for Rob. “He’s like a seventh grader, isn’t he?”
“Eighth next year. Dave doesn’t let him drink.”
Just then Rob pulled up. Dave and Henry flanked a cooler in the back. The front seat was open.
“Cathy’s coming.” Janet’s voice didn’t invite any argument. She slid across the front seat to the middle position.
The boys in the back exchanged friendly greetings with Cathy as she got in beside Janet and closed the door. Rob remained silent as he drove them out of town. Empty cups still blew across the field where they parked, reminders of weeks of graduation parties. They rolled down the windows as Rob monkeyed with the car radio.
Cathy pictured him kissing other girls, then gave herself a little shake. We’re here for Henry. A lottery—they’re gambling with his life.
Janet reached a hand over her head. “Pass up a Coke, would you?”
Henry pulled one out of the cooler and passed her the dripping can without his normal razzing about her never drinking. He popped the tab on a beer and chugged the entire can. He let out a long belch before announcing his decision. “If it looks like I’ll get drafted for sure, I’ll go enlist right away.” He tried to look cool by crushing his beer can, but his jaw clenched and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
Dave’s voice cracked. “You could still get a student deferment.”
“Yeah, but if my number is low, I’d have to go as soon as I’m done with college. I’d have that hanging over me for four years.” Henry shook his head.
“Quiet,” Rob ordered. “I’ve got it. They’re drawing birthdates from one drum and the draft placement from another.”
They listened quietly through the first ten pairs. The eleventh draw changed everything.
“July 9th… Zero, zero, one.”
Rob snapped off the radio. For a moment, there was absolute silence.
“Shit.” Henry got out of the car and leaned over to puke, hands on his thighs.
In the car, Rob turned to Dave. “You still in?”
The blood had drained from Dave’s face. He pushed his hair back, gripping his head in his hands and displaying the scar he normally kept hidden, reminder of a bike accident when they were twelve. He took a breath, let it out slowly, lowered his hands, and nodded.
Cathy stared at Rob’s profile, her heart pushing up into her throat.
Janet’s head swiveled between Rob and Dave. “What are you talking about?”
Rob glanced over his shoulder as he opened his door, but didn’t make eye contact with either of the girls. “Wait in the car.”
Cathy’s throat closed. She screamed silently as she watched the two boys approach their friend on either side, each putting a hand on his shoulder. Henry looked up at them with terror in his eyes. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Three Musketeers, man,” squeaked Dave, his voice tight with tension.
Rob nodded. “All for one, one for all… I checked into it. We can go in on the buddy system, go through basic training together, and maybe on beyond that.”
No! Drive him to Canada! Anything but this! But Cathy couldn’t make a sound.
Good luck with your new book, Sheri!
Congratulations! I am going to preorder it.