Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

long heartbeat, because you didn't have to be a genius to hear the tension in that. But finally he said, "You've never mentioned a brother."
    "He was on the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor."
    "Oh, Jesus!" Four words and Daniel was back there in the smoke and the explosions, and the feel of a solid deck shaking under his feet. He said through tight lips, "I was on the California."
    He still wasn't looking but he felt Jacob grow rigid beside him. "You never said." After a moment Jacob added almost angrily, "I don't want to know anything about it."
    "Wasn't going to tell you." Wasn't ever going to tell anyone.
    "I'm sorry."
    "Yeah, well." Daniel turned slightly sideways, letting himself look at Jacob's face. "Your sister. Tell me about her. So she's sixteen now. Is she smart like you?"
    "Yeah, maybe smarter, you know. I'm not that much."
    "Bullshit, Trip," Daniel said roughly. "Quit selling yourself short. Is she dark and pretty too?"
    He could have cursed himself aloud but Jacob just choked a laugh. "Dark anyway. And she didn't get the big Segal nose, lucky girl."
    Daniel liked Jacob's nose, it gave his face character, and now was absolutely not the time to say so.
    "She likes to dance?"
    "I don't know. She's kind of shy. That's why we said..." Jacob stared fixedly at the water. "Brian was the brave one. He would go out and do stuff, crazy stuff like borrowing Father's car without asking to drive a girl up to the river, or climbing the bridge rail to impress his friends. It was his idea." Jacob gritted his teeth. Daniel could see the muscles of his jaw twitch. "We were going to show her a good time. She'd be safe with both of us chaperoning. But he joined up as soon as he turned eighteen. So then it was supposed to be up to me."
    "He was your older brother?"
    "Younger. Ten minutes younger."
    "Jacob." This time Daniel couldn't help reaching out. His fingers brushed Jacob's arm. Jacob jerked away roughly and Daniel dropped his hand.
    Jacob was right. They were in public here. And Daniel didn't yet have the right to offer that kind of comfort.
    "I was the older one. I was going to stay home, go to college, be the good son, you know. While he did duty to our country for both of us." Jacob took a jerky breath. "An adventure. That's what he said the last time he was home before shipping out. It was going to be a grand adventure."
    Damned idiot. Daniel didn't think he'd ever been that naïve, although even he sure as hell hadn't been ready for the bombs and infernos of Pearl. "There were a lot of us young guys on those ships."
    "Yeah." Jacob drew another breath but it sounded less harsh than before. "So here I am, and Lily is having Mother's idea of a sweet sixteen, which means a formal party and all of the right people. Or at least those who like our money and don't mind that Father is a Jew."
    "Sounds like a grand time," Daniel said dryly.
    Jacob snorted. "Yeah. Hey, a silver lining to being at sea. I don't have to be there for it, choking my neck in a monkey suit and being nice to people who can barely remember my name. Or who think I'd be a good catch for their daughters."
    "Well, I'm glad you're missing that."
    "Yeah, me too." Jacob's pose eased and he leaned more comfortably on the railing. It put his shoulder close to Daniel's, and for a moment Daniel held his breath. But Jacob only said, "You think there's any chow left?"
    "We could go see."
    "Yeah."
    But for a long time neither of them moved. Beyond the small floating confines of the Gageway , the waves of the blue Pacific rose and fell in endless progression. New Jersey, California, it all seemed a long way off in another world. Daniel straightened and draped his arm casually across Jacob's shoulders. "Come on, Trip. Let's see if those other bottomless pits on afternoon watch have left us anything." He took it as a win when Jacob waited several seconds before shrugging off his arm.
    ****

CHAPTER 3
    July 1942
    The anti-aircraft guns chattered. In sickbay, Jacob braced himself with a hand on the nearest bunk as the Gageway lurched and recovered. Loud explosions off to port marked the near-miss impact of bombs from the buzzing planes overhead. Jacob's stomach clenched, and he swallowed back bile. God, he was a pansy. No one else in the room was acting like they wanted to duck whenever the noise got loud. He forced his attention back to his job, trying to ignore the way his muscles bunched and twitched with each loud noise.
    Doc was his usual cool self, pulling out emergency