“You’ve had hired hands,” Mel responded.
Hoyt turned to her, and she could see the glint of the tears he’d hid from her. “Hands ain’t family,” he said, a hint of anger in his voice.
Mel took her turn to look away, hiding her own pain. “Hoyt, brother dear. My foot wasn’t the only thing broken when that bomb went off.”
“I know.”
The siblings embraced the silence between them, each with their own thoughts.
“You scared us, Sis. You know that?”
“Not surprised.”
Hoyt stood up and looked down at her, and Mel knew what was coming. He was just a year older than her, but she remembered too well the big brother lectures he gave as kids and then teenagers, speaking from his infinite older wisdom.
“You may be broke, but you ain’t dead.”
“Damn right, I’m broken!” she responded. “I lost the Navy
