Jason's Story
Copyright© 2025 by writer 406
Chapter 36
Barbara Caine’s office looked less chaotic than usual, which Jason took as a sign she was between major projects. She’d cleared one chair completely—a minor miracle—and had actual mugs of hot coffee waiting instead of her usual cold dregs.
“You cleaned,” Jason observed, settling into the chair.
“Don’t get used to it. I’m procrastinating about a project.” She handed him a mug of coffee. “Anyway, you said you wanted to discuss a new story.”
“Yes. Different period, different setting. 1920s small-town America, post-World War One.”
Barbara’s expression shifted to professional interest. “Go on.”
Jason pulled out his notebook. “It’s about two people who are both casualties of the war, just in different ways.”
“That’s vague. Give me the actual story.”
“Jamie Hartwell comes home from France in 1919 with shell shock. What we’d call PTSD now. His parents had died of influenza while he was overseas, so he’s raising three younger sisters and working as a carpenter. He’s barely holding it together.”
Barbara was taking notes. “And the other protagonist?”
“Eleanor Ashford—Nell. She’s a young war widow from the wealthiest family in town. Her husband died at Belleau Wood. She married him at nineteen in a whirlwind wartime romance, barely knew him, and now she’s trapped in this role as the tragic widow when the truth is more complicated.”
“Complicated how?”
“She feels guilty because part of her is relieved he died. They were strangers who got married because of war fever and social pressure. Now everyone expects her to mourn forever. And eventually remarry some appropriate man who can manage her father’s business empire.”
Barbara leaned forward. “Interesting. What brings them together?”
“Jamie gets hired to build custom bookshelves in the Ashford library that Nell’s father supports. Nell objects. She doesn’t like soldiers and sees him as taking advantage of her father’s kind nature. Jamie sees her as a hothouse rich girl who has no idea of what real life is like. They’re both wrong, both guarding wounds too deep to show anyone.”
“So it’s a romance?”
“Yes. It’s about two people who are determined never to be vulnerable again, finding the courage to let their guard down. Jamie’s got the nightmares, the panic attacks, the bone-deep exhaustion of someone who survived trench combat. Nell’s got this brittle armor she’s built from anger, grief, and the realization that the life she’s supposed to want—marriage, children, being ornamental—feels like a prison.”
Barbara was jotting notes. “What’s the central conflict?”
Jason had been thinking about this carefully. “For Jamie, it’s about finally admitting he needs help. Back then, shell shock was seen as a moral weakness—almost cowardice. For Nell, it’s about claiming agency in a world that wants her to be passive. She’s quietly rebelling by teaching herself bookkeeping, sitting in on business meetings uninvited, trying to prove she’s more than just someone’s daughter or widow.”
“And how do they help each other?”
“Jamie’s quiet competence and devotion to his sisters show Nell what strength actually looks like—it’s not domination or control; it’s showing up every day for the people who depend on you. And Nell’s fierce intelligence and refusal to be dismissed awaken something in Jamie he thought the war had killed. She treats him like a person, not a damaged vet.”
Barbara set down her pen. “Give me the back cover blurb version. Two or three paragraphs, the pitch you’d use to sell this.”
Jason consulted his notes, then spoke from memory:
“Jamie Hartwell came home from the Great War with hands that won’t stop shaking and sisters who need raising. He works as a carpenter, barely holding himself together, taking whatever work he can find in a town that looks at returning soldiers with a mix of pity and discomfort. People want to forget the war. The last thing he needs is charity from the richest family in town—or to be reminded that some men came home when others didn’t.
“Eleanor Ashford spent a year in mourning black for a husband she barely knew. She is determined never to be that helpless again. She’s teaching herself the family business while fending off suitors who see her as a convenient path to her father’s money. The last thing she wants is to care about another damaged soldier—especially one who makes her question everything she thought she knew about strength and survival.”
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