Opening
On her forty-first birthday, Jolene Zarkades runs before dawn, steels herself to “choose happiness,” and finds her husband, Michael Zarkades, has already forgotten the day. Their marriage, frayed by his grief and her relentless discipline, strains further under the weight of parenting their daughters—twelve-year-old Betsy Zarkades and four-year-old Lulu Zarkades. As domestic tensions mount, the final blow arrives: deployment orders that threaten to break a family already splintering.
What Happens
Chapter 1: [Title]
Jolene greets her birthday with a pre-dawn run and a curated calm, then returns to Liberty Bay to find Michael gone and her birthday unnoticed. She centers herself on Betsy and Lulu, but the school drop-off stings: Betsy, embarrassed by her mother’s flight suit, is snubbed by former friends, a rejection that triggers Jolene’s own memories of aching for parental love.
Picking up her best friend and fellow warrant officer, Tami Flynn, Jolene slips into the cockpit of a Black Hawk and feels free—purposeful in a way the ground rarely allows. The point of view shifts to Michael, a criminal defense attorney commuting to Seattle, whose life feels empty since his father died—a portrait of Grief and Loss. He resents Jolene’s unflagging optimism and the suburban life he never wanted. Assigned a pro bono case—defending a man who killed his wife—he only remembers Jolene’s birthday when his secretary prompts him. Even then, he takes the path of least resistance, phoning in a half-hearted dinner plan and accepting her suggestion to stay home.
Chapter 2: [Title]
Jolene cooks Michael’s favorite meal for her own birthday and sets a romantic table, clinging to a story she once believed in: the teenage orphan who fell for a kind, idealistic young man and felt seen for the first time. Michael calls to say he “forgot” and will be late. Tami arrives with champagne and blunt compassion, warning that the marriage is drifting and urging Jolene to fight for it—an early beat in the novel’s examination of Marriage, Love, and Forgiveness. Jolene deflects, preferring resilience over confrontation.
Near midnight, Michael comes home with pink roses (she prefers red) and an expensive watch—gifts that read as penance more than love. In the morning, he refuses to attend her Guard birthday party, exposing the rift over Jolene’s military identity. At the captain’s house, Jolene revels in the camaraderie of her chosen family. But Betsy lashes out at Tami’s son, Seth, for being “weird,” and Michael’s absence leaves a small, undeniable nick in Jolene’s carefully maintained happiness.
Chapter 3: [Title]
Tension peaks over “career day.” Mortified by her mother’s uniform, Betsy begs Jolene not to come. In tears, she confesses that her old friends Sierra and Zoe pressured her to smoke and froze her out when she refused. Jolene stands by her commitment and shows up, a choice Betsy experiences as betrayal. The day is a social disaster for Betsy and a painful test of Jolene’s Motherhood and Identity.
As Betsy’s first track meet approaches, Jolene knows how much her daughter needs her father. She reminds Michael repeatedly; he promises Betsy he’ll be there and she glows. Moments later, he rushes for the ferry, cutting her off mid-sentence. The brief flare of hope goes out.
Chapter 4: [Title]
At the office, Michael fields a call from the father of his new client, Keith Keller, and heads to the jail, calculating he can make both the interview and Betsy’s 3:30 race. Keith sits catatonic—until Michael is about to leave. Then: a flat confession, “I shot her in the head.” Michael recognizes the moment’s legal and ethical weight and stays, sacrificing the promise he made to his daughter.
At the track, Jolene, Lulu, and Michael’s mother, Mila Zarkades, take their seats. Betsy looks for her father. Jolene calls Michael and learns he’s at the jail. The starting gun fires. Betsy flies, takes second, scans the stands, and falters as she realizes he isn’t there. Her next race unravels. A pizza “celebration” after is quiet and brittle; Michael’s empty chair sits between them.
Chapter 5: [Title]
Michael strolls in late, remarking that once he missed the meet there was no reason to hurry. Jolene’s fury detonates months of avoidance. He claims he’s controlled; she accuses him of neglect. Then he lands the blow that breaks the room: “I don’t love you anymore.” In the stunned silence, they hear Betsy gasp. She has heard everything.
Jolene tells Michael to go to their daughter. He tries to take back the words, calling them a mistake, but his hesitation when Betsy asks if he still loves her mother speaks louder than any apology. He leaves. Jolene lies awake until dawn, then lies to the girls about where their father is before heading to Tami’s for help. As she shares the wreckage, Tami’s phone rings with orders. She hangs up and delivers the new reality: “We’re being deployed.”
Character Development
The first five chapters chart private fractures becoming public breaks, setting each character on a collision course with war.
- Jolene: Her practiced optimism and disciplined routines start to crack under the dual pressures of a disintegrating marriage and a daughter’s shame. She clings to duty—first to family, then to service—even as both demand sacrifices she can’t reconcile.
- Michael: Numbed by grief and disillusionment, he shifts from passive withdrawal to active damage. Missing the meet and declaring he doesn’t love Jolene marks his pivot from simmering resentment to destructive honesty.
- Betsy: Desperate to fit in and to be seen by her father, she endures peer rejection, public humiliation, and the shattering moment of overhearing her parents’ fight. The betrayal hardens her vulnerability into anger and hurt.
- Tami: The steadfast “six” who provides blunt truth and unconditional support. As deployment looms, she becomes the anchor Jolene can still trust.
Themes & Symbols
The domestic conflict roots the story in the cost of service long before anyone deploys. The Impact of War on Soldiers and Families begins at home: in the uniform Betsy hates, in Michael’s distrust of the military, and in Jolene’s split identity. When orders arrive, the novel pivots from a marital drama to a survival story—on two fronts.
The marriage falters from silence, misaligned priorities, and spiritual loneliness. The question of whether love can be chosen, repaired, or forgiven threads through every scene, with duty and pride complicating intimacy. Motherhood and a soldier’s calling cannot occupy the same space without friction; Jolene’s flight suit becomes a symbol of pride to her, humiliation to Betsy, and resentment to Michael. The ferry commute doubles as a symbol of the distance Michael cultivates—an isolating threshold between the life he has and the life he wants.
Key Quotes
“I’ve got your six.” Tami’s mantra crystallizes the military bond that steadies Jolene. It signals trust, mutual protection, and the chosen family that fills gaps left by Jolene’s upbringing and her faltering marriage.
“I shot her in the head.” Keith’s confession forces Michael to choose between his client and his daughter. His decision to stay reframes his neglect as a pattern of prioritization, not a mistake—tightening the moral knot that strangles his home life.
“I don’t love you anymore.” This line detonates the unspoken resentments of the marriage. It wounds Jolene, devastates Betsy, and marks the moment when passive despair becomes active rupture.
“We’re being deployed.” The final turn shifts the stakes from emotional to existential. The family’s private crisis now collides with national duty, ensuring that every choice will carry consequences far beyond the household.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters lay the foundation for a story about loyalty under pressure—spousal, parental, and martial. By the time deployment arrives, the Zarkades family is already at a breaking point. The juxtaposition of intimate betrayals and public duty ensures that the battles ahead will test not only bodies and skills but also vows, identities, and the fragile bond between those who leave and those who stay.