Chapter 3 - Hannah and Dustin
They met fourteen months earlier.
Hannah was not a fighter.
She was a certified public accountant who specialized in nonprofit compliance.
Irony has a cruel sense of humor.
She volunteered at veterans’ organizations because of me.
Not because I asked.
Actually, I told her repeatedly:
“You do not owe veterans your career because I wore a uniform.”
She ignored me.
Dustin met her at a fundraising event organized by Ironclad MMA.
Their gym ran something called:
Forge Forward Veterans Initiative.
Twelve-week fitness and combat-sports programs for former service members dealing with:
Physical deconditioning.
Isolation.
Transition stress.
Loss of routine.
Not therapy.
Not medical treatment.
Structured exercise and community.
On paper, excellent idea.
Hannah helped review a grant application.
Dustin asked her to dinner.
I met him three months later.
Polite.
Confident.
Called me sir too much.
I never liked him.
May you like
But fathers often dislike daughters’ boyfriends for useless reasons.
So I kept my mouth shut.
