| Subject: Big Blue Sky - Part One |
Author:
Karen
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Date Posted: 20:36:41 04/21/06 Fri
In reply to:
Karen
's message, "Big Blue Sky" on 20:35:06 04/21/06 Fri
Big Blue Sky
Part One
NAS Whidbey Island
2 Nov 2007
1403
She searched the sky looking for the fighters that were due to land in the next few minutes. A spark of excitement tingled in her breast. This must be akin to the sensation the families experienced waiting for their loved ones to return. For just a brief moment, she allowed herself to play with the feeling that their reunion was personal instead of official.
“There they are, ma’am,” the young petty officer pointed to the barely visible dots falling through a streak of wispy, scattered clouds. His chief had instructed him to escort the JAG officer over near the flight line and make sure she didn’t get hit by jet wash. Somehow, the PO thought, a full bird colonel with the kind of combat ribbons she displayed probably wasn’t all that helpless.
It was difficult to keep his eyes from drifting to the purple heart and Silver Star with valor. Of course, he’d seen these decorations before, but never on a woman, particularly one this beautiful. He wondered if she was the one he’d read about in the Navy Times. Maybe his CO would know
“Will he be first on the ground?” she asked, involuntary excitement mounting, as she watched the planes descend through the unusually blue sky. He wasn’t due on the ground for twelve and a half minutes, but at this rate he’d be down in three.
“No ma’am, not the ‘Old Man’. He never lands ‘til all his people are safely wheels down.”
“‘Old Man’?” her look questioned the wisdom of this misnomer. “You call him the ‘Old Man’? I’ll bet he loves that,” she commented with a bit of a smirk.
“That’s his call sign, ma’am,” the plane mechanic hastened to explain. He sensed a familiarity with the captain in the colonel’s response. “They gave it to him when he took on that group of newbies two years ago,” he smiled, proud of his favorite CAG. “Took them under his wing and made real fighter jocks out of them. Now, except for a couple of veteran groups on the east coast, they’re the best bunch of pilots in the Navy. They’d follow him to hell and back and win,” he beamed at Mac.
His enthusiasm was contagious, but then talking about Harm always had that effect on the people who worked with him. If she had to admit it, she had always felt it herself. Why had she never let him know how she felt? Mentally shrugging off the long gone emotions that had controlled her actions, she placed that poor decision on her list of irretrievable mistakes. It was water under the bridge now.
Waiting and watching patiently as each of the powerful jets lined up with the runway, turned on their bright landing light, and touched down in pairs, she counted the landings until she knew his was next. Checking her mental clock as he circled the field and lined up she realized he was on time to the second. Impressive. He did have these kids trained well.
The scream of idling engines, and the smell of burning jet fuel filled the air as the planes taxied to their parking spot. The pilots alighted, laughing and joking with each other as they walked in from the field to greet their families. She had been taken beyond the secure line where the wives, husbands, children, and others were waiting.
“That’s him ma’am,” the enthusiastic young maintainer pointed proudly. “The one with the stripe and the stars. He’s flying the Navy’s best fighter.”
Quietly, she sighed. “Yeah, but it’s no Tomcat.” The comment wasn’t intended for his ears, but the petty officer glanced quizzically at her. There was definitely some history here.
As his Hornet pulled into line and ground crew rushed to tie it down, a spark of recognition flared in the back of her mind. She had no idea where it came from and decided she must have seen a similar plane on one of her carrier visits. After shutting off the engines and a few minutes of conversation with someone her escort mentioned was his plane captain, Harm climbed from the cockpit. Turning towards the hangar bay where she waited, he strode across the tarmac looking for all the world as though he owned it. Even if he’d had a bag over his head, she would have recognized him by his wide-legged stride. He quickly covered the ground between them with those long, powerful legs.
For a brief moment, there was a rush in her ears and her head spun. She had the impression that like in a movie of this genre, he was moving towards her in slow motion. She wanted to stop time and fill her eyes with his image.
He’d slung his favorite leather flight jacket back over one shoulder. The well-worn fabric of his flight suit molded to his body in the quickening breeze. His aviator sunglasses were perched on the bridge of his nose, almost daring the world to challenge him. He was more toned and tight than she’d ever seen him. An unbidden smile raised the corners of her mouth in subtle appreciation, as his muscles rippled completely in control of every movement. God he was a beautiful sight. Thick, warm liquid moved inside of her just watching him.
He had covered two thirds of the distance between them when his step slowed almost to a stop. Shoving the jacket under his left arm, he reached up and carefully removed his glasses as though he didn’t believe what he was seeing. She looked down the line of resting planes directly into the piercing gaze of his stunning aqua eyes, more striking than ever shining from his well-tanned face.
Sticking the earpiece of his glasses down the front of his suit, he quickened his pace slightly. Their eyes remained locked for what seemed an eternity, until moving with the grace of a huge predatory cat, he came to stop directly in front of her.
It occurred to him that in a perfect world this would be the moment he would take her in his arms and kiss her until neither of them could breathe. But their world was far from perfect. He had never expected to see her again and now here she was. She had never looked more gorgeous, and the lack of perfection in their universe was something he quickly determined to change.
For whatever reason she had just walked back into his life, some power had brought her back to him, and he wasn’t prepared to let her leave again. For just the smallest segment of time, he toyed mentally with what would happen if he scooped her into his arms and carried her away from here. Instead, he cooled his reaction to her, carefully banking the flame of his untimely desires. After a two-year separation it was unlikely she was here for social reasons.
“Mac?” he asked looking down at her. “What are you doing here?”
It put her off for mere seconds before she quickly realized how surprised he must have been to see her. They hadn’t parted on the best of terms. They’d not seen each other or even corresponded for over two years. She didn’t believe he even knew she’d been given command of JLSO Northwest in Bremerton. No doubt, he had someone waiting for him outside. She’d heard more than one story about him and his active social life since she arrived. She needed to deliver her news quickly.
“I’m sorry, Harm. It’s just…I have some news for you. Official news. Your mother…” she began.
“My mother….?” his face went white under the tan.
“No. No, Harm. I’m sorry,” she rushed to fill the void of impending despair. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. Your mother is fine, but she called the office late last night. The Lincoln was in the middle of preparing to enter port and she couldn’t get through to you, so she called my office. She didn’t know what else to do.” Mac was babbling and she knew it, but she hadn’t prepared herself in the least for the impact that seeing him again would have on her.
“Mac, please,” he grasped her upper arm. “Tell me, please.”
“Sorry,” she apologized again, realizing just how upset he must be to do something so out of line in view of a subordinate. “It’s your aunt and uncle, Harm. They were killed in a plane crash yesterday. Well actually, it was almost three days ago. The SAR team just found them yesterday,” she explained quickly.
“My aunt and uncle?” he screwed up his face slightly. “Uncle Charlie and Aunt Joan? They live in Montana,” he added as though that would change the news.
“I know, Harm. Listen, we could go to my office at Bremerton, or wherever you want. I think what I have to tell you will be a shock, and we shouldn’t discuss this any further out here. Besides it feels like its going to rain again,” she looked up at the quickly moving sky. In the few moments since he’d walked from his plane, the ground crew had secured the remaining fighters in his Air Wing and disappeared from the field. With the last flight of planes, a sudden wind had brought darkening clouds. They’d landed not a moment too soon.
He nodded and turned to the petty officer dismissing him with a ‘thank you’. The young man turned smartly and jogged back to the nearby hangar, but not without considering the oddity of the meeting he’d just witnessed between the famous Captain Rabb and one of the best looking Marines he’d ever laid eyes on.
Harm turned back to her, looking down into her eyes. He knew what she had to say. He’d agreed to the terms over two years ago. He just didn’t know what he was going to do about it. He’d never truly expected the need to arise for him to deal with it.
More of a puzzle was why she’d come to bring him this information, instead of sending a junior officer or even a courier. It had surprised him to see her here. He had no idea where she’d gone after she left the Middle East. He’d managed to find out she’d been sent to Germany and eventually back to Bethesda, but discreet inquiries had led to no more information. Speculating would get him nowhere and hope wasn’t something he was allowing himself just yet. However, he perceived something personal in her being here, even if she only intended to soften the blow.
Shaking his head he replied, “Bremerton is too far, Mac. Lets go to the ‘O’ club, we can get some hot coffee and a sandwich while we talk. Im starving, and if I remember correctly this Marine likes to eat regularly, too.” he suggested with a teasing smile. He took her arm more casually now, and turned her to thread their way through the remains of the crowd towards the gate. “Do you have your car?”
She recognized the stalling tactic as pure Harm. He was expecting something, and was delaying the telling of it for a few minutes while he adjusted his mind to receive the information.
“Yes, it’s parked just outside,” she glanced quickly at his hand on her arm. She wasn’t offended, but once again it was irregular, and so unlike Harm.
He glanced down at his hand and then at her expression. “Sorry Mac, but this was somewhat of a surprise. I didn’t mean to be out of line,” he looked a bit awkward.
Reluctantly he released her, but he did so slowly, his fingers sliding softly down the inside of her arm. It was almost like a caress and she responded with a small shiver. He must need the comfort of personal contact to deal with his loss, she told herself. Her quick smile comforted him. “No, it’s okay, Harm. I understand. Were you close to them?” she inquired, trying to soften the terrible news any way she could.
He shrugged graphically, “As close as it’s possible to be when you spend twenty years in the Navy. I saw them about once every two years or so. We were closer when I was a kid. He was my mother’s younger brother. He was about fifteen when I was born but after he went away to college, he spent part of each summer with us. After my dad went missing Charlie joined the Navy and became a pilot, too. He flew Intruders. He reserved his commission after ten years then flew for United for twenty-five more. Charlie retired about two years ago. They had moved to Joan’s family ranch in Montana after her father died.”
“He and Aunt Joan were married a few years after he left the Navy. She was a flight attendant for United, about twelve years younger than him,” he reminisced. “She wanted to keep working so they delayed their family until she was ready to quit. A year or so after she stopped flying they had Shaun who’s fourteen, almost fifteen I guess. A few years later, they had Sam, who’s just twelve now,” he explained conversationally as they walked towards her car.
“Two boys?” she inquired idly knowing this moment of conversation was helping to center him.
“No, Sam’s a girl. Her name is Samantha, but don’t call her that if you want to be on her good side,” he smiled down at her. “And I’d bet my retirement she’s going to grow up to be a lot like you.”
“God, you shouldn’t wish that on anyone, Harm,” her reaction was instant.
“Are you kidding Mac?” he stopped in his tracks. “You’re the toughest, smartest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. Why wouldn’t I want my cousin to be like you?” Then he hesitated as though uncertain if he should continue. Perhaps he’d said too much. Deciding to go for it he glanced briefly off into the distance, focusing on a long ago point in time. “After all, I once told you I wanted my daughter to be just like you, if you recall.” His intense eyes focused back on hers.
“I recall,” she replied awkwardly. This was getting out of hand. Going down memory lane wouldn’t bring back what they’d lost. It would only bring pain. It was time to change the subject.
“Uh, look…I’m sorry. I feel bad breaking it to you like this,” she moved the conversation back on track. “But your mother insisted someone meet you. She didn’t want you to hear it second hand or on TV. There’s still an ongoing investigation. There’s some suspicion it wasn’t an accident.”
“Based on what, Mac?” He understood the distraction, she was throwing chaff. The news media was well-known for exaggerating anything it couldn’t get first hand information about. Maybe she didn’t want to ever go into their past again. Perhaps her being here was purely a product of their onetime friendship, or worse maybe she was just doing her job. Better to keep it simple, he reminded himself. But he knew he didn’t want to keep it simple. Not anymore, not again.
“I don’t know. There isn’t much information available yet. It’s been on all the local news programs. I don’t think they’ve found out about you yet, but when they do you might have a few reporters nipping at your heels.”
She clicked the button to release the door locks as they approached her car. He heaved his seabag and jacket in the back before folding his long legs into the deep blue leather seats.
“Like that’s never happened,” he recovered and flashed her one of his famous flyboy smiles as they fastened their seat belts.
As always, it turned her insides to jelly. She told him when they first met that it had no effect on her, but she’d lied…oh, how she’d lied. It had an effect all right, one that scared the hell out of her. And she’d fought the effect so hard she’d finally convinced him he meant nothing to her. Sadly, a few times she’d almost convinced herself as well.
But that was water under the bridge, too. Certainly, there would be someone waiting to comfort the handsome captain, now sitting in the passenger seat of her new midnight blue Jeep. She needed to get this business over with so he could get home and make his decisions.
Concentrating harder than she needed to, she put the car in gear and headed for the other side of the base.
She pulled into the parking lot of the Officers Club, and he directed her to a reserved space, then waved to the seaman at the door to indicate it was okay.
As he opened the door, he asked, “Okay if I leave my seabag here for now, Mac?”
“Sure,” she answered. “We can get it after we eat and talk. I’ll drop you off at your car,” she suggested brightly. “Or is someone picking you up?” She wasn’t fishing, she really wasn’t, it had formed in her mind as an innocent request for information, but it hadn’t come out that way.
Lifting an eyebrow in silent inquiry, his face changed for just an instant before he masked his feelings. “No, Mac, no one is meeting me.” he offered.
“Oh, I’m sorry, that is, I didn’t mean to pry. I just…your car…I’ll take you to your car,” she finished lamely.
“My car is in my garage, Mac,” he informed her levelly, calculating just what was making her so nervous.
“Right,” she answered drying her damp palms on her uniform trousers. “Of course you wouldn’t leave it parked here. Do you still have the ‘vette?” she tried desperately for a safe subject.
“Yes, I do,” his smile was faint, still off balance. Recognizing there were heavier issues to deal with than this conversation with Mac, he also knew he’d hesitated before and lost her. His mind seriously toyed with the possibility that he might have been given one more chance. She certainly wasn’t acting like someone who didn’t care. She was off balance too. He’d bet his bright red Corvette that she was as affected by this sudden reconnection as he was. If only she hadn’t found someone to be with. He had to find out if she was still free.
He allowed the silence to build and his eyes to rest on her for a moment too long, willing her to look at him. When she raised her eyes to him, he saw things he’d never seen before. They looked very much like things he’d always wanted to see, then she blinked rapidly and they were shadowed again. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Let’s go in, Mac. I’ll buy you lunch,” he offered softly. Without waiting for a reply he grabbed his jacket from the back and moved from the warm interior into the rain that had started to fall.
“Harm, that’s not…” she started to protest, but he was already out and had closed the door.
She too climbed from the vehicle and looked back at him over the roof. “C’mon, Mac were gonna get wet. I don’t want to melt,” he coaxed. The moment had passed and a lighter mood replaced it as he teased her.
Smiling at the return of comfort, she wondered if there was any possibility of a chance this time. But knowing what she did about the papers in her folder she doubted it. Harm was going to be preoccupied with the fallout from this for quite a while.
“I’m coming,” she schooled her features back to business and reached inside for her folder. Closing the door, she hit the alarm button on her key fob and followed him to the entrance.
He hesitated in order to hold the front door of the club for her, then asked quietly when she passed by him. “Mac if you have time do you think you could give me a ride home after lunch? That is if you’re not busy.” It was a shot, but he was taking it. He didn’t want to let her get away this time, at least not without trying everything he could think of. The more time they spent together the more time he had to read her. He’d just warned himself to keep it simple, but nothing was ever simple with Mac. Even the simplest thing would be complex.
Stopping in mid-stride, she turned to face him, but all she saw in his face was an innocent request, and a very old friendship that had somehow been regained in the minutes they’d been together. It wasn’t everything she would like, but if he didn’t feel that way any more it was her own fault. She’d shot him down pretty hard the last time they were together. He couldn’t possibly know how many times she’d replayed and regretted that decision.
“Sure, Harm. I didn’t know how long this would take. My yeoman knows where to find me. I’ve taken the rest of the afternoon off. Is it far?”
“Over on the Peninsula,” he told her. “It’s a bit of a drive, but it’s pretty and there’s a terrific view from the living room window. The place belongs to Frank. It used to be an old hunting cabin before this area got so civilized. It isn’t fancy, but it is comfortable.”
Nodding, she stepped inside the door and he followed her.
“I didn’t know that Frank hunted,” she commented, mostly for something to say. She would try anything to keep a conversation going. She had no idea where this could lead, but she wasn’t going to fight whatever happened. Even if they passed like ships in the night again, at least this time she hoped they would touch on their way by.
“He doesn’t,” Harm continued as they walked towards the dining room. “His very first boss at Chrysler sold it to him for just enough to buy a couple thousand acres of backcountry in Idaho in the late sixties. Frank used to use it as an executive retreat. More recently, it’s been a family getaway. He gave it to me to use when I got stationed out here.”
Maybe he could get her to stay for coffee when they got home. Maybe even dinner. He was pretty sure the caretaker’s wife would have stocked the kitchen for him. She always did. Re-establishing this contact with her was going to make the news she had for him a double-edged sword.
They were seated by a tall window in the semi-empty room. A waiter brought them a large pot of coffee, then took their order for sandwiches and soup. While they waited for their lunch, she pulled her folder towards her.
With a deep sigh for the news she was about to impart she looked up at him.
“Well, Harm, it looks from the papers your mother faxed that you’ve inherited half a cattle ranch and two children,” she informed him.
“I know,” was his cryptic reply.
End of one
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