As for Maureen, she hadn’t been this lonely since her husband’s death twelve years ago, when she found herself so isolated in a dark Illinois winter. That’s what had motivated her to move to Phoenix where she could work, make friends, be outdoors year-round and live somewhere her boys might enjoy visiting her.
But playing the waiting game at Luke’s while everyone around her was busy with work, school or chores was wearing on her last nerve. Four days had passed with no reprieve. Sean helped Luke until midafternoon when he was allowed to fetch Rosie from day care and take her home. Then he had dinner with Franci and Rosie, and then he was back at Luke’s before ten. Home, without much to say, although he had kept his word and taken pictures every day.
On her fifth day in Virgin River, Maureen finally got her break. The next day was Saturday and she was invited to accompany Rosie and Sean to Beale Air Force Base. Sean would introduce Rosie to both her grandmother and his plane, at least one of which Rosie had expressed great interest in.
“Will Franci come along?” Maureen asked.
“Franci is pulling a twenty-four-hour shift in Redding with a medical airlift group and Rosie stays with Franci’s mother. Since Franci leaves at about 5:00 a.m. to make the drive over the mountains, I’ll be picking Rosie up at Vivian’s first thing tomorrow morning and returning her tomorrow night. So, we have her all to ourselves.”
“What will I say to her?” Maureen wondered out loud.
“Tell her you’re happy to meet her. Then ask a question or two—like what color her bedroom is, what she likes to wear for dress up or what she likes to cook in her play kitchen. That’ll get you two talking in no time. And rest up—she’s exhausting!”
Sean could see that the hardest thing for Maureen was trying to keep her enthusiasm in check enough so she didn’t completely overwhelm Rosie. He shouldn’t have worried—Rosie took the edge off things right away. “You have wed hair like me!” she exclaimed. From that point on, the two redheads chattered like a couple of magpies all the way to Beale—more than a three-hour drive. They took along books and a couple of Rosie’s favorite toys—her toy computer helped her practice letters, numbers and writing. Maureen sat in the backseat with Rosie and they played and read the whole drive while Sean chauffeured. Franci called his cell twice to check on them before he even made it to Beale.
An air force squadron is a little like a small town. The men who work and fly together get real tight, and Sean had a close working relationship with their squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Sorrell. That came in real handy, since Sean had to phone and tell Jake the circumstances that would bring him to Beale during his leave—he wanted to give his mother and daughter a tour of the base and the airplane, the U-2. Given the high security, he had to have special permission and an escort, even though it was basically Sean’s ride.
“Daughter?” Jake had asked during their phone conversation. “Our most notorious bachelor has a daughter?”
“That’s right,” he said, and for the first time it struck him how lucky he was that little accident had happened with a woman he happened to have had a serious relationship with. Then he thought of something that struck him damn hard. What if that accident had happened with someone he hardly knew—like Cindy? “I’ll explain more about that later, but obviously I just learned about her and the one thing she’s asked of me is to see my plane. And my mother happens to be in town also.”
“Good,” Jake had said. “Your mother can keep an eye on your daughter while you and I steal a half hour for a conversation.”
“On Saturday?” Sean asked.
“I’ll be in the office when you’re done with your tour.”
Sean drove his mom and Rosie around the base and showed them the hangar and an airplane that happened to be in for maintenance. He laughed when Rosie put both her little hands over her cheeks and gasped at the size of the U-2. He took a picture of her in the cockpit without getting any of the instrument panel in the photo. In fact, he’d have Jake download the pictures, delete them from his camera and send them to Franci’s e-mail address when he was satisfied there wasn’t the slightest security breach. It wasn’t as though the U-2 was a secret—the plane sat on static display during air shows. But this was a working plane.
He also showed her the KC-135 tankers that refueled the jets in the air, a batch of C-130s and a staggeringly huge C-5. By three o’clock, Rosie was completely exhausted and Maureen was looking a little worn, as well. He took them to the squadron’s waiting area—not very fancy—and asked them to read for twenty or thirty minutes. “I won’t be long. We can have dinner on the way home. I’m sure Rosie will nap in the car after I fill her belly.”
Jake Sorrell stood from his desk and came around to shake Sean’s hand. “I’m glad you had an excuse to come in from leave, Sean. I thought about calling you…”
“What’s up?” Sean asked, before sitting down.
“What’s up is four years. You only got on the waiting list for an open slot at Air Command and Staff College when you pinned on major and you’ve been flying under the radar. You know you’re maxed out here. It’s time for you to be reassigned. Have you thought about that?”
Sean looked down and shook his head. “Think there’s any way I can get this put off a few months? I just found my daughter, man. She and her mother live close to Beale.”
“I’d sure like to hear about that, if it’s something you can talk about.”
“I can guess what people might think, but it’s not sleazy at all. Franci and I were a couple.” Then he proceeded to explain how he’d given the woman plenty of good reasons to think she was better off going it alone. He didn’t even realize how differently he was seeing the situation now. In less than a week he’d gone from it’s all her fault to I made her do it. “I need some time to get this straightened out a little bit, Jake. Franci’s not jumping into anything with me and I can’t just run out on Rosie the minute I find her. It could screw the kid up for life.”
“Any chance you can put things together with the mother?”
Sean gave him a contrite expression. “The woman I told I’d never get married or have children with four years ago? She might be slightly wary.”
Jake, father of four, sat back in his chair. “Smooth.”
“I need time, Jake.”
“You have to look at your options,” he said. “You’re overdue.”
“I did look at my options, but they were all different before I knew I had a child. I figured if I didn’t get Air Command and Staff the first try, I’d go to Iraq or Saudi in the U-2 and earn my slot to ACSC. I’m not real anxious to do it that way now.”
Sean was an Air Force Academy grad, a former fighter pilot, a distinguished graduate of several training programs—and all of that added up to not only a command position in the not-too-distant future but, if he hung in there, the rank of general. From the age of eighteen, that had been his plan—to end his career running the world from the Pentagon. Of course, there were steps—assignments, career-building training programs like Air Command and Staff College, remote tours, et cetera.
“Well, I suggest you take another look at the options,” Jake said. “Your leave is approved through November, but if you don’t put in for an assignment somewhere, orders are going to be cut without any input from you. You know what’s out there—U-2 overseas accompanied or remote, change of mission to U-2 in weather, a staff job somewhere, or you might get lucky and slip into an open slot at Air Command and Staff…” Jake leaned forward, folding his hands on top of his desk. “The hard part about being a family man in the military—we serve where we’re needed. The air force gives you a chance to put together an assignment if you can, but you know what’s expected of you, and the air force will take its pound of flesh.”
Sean was quiet for a long moment. Finally he said, “They’ve been right here all along and I didn’t know it until last week.”
“I’m sorry about that but, Jesus, Sean, you do your next assignment right and you’ve got stars in your pockets. But you can’t sit here any longer. Get in touch with the flesh peddlers who make assignments at the Military Personnel Center and find out what they’re trying to fill. Get the jump on ’em before they send you remote. All I can do is give you a heads-up, Sean.”
“Yeah,” he said.
Jake stood. “Listen, be honest with the woman. Tell her the situation, ask for her input. Maybe if she feels involved in the decision…”
“Yeah, right,” Sean said. But he was thinking, She barely got her life together the way she wants it and here I come, showing up unannounced, and before I can even get checked out on spending the night, the air force is ready to ship me out. “She’ll probably think I did this on purpose.”
“You knew this was coming, Major. No one sits in the same assignment for this long. You should have come up with a better plan.”
Sean stood. “Until a week ago, I thought I had a plan. I was going to do a couple of years of hard time in the sandbox and ACSC, and then take your job right out from under you. I just wanted to fly, then take command of a flying squadron. Until now, there wasn’t anything to keep me in one place.”
Under any other circumstances, Sean would be really grateful for that kind of a heads-up from his boss. It was real tough to get into Air Command and Staff in a residence program; making the waiting list alone was a good showing. He had an itch to get on the phone to MPC, but no one would be at the office on a Saturday night, so instead he took his mom and Rosie to Denny’s for dinner, and afterward they headed back to Eureka.
Once again the girls settled in the backseat and, while there was still light, they looked at books together. When the sun lowered in the sky and Rosie had fallen asleep, Sean called Franci’s cell. “Reporting in,” he said, when she answered. “She had mac and cheese and fish sticks for dinner and a little bit of salad. A glass of milk, too. And she loved the planes.”
“Did she have a good time?” Franci asked. “Did she mind her manners?”
“She was perfect and she had a blast. She’s asleep in the backseat, and yes, she has her belt on. I’m not supposed to talk and drive in this state, so I’m going to sign off. Want me to check in when she’s home?”
“Yes. And Sean? Is Maureen very angry with me?”
“Near as I can tell, she’s not even mad at me anymore,” he said with a laugh. “Am I invited to dinner tomorrow?”
“Yes. I’m going to need a nap to sleep off my twenty-four-hour shift. Why don’t you entertain Rosie and…and why don’t you cook.”
“Be happy to,” he said. “Any special requests?”
“Anything, but remember the food groups—Rosie’s growing.”
“How about Stroganoff, fat noodles, peas and salad? I’m good at Stroganoff. I’ll make it with chicken instead of beef—for Rose. She’s partial to chicken.”
“That would be awesome,” she said.
“You got it. And some nice snacks and a good white wine.”
When they were back at Vivian’s, he parked and lifted Rosie out of the backseat. He asked his mother to carry Rosie’s books and toys to the house while he helped get his daughter in her pajamas.
Rosie had her own room at Viv’s house, as well. This room was all little girl, too, but was yellow in color. She had her arms locked around his neck so tight, he’d have to peel her off. “We’re home, short-cake. Let’s find your jammies.” She squirmed and murmured, not letting go of his neck. He laughed at her and said, “I can’t help you change clothes if you don’t let go.”