Flying High (14 page)

“My replacement will be here at one, and he’ll stay until you close up. He’ll also see you safely home or wherever you’re going.”

She stared at him. “If I were planning to rob a bank, would one of you tag along?”

“We’re on the lookout for criminals. Any kind, regardless of age, sex, or previous condition of servitude. I believe that’s the way it reads somewhere in the Constitution. Or is it the Bill of Rights?”

She figured his answer suited her question. “Sorry. I asked for that.”

“This is serious business, ma’am. My office doesn’t lay out this amount of resources for no reason.”

“It’s my intention to cooperate,” she said, “but as an intelligent person, I feel the need to know what I’m in danger of.”

“I’m sure you know who to ask about that,” he said and let his gaze fall once more on the racing sheet, effectively terminating the discussion.

He referred to Nelson, she knew, but if he possessed that information, he hadn’t seen fit to pass it on to her.

At one o’clock, man number one, as she decided to call him, introduced her to man number two, who looked for all the world like a criminal himself, and told her he’d left her in good hands and would see her the next morning. She didn’t know what kind of explanation number one gave to her receptionist, but he had evidently placated the woman. When she arrived home that afternoon, her guard went in, checked the place and left.

She prowled around the house, wishing she hadn’t been so glib with Nelson and that she’d taken his suggestion of a weekend vacation seriously. Nothing claimed her attention for long. For half an hour, she spent some time in every part of her house, including the foyer and back porch, pacing from room to room without thought as to why she did it. An irritating odor brought her racing into the kitchen where she saw the charred meal that had been warming on the stove.

Call him and tell him you changed your mind, that you want to go with them.
“Never!” she said aloud. She went to the phone to order a take-out meal for her dinner, and stopped in the process of dialing the restaurant. Suppose that man paid the delivery boy to let him bring the food!

“Oh, Lord,” she said, storming back to the kitchen to cook. “I’m getting paranoid.”

She answered the telephone after the second ring, hoping she would her Nelson’s voice.

“Do you mind if I come over, sis?” Winifred asked. “I’ve got to talk, and Pam’s starting to sound as if she’s my mother. Sometimes I think she was born old.”

“Of course. Say, would you bring over dinner for two? I just burned mine.” She hung up at the sound of Winifred’s laughter.

* * *

“What’s the problem?” she asked Winifred as they ate a meal of jerked buffalo wings, stewed collards, candied sweet potatoes and baked corn bread—Winifred’s kind of food, but which Audrey considered a health hazard.

“It’s Ryan. I know we’ve only known each other for a month, but he’s it for me. Am I foolish to want to go away with him for a weekend?”

Her fork clattered to the plate, and her hand remained a few inches from her mouth as if frozen there. When she found her voice, she said, “But Wendy, honey, you’re a virgin. How can you consider such a thing?”

As if she hadn’t dropped that bomb, Winifred continued to enjoy her food. “I love him, and I know it’s the real thing. I’ve known lots of guys, played around with four or five—one in particular, but I have never felt anything approximating what I feel for Ryan. When I’m with him, nothing else in this whole wide world matters or even seems real. The minute I looked at him, I was a goner. Besides, he knows I’m a virgin, ’cause I told him.”

“What did he say to that?”

“His eyes got pretty big. Then he grinned and said he wouldn’t hold that against me. He loves me, Audrey, and he communicates it to me in so many ways. So why shouldn’t we be together?”

She took a deep breath, let it out and tried to think. “I haven’t see you and this man together, so I can’t judge. Indeed, I don’t know him and I probably shouldn’t compare your relationship with him to mine with Gerald Latham. But...”

Suddenly, she remembered her turmoil before Winifred called her, her dilemma about Nelson and her lack of courage to call him and tell him she wanted to spend the weekend with him and Ricky. What right did she have to discourage her sister? Every woman had to decide for herself the man with whom she would learn to make love.

“But what?” Winifred asked her.

“But nothing. You’re old enough to know your feelings, and if he’s the first man you’ve really wanted, I take my hat off to him. You love him? Go for it.”

Physician, heal thyself.
Those biblical words came to her as if from nowhere. She had allowed that opportunity to be with Nelson in a different, perhaps more intimate, environment slip by, but in her present frame of mind, she didn’t think she would pass up another chance. Nelson had not suggested a lovers’ idyll, she recalled. If he had that in mind, he would surely leave Ricky at home.
I’ve got to stop being so uptight about men, especially about Nelson. If I don’t get my act together, he’ll kiss me off.
And that, she knew, in a moment of enlightenment, she could not bear.

“We’re talking about you and Nelson as well as Ryan and me, aren’t we?”

“I guess so.”

“Auntie says he’s a wonderful man, that he treats her as if she were his mother, and he’s a good father to Ricky. He doesn’t have women running in and out of there, either. Why can’t you straighten things out with him? I got the impression that he thinks a lot of you.”

“He does.” She reached across the table and patted her sister’s hand. “If this talk has been good for you, it’s been a blessing to me. Pam doesn’t have to approve, and she doesn’t have to know you spent the weekend with Ryan. She’s got Hendren, and she’s happy with him.”

“Yeah, and that’s an amazement to me,” Winifred said. “Pam doesn’t believe you should make love with a guy unless you’re married to him. She lucked out, but I’m scared to take that chance.” She grinned. “Besides, my hormones are acting out.”

“As long as you’re sure.”

“Not a doubt.”

She looked out of the living room window, watched Winifred get into her car and hoped her sister was as right as she was sure. Hours later, she went to bed, still at odds with herself for having rejected Nelson. It would be a long and lonely weekend.

* * *

Nelson couldn’t remember when he had enjoyed so relaxing a weekend as he had the previous few days with Ricky in St. Michaels, Maryland. The boy had loved the cruise on the Chesapeake Bay, and his enjoyment of the water reminded Nelson of Joel, for whom swimming represented the peak of relaxation. Many times, he’d wished Audrey was with them, but he knew and appreciated that she needed to take her time, that for her, joining them would have been tantamount to a commitment. He walked into his office that Monday morning and closed the door.

“Please don’t disturb me this morning,” he said to his secretary. “I have to finish this report.”

That much was true, but his reason for wanting to work undisturbed had more to do with the pain in his neck and shoulders. He had to put on his hard cervical collar to ease the discomfort, and he didn’t want to be caught wearing it. By noon, the pain eased, and he removed the collar and locked it in his desk drawer.

As he left his office for lunch, Lieutenant Colonel Holden strode toward him. “You stay out of sight, Colonel,” Holden said. “I take it you’re over the injuries you got when you crashed your copter.”

So the man had served notice that he would live up to his reputation. “I thought you knew my helicopter took a hit in the fuel tank.” He ground his teeth, a sure sign that he was on the verge of losing his temper. “Yes. You do know it. Fortunately, so do several dozen other men, including my copilot. I spent a couple of months recovering, but that’s behind me. See you around.”

He hated being angry, especially not when he was about to eat. He got a ham and cheese sandwich, a banana and coffee in the cafeteria and went back to his office to find his red light flashing.

He got that signal only when there was an emergency. A serious one.

Chapter 7

I
t could be anything. He punched the code and waited. “Lieutenant McCafferty speaking.”

Relief flushed his body with such force that he had to sit down as he realized the problem wasn’t with Ricky, Lena or Audrey. “Colonel Wainwright answering you call,” he said with such calm that he hardly recognized his own voice. “What’s the good news?”

“You may not think it’s so good. You’re wanted at Camp Pendleton tomorrow morning. Be ready to leave this evening. We have a contingent going to Afghanistan, and the officer who was to brief them has become ill. You’re to fill in.”

He threw up his hands and looked toward the ceiling. “My housekeeper is in South Carolina at an address unknown to me, and I’ll have to either make child-care arrangements for my five-year-old or take him with me. I’ll get back to you in the next hour.”

He didn’t recall having previously considered any aspect of his Marine Corps responsibilities a burden. But he regarded the order that would reach him in writing momentarily as an inconvenience, and he didn’t have to be told that domestic life with Ricky and Lena had pared away some of his military crust, shaved off some of his toughness and his disregard of personal inconvenience. The thought arose that Audrey may have played a role in the change he recognized in himself, but he pushed that aside.

He leaned back in his desk chair, made a pyramid of his fingers and braced them against his chin. What were his options? Handing Ricky over to foster care even for two or three days would have a traumatic effect and rob the boy of the sense of security that he’d worked so hard to build. He couldn’t do that.

“I’ll take him with me,” he said aloud. “Nah. That won’t work. He’d have to sit with me in those briefings.” He couldn’t ask Audrey, because she had to work. Still musing over the problem, he answered the phone.

“Wainwright.”

“Hello, Nelson. This is Audrey. How was your weekend?”

“Wonderful. I’ve never seen a person enjoy anything as much as Ricky enjoyed the cruise and the water. He loves the water as much as his father did.”

“Where did you go?”

“St. Michaels, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I think Ricky wouldn’t mind if we moved over there.”

“Sorry I missed that. I couldn’t make myself call you back and tell you I wanted to go, much as I longed to.”

His antenna shot up. “Are you telling me you changed your mind and couldn’t drum up the will to let me know? Huh?”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“Where are you now?”

“In my office. The gov’s man number two is keeping watch. I was wondering if you’d like to go for ice cream or something this evening.”

Her question took his mind back to the problem facing him. “I’d love that, Audrey, but I have to leave for California this evening. Lena isn’t back from South Carolina, and when you called, I was deciding whether to take Ricky with me. I’m damned if I’ll leave him in a
foster
home.
”

“What about me? Why can’t he stay with me? Or...or don’t you want me to keep him?”

“I thought about it, but you have to work, and I wouldn’t expect you to stay away from your office in order to look after Ricky.”

“He and I will work that out exactly as we did when he stayed with me before. What time are you leaving your office?”

“In about an hour. I’ll pick Ricky up from day camp and take him
home.
”

“Then suppose I meet you at your house in an hour and a half?”

“Okay. You can’t imagine what a load you’ve taken from me. Saying I appreciate it sounds trite, but I do.”

“All right. Hang up and do whatever you have to. See you later.”

* * *

“I have to go to California, son,” he said to Ricky, “and I may be away a few days, but you’ll have a good time with Audrey till Miss Lena comes back.”

“Oooh!” Ricky’s eyes seemed to double in size. “I’m staying with Audie?” He slapped his hands together. “Unca Nelson, please tell her I can have all the ice cream I want. Please, Unca Nelson!”

“I think it’s best to let her judge. After all, she’s a doctor. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of it.”

He packed a bag for himself and one for Ricky and brought them down to the foyer. “I can trust you to obey Audrey, can’t I?” he said to Ricky.

The boy looked up at him with eyes so like his father’s, and he saw in them a sadness. He realized that as much as Ricky would love being with Audrey, the child didn’t want Nelson to leave him. He hunkered beside him.

“I’ll be away only a few days, son, and I’ll call you. All right?”

Ricky nodded, and Nelson could see his struggle to push back the tears that pooled unshed in his eyes. He drew the child into his arms and hugged him. The doorbell rang, and Ricky dashed out of his arms and ran to the door. “Is it Audie, Unca Nelson? Is it?” How like a child to embrace the sure thing.

He opened the door and gazed down into her eyes. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

He took her hand, pulled her inside the foyer and into his arms. He held her as close as he dared considering that he had to leave her within the next ten minutes, and when she opened to him as a flower opens to the morning sun, he cursed his luck. There was a difference in her bearing, in her demeanor and in the way her body surrendered to him. What a time to walk away from her! Reaching deep within himself for restraint, both because he had to leave her and because Ricky had fastened his gaze on them, he pressed a kiss to her lips. She parted them, and he tasted her sweetness, just enough of her to stoke the fire that already blazed within him.

He set her away from him with care. “When I get back, we’ll be together.” She nodded. “Do you understand me?”

She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Yes. Be safe and hurry back.” With that, she picked up Ricky’s suitcase, took the boy’s hand, strapped him into the backseat of her car and drove away.

He watched until he could no longer see them. Then he scribbled a note to Lena, picked up his bag and headed for Dulles International Airport.

* * *

For once she welcomed the security agent who tailed her home. Although familiar with his car and tags, she slowed down until she could see the driver’s face in her rearview mirror. Even so, she didn’t drive through Rock Creek Park. When she reached home, he got out and spoke with her. “Are you taking the boy with you tomorrow morning?”

“I was planning to do that, leave around one for lunch and then come on home. Is that inconvenient?”

“Not at all. I suggest you use your own car, avoid taxis and always make sure that I’m close behind you.”

“In other words, don’t drive fast.”

“You got it. We’re playing it close to the chest until Colonel Wainwright gets back. I’ll check out the house for you.”

“I’m going to have our dinner delivered,” she told him. She hated announcing that she wasn’t much of a cook, and maybe she ought to learn, but she didn’t think Ricky would appreciate the fare she offered. “About seven.”

“No problem. I’ll be around.”

Even with that assurance, she felt uncomfortable. However, Ricky claimed his old room and made himself at home. She found the movies she’d chosen for him when he’d stayed with her previously, and he was soon absorbed in
Snow White.

Along with their dinner, she ordered a half-gallon each of strawberry and black raspberry ice cream. “Did you get the ice cream, Audie?” he asked her as she set the table. Assured that she had, he hugged her.

“I love you a lot, Audie. A whole lot.”

“I know,” she said. “And I love you a whole lot, too.”

“I’m gonna eat all of my dinner if you don’t give me too much. I have to eat my ice cream.”

This child is sending me messages, she thought, after singing him to sleep. She stood beside his bed gazing down at his sweet, peaceful face and felt her heart constrict. Surprising herself, she leaned over him, kissed his cheek and fought the impulse to gather him into her arms. At that moment, she saw her life as it was, one-sided. Empty of love and warmth. Unfulfilled.

She plowed her fingers through her hair and rushed from the room. Even with her profession and the solid respect of her peers, she deserved more than she had. “But if I got pregnant, how could I care for my patients?” she asked herself aloud. Appalled at the revealing words, she slapped her hand over her mouth. What on earth was she thinking? What had come over her?

* * *

The second afternoon after Nelson left for California, Audrey received a call from Lena. “I just got home and found the Colonel’s note. You can bring Ricky home, and I’ll give both of you a decent meal. Poor little tyke, I’ll bet he’s starved for some good cooking.”

“He’s been eating like a king. We had McDonald’s hamburgers and fries for lunch, and I sent out for our dinners. Uh...Aunt Lena, if you have something to do, he can stay with me. He loves going to the office.”

“I bet he does, but we got to do what the Colonel wants. Ricky can practice medicine some other time.”

To Audrey’s surprise, after Ricky had embraced Lena with exuberance, he started up the stairs and stopped. “Miss Lena, where’s my Unca Nelson?”

She exchanged glances with Lena. Did the boy remember the time his father hadn’t come back home? He ran to Lena with arms outstretched. “Is Unca Nelson coming home?”

Lena bent and hugged the boy. “He’ll be home, son, just as soon as he finishes his assignment.”

“When will he do that, Miss Lena?”

“Two or three days.”

“Oh.” He looked at Audrey. “Are you going to stay with us?”

What should she say to that? “No, but I’ll come see you after I leave the office tomorrow.”

That seemed to placate him, though he didn’t smile. “You will?” She nodded, and he turned his attention to Lena. “I’m hungry, Miss Lena.”

While Lena set the table, Ricky ambled around the house, clearly discombobulated and out of sorts. The telephone rang, and he raced to answer it.

“Hello. This is Ricky Wainwright.”

Audrey watched as his face bloomed into a smile and the light in his eyes brightened. “Unca Nelson! Where are you, Unca Nelson? When are you coming home?” He listened for a while. “How many days till Saturday? Okay. Okay, I will. Unca Nelson wants to talk to you, Audie.” He handed her the phone and ran to the kitchen, the picture of happiness.

“Hello, Nelson.” She gave him an account of Ricky’s visit with her and of her experiences with the guards assigned to secure her safety. “I’ll be glad to see you. If the officials discovered anything since you left, they wouldn’t tell me.”

“Is that the only reason why you’ll be glad to see me?”

“That question hardly deserves an answer. I miss you.”

“Same here. Keep Saturday night for us.”

“All right,” she said, aware that he deliberately said “for us” rather than “for me.”

He spoke with Lena for a few minutes. He wasn’t obliged to talk with his housekeeper, but she knew he spoke with her aunt because he regarded her as a member of his family. It was such graciousness on his part that first garnered her respect and interest, and which now endeared him to her.

After they finished dinner, she read to Ricky and, using her laptop computer, taught him how to log on and access the internet. Later, she supervised his bath, put him to bed and sang to him until he slept.

She would miss Ricky’s bedtime ritual, for it had come to represent to her a time of bonding with him, and in those times she felt closest to him. She drove home under the watchful eyes of man number two.

* * *

By the time Saturday afternoon arrived, her nerves had frazzled themselves. What should she do? How would she respond to him, and shouldn’t she call a halt to the relationship and let them stop torturing each other?

She opened her door to him at seven-thirty that Saturday evening, and noticed at once that he’d dressed to the nines. Elegance was natural to him, but he had obviously put forth special effort to look great. Thank God she’d had the good sense to dress up. She gazed up at him. Quintessential male, and all hers—for the evening at least—if she had the sense and the guts to take him. She held out her right hand.

“Come on in. It’s as if I haven’t seen you in years.”

He brushed her cheek with his lips, and the expression on her face must have mirrored her surprise, for he explained, “Anything heavier than that, and we probably wouldn’t get any dinner. You’re beautiful. What I call the perfect blend of female.”

She did nothing to erase the frown that gathered on her forehead. “What do you mean by that?”

“Where your work is concerned, you’re one-hundred-percent professional, but in your private life, you are all woman. You suit me to a T.”

She gathered up the skirt of her long, flowing red dress as she walked down the steps with him, and when they reached his BMW, she said, “It’s a good thing you can’t see the rush of blood to my face. Thanks, though, for the compliment.”

He buckled her seat belt, closed the door, went around to the driver’s side and got in. “Don’t think of what I said as a compliment. I told the truth as I see it, and that includes the fact that you suit me. I don’t know exactly when I came to that conclusion, but it is irrefutable.”

She didn’t have an answer for that. “Was your mission successful?” she asked, in effect changing the subject.

“You bet. I wish every one of my assignments went off so easily. Lecturing is simple compared to most of the other tasks we get. What do you say we go to Kinkead’s? I have reservations for eight o’clock, but we can still cancel.”

Surely she hadn’t heard him correctly. “Cancel Kinkead’s? You couldn’t be serious. I’d love to go there!” He drove to Pennsylvania and Twentieth Street Northwest, and gave his car over to the valet.

“How did you know I would dress?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “I figured that if I knew the occasion called for it, so did you.”

She looked up at him and then quickly lowered her lashes. “That kind of thinking can get you in a mess of trouble.”

When she looked at him, his wink nearly knocked her off balance. “Trust me. When it’s important, I leave nothing to chance.”
Like tonight,
he seemed to imply.