Maggie came forward and threw her arms around Dana.
“We made it,” she whispered, hugging her friend tightly, then stepped back, wiping her eyes.
Dana sniffed. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “I just wish Molly were here.”
“Listen, Dana, she was happy to quit. We both knew she wasn’t crazy about flying like we were.” Maggie smiled softly. “Hey, she’s going to be a test-flight engineer! That ain’t hay, you know. She’s going into a very elite field. Molly’s breaking new ground for all women. You ought to be a little happier for her.”
With a nod, Dana admitted Maggie was right. She wondered nervously when the loudspeaker would boom out that they were to line up and receive their orders. Where would the Navy send her? As much as she wanted to, Dana couldn’t seek the safety of Griff’s arms. He stood next to her, dressed in the white dress uniform traditional for graduation ceremonies. How handsome he looked. The corners of his mouth curved upward and he glanced down at her, conveying so much in that one, heated look. Dana closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady her torn emotions.
Her mother slipped her hand around Dana’s waist. “You look worried, honey.”
Dana put her arm around her mother’s small shoulders. “I am, Mom.”
“Griff said you’ll get a good assignment, with your grades.”
“That’s not it,” Dana managed. She glanced back at Griff. His gray eyes conveyed his own worry. “We don’t want to be separated from each other, and I’m sure it will happen.”
“It will just be a question of distance,” Griff informed Ann. It could be halfway around the world once Dana completed the second phase of her training at Pensacola.
“I think the love you have for each other is wonderful.” Ann sighed.
Guilt needled Dana. She’d never told her mother that Griff wasn’t her fiance. When her mother had arrived the day before to stay at her apartment, she’d choked on the admission. A call to Griff hadn’t helped. He felt it was a white lie; something that hurt no one. Why ruin her mother’s happiness? Why indeed, Dana thought, and had let it go. “We’ve got something special, Mom.”
“Very special,” Griff added. “I see Captain Ramsey coming up to the podium. He’s going to hand out the orders.”
“At least, with my last name starting with C, I’ll be one of the first to get mine,” Dana whispered unsteadily.
“We’ll handle it, whatever it is,” Griff told her quietly. “I love you, Dana. Orders aren’t going to change a damn thing about the way I feel about you.”
Startled, Dana stared up at Griff. He loved her! He’d never said it before. Dana heard her mother sigh and move over to Griff, giving him a smile.
“Dana deserves someone as fine as you, Griff.”
He grinned. “I know she does.” Not caring whether his commanding officer was watching or not, Griff leaned down and kissed Dana’s flushed cheek. “We’re in this together,” he told her huskily, his voice filled with emotion. “Go on. Go get your orders.”
In shock over his admission, Dana did as he coaxed. How many times had she ached to tell Griff that she had fallen in love with him? The forthcoming orders had hung over her head like a sword, curtailing so much of what she dreamed of sharing with Griff. Dreams, he had told her one night after a tender session of lovemaking at his apartment, were to be worked toward, to be held close to their hearts, and most of all, made to come true.
Well, she thought shakily as she moved into line to receive her orders from Captain Ramsey, her dream was to remain with Griff. But that was impossible. Griff stood with Ann Coulter and watched as Dana received her orders. Her salute was crisp. She was so strong and beautiful. He was glad he’d finally admitted his love to Dana. It was too bad it couldn’t have been in more private circumstances, but Griff wasn’t sorry he’d said it. The look on her face had told him something he’d known all along: She loved him, too.
“Oh, I’m so excited, Griff,” Ann said, clutching his arm. “Where do you think they’ll send Dana? I hope it’s near San Francisco where I live. Are there any air stations in that area?”
“Yes, there’s Moffett Field, at the tip of San Francisco Bay.” Griff hoped just the opposite—wanting Dana stationed on the East Coast. As Dana approached, Ann clasped her hands in expectancy.
“Have you opened them yet?” Ann asked breathlessly.
Dana glanced over at Griff as she halted between them. “Uh, no, Mom. Not yet.” Why delay the inevitable? The orders were bound to send her somewhere other than here. With shaking hands, she opened the official envelope, her breathing suspended as she unfolded the crisp white paper.
“Oh, my God!” Dana choked.
Griff’s heart slammed against his ribs. Had she been sent overseas? Trying to sound steady, he placed his hand on Dana’s arm. “What?”
Tears streamed from her eyes as she showed Griff the orders. “I don’t believe this, Griff. Look. Look!”
Griff’s mouth dropped open as he slowly and carefully read her orders. “You’re going to be assigned as a flight instructor at Pensacola!”
“Oh, Griff,” Dana cried, throwing her arms around his neck.
Overwhelmed, Griff embraced her hard, not ever wanting to let her go.
“My dream was to stay here,” Dana sobbed. “I didn’t want to leave here after finding you… I love you so much!”
With a laugh, he lifted Dana off her feet—a totally un-military maneuver, but he didn’t care. “God, I love you too, sweetheart.”
Dana’s feet touched the ground physically, but her heart and spirit were still flying high. “I didn’t know they let flight students become instructors!”
With a shake of his head, Griff held on to her hand, rereading the orders in disbelief. “Sometimes, but it’s rare.” Why hadn’t he thought of this? Dana had graduated with honors, number two in her class.
Maggie came hurrying back over to them, along with her ecstatic family. “Look, Dana! Look at my orders! I don’t believe this! I think I’m going to faint. Look!”
Dana read Maggie’s orders: She was to report to Miramar air station out near San Diego, California, to take advanced fighter training in the F-14 Tomcat. “What does this mean? I didn’t think they would allow a woman to fly a combat jet?”
“I don’t know. But I love it!”
Griff studied the orders. “There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt about training women to fly combat jets, ladies. It looks as though the Pentagon and Navy are going to test out the theory.”
“To see if we can fly combat jets as well as the boys?” Maggie drawled, barely able to suppress her smile.
Dana laughed at the challenge glinting in Maggie’s eyes. If anyone could be a combat-jet pilot, it was Maggie. She saw the pride mirrored in the faces of her family who surrounded them. “You’ll fly the pants off those boys at Miramar.”
“That’s where they train the Top Guns,” Griff reminded them. “I went through there two years ago.” He smiled over at Maggie. “Obviously they think you have what it takes to play with the big boys.”
Grinning, Maggie said, “I’m ready for them, Griff.”
“I feel sorry for them.” He laughed, holding out his hand to congratulate her. Maggie had been number one, and had gotten her wish to fly planes on and off carriers. Gazing at Dana’s ecstatic features, he added with feeling, “But then, you’re a rare lady, too, sweetheart. Not many students get to become instructor pilots.” Rare and so damned loving.
Ann smiled up at them, hiding her disappointment that her daughter wouldn’t be stationed on the West Coast. “So this means you’ll be close to each other.”
“In more ways than one.” Griff laughed. He saw Ann’s sadness. “I’ll take good care of her for you. I promise.”
“I know you will, Griff.”
“I’ll be out on leave to visit you, Mom, next year,” Dana said, wanting to ease her mother’s disappointment.
” We’ll be out there,” Griff corrected.
Dana could hardly wait to be alone with Griff, to talk, to celebrate their good fortune. First, they were having dinner with Maggie’s entire family at their apartment, then she would go over to Griff’s bungalow for an hour or so. Dana desperately needed to talk with him, and she saw the look of longing in his eyes, too.
***
“Did you mean it? You love me?”
Griff glanced over at Dana as he drove them back to his apartment after the celebration dinner. “Yes, I did.” His hands tightened briefly on the steering wheel. Dana’s face remained contemplative.
“Wow! That was a heck of a time to tell me.”
“I know. It just kind of slipped out. I saw the panic in your eyes and I wanted to let you know that no matter what happened, it wouldn’t hurt what we have, sweetheart.” Griff smiled and reached over, gripping Dana’s hand.
“I love you, too.”
“I was hoping you did.”
She gave him a flat look. “Is there anything you don’t know?”
With a laugh, Griff brought her hand to his lips, kissing it. “Lots of things.”
“You’re so arrogant sometimes, Turcotte, you drive me crazy.” Dana smiled and relaxed against the seat. The residential streets were quiet and well-lit, casting rays of light into the dark interior of the sports car.
“But you love me anyway?” he ventured.
“You know I do.”
“I’m not taking anything we have for granted,” Griff continued seriously. He pulled into the driveway of his bungalow. Shutting off the lights and engine, he absorbed in the gathering silence. “It’s been one hell of a day, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. Mom’s so happy—about everything. I got my wings, and orders to stay here.” Dana shook her head. “I can hardly believe it, Griff.” Dana turned and placed her arms around his shoulders. Holding his dark gaze, she whispered, “It’s been the most wonderful—and worst— sixteen weeks of my life. Talk about ups and downs.”
Griff sighed and cradled her face between his hands. “The worst is over,” he promised.
Leaning forward, Dana pressed a kiss to his mouth. She became lost in the heat, the strength and tenderness that was only Griff.
“This is what I was waiting for,” Griff whispered as she fitted against him, her head on his shoulder. Absently stroking her arm, he said, “We’ve got the time we need, now.”
“For what?”
“Well,” Griff hedged, “we’re both coming out of some hellish circumstances. You, with your father, and me, with my divorce from Carol. With you being stationed here for the next two years, we’ll have time to properly heal ourselves and get to know each other even better.” Griff knew Dana wasn’t ready to be asked for her hand in marriage. Age and experience had taught him that when people were he’d ever wanted—ever dreamed of—so he was satisfied to remain in the car with her. Dana would be getting thirty days’ leave, and he’d ask for and be granted the same amount of time. They would have one beautiful, long, uninterrupted vacation together. He nuzzled her cheek and kissed her lips tenderly.
“I like what we have, what we’re growing toward, sweetheart.”
Dana closed her eyes and savored his arms around her. “I do, too. I love you so much, Griff”
Tipping his head back, never wanting the moment or the feelings of utter happiness to end, he whispered back, “I know….”
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
No Quarter Given (SSE 667) Page 23
