Free Fall

by Karen Foley

  “Have a seat, Mick.”

  Jack sat down and gestured toward the tablet. “I don’t want to disturb you.”

  “Nah, I’m just goofing around with some game that my kid got me hooked on.” He shut the tablet down and pushed it aside. “You ready for tomorrow?”

  “To head back to Whidbey?” Jack shrugged. “Sure.”

  “You performed some nice recoveries today. We’ll do one more in the morning before we depart. I know you have over seventy-five carrier landings, and you’re considered to be something of an expert, but I admire how you approach each one as if it’s the first. You don’t get cavalier about it.”

  “Believe me, sir,” Jack replied, with feeling, “I’m way past the point in my life where I’m cavalier about anything.”

  “Call me Ben. So, what’s on your mind?”

  “You recall the other day when we were walking back to the ops shack, and you told me a story you’d heard about Eric Copeland’s sister having been jilted?”

  “Oh, yeah. That’s right. For Admiral Kinney’s daughter.” The commander shrugged. “What about it?”

  Jack hesitated. “Well, I’m crazy about her.”

  Ben’s eyebrows shot up. “About the admiral’s daughter?”

  Jack laughed. “No, sir. About Eric’s sister, Maggie. The girl who got jilted. But I need to find out...is the admiral’s daughter still married to the guy? I mean, are they still together?”

  Ben shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t pay much attention to that kind of stuff, as long as it doesn’t involve me.” He held up a finger as he reached for the tablet. “But I can find out. My wife knows everything.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Jack protested, but it was too late. The commander was already typing an email to his wife.

  “I don’t know when she’ll receive this, but as soon as I hear back from her, I’ll let you know.” He tipped his head to one side as he considered Jack. “What’s going on?”

  Jack hesitated, and then leaned forward, lowering his voice. He needed some objective advice, and he knew he wouldn’t get that from Will, no matter how well-meaning the other man was. Will still enjoyed one-time hook ups and hadn’t had a serious relationship in his life. “I drove out to Coupeville the other day to say good-bye to my girl and found her on the beach with her ex-fiancé.”

  “The same guy who ditched her for the admiral’s daughter?”

  Jack compressed his lips. “Yeah.”

  “Maybe it was completely innocent, a chance encounter. Did you talk to her about it?”

  “They were kissing, and it looked pretty intense. I left without speaking to her.”

  “Whoa.” Ben sat back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. “You didn’t beat the shit out of the guy?”

  Jack gave him a telling look.

  “Yeah, I understand,” Ben said. “But again, maybe the kiss wasn’t what it appeared.”

  Jack blew out a hard breath. “I’ve been trying to convince myself of that since I left, and I wish now that I’d at least talked to her, but I didn’t trust myself not to do something completely insane.”

  “So why do you want to know if the little prick is still married to the admiral’s daughter?”

  Jack scrubbed his hands over his face and then put his palms down on the table, his voice deadly serious. “Because if he’s no longer married, and Maggie really wants to be with him, then I won’t stand in their way. But if he is married, and he’s just messing around with her, then God help him. He won’t live to break her heart twice.” Standing up, he shook the other man’s hand. “Thanks.”

  “Glad to help. Good luck.”

  But as Jack made his way through the ship to one of the lower decks, where he and the other guys in the squadron had been provided sleeping berths, he knew he’d need more than luck on his side. He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

  * * *

  THE SUN WAS low in the sky when Jack finally saw Whidbey Island come into view in the distance. They had returned to San Diego aboard the USS Ronald Reagan that morning and had performed several flyovers of the port, much to the delight of the families who had gathered near the docks to welcome their sailors home after an extended sea deployment. They’d made one quick refueling stop in northern California, and now that Jack could see Whidbey Island, he was anxious to get on the ground and get home.

  He listened through his headset as Will provided the coordinates and position for their landing. They circled out over the open water as they waited their turn to land, and as Jack looked out through the glass canopy of the cockpit at the waters below, he spotted a pod of whales swimming off the northern tip of the island. He smiled, recalling the night he had met Maggie.

  “Hey, Robot,” he said to Will through the headset, “check out the water at nine o’clock.”

  “Oh, man, that’s beautiful,” crooned Will. “Better than SeaWorld! I’ll bet there are nine of them in that pod.”

  “At least. Okay, here we go.”

  They had been cleared for landing, and now Jack circled back around to line up with the airstrip. He throttled back as he released the landing gear, and in mere seconds, they were touching down and screaming along the tarmac until Jack applied the brakes and began to power down.

  “Nice landing, Mick,” Will said.

  “It’s good to be back,” Jack replied. He’d only been gone for four days, but he felt like it had been forever. He taxied the jet along the airstrip to the hangar area, where a group of maintenance technicians immediately began climbing over the aircraft.

  Jack raised the canopy, levered himself out of the cockpit and climbed down the side of the jet. Commander Craig was already there, waiting on the tarmac. Pulling his sunglasses out of his pocket, Jack slid them on and nodded to the other man, who held up a smart phone.

  “I asked my wife if they were still married, and she just replied.”

  Jack waited. “And?”

  Ben grinned. “Not only married, but by all accounts very happy.”

  The news should have made Jack relieved, but now he knew the bastard was only using Maggie, and she probably had no idea. She had a soft heart, and would buy whatever bag of horseshit he was selling to her. As Ben strolled toward the hangar, Jack hung back to wait for Will, but noticed the other man’s attention was fixed somewhere behind Jack. Turning to look, Jack stilled.

  A small group of people stood beside the base ops building, including the base commander, Captain Beauchamp, a tall man with a balding head and a gaze that could freeze ice. Jack had never had any issues with him, and he wanted to keep it that way. Standing beside the captain was another officer whom Jack didn’t recognize, although he had no trouble identifying the insignia on the man’s uniform.

  He was a navy admiral.

  Immediately, Jack’s thoughts flew to what he might have done wrong that would warrant this kind of welcome committee. He hadn’t beaten the living hell out of Phillip Woodman, so it couldn’t have anything to do with him. He hadn’t crashed his jet, or performed any illegal maneuvers, or gotten into any brawls.

  Will climbed down and stood beside him, his face reflecting his awe. “Jesus, man,” he said beneath his breath, “what the hell did you do now? That’s a freaking admiral over there.”

  “Maybe it’s you he wants, and not me,” Jack muttered, as they exchanged a look.

  “Let’s get this over with,” the other man replied.

  They walked toward the group, but before they were halfway across the tarmac, the admiral saluted Captain Beauchamp and then turned and walked toward a waiting vehicle, accompanied by his entourage of aides. As the admiral turned away, Jack saw a woman standing just behind him. It was Maggie, and his step nearly faltered. His heart began to hammer in his chest as he drank her in. She looked beautiful in a pretty floral dre
ss with her hair blowing wild across her face.

  “Since when did they begin letting civilians onto the air base?” Will asked beneath his breath. “She’s not family, so what the hell is she doing here?”

  “No idea.” Jack dragged his gaze away from Maggie long enough to salute the base commander.

  “Sir.”

  “Callahan, Robinson. Welcome back.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Jack tried not to look at Maggie, but he was acutely conscious of her standing at his commander’s side.

  “In light of the recent exercise over the Pacific, I’m giving your squadron three days of liberal leave, starting now.” His steely glance flicked between Jack and Maggie, and a ghost of a smile touched his lips. “I must be getting soft. Enjoy your time off, gentlemen.”

  He turned and spoke quietly to Maggie, before squeezing her arm and walking past them to intercept the other pilots who had just landed.

  Will looked at Jack and grinned. “This is my cue to leave before he changes his mind. I’ll stash your helmet for you and take care of the paperwork.”

  “Thanks.” Jack handed Will his helmet, and then turned and looked at Maggie. She was watching him with a mixture of hope and apprehension on her face. Afraid he might actually reach out and haul her against his chest, he thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his flight suit. “How are you?”

  He knew his voice was cool, and that he must appear remote, but until she told him that Phillip Woodman meant nothing to her, he wouldn’t be able to relax.

  She tucked her hair behind her ear, and then hugged herself around the middle. “I’m fine.”

  Clearly, she wasn’t. He knew her well enough to see she was a complete bundle of nerves. “Why are you here?”

  “To see you.”

  “How did you get onto the base without an escort?”

  She colored. “I did have an escort.”

  Jack frowned. “Who?”

  “Will you take off your sunglasses? I can’t see your eyes.”

  “Who escorted you onto the base, Maggie?” Jack kept his mirrored glasses on; they were all the protection he had from her.

  “Admiral Kinney.”

  Jack stared at her in dawning understanding. “Not the admiral? The one whose daughter ended up marrying your fiancé?”

  Maggie compressed her lips and nodded in resignation. “Ex-fiancé. So you know the story, huh?”

  “Kinda hard not to, babe, after seeing you on the beach with your tongue down her husband’s throat.”

  She gasped in outrage at his mocking tone. “You don’t know what you saw, and you didn’t even have the decency to stick around long enough for me to explain!”

  Looking around, Jack saw the other pilots beginning to cross the tarmac toward the hangar where they stood. He thought furiously for a moment, and then made a decision. “C’mon,” he said, and took Maggie’s arm, steering her through the hangar to the parking lot beyond.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know,” he growled. “Somewhere private. Anywhere but here.”

  But when they stopped in front of his motorcycle, he realized they had a problem. Maggie was wearing a dress. No way could she straddle a bike and maintain any modesty.

  “It’s fine,” she said, reading his mind. “I can still ride. Do you have another helmet?”

  He did, and he reached into the saddlebag to pull one out for her. A gust of wind blew her hair across her mouth and plastered her dress against her hips and thighs, leaving nothing to the imagination. Jack thrust the helmet at her and bent to pull his helmet out of the other saddlebag. “Did you drive over here? Maybe we can take your car.”

  “No, I didn’t drive.”

  “Fine.” Jerking his helmet on, he straddled the bike and released the kickstand. “Climb on.”

  He watched as Maggie fastened her helmet, and then tried to swing her leg over the seat without flashing him, but it was no good. He got an eyeful of smooth, slender thighs and a pair of pale pink panties that barely covered her. He groaned inwardly, knowing he was a goner. When she settled in behind him, with her bare thighs on either side of his, he couldn’t prevent his body from responding.

  “Hold on to me,” he growled, and kicked the bike into gear, gratified when she flung her arms around his waist, hanging on for dear life. Through the thin material of his flight suit, he could feel her heat. Her breasts were squashed against his back, and her palms were flattened over his stomach. She clung to him like a spider monkey, and he loved it.

  * * *

  HE LEFT THE base and steered them north, toward Deception Pass, roaring along the coastal road with the wind in their faces. Maggie pressed her face against his back and breathed in his scent, her arms wound tightly around him. The ride was both exhilarating and frightening, because she didn’t know what he intended to do or say once they reached their destination. She hated that she couldn’t see his eyes behind the mirrored sunglasses, and so had no hint of what he might be thinking or feeling. But she took hope from the fact that she was with him now, holding him. Whatever he believed he’d seen that day on the beach, she’d make him understand the truth. For her, there was no other man but him.

  When they reached the visitor’s center at the Deception Pass bridge, he pulled into the parking lot.

  “Why are we stopping here?” she asked in his ear, reluctant to release him.

  “It seems appropriate,” he answered cryptically, and dismounted, unfastening his helmet and hanging it from the handlebar. He held out a hand to Maggie, and he didn’t look away when she clambered gracelessly off the bike, knowing she was giving him quite the peep show, but not caring. This time, he unfastened her helmet for her, and his fingers brushed against her cheeks. She drew in her breath and looked at him.

  “Take your glasses off,” she pleaded.

  “Not yet.” He looked at her feet, and she followed his gaze. She wore a pair of sandals with delicate straps, and immediately she knew that he had intended for them to hike down the steep trail to the beach where they had first met. Instead, he caught her hand and pulled her across the street, to a trail that had been a favorite of hers as a kid. It was wide and relatively flat, with only a mild incline.

  “Goose Rock?” she asked in surprise, as she followed him. “You’re taking me to the overlook?”

  “I want you to see something,” he said, not elaborating.

  They passed two couples returning to the visitor’s center, and Maggie didn’t miss the curious looks they received. Before long, the path widened and leveled out, changing to a paved trail that led to a circular overlook surrounded by a low railing. They were at the highest point overlooking Deception Pass, with unobstructed views of the ocean and the treacherous strait that led to the narrow bay behind Whidbey Island.

  Without releasing her hand, Jack drew her to the railing and pointed to a small waterfront community far below them. “That’s Cornet Bay, where you first took a picture of me. My grandfather kept his boat on one of those docks.” He angled his hand slightly. “See that knoll, just above the bay, where they’ve cleared out some trees?”

  Maggie nodded, hoping he wouldn’t notice how she leaned against him. Even with the railing, the height made her feel a little dizzy. Forcing herself to focus on where he was pointing, she could see the site had unobstructed views of both the small harbor and Deception Pass.

  “That’s the land my grandparents left to me, and where I’m building a house.” He turned to Maggie. “I’m staying here on Whidbey Island, Maggie. I want you to stay with me. If you think you’re still in love with that bastard—”

  Maggie put her fingers over his mouth. “I’m not.”

  He pulled her hand away. “I saw you.”

  “No. He found out that I’d returned, and he came to the festival to apolo
gize for what happened ten years ago. He doesn’t love me. He has a wife and a family, and he’s completely committed to them.” She paused. “And I don’t love him. Not even close. I knew that as soon as I saw him again.”

  “Why was his father-in-law at the air base with you?”

  “When you saw us on the beach, we were just saying good-bye. I know it must have looked bad, but you left before I could explain. Phillip wanted to make amends, thinking he might have screwed up my life a second time.” Maggie took his hand. “He called his father-in-law and asked him for a favor—to escort me onto the air base so that I could be there when you returned. He didn’t want to give you the opportunity to walk away without at least talking to me.” She frowned, unable to read his expression. “Now will you take those sunglasses off?”

  Reaching up, he pulled them off, and Maggie felt her heart stutter at the raw emotion in his hazel eyes.

  “Jesus, Maggie,” he said, his voice rough. “You have no idea what I’ve been through these past four days, thinking you were back with him. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to let you go without a fight.”

  Maggie put a hand on his chest and could feel the heavy, uneven thumping of his heart beneath her palm. “I’m not going anywhere, Jack. I’m staying here on Whidbey Island. If you want me...”

  With a groan, Jack dragged her into his arms, and Maggie found herself surrounded by his heat and strength. “Want you?” he asked in a ragged voice. “Lady, since the night we met, I haven’t thought about anything except how much I want you.”

  He cupped her face in his big hands and Maggie saw the love and the need in his hazel eyes, before he dipped his head and covered her mouth with his. The potency of the kiss made her knees go wobbly, and she leaned into him, returning his kiss with all the emotion that was in her heart.

  When he finally pulled away, he bent his forehead to hers and stroked his thumbs over her cheeks. “You put me through hell, you know that? I’ve never felt so powerless before in my entire life, like I was spinning out of control and I couldn’t even press the eject button to save myself.”