Taking out her cell phone, she snapped a picture of her bare feet in the grass, and texted it to Vicky.
Then she dug down deep in her pocket, and pulled out her mother’s engagement ring. Holding it close, she watched the diamonds sparkle in the sunlight. Mom, I wish you were here to advise me on marriage. She leaned back against the bench and continued with her thoughts, I know I don’t have your strength of heart or mind, but I’ve always wanted to be like you, which is stupid, since I’ve never met you. Anyway, I think you would really love Vicky. And I think you would be proud to have her wear your ring. I sure hope you will, anyway.
Her cell phone vibrated, and she pulled it out again. A text from Vicky read, “Not only am I jealous, but I want to make love to those gorgeous toes!” Aidan was laughing, as she walked back to the hospital. She entered the front lobby, just as Paul came barreling in from the hallway.
“Aidan! Aidan, we did it! We captured the scumbag!” he shouted.
Fred Patch, from Homeland Security, stopped in front of her. Behind him, stood Jack Owens in handcuffs, restrained from moving by two other agents.
Vicky rushed toward them, fear in her eyes, “What’s going on? I got a page!”
Everyone in the lobby, the employees, visitors and patients, stopped what they were doing, to watch as the scene unfolded.
“I’ve placed Mr. Owens in custody, for acts of terrorism.” Fred stated flatly.
The onlookers, mostly visitors, let out a collective gasp, He’s a terrorist? He doesn’t look like one. Hey, isn’t that the administrator of the hospital?
Vicky signaled for Patch to come closer, and with Aidan listening, she asked, “So, you really think he’s the mole?”
“Yes ma’am, we do, thanks to Aidan’s investigation,” Patch pulled out a cellphone, and showed Vicky a photo on it, “This is Jack’s phone.”
Aidan looked at it with Vicky. It was the photo of Vicky lying on the floor, in a pool of her own blood, just after she had been shot. “He took the photo?” she asked contemptuously.
“We think so, probably as he was escaping out the front door. But he left a trail, when he emailed it to the newspaper, and we tracked it back to him. Then, using a search warrant, we found some other evidence that brought on the arrest.”
Aidan was about to confront Jack, when Vicky pulled her back, “So was he working alone?”
“You can never be sure about these things, but we don’t think so. It looks like he was filtering messages outside, to the enemy. We just haven’t pinpointed who that is, yet.”
“What about Ken, was he connected to the bombing in any way?” Aidan asked.
“I’m pretty sure he was, but we still have to prove it. He was hired by Jack, and surveillance shows a lot of chatter between the two, but that’s all we have. The FBI is going to turn him over to the police, for the drug filtering scheme, until such time as we have more evidence.”
“But for St. Frances, the terrorist, the bombing, it’s over with, right?” Vicky asked, then held her breath.
Patch nodded his head, and that was all Vicky needed to know. Indignant, she turned and walked over to Jack. She looked him square in the eyes, and asked, “Why, Jack?”
“You are not capable of understanding, infidel.” He sneered in response. “But don’t think my capture ends this. We are not done yet‒‒”
Vicky reared her hand back in rage, and slapped him hard across the cheek. “Get him the hell out of my hospital!” She demanded, then walked away.
“Are you okay, kid?” Aidan asked, taking long strides to catch up to her petite friend.
“I was hoping we were wrong, Aidan. I didn’t want it to be Jack.”
“I know, kid, you didn’t want to feel betrayed by an employee, even if he wasn’t much of one, to begin with. But we can move on now, we’re free of him.”
“Thank you, sweetheart, thank you for being my strength. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
***
That evening, Aidan and Vicky, met Vicky’s parents, at a new restaurant that served steak, and ball room dancing. The clientele was mostly seniors, though the atmosphere was designed more for the middle age crowd. Vicky selected it, hoping that it would be a more relaxed atmosphere, for everyone.
Aidan sat next to Vicky, her leg twitching so much, that Vicky patted it to calm her down. Alice and Leonard Montgomery, sat across from them, taking in the restaurant’s decorations. After they ordered their meal, Vicky proposed a toast.
“To Aidan, who ran off the bad guy, not once, but three times. Thank you, sweetheart.” Vicky’s eyes glistened with love, as everyone raised a glass. Vicky explained to her parents everything Aidan had done, to fraught the attempts of the terrorist. They talked for a while, until music began to play, and Vicky asked her father to dance.
“Nah, I’m fine, sweetie. Dance with your mother.” Aidan could tell Vicky was disappointed, but she didn’t show it. Instead, she grabbed her mother’s hand, and they walked out to the dance floor, leaving Aidan alone with Leonard. For a long time neither said anything, but Leonard kept looking at her, which made her knee twitch, even more.
Finally, Aidan broke the silence. “Vicky is a very good dancer, sir, did you teach her that?”
Leonard smiled with pride, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I also taught you how to dance, Aidan,” seeing the look of shock on her face, he laughed and explained, “You use to watch me teach Vicky, when you were about nine or ten years old. Then one day, you decided you wanted to learn as well. You would stand on my feet, and we would dance around the room together.”
Aidan choked back the sweet emotions she was feeling, “I remember that now, you were larger than life, but had the patience of a saint. If not for you, I would be a much worse klutz, than I am now.” They both laughed, as the music faded, and Vicky and her mom returned to the table.
“So what were you two talking about, so intently over here?” Vicky had glanced their way every chanced she got, because that’s where Aidan was.
“Your dad reminded me, that he taught me how to dance.” Aidan was enthralled with the memory, though she wasn’t quite sure why. Dr. Kline would tell her, it was because Leonard represented a strong father figure, one that her own father could never be.
As if to prove her right, Leonard asked Aidan to dance. Reluctant at first, she looked at Vicky, who prodded her to go. Now, it was Vicky’s turn to be shocked, and once that wore off, to be grateful. She watched as her father held Aidan at a respectable distance, and led her around the floor. Aidan’s letting him lead? This is a historic night, indeed.
Alice watched her daughter for a minute, contemplating how to address her confusion, “You really do love her, don’t you?”
She looked intently at her mother, to determine her real motives, “Yes, mom, I really do love her. We’re going to be married, and have babies, and‒‒”
“Babies? How on earth?”
Vicky dug down deep for her courage, and told her mother about her artificial insemination, and how she lost the baby. She put it all out there, her faith, the church, the fact that she’d have to marry in another state, and it still wouldn’t be legal or recognized in Arkansas. Everything. Alice tried to keep up, she tried to understand, but some of it was just too much for her to grasp.
“Vicky, honey, stop. Can we just take one step at a time? Let me get use to you and Aidan being a uh…, couple. Let me get used to seeing you make gooey eyes at her, before we jump into you having a baby with her, okay?”
She looked at her mother, fighting the anger that was rising inside, “You see mom, even your lies couldn’t keep true love from happening.”
“My lies? Whatever are you talking about, Victoria Ann?”
Remembering her heartbreak, when she saw all those unread letters, she replied tersely, “You hid Aidan’s letter’s from me, denying me what was rightfully mine. Denying me a chance to bring her back home, years ago. Oh mother, how could you do that?” She waited for a respo
nse, as Alice gathered her thoughts.
“Vicky, I thought I was saving you. Saving you from Aidan, and from God. What you’re doing, your chosen lifestyle, it’s an abomination before God. No, I just can’t accept any of this, because our faith tells me it’s a sin.”
Vicky was hoping that the sin word wouldn’t rear its ugly head tonight, “Mom, that’s bullshit, and you know it.”
Alice was taken aback by such strong language coming from her daughter’s mouth, but she knew that now was not the time to admonish her child. It would only escalate her anger.
“First of all, I was born this way. I didn’t wake up one day and say, today I think I’ll be a lesbian. That’s not the way it works. And regardless of what you think, mother, I am a Christian, and I’m going to heaven, just like you are, and I know that God has blessed me, and this union. And like God, I will forgive you, because that’s what good Christians do. So you pray on that for a while, and I’ll sit over here and eat my salad,” she lowered her head and concentrated on the lettuce in her bowl, fighting to control her anger.
Aidan was surprised that she was enjoying her dance with Leonard. He seemed so comfortable with her, which allowed Aidan to relaxed and enjoy it.
“So, Mr. Montgomery‒‒”
“Call me Leonard, or even pop, something less formal.”
“Really? I mean uh…, thank you, sir, I’d like that.”
He looked at her closely, “Aidan, are you and Vicky going to…,”
“Get married. Yes sir, we are, though I’m worried about you and Mrs. Montgomery. I don’t want to hurt either of you. But, sir, I love your daughter with all my heart, and I always have, so I guess I uh…, am asking for your blessing.”
“Aidan, I don’t have a problem with it. I’m happy if my daughter is happy, and she has always been happy with you. But let me tell you a story about Mrs. Montgomery. Forty some odd years ago, I met Alice and fell madly in love with her. But she was forbidden fruit. Her family hated me, because my grandparents were from France, not something readily acceptable in the south, back in my day. Unfortunately, Alice inherited her parent’s bigotry, so I had to work really hard to woo, and wed her. I’ve never regretted our marriage for a minute. But there were days when my in-laws were very frustrating, and caused us some trying times. My daughter loves you. Any fool can see that. So no matter what her mother says or does, don’t stop fighting for her, Aidan, not if you love her.”
She hoped he couldn’t see how relieved she felt, because her next question could erase all that. “Even if we have children, sir?”
Leonard looked at her with a warm smile, “I want grand-children, Aidan. I want to bounce them on my knee, tell them all about my history, and give them back when they wet their diapers. If you can make that happen for me, why, I’d die happy.”
She couldn’t help herself, she hugged him tight, and whispered in his ear, “Thank you Pop, if it’s a boy, we’ll name him after you.”
After me? Instead of her own father? He held her at arm’s length, looked into her eyes, “Aidan, I know what a bastard your father was. I had a feeling that he mistreated you, back then, and I did nothing. I’m sorry for that. If I could take it back‒‒”
“Sir, when I was a kid, you taught me to dance. If that was all you taught me, it would still be more than what my father ever had, so you did do something. It was your influence, not my father’s, that I carried with me into war.”
Leonard smiled with gratitude, his eyes welling up with pride.
She realized how badly she had confused this man with her own father. Her father despised crying, and saw it as a weakness. This man, standing before her, was proving her father wrong. “Mr. Montgomery…, uh, I mean, Pop, I must apologize. I misjudged you, when I was a kid. I ran away, because I thought you were going to take a belt to Vicky, when her mother caught us making out.”
“Oh, Aidan, is that why you left? I’m so sorry you had that perception of me. I have never spanked Vicky, or hit her in any way. She’s far too precious, for that kind of treatment.”
“I can understand that now, sir, but then, all I knew was how my father punished me. I couldn’t bear the thought of that happening to Vicky. I’m so sorry I misjudged you.”
“No apologies necessary, Aidan. You were only trying to protect my little girl. I will never fault you for that.”
They walked back to the table, where Leonard held out his hand, and Aidan took it gladly, shaking hands, as if to seal the new bond they had just formed.
“Vicky tells me of the medals you will be receiving, and I couldn’t be prouder of you, if you were my own daughter.”
Aidan blushed, Leonard was a former Marine, and she had always thought of him as tougher than nails. Man, I was so wrong about this guy, he’s great! “Thank you, sir. Would you and Mrs. Montgomery like to come with Vicky to the service? I mean, you don’t have to, I think it’ll be broadcast on C-Span, or something‒‒”
He interrupted her, “We would be very honored to attend, Aidan, thank you for inviting us.” Leonard was visibly pleased, and proud, emotions that did not go unnoticed by his daughter. Her heart swelled with gratitude. Now if only mother would come around, she thought.
Aidan smiled at Vicky, and asked her to dance, leaving Vicky’s parents to talk.
“That girl is something.” Leonard stated as he sat down beside Alice.
“I can’t do this, Leonard. I cannot pretend this is not a sin before God.”
Leonard let out a long sighed, “Alice, do you believe that Jesus loves all of us, unconditionally?”
“Of course I do, but‒‒”
“Then how can we not do the same, for our own daughter?”
Alice didn’t have an answer for him, and it frustrated her.
“Love cannot be boxed up in a neat little package, Alice. And if you’re not careful, you will lose your daughter, and your daughter’s daughter. We are not God’s judge, so let him do his job, and we’ll do the praying, okay?”
Alice didn’t answer. Instead, she sat there and struggled to find a way to win her argument.
Chapter 19
A little over a week later, Vicky sat comfortably on the couch in the green room, at the studios where the Maggie O’Hare show was being filmed. Aidan paced in front of her, nervously wishing she could run out the back door. Though Maggie rarely did live television anymore, today was an exception, because of who the guests were. The public jumped at the chance to see the O’Hare show again, and the studio was packed. Maggie was one of those rare, personable hosts that made people feel like they were sitting in her living room, enjoying each other’s company. Maybe that’s why her show was number one in the nation, before she retired.
“Joyce, yeah it’s me, Vicky. We’re here in New York, filming the Maggie O’Hare show. Can we meet for dinner, afterwards?” She waved her hand at Aidan, trying to get her attention, “What? Yes, I said the Maggie O’Hare show, today, so set your DVR. It’s going to be live!”
Vicky finally put her hand over the phone, “Honey, please stop pacing, you’re making me nervous.” Then she went back to her phone conversation, “Oh, I’m so sorry Ellen isn’t in town, she would have loved this. Okay, I’ll call you after the show. Can’t wait!” Vicky put away her cell phone, and Aidan sat down beside her.
Vicky took her hand, “There’s still time to back out if you want to, honey?”
“No, I want to do this for you, baby. I love that you love me enough to say ‘no’ to the board, but if I can help you, I want to. I need to.”
“Oh honey, I love you so much.”
There was a tap on the door, “Ladies, we’re ready for you,” the director called them to the stage and quickly retreated into the shadows.
‘Okay, we’re live in three, two, one…’
“So we’re talking with Victoria Montgomery‒‒”
“Vicky, please.”
“Vicky, and beside her is Aidan Cassidy. These two women, single handedly, stopped a terrorist gro
up from taking over the hospital, where Vicky is the President and CEO.” Turning to her guests, Maggie asked, “Tell us a little bit about what you went through.”
Vicky looked at Aidan, who sat frozen in place, so she gave a quick summary of the bombing. She also used the opportunity to assure people that the hospital was safe, and the terrorist was in jail.
“That must have been very frightening, for you both?” Maggie asked.
It was then that Aidan found her voice, “Not near as frightening, as being here with you.” She meant it seriously, but the crowd roared with laughter.
Vicky carried the conversation through most of the interview, much to Aidan’s relief. Then Maggie introduced the next section by saying, “After the break, we have a special treat for both these ladies, and you’re going to want to hear this, so don’t go away, we’ll be right back.”
‘And we’re out, take five everyone.’
Aidan turned to Vicky and asked, “What’s that about, a special treat?”
“I don’t know, honey, let’s ask Maggie.” She turned to find Maggie was busy talking with her director. She looked back at Aidan, and shrugged, “Don’t worry honey, it’ll be fine, I’m sure.” Maggie returned to her place beside Vicky, and the director called time.
“I’d like to bring out my very special guest now, with a very special announcement for both Vicky and Aidan. So, if you would all please join me in welcoming, President Jackson Trenton.”
Everyone stood up and applauded, as the President entered the room, to the sounds of Hail to the Chief. Trenton first went to Maggie, and kissed her on the cheek, and then did the same with Vicky and Aidan. He sat down beside Maggie, and waited for the applause to die down.
“How are you doing, Mr. President?”
Trenton replied, “Doing great, Maggie. The old ticker is pumping just fine.”
Maggie turned to the camera and explained, “In case you’ve been living in a cave, President Trenton suffered a heart attack, a few weeks ago, while on a fundraising tour, in his home state of Arkansas. He was a patient in Vicky’s hospital, and I understand it was she, who personally saw to his welfare, as well as that of his lovely wife and daughters.” Turning back to Trenton, she asked, “So what brings you back to my show today, Mr. President?”
I Remember You Page 30
