by Riker, Becky
They set their wedding for the beginning of May. They wanted as much time together before Slater, who was scheduled to leave before Anna, was sent to his next assignment – probably Afghanistan again.
“You look beautiful,” Esther stuck another flower in her daughter’s hair which was twisted so intricately, Anna wondered if she would be able return her hair to normal without cutting it off.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Her father spoke from the door, “Are you sure you don’t want to wear your dress uniform?”
She looked down at the snow-white gown of silk and lace, “I think I’ll stick with this.”
He approached her, “And you’re sure you want to do this?”
“Marry Slater?” she knew that was not what her dad was talking about.
He laughed, “I don’t need to ask about that. I’m talking about the other.”
She nodded, “I’m sure.”
Anna’s heart was beating so hard during the wedding that she wondered at nobody being distracted by the sound.
She looked up at Slater, so confident in his decision, his eyes shining with his love for her, and she knew she had made the right choice.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the ceremony was over quickly, “you may kiss the bride.”
They escorted their many guests out and headed to the reception hall.
“I have a wedding present for you,” Anna pulled an envelope from her clutch as they rode in the limousine.
He looked down at it, “What is it?”
She didn’t answer him.
He opened it, frowned, and looked back down.
“Anna,” his breath caught, “you don’t have to do this.”
“I already did,” she pointed to a date on the page. “I’m separating from the Air Force. I don’t want to be constantly hoping our deployment and leave times coincide. My term is up in thirteen months, and I’m not reenlisting.”
He shook his head and reached into his coat pocket, “I had the same thought.”
Anna reached with shaky hands for his envelope, “Slater, you can’t do this.”
He laughed a little, “But you can?”
She forced it back on him, “It isn’t the same thing, Slater.”
He scowled at her, “You can give up your career for me, but I can’t do the same for you?”
“I never meant to stay in the service this long, Slater. I only stayed in as long as I did because I wasn’t sure what else to do,” she took his hands. “This was your dream as a child. You still have goals to meet. You love your job.”
He sighed, “I’ve already turned it in.”
“I’m sure it can be fixed,” she scooted closer. “Don’t do it, Slater.”
He stared at her for a few moments before dropping back against the seat, “What will you do once you’re done?”
“I’ll finish my counseling certification and see if I can get a job around Bragg.”
“I don’t know if I say this often enough, Anna, but I love you.”
She leaned into him for the remaining few blocks, not caring that her dress was being crushed by the action.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“I wish we had one more day in Ireland,” Anna admitted as they lay in their bed at the B&B where they had stayed three nights.
“I suppose we could alter our plans,” Slater ran a finger over her bare shoulder, “but I have a surprise for you on the next leg.”
She sighed, “Then I suppose we should go, but I feel like we haven’t used our time here to the fullest.”
Slater looked down at her, “Anything I can do to remedy that?”
Anna propped herself up on her elbow.
“I am sure I can think of something,” she leaned down to kiss him.
They rode a boat to the continent.
“I need to tell you about my surprise before we get there,” Slater was a bit nervous as to how this was going to go, “if you hate the idea, I can call it off, and we can skip it.”
Anna frowned.
“Okay,” she drew the word out slowly.
“I found Greely Walker.”
Anna’s eyes widened.
“She’s still in Paris.”
“How’d you find her? I tried for a while, but I couldn’t.”
“I had some help,” he admitted and went on. “You said you wanted to talk to her about what happened. I thought we could visit with her.”
Anna shook her head, “I can’t believe you found her.”
“So, do you want to see her?”
She nodded, “I do.”
“Okay,” he inhaled. This part was going to be harder, “there’s more.”
“What is it?”
“She has a son.”
That floored Anna, “A son?”
He nodded.
“How old? Was she – is she married?”
“Her son is ten and a half, Anna.”
Slater watched his wife’s face distort in pain, “It’s Judah’s son?”
Slater took his wife’s hand, “There’s more to it than that, honey, but yes. Nate is Judah’s son.”
“Nate?”
Slater stroked her fingers.
“Short for Nathaniel?”
“Yes.”
He could tell she was angry, sad, and nervous. He didn’t have a clue how to make it easier for her and wondered again if he should have just let things lie.
“When are we going to see her?”
“I set up an appointment for tomorrow morning, but we can change it – or cancel it.”
“No,” she swiped at a tear, “it’s been too long already.”
They waited in the restaurant the next day. Greely was not late.
“Anna,” a blonde woman, a couple inches shorter than Anna walked up to the table.
“Greely,” the younger woman rose and stood in indecision.
Greely looked unsure of herself as well.
Slater broke the ice, “I’m Slater Reed. It’s nice to finally meet you, Miss Walker.”
“You too, Mr. Reed – or should it be Major?”
“Slater,” he indicated a chair.
The women stared at each other across the table.
“Why, Greely?” Anna’s forthrightness came to the fore.
“I couldn’t stay, Anna,” her voice sounded desperate.
“Does Judah even know about Nate?”
“He did,” Greely looked down at her hands. “He doesn’t anymore.”
Slater and Anna looked at each other and then back at Greely, waiting for an explanation.
“He knew I was expecting. He gave me money to – as he put it – take care of it. I never told him I did, but I couldn’t tell him I didn’t. He said we weren’t ready to be parents. We both had bright futures, and a kid would get in the way.”
Anna felt tears threatening, “He thinks you aborted the baby?”
Greely nodded, “I know it was wrong to let him think that, but I didn’t want to force him into a life he didn’t want, and I was afraid he would continue to pressure me if he knew.”
“So you broke up with him?”
Greely nodded, “I knew I couldn’t have him – not truly – if I kept the baby and,” her voice caught, “he never would really have me if he made me give him up.”
Anna held out a hand, “I’m so sorry, Greely. For blaming you.”
“Blaming me?” she frowned.
“For the end of the relationship. We all loved you. Judah loved you so much.”
She sighed, “He let me go easily enough.”
Anna shook her head, “He’s not the same man, Greely. You broke his heart.”
The blonde was crying in earnest now, “Well, he broke mine too.”
They didn’t speak while they were trying to regain control.
Finally, Anna dared to speak up, “Do you think I could meet him? Nathaniel, I mean.”
Greely nodded, “I’d like you to, but you can’t tell him where to reach Jude.”
Greely hesitated.
Slater jumped in, “Maybe we should just take this one step at a time.”
Greely and Anna both nodded.
The afternoon brought Anna and Slater to Greely’s house.
“Nate,” his mother called him from the kitchen, “Major and Mrs. Reed are here.”
A long-legged boy came into the living room, his eyes bright with curiosity, his hair bearing a resemblance to Anna’s.
“Hi, Major. Hello, Mrs. Reed,” he extended a hand
“Hi, Nathaniel,” she took the hand in her own. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Are you really my dad’s sister?” he shifted from one foot to another, restless – not nervous.
Anna looked to Greely who nodded and sat down.
Anna and Slater sat as well, “I am.”
“What’s he like?” a natural question.
“Tall, hair about the same color as yours.”
He tried sitting, “Is he in the Army like you?”
She smiled, “I’m in the Air Force, not the Army, but, no. He’s not in the military at all. He’s a doctor – a pediatrician.”
Anna saw Greely start at that information.
“He’s a really popular doctor,” Anna proceeded. “The kids all think he’s so cool.”
Her nephew smiled at that, but he was ready to change topics, “So, do they let you fly planes and jets?”
Anna laughed, “Yes, but mostly I fly helicopters.”
Nate’s eyes widened and he looked at Slater, “Are you in the Air Force too?”
“No. Army,” Slater looked as if he knew that would disappoint the boy.
“Oh,” the kid did look a little let down, “so you don’t fly?”
“Sorry, no,” Slater didn’t appear to be offended.
“Slater’s a Green Beret,” Anna offered a plug for her husband.
“What does that mean?”
“He’s the guy they send in to do the really hard stuff.”
Nate looked skeptical, “Like what?”
Anna had to look back at Slater for that.
“One time I went in and kidnapped a leader of another country.”
“Why?”
Anna wondered how Slater would explain the coup that was going on.
“He needed to get away so the bad guys in his country couldn’t find him.”
Nate seemed like he still didn’t think that was as cool as flying helicopters.
“He blew up a bridge once,” Anna caught her husband’s eye.
Slater was amused.
“Cool!” Nate was completely focused on Slater now, “how’d you do it.”
“Our weapons sergeant figured it out.”
Nate seemed mildly disappointed, “So you don’t know how to do it?”
“I might be able to figure it out, but it’s better if we stick to our specialties.”
“What’s your specialty?”
“I’m a sniper.”
Anna frowned at him, “He’s the leader. He tells everyone else what to do and when to do it.”
“What do you have to tell them to do?” Nate’s expression hadn’t changed much. Anna jumped in, “He tells them when to shave.”
Nate laughed, “You do not.”
She nodded, “One time they were out on a mission for five months, and when they came back they were all wearing long scruffy beards.”
“Cool.”
Anna wrinkled her nose, “Not really. They don’t always take baths while they’re out there.”
“Bet you didn’t want to kiss him then.”
“She would have,” Slater protested loudly, “but she didn’t know me then.”
“And you told them all to shave.”
Slater nodded, “And take a bath.”
Greely spoke up, “Did you have a beard when the two of you met?”
“Yep,” Slater looked pleased.
“And I still thought he was pretty hot stuff,” Anna thought about her first glimpse of Slater.
He scowled at her.
Nathaniel had had enough of the mushy stuff, “What does a sniper do?”
It figured he would come back to that.
“I shoot at . . . um,” he looked at Anna, a look that communicated he knew he stuck his foot in it. “Last year, another sniper shot out a tire on a car that was driving by.”
“On purpose?” Nathaniel seemed to think that was a stupid thing to do.
“One of the passengers had been kidnapped and we needed to get them back.”
“Who was he?”
Slater shrugged, “Just someone the United States wanted to protect.”
Did you get him back?”
Slater nodded.
“Was it dangerous?”
Slater nodded again, “But we had a beautiful and brave pilot waiting for us, so we got out of there safely.”
“Was that you?” the child turned to his aunt.
“It was.”
“Was that how you met?”
“It was that mission.”
Greely spoke up, “That’s rather romantic, actually.”
Anna laughed, “It didn’t seem romantic at the time. It was very scary.”
“What about you, Slater? Did you see any romance in the whole thing?”
Anna didn’t let him answer Greely’s question, “He was so disgusted to have a woman along.”
“I don’t know if disgusted is the right word,” he hedged.
Greely laughed, “Annoyed?”
“Uncomfortable,” he finally supplied, “and it wasn’t just because she was a woman. She also didn’t have the same training.”
“And I’m glad I don’t ever have to,” she looked at Nate. “They have to go swimming in the winter with all their clothes on.”
He wrinkled his nose, “Like shorts?”
She shook her head, “Long pants, shirts, coats, backpacks, knives, weapons, and boots.”
“How do you get dried off?”
Slater cleared his throat, “Well, in training we just go back to the barracks and take showers, throw our stuff in the dryer, and we’re done. It’s a little messier out in the field. We usually strip down to our shorts and try to dry off by the fire.”
“What about your boots?”
Slater shrugged, “They don’t really dry out. We end up with mold in them and fungus on our feet most times.”
Anna and Greely laughed at Nate’s answering expression.
Slater and Anna didn’t stay much longer. For one thing, Nathaniel had to go to football practice, for another, Anna felt ready to cry at all the time they had lost.
“I don’t understand why Greely didn’t want us to tell Judah,” Anna leaned on her husband’s arm as they flew home a week later. “He has a right to know he has a son.”
“She has a right to protect her son from the man who didn’t want him.”
Anna couldn’t deny that truth, but she felt a loyalty to her brother that was hard to shake. “Slater, losing her changed him – and not for the better.”
“Maybe it wasn’t just losing him,” her husband was yawning. “Maybe it was the idea of losing his child as well.”
She leaned into his shoulder and joined him in slumber for the rest of the flight.
Anna did not tell her brother about Nathaniel, but she did call him and tell what Greely said to tell him.
“Guess who I saw while on my honeymoon.”
Judah didn’t respond.
“You aren’t going to guess?”
“Oh,” he laughed. “I thought that was rhetorical.”
“No, but I’ll give you a hint,” she paused for effect. “It was in Paris.”
“Paris, France?”
“No,” she scoffed, “I jetted over to Paris, Texas while taking my European honeymoon.”
He was quiet for a moment, “Was it her?”
“It was.”
“How does she look?”
“Fabulous.”
He was still there. She could hear him breathing.
“Judah, you okay?”
“Yeah.”
Liar
“She told me I could give you her number.”
Judah laughed, but there wasn’t a trace of humor in the sound, “What for?”
“In case you wanted to get ahold of her. To talk.”
“She couldn’t find a better offer?”
“She wasn’t looking for one,” Anna was getting angry now. “She was looking for a place to heal from her loss.”
“Her loss?”
Anna wished he were here in the room with her so she could throw something at him.
“You know what I’m talking about, Judah.”
He was breathing heavily enough that she could hear him over the phone line, “She told you about the baby.”
It was Anna’s turn to be silent.
“I’ve never regretted anything more than that.”
“Then call her,” she urged.
“Is he going to call?” Slater spoke up from the other side of the kitchen after she disconnected.
“I don’t know. Probably not right away.”
Slater stood behind her, “I think they need to work on open communication so they don’t have any more misunderstandings in the way.”
She leaned into him, “That would be best.”
He leaned down to taste her neck, “I suppose not all love stories can be as smooth as ours.”
Anna turned in his arms as she laughed, but he cut off her amusement with a kiss.
THE END
Coming soon:
Greely looked down at the number Anna had given her several months before. It had taunted her since the receipt of it. The younger woman had slid it into Greely’s hand on her way out the door.
“Just in case you ever want to call him.”
Greely had kept it in her sock drawer ever since.
Why was it now, this Tuesday morning, sitting on the kitchen table?
“Nate?” she walked into her son’s room and leaned against the frame.
He pulled an earbud out and raised his eyebrow, “Yeah?”
She held up the slip of paper, “Do you know what this is?”
He glanced at it and nodded.
“Did you take it from my drawer?”
“I saw it the day you asked me to grab you an extra pair of socks for your business trip,” he shut off his music.
“And?”
He frowned, “And I took it – just in case.”
