My Little Rock Airman

by Brittany Fichter

  “And you’re sure you’re okay?” I sipped at my hard lemonade and tried to ignore the weird fluttering in my stomach. Shut up, Jessie. Stop looking at him like that.

  “Well, it’s not like I’m jumping for joy. But…I think maybe I knew it was coming. Like I’ve been in mourning since I left Colorado. And now I just feel…peace. I’ve been in limbo so long, I guess, always waiting for her, never knowing when she would actually come. Now I can get on with my life. I feel lighter if that makes sense.”

  “It does.” I took a handful of patriotic popcorn and ate it slowly, one piece at a time. “You can be a pain in the rear end, Derrick Allen, but you deserve to be happy.”

  “With sentiments like that, how are you still single?”

  I threw my head back and laughed, and so did he. When we had quieted, though, he was still looking at me.

  “I mean it. You’re a professional. You’re obviously a people person. You’re…” He paused. “Well, all I can guess is that something must be horrendously wrong with you for you to still be single.”

  “What were you going to say?” I gave him a dangerous look. “Annoying? Persistent? Frust—”

  “Well, I was going to say pretty, but if you prefer the others, they work just as well.”

  For one of the first times in my life, I didn’t know what to say. Annoying as it was, I was just as flustered as the first time he’d called me pretty at the equine center. So I folded my arms and sat back to watch Jade giggle as she chased my dad with another sparkler as my mother tried to stop her.

  “Well,” he put his hands behind his head, “we’ve already established that you’re disgustingly ugly. But there’s got to be something else.” He sat back and studied me in a way that was slightly unnerving. “And I’m betting it’s your fault.”

  I kept my eyes on Jade.

  “I’m right, aren’t I?” His eyes went wide. “Well, what is it?”

  “I’m not telling you. You called me ugly.”

  “And pretty. I also called you pretty. So hand it up.”

  “Ask her about her rules,” my mom called from the end of the drive.

  “Mom!” I shouted. How had she heard that?

  “Ask her—” My mom’s voice quivered with excitement. “No, wait. Even better. I’ll get them.”

  “Mom, what are you doing?” I watched in horror as my mother ran into the house and came back thirty seconds later with my newest planner.

  “That’s mine!” I made a grab for it, but my mother tossed it to Derrick, who caught it with ease.

  “Look at the third page, ,” my mother said as she went back out to Jade, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “It’s titled Dating Rules.”

  I made a grab for the paper once more, but he swatted me away and turned to the page my mother had directed. I sat back and pulled my feet up on the seat, where I hid my face in my legs.

  “Wow. Ouch.” He let out a whistle. “No wonder you’re single. One, no airmen. Two, must be gainfully employed. Three, must have a useful skillset. Four, has to make the first move. Five, must be a Christian. Six, must want kids. And there’s eighteen of these?”

  “They’re not in any particular order,” I mumbled. “Just wrote them as they came to me.”

  He held my planner up and waved it in my face. “If this is what you’re waiting for, then this,” he said, pointing to Jade, “is the closest your parents will ever be to grandparents.”

  “That’s not true. Men like this exist.”

  “I’ll give them visitation rights if you’d like.” He grinned at me. “They can be honorary grandparents whenever they want.”

  “Give me that.” I made a grab for the planner. And missed.

  “Okay,” he said, “some of those I get. I mean, I don’t think it’s ridiculous that he be the one to ask you out. Christian is good. Having a stable job is good. Not having a DUI record is good, too.” He lifted his hands. “But come on. ‘Must tolerate Jane Austen audiobooks. Must exercise at least four times a week on principle. Must be clean-shaven.” He shook his head. “Jessie, these are ridiculous.”

  “You didn’t ask about the first one.” I snatched it back and hugged it to my chest.

  “No airmen.” He folded his arms. “You got something against the Air Force?”

  “No.” I hugged my planner to my chest. “It’s military in general. I just said airmen because that’s the kind of people I have to fend off around here.”

  He started to answer then froze, and an evil grin came to his face. “Is this rule because of me? Do I have some sort of charm that put my rule right at the top?”

  “No.” I stuck my tongue out. “That one was there way before you.”

  “So I trust there’s an actual reason for it?”

  I raised my chin. “Yes. There actually is.”

  He started to shake his head when he went still as a dead man. Then he moaned and leaned back, scrunching his eyes shut.

  “What is it?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t gotten food poisoning from our beer or popcorn. He looked nearly sick.

  “I forgot.” He peeked out from beneath his hand. “Please don’t kill me, but—”

  “Oh no.”

  “I have a squadron picnic at the end of the month. And I want to take Jade. But there’s a pond I’m not comfortable with her around, and I won’t be able to give her my full attention—”

  I smacked my forehead. “Oh, Derrick.”

  “I mean,” he melted into his chair until he was more lying than sitting, “you can say no, of course. It’s your prerogative to kick a man while he’s down…”

  “Do you know you’re horrible?” I crossed my arms. “Fine. Fine. Just…only because Amy broke up with you. Not because it’s an actual date.” I glared. “I should make you buy me a new book for this, you know.”

  His pouty lip immediately morphed into a guilty smile. “You’re the best, Jessie.”

  I just took another long sip of my hard lemonade. Yep. This summer just got more and more interesting by the minute.

  25

  What I Wanted

  Jessie

  July flew by, during which we were in the car more than we were at the house, and when we were home, we were busy practicing Jade’s song. She struggled with enunciation and rhythm, and more than once, she wanted to quit, but I was seeing too much progress to let her. Essentially, we were busy all the time. We practiced so much that pretty soon, the show tune we’d picked was stuck in my head nonstop.

  But I was okay with that. Between Jade’s lessons and therapy sessions, the contest was hot underway. Now that Amy was gone, something inside Derrick seemed to have been set free. He laughed more, teased more, and played a lot more pranks. And though I spent most of my time retorting and scolding and fending him off, it was impossible not to enjoy myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone so many places just for fun.

  We visited the children’s science museum, the presidential library, and the submarine, just to name a few. Every day was something new. Jade was rather smug once she realized what we were doing, and she used that to her advantage, making us beg and plead for her approval, and more than once, she finagled new crayons or lemonade or souvenir stickers out of us, using our zeal to win as motivation.

  As the weeks passed, however, it became apparent that the golden ticket that would determine the winner would be awarded to whoever figured out what Jade meant by “chocolate”.

  Not long after our frozen yogurt venture at the mall, Jade had begun asking for “chocolate”. But whenever we got her dark chocolate chips (in my attempt to make her dessert somewhat healthy) or even the Hershey’s bar Derrick bought her, her answer was always the same.

  “No. The right chocolate.” She would pout, crossing her little arms with as much disgust as a six-year-old could possibly muster.

  In vain we tried. We visited the North Little Rock mall, the downtown mall, the outlet mall candy store, the gas station near her house. And every time we offered her a
new source of chocolatey goodness, she would huff and shake her head. Derrick and I would exchange a look, and whoever had suggested the most recent attempt would sigh while the other breathed a sigh of relief. This went on until Tuesday morning of the third week of July when Derrick came dancing in from the casita.

  “Should I be worried?” I stepped back as he slid into the booth with his toasted waffles. Still dancing in place as he cut them, he gave me a wicked grin.

  “I think I can safely say that I will be winning this contest. So if you had plans for that day out, forget it.”

  I put down the juice pitcher I was holding. “No way.”

  He shoved a bit of waffle in his mouth and wriggled his eyebrows at me. “Hey, I forgot the whipped cream. Can you get it out for me?”

  “Not until you tell me where you found out.”

  He shrugged, still chewing. “Fine then. Guess I don’t need the sugar. I’ll be getting it after all when we get chocolate today anyway.” He nudged Jade, who was staring at her cereal. At first, she’d been all excited every time we told her we were going for chocolate. But too many dashed hopes had given her a chip on the shoulder. Sometimes I could have sworn that kid was seventeen rather than going on seven.

  After breakfast was cleaned up, we piled into the truck for speech therapy, during which he spent most of the time making fun of me while I ignored him and read my Beauty and the Beast book.

  “You’re reading that again?”

  I kept my eyes on the page. “I don’t remember that being any of your business.”

  “I just don’t see what the draw is, reading the same thing on repeat.”

  “If you must know, I’m planning a unit study on fairy tales for next year. I’m pulling out some of my favorite parts so the kids and I can have book talks.”

  “That’s not a kid’s book.”

  I put the book down to glare at him. “And where did you get your education degree? Because I don’t remember that being in your resume.”

  His eyes were bright. “I’m self-taught.”

  I shook my head and went back to my book, to which he chuckled. “You can hide all you want. Doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to win.”

  He did win. An hour later, to be exact. Jade’s squeal of joy when we walked up to a small glass storefront was more than enough to prove that. I sighed as we went inside, Jade racing ahead of us.

  I would never admit it to Derrick, but as soon as we walked in, the smell alone was enough to convince me that Jade was right to be this devoted. And if that hadn’t done the trick, the lines of chocolate bites and truffles laid out on the counter behind the glass would have done it. There was a table on the left with a dried up pod and several bowls of what looked like dark brown chopped wood pieces behind four piles of chocolate bars, which were covered with gold foil and wrapped in blue paper.

  “Well, hello there. Welcome to Izard Chocolate.”

  We looked up to see a young man with bright red hair and an equally bright beard emerge from the back of the shop.

  “I’m Nathaniel.” He looked down at Jade. “I remember you. Did you like your truffles last time you were here?”

  I looked at Derrick, who was giving me the smuggest smile I’d ever seen. Game over, he mouthed. I shook my head and looked back on Nathaniel and Jade. But before I could wallow in my misery too long, my phone buzzed. It was a message from Sam.

  You busy?

  Your timing is impeccable, I wrote back. What’s up?

  I’m trying to get out of a family function tonight. Want to meet up at the bookstore? I can prep you for the first semester of your master’s. I kept all my syllabi. There was a pause followed by, You have been studying, haven’t you?

  I wanted to bang my head against the wall. When was the last time I’d cracked open the book he’d given me? A week ago? Maybe two? Better to skip that part.

  The bookstore sounds great, I responded. The one on McCain? What time?

  His reply was fast. Five-thirty. We can get coffee and something sugary if you’re tired. My treat for dragging you out after a full day of work.

  “Jessie,” Derrick called from the glass window, where he and Jade were sampling truffles, “Get off your phone and come taste defeat.”

  I rolled my eyes and typed back.

  Five-thirty is perfect. I’ll be there.

  Eventually, we dragged Jade from the shop, though it wasn’t without a few tears and multiple bars of chocolate for the family to share. I left with more truffles than I cared to admit. I swore that they were to share with my family, but I think Derrick knew better. And to his credit, he didn’t say a thing.

  When Mrs. Allen finally came home, I didn’t waste time with long goodbyes. Jade was busy decorating her tutu for the choir tryout with fake jewels and glue, and for some reason, though I couldn’t really say why, I wasn’t able to look Derrick in the eye.

  Not that it really mattered, I scolded myself as I got into the car. It wasn’t his business who I dated. And this wasn’t a date. It was two colleagues going out to coffee to discuss education. Who was Derrick anyway to know or not know what I did with my time off? It’s not like he’d even asked anyway.

  On my drive over to the bookstore, I was able to use the radio to get my mind on other things. But as soon as I stepped into the bookstore and saw Sam standing at the edge of the cafe, I couldn’t kick the butterflies to the curb.

  He was wearing a gray t-shirt, jean shorts, and flip-flops. His thin-rimmed glasses were on as he read the back cover of a book on the stand near the cafe’s entrance. Interesting. A whole year of teaching next door to him, and I never knew he was farsighted. He really was cute. What would it be like if he did ask me out? Was this a man I could picture myself spending forever with?

  He turned and faced me as I walked toward him. “Hey, there you are. Did you bring the book?”

  I held up the canvas bag I’d grabbed from home on the way to the store. “Sure thing. But I’m starving.”

  We ordered our food and went to sit at the table he’d claimed toward the back. And though I was happy to be getting the help, my heart sank when I saw the pile of textbooks waiting for us. Weird. A month ago, I would have been giddy at such a sight.

  “So how do you like the first book?” He nodded at my canvas bag as we sat down.

  “It’s thorough,” I said, taking a big bite of my spinach and artichoke quiche.

  “It is,” he said, a half-smile on his face as I tried to keep mine on my food. “And exactly how far along are you?”

  Crap. This was the one question I’d been hoping he wouldn’t ask.

  “Thirty percent,” I mumbled as I took another bite.

  “What was that?”

  I sighed. “Thirty percent.”

  He blinked. “But you’ve had it for weeks.”

  “I know, I know,” I groaned. “And I’m sorry. But this last few weeks—”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he laughed. “You’re working a full-time job, and that’s tiring.”

  I nodded. Thank goodness he understood. Or thought he did, at least. Because I’d spent far more nights on the couch with my phone, looking for new places to take Jade than I had studying like I was supposed to.

  “I also brought my syllabi.” He wiped his mouth on his napkin and reached into the briefcase he’d brought along. “So we can look at some of the instructors you’ll have.”

  “How do you know which ones I’ll have?” I asked, taking a bite of my quiche.

  “Everyone has these instructors during the first or second semester.” He pushed his glasses higher on his nose. “Moss teaches one of the cornerstone classes, and she holds a lot of power in the college. So if you do well in her class and you get her to like you, you’ll be set for most of your program.”

  And so we began. And didn’t stop for an hour and a half. I couldn’t help being impressed. Not only had he brought his textbooks, but he’d made a list of his instructors and notes about all of them, who wante
d work turned in early, who wanted everything in pen rather than pencil, and the one guy who forgot what he assigned his students every single week.

  “Please don’t take this the wrong way.” I leaned back in my chair and surveyed the piles of books and paper surrounding us. “But I have to ask.”

  “Okay?” He took a sip from what must have been cold coffee by now.

  I folded my arms and studied him. “Why are you doing all this? Because I mean, this,” I gestured to the piles, “is a lot of work.”

  “Well, like I said, I’ve been trying to get out of a family function.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And yes, it might make me a terrible person, but my sister’s co-ed baby shower just wasn’t something I’ve been terribly motivated to attend.”

  I laughed. “Granted, but still, this must have taken a ton of time.” I held my breath, Madison’s warnings about Sam’s feelings circling in my head. If he really liked me, I was giving him the chance of a lifetime to tell me now. All he had to do was admit it, and he would no longer be breaking rule number four.

  And if he was no longer breaking rule number four and actually admitted that he wanted to pursue something with me, maybe I could get Jade’s infuriating brother out of my head because I would have someone else there instead.

  He took a moment to answer, each second making my heart beat slightly faster. Finally, he clasped his hands and leaned forward.

  “You…” He took a deep breath. “You are so talented. And I mean that. So talented that in my five years of teaching I don’t think I’ve seen a teacher with as much potential and passion as you. You’re patient and sweet, but you know how to take control of a classroom. You encourage the kids who are ready for more, while not leaving the others behind. And…I just think it would be cheating a whole lot of kids and a whole lot of your fellow teachers if I didn’t help you reach your highest goals. And if earning this degree is what you need to become a better teacher, then I’m going to help you do exactly that.”