My Little Rock Airman

by Brittany Fichter

  “She’s working on her master’s degree, or is about to anyway, and she says she doesn’t have time to move away anytime soon. She has to finish this degree.”

  Hernandez shook his head. “That sucks.”

  “Yeah, well, I get the feeling it has something to do with her family, too. She’s crazy devoted to her parents, particularly her mom. And leaving has her terrified.”

  “Sorry, man.” He picked up his empty paper plate. “Too bad there’s not a way to change her mind.” He paused and squinted up into the sky, which had grown dirty as the wind had begun to whip up around us. “Can you believe this weather? It was supposed to be nice today.” As he spoke, the plate which he’d been holding was sucked from his hand.

  As he ran to chase down his runaway plate, Jade’s backpack beside me buzzed. I unzipped it and pulled out Jessie’s phone. Even as I picked it up, I’d hoped it was her mom, but when I saw the screen, my heart sank for some reason.

  It was him again. Sam Newman. This time, he was asking her how her day was going, and it looked as though he’d sent an image.

  A strange sensation boiled in the pit of my stomach as I put the phone back. She might not be convinced, but that man was trying to get her attention, and he was trying hard. Not that I could blame him. It was probably a good thing she didn’t make it a habit of dating airmen. A number of the single guys kept sending her glances, particularly after they’d ascertained that we weren’t officially an item.

  And what was there not to be attracted to? Hernandez had been right. She looked perfectly at ease as she took Jade over to the swings, talking with the other moms…the moms. She wasn’t a mom yet, so she couldn’t be one of them. But the sight suited her, especially with the breeze blowing her curls all around her face. And I liked that just a little too much. Warning bells were already going off in my head, and the whispers in my head that I was just getting over Amy. It was far too fast to let myself fall for someone else, particularly someone who had sworn not to date someone like me.

  “Excuse me.”

  Everyone quieted and turned to see the squadron commander standing at the edge of the crowd holding a speakerphone.

  “I hate to do this, but we’re going to have to break it up early. We’ve just been put under a severe thunderstorm watch, and with the looks of those clouds over there,” he pointed, “I’d like to send people home before driving conditions get dangerous.”

  We all turned to look where he was pointing. Sure enough, deep gray and blue clouds were piling up to our west. As if answering him, thunder rumbled in the distance.

  “I need everyone to gather their things and head home. If you’re going back to the flightline, make sure you’ve got a SIP room nearby.”

  Thankfully, my room had a Shelter in Place room in the building. But as Jessie returned with Jade, and I began to pack everything up, Barnes met me at the table.

  “Don’t worry about coming in this afternoon,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, not sure whether I should be happy or suspicious.

  “Yeah, get these ladies home. I’ll see you Sunday night.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I took Jade’s hand as Jessie hefted on the backpack. As we made our way back to the car, Hernandez’s girlfriend, who had arrived late, waved from a few cars down.

  “Hey, Allen.”

  I waved. “Hey, there.”

  “It’s so good to meet you in person,” she called, pushing her dark hair from her face. “You have a lovely family.”

  “Thanks,” I called back.

  And then I realized what I had just said. And from the startled look on Jessie’s face, she had heard, too. Mumbling something about getting out of here, I buckled Jade in and got inside. Jessie did, too. I pulled out of the lot and turned back onto Arnold Drive, and for a long time, we didn’t speak. Rain started to pound the roof of the car, and lightning really began to crackle in earnest, but none of it could compare to the fear I felt inside.

  Had I just ruined whatever it was that I had with Jessie? I didn’t mean to. It had been a quick exchange, and I hadn’t really been thinking when I’d said it. It just all seemed so natural. Way more than what I would have expected after knowing her for two months. But no matter how I tried to view it, there was only really one truth.

  If I had a family, this would be exactly the way I wanted it to be.

  We didn’t speak until I pulled onto the freeway.

  “So…” I finally ventured, daring a meek look. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “About what?” She looked up, eyes far too wide to be oblivious.

  “Back at the picnic, when Hernandez’s girlfriend said we were a family. I didn’t mean—”

  “Derrick.” To my surprise, she smiled. “It’s all right.”

  I blinked at her. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” She smiled again. “I don’t mind.”

  As we turned continued through the pouring rain, I made a daring promise to myself that I would probably regret later. Sam Newman was breaking Rule Number Four. And if he could break the rules and still try to catch her attention, then so could I.

  In fact, that was exactly what I was going to do.

  28

  My Life

  Jessie

  About five minutes from my house, my phone began to buzz with severe thunderstorm warnings as the sky really let loose. Rain hammered the car and smeared the windshield until it was hard to one car length in front of us. Thunder crackled on every side, ear-splitting in its proximity. Jade whimpered from the back seat, and I turned to reassure her while Derrick focused on the road. But even as I passed words of comfort, I found myself praying continually. There weren’t any tornado warnings out yet, just the same watches as there had been earlier. But that didn’t mean one couldn’t drop any minute.

  Breathing was finally possible again when we pulled into my parents’ front drive. I began to open the door to race for the front porch, but a streak of lightning had me slamming the door shut with a squeal as I jumped back into my seat.

  “I would wait a minute if I were you.” Derrick peered into the dark sky.

  “Ya think?” I laughed, hugging myself and shivering at how close that one had been. We waited in silence for a moment before he spoke again.

  “Not to change the subject,” he said, just a bit too casually. “But I’ve been thinking about that list you have.” He turned off the engine and turned to face me, the sound of rain nearly deafening.

  “Not you, too.”

  He ignored the comment. “Have you ever actually been on a date?”

  “Of course. I’ve been on lots of dates.” I didn’t add that most of them had been coerced and with Madison. He didn’t need to know that.

  “What about kisses?” His eyes gleamed. “Have you ever had one of those?”

  “That’s not any of your business.” My cheeks burned.

  “Which means no.” He snickered. “Okay, fine. But what about a real relationship? Because I can’t see how anyone could possibly measure up to all these.” He pulled his phone out and tapped it a few times before squinting at the screen.

  “You took a picture of my list?” I grabbed for his phone, but he just held it away.

  “Like this one. Number twelve.” He continued to squint at the picture. “Must be willing to spend money annually on family pictures. What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I don’t want a miser that won’t let me record our family history. Now delete that.” But before I could get anything else, Jade announced that she had to go to the bathroom.

  “I’m going to take care of this,” I said, peering up at the sky, which had lightened slightly. “But you’d better have that thing deleted by the time I get back. And no posting it to social media or anything. I will have your head.”

  “Duly noted.” He waved but didn’t look up from his phone.

  Thankfully, the lightning had abated by the time I had to get Jade out of the car seat.
I ran her inside the house and let her use the bathroom there. As I was waiting, I dug into my purse to find my phone, only to realize that I must have left it on the front seat. As soon as she was done, I hurried us back as fast as I could, but not fast enough. And just as I’d expected, Derrick had my phone, and the slight upturn of his mouth promised trouble.

  “Give that back.” I held my hand out. To my surprise, he did as I asked, but the smile didn’t leave his face as I scrolled to see what he’d gotten into.

  “You read my messages with Sam? What is wrong with you?”

  “He texted you, by the way. I heard the phone buzzing and wondered if it was your mom, so I picked it up.”

  “And you read my texts?” I paused. “Wait. How do you know my password?”

  He just gave me a sly grin. “It’s not like you hide your screen whenever you unlock, and your password’s only four characters.”

  I gaped at him.

  “Anyhow,” Derrick shrugged, “I almost feel sorry for the poor guy.” He linked his fingers behind his head and leaned back. “According to your list, he seems, from what I gather, to be the perfect man.” He nodded at my phone. “But from what I can see, you’ve done nothing but push him away since he first met you.”

  I shoved the phone back into my purse indignantly. “You’re unbelievable.”

  “But seriously.” He sat forward and leaned toward me, his blue eyes locking onto mine. “What is wrong with him? Because you obviously haven’t taken the bait from the most perfect man in the world.”

  I snorted. “Sam’s nice, but he’s not perfect. And he doesn’t keep all the rules. Not yet, at least.”

  “And which one is this poor sucker guilty of breaking?”

  “Number four.” I skimmed the text messages to make sure Derrick hadn’t answered back for me.

  “Number four.” Derrick pulled out his phone again. “Has to make the first move.”

  “Asking five times in a month if he can borrow a whiteboard marker isn’t making a move,” I said as I turned around to check on Jade. Nor, I added in my head, was meeting at the bookstore to “study”. But I wasn’t going to say that part out loud.

  “Ouch.” Derrick laughed. “Harsh much?”

  I shrugged. “My life. My list.”

  At this, he laughed. “Granted.”

  I stepped back, thankful the rain had stopped. “And here I was, thinking you were all mature in your uniform.”

  “Shows how much you know about me.” His eyes glinted as I closed the door. He pulled the truck forward about a foot then rolled the window down. “See you at church.”

  29

  Go for It

  Derrick

  “Turn here. No…Okay. I guess you should go to the next one and try again.” I glanced up from my phone. “Hernandez, are you even listening?”

  “What?” My friend shook himself and turned so fast we nearly hit another car.

  “Dude! Do I need to drive?”

  “Oh, no. Sorry.” He sat up straighter. “I’m just a little distracted, that’s all.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.” I looked back down at my phone. “Okay, turn left in two lights. Then you’ll make an immediate right.”

  “Why don’t you let the GPS just tell us?” He grimaced. “And why’d Massy have to move across town?”

  “Because you quit listening to the GPS ten minutes ago.” I shook my head. “And because he says the rent’s going to be cheaper. So,” I gave my friend another skeptical glance, “what’s going on, man?”

  “It’s my girlfriend. She turned twenty-six two weeks ago, and suddenly I’m hearing nothing but wedding bells and realtor open houses and babies.” He wiped his forehead. “So many babies. She talks about nothing else.”

  “Why don’t you marry her?” I pointed to the stop sign. “You seemed happy enough to have her on your arm yesterday at the picnic. Oh, turn left here.”

  “I’m not ready to get married!” Hernandez’s laugh was slightly hysterical. “We’ve only been dating six months.”

  “There. It’s the third house on the right.” As soon as Hernandez had pulled in front of the house, I hopped out and began untying the load from the truck’s bed.

  Hernandez joined me. As we carried the table up to the front door of a small house with blue siding, he muttered the whole time about how cheap Massy, our coworker who owned this place, was. “The least he could have done was buy us pizza. We’re helping him move after all.”

  “Give the guy a break. His wife’s pregnant with twins.” I dusted my hands after we put the first load down. “They’re actually at a doctor’s appointment right now. That’s why he gave me the key.” We went back out to get the chairs. “Besides, it’s a small table, and there are a whopping two chairs.

  “And then the rest of his living room,” Hernandez grumbled. “But speaking of couples and kids,” he said, grabbing one of them, “for someone who doesn’t date airmen, you and Jessie looked pretty cozy the other day.”

  I put the chair down. “You know we didn’t even touch.”

  “Maybe cozy’s not the right word. I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I didn’t know better, I would have thought you two were happily married, and a few years down the marriage road.” He shrugged. “Too bad she doesn’t date airmen. You guys make a good team.”

  Why did that make my heart skip just a little?

  “Actually,” I said slowly, “now that you bring it up…I’ve been thinking about that.”

  He grunted as he moved his chair through the doorway. “How so?”

  “I’m going to do it.”

  He frowned at me. “Do what?”

  “I’m going to go for it.” I took a deep breath. “I want to make her mine.”

  Hernandez leaned against the chair right there in the entryway. “Are you nuts? The girl actually has a rule that she doesn’t date people like you. And you want to marry her?”

  I picked up his chair and carried it to the table with mine. “Hey, one thing at a time.” I paused. “But yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

  “Wow. Just…wow.” Hernandez shook his head as I locked up. “You’re either really dense or I’m going to have to hail you as the best that’s ever been.”

  “Well, you won’t have to wait too long to find out.” I grinned. “I’m starting next Saturday.” I clapped him on the shoulder then I locked the door behind us. “And since we have three more deliveries to make today, you’re going to help me dream up a fairy-tale obsessed, twenty-three-year-old, obsessive-compulsive woman’s dream day.”

  “Oh, joy.” Hernandez shut the truck door a little harder than necessary. “Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any better.”

  “Aw, cheer up.” I put my seatbelt on. “If you’re really that upset, I’ll buy you a smoothie.”

  “It had better be chocolate,” Hernandez grumbled as we peeled out into the street. No matter how much he grumbled, though, I couldn’t help but smile.

  30

  Dues

  Derrick

  Exactly one week later, Jade and I pulled up Jessie’s drive, and my breathing was slightly erratic in a way it hadn’t been since I’d first asked Amy out for a drink. But then again, this was different, too. Amy had been all smooth words and allure. Actually…now that I thought about it, how had I not seen that when we first met? She’d been looking to catch someone when I showed up at that bar with my friends, someone who would fit into her life exactly the way she wanted them to be. But Jessie…

  Dating Amy had been like a constant tango. Every move had to be perfectly calculated and executed, and not a hair could be out of place. It was thrilling, I couldn’t deny that. And there was always that hint of danger that made the whole thing feel like an adventure. When I was with Jessie, though, I felt like we were taking a long, warm, spring day hike. There was nothing pretentious, nothing for show. Rather, we were a team, and we knew we wanted the same thing. She was steady and strong, and she was constantly looking ahead to
spot any danger to her fellow travelers. And that was the kind of partner I wanted at my side.

  If only I could convince her to conquer new mountains with me.

  I rang the doorbell and waited, glancing back every few seconds at Jade, who was strapped into the truck with the air conditioner on behind me. Mr. Nickleby answered this time.

  “Derrick.” He reached out to shake my hand. “What brings you by today?”

  “Oh,” I grinned, “your daughter and I made a bet, and I won. So I’m coming to collect.”

  “Collect?” He pushed the glasses up on his nose.

  “She has to let me pick what we’re going to do for a whole day.”

  He snickered. “She’s going to love that.” Then he turned and called down the hall. “Jess, Derrick’s here.”

  “I’m coming!” She ran up to the door, still pinning her hair into place. Today she wore a white skirt with little pink flowers and a pink blouse. Instead of her usual sneakers, she was wearing little white shoes that looked like the slippers the princesses wore in all those movies Jade made me watch. Her green eyes were bright, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she looked slightly flushed.

  I had to take another long breath.

  “Where all are you going today?” Mr. Nickleby was still watching me, but his brows were slightly furrowed this time.

  I pointed back at the truck. “Well, we’re starting with a few of Jade’s favorite things, and we’ll see from there.”

  At the mention of Jade, his expression relaxed. “Have fun, Jess. Let me know when you’re coming home so we know what to do with your dinner.”

  “All right, Dad.” She kissed him on the cheek and followed me out to the truck. I opened the door, and she hopped inside. Well, as well as one can hop in a skirt. Not that I minded. This girl had the prettiest legs I’d ever seen. I’d have to make sure I didn’t catch myself staring at them like I had before on accident.