Launch (3 page)

Claire heard a raucous noise and saw a picture
of a barn owl on the control panel beside the front door of the cottage. She
opened the door and smiled. “Hi, David.”

He was smiling with a quizzical expression on
his face. “Hi. What was that?

She showed him the control panel. “Remember the
all sounds doorbell from
The Wizard of South North Little Rock
?

“Yes. Michael was Specter Sufero. It was
hilarious.”

David pressed the doorbell button again. They
heard a baby laughing, and they laughed, too.

The top was down on David’s MG, and the space
behind the seats was full. Claire noticed a delectable smell that seemed to be
coming from the car.

“That smells great,” she said. What is it?”

“My recipe for Teriyaki kebabs. Pieces of pork
loin and ribeye steak marinated in teriyaki sauce and skewered with onion,
bacon, and bell pepper. It’s one of my favorites. I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure I will.”

As they drove to the beach, Claire said, “Your
car has character. Have you had it long?”

“Thank you. Since high school.”

He noticed her surprised expression.

“My dad was the foreman on a ranch in Texas
where I grew up. My mom was the cook. The MG was on blocks in a junk-equipment
shed with an old tractor. Mr. McGregor owned the ranch and said I could have
the car if I could get the tractor to run. So I did and he did.”

“You restored this yourself?”

David shook his head. “I had it hauled to my
high school, and it became an auto repair class project. I did a lot of the
work, made and paid for many of the parts, but I had a lot of help, too.”

“Mr. McGregor sounds like a good man.”

“He was always good to me and my folks. Mr. Mac
gave me my first flying lessons in his J-3 and helped me get in the Academy.”

“J-3?”

“A Piper Cub. It was the most famous and
popular light airplane of its day, back in the 1940’s and late ‘30’s”

“I think I’ve seen those. Yellow, with a tail
wheel?”

“They weren’t all yellow, but I haven’t seen
many that weren’t.”

“Was it fun growing up on a ranch?”

He nodded. “Lots of room, horses to ride, lots
to do. After I fixed the tractor, Mr. Mac gave me a part time job fixing
things.”

“Any brothers or sisters?” she asked.

“No.”

“Playmates?”

“Just Liz McGregor. We grew up together.”

Claire noticed that David’s voice and
expression became somber. She wondered why but thought it best not to pursue
it.

They parked beside a deserted beach under an
overcast sky. After unloading his car, David put on the top and windows. Claire
set up the folding chairs as he lit the charcoal fire in his portable grill.

While the coals heated, Claire and David went
for a barefoot walk in the sand by the water. “How’s the guest cottage?” he
asked.

“I love it! It’s big, but a maid comes in to
clean. Joanne came to see me and make sure everything was okay. We played
tennis, and I taught her a few things.”

He grinned. “Michael will be very surprised if
she starts beating him.”

“They’re fun. They act like real people instead
of mega-celebrities.”

“After I was assigned to be Michael’s technical
consultant when he was making
Tuskegee Tiger
, I read an article about
him. It said he was vain and self-absorbed. I’m glad it was wrong.”

Claire and David walked quietly together,
enjoying the beach. The waves were small, and the few seagulls on the sand and
wheeling overhead seemed to be subdued.

He broke the brief silence. “How’s medical
school?”

“Grueling.” She shrugged. “But that’s the way
the system works.”

“Did you always want to be a doctor?”

“No. I wanted to be a fighter pilot, like my
mom. Then I watched the heroic efforts of the trauma team as they fought to
save her life. I thought about that during my first year at the Academy and decided
I wanted to help people, too.”

After a pause, she asked, “Did you always want
to be a fighter pilot?”

“I was about seven the first time I saw the
Thunderbirds. They stole my soul. I love the challenge, the adventure, the
beauty. I feel privileged—I am privileged.”

“Is that why you want to be an astronaut?”

David nodded. “It’s a variation of the same
thing, but I won’t have to kill people.”

His expression was serious. She asked, “How
could you be so successful in combat if it bothers you?”

“I did my duty, what I had to do to save
innocent lives. The enemy pilots I shot down were an active part of a monstrous
evil, and they had to be stopped. I stopped them the only way I could. But each
one was a person, a human being. At one time, he was somebody’s baby. He may
have been a provider for a wife and children. . . . I’d prefer to serve in a
way that does not involve killing.”

Claire felt comfortable as they walked quietly
beside the water, and she wanted to know more about him.

“Were you born in Texas?”

 “Yes.”

“Are your folks still there?”

After a pause, he said, “Their ashes are. They
died during my second year at the Academy.”

With tears in her eyes, she took his hand. “Oh
David, I’m so sorry.”

He stopped and lifted her chin gently. “Please
don’t cry,” he said, and kissed the tears on her cheeks. Then he kissed her
lips. She felt a thrill all of the way through her body, and her arms went
around his neck.

As they walked back to the grill with their
arms around each other, she noticed with surprise that she was sexually
aroused. Never before had one little kiss affected her like that.

Claire’s thoughts led her down a logical path
and she asked, “Liz?”

“Liz’s mother died in childbirth,” he said. “My
mother was mother for both of us.

“After we quit fighting, we became best
friends. Then one day we discovered we were in love. We thought we had a big
romantic secret, but everybody knew before we did.

“She was a senior in high school when I came
home for Christmas in my second year at the Academy. We announced our
engagement, planning to get married in the chapel after I graduated.

“After Christmas, Liz drove me to catch the bus
back to the Academy in Mr. Mac’s four-door pickup. My folks came with us. They
said goodbye, then went back to the pickup so Liz and I could say goodbye
privately.”

David paused, and then he said, “On the way
back to the ranch, the pickup rolled over. Liz and my folks were killed. I
think Liz took a curve too fast.”

Claire held him tighter and put her head down
so he wouldn’t see her tears.
He’s an orphan, too

▼

It was dusk and the coals were white hot when
they got back.
David turned on a stormproof
lantern and put the kebabs on the grill while she watched from one of the beach
chairs. Then they felt the first drops of rain.

“Oh no,” Claire said.

“No worries,” David said. “I check the weather
before picnics.”

He settled Claire in the passenger seat of the
car and retrieved a lap table from the back. It was steadied by legs near the
dash and fit her lap perfectly. He then stowed chairs and other things not needed
for cooking behind the seats. Holding a plastic sheet over his head, he
shielded the grill from the rain while he finished the kebabs. The shifting
wind kept blowing smoke into his eyes, and she watched him do a funny dance
around the grill to avoid it. Though her heart went out to him, she could not
help but laugh.

There was no room for a plate on his side of
the car because of the steering wheel, so they ate from the same platter on the
table in her lap. She thought the teriyaki kebabs were delicious, and being so
near him while they ate was exciting, an intimate adventure. Something close
friends—or lovers—would do.

He let her have the last bites, then braved the
rain again to stow the table, platter, and utensils. Twilight had become night.
They sat side-by-side in the dark, and she listened to the rain: the soft sound
as it hit the top and the harder sound as it hit the metal car. She felt
wrapped in a cocoon, secure and comfortable with David, and it felt natural to
take his hand in hers.

Claire asked, “Do you have any other family?”

“Just my grandmother on my mother’s side. She
lives in Houston. Do you have any family?”

Claire shook her head slowly. “My grandparents
died when I was young, and my father was killed in a traffic accident when I was
a baby. . . . My mother and I would sit side-by-side in front of a mirror,” Claire
said. “We could see ourselves as my father would’ve seen us. We held hands, talked,
laughed, and cried. She made me feel loved and taught me I was a good person,
even though my father was gone.”

She felt the pain of losing her mother almost
as if it was new, and her tears started again. “I miss my mom.”

He put his arm around her shoulders and held
her close. She knew he understood, and after a few minutes, the ache in her
heart eased.

When the rain tapered off, he cleaned up their
site, and they left.

As they drove back to her cottage, Claire
asked, “What about Mr. Mac?”

“Mr. Mac started drinking after the accident
and died of liver failure. He left the ranch to me. I scattered his ashes from
the J-3, in the same meadow with Liz and my parents.

“The ranch had gone down a lot. I told the
folks who worked there they could have the ranch if they brought it back up. A
lawyer set up a living trust that will transfer ownership to them over time,
tax free if I live long enough.”

“Why didn’t you keep it?”

“I didn’t earn the ranch and don’t want to be
an absentee landlord. There’s not that much money in ranching. I don’t think it
would be fair to take the money and not do my share of the work.

“The name of the ranch now is the
McGregor-Archer. The school bus stops and picks up kids again, just like it did
for Liz and me. I’m glad I could give Liz and my parents and Mr. McGregor an
ongoing commemoration of the life they lived and loved. I’m glad I can help
others have a home like I once had.”

“What about a home for yourself?”

He glanced at her and then turned back to the dark,
rain swept road ahead. After a pause, he said, “I’ve felt homeless since Liz
and my folks died. I need a family with whom to make a home.”

▼

He kissed her goodnight at her cottage. It was
another gentle kiss, but she could feel the strength in his arms and hands as
he held her waist. Again her body responded.

Claire noticed that she was smiling when she
went to bed that night. Her smile broadened when she thought about why.

Claire and David dated as often as they could.
By the week of the reception, she was sure she loved him, but she was not sure
he loved her. The only physical affection he showed were his gentle goodnight
kisses.

She accepted David’s invitation to have lunch
in the hospital cafeteria on Wednesday. A medical emergency made her an hour late,
and she found him waiting at an empty table.

“Haven’t you eaten yet?”

He shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”

“Oh Buni, I’m sorry.”

He smiled and said, “It’s okay. You’re here
now. That’s what’s important.”

▼

After lunch, Claire was standing in a patient’s
room with several other medical students while a cantankerous professor of
medicine droned on about something she already knew well. Her mind drifted back
to her lunch with David: his delighted smile when he saw her, his
attentiveness, and the fact that he’d waited to eat with her.

Maybe he’s falling in love with me, too.
Her heart lifted, and she smiled at the thought.

“Sommer! Did I say something funny?”

“No sir. Sorry sir.”

“Don’t let your Grand Canyon stunt go to your
head,” the professor said peevishly. “I’m no pussycat.”

It required some effort for Claire to keep her
face straight. The other medical students were straight faced, too, but the
patient laughed out loud.

▼

When she went to bed that night, Claire again thought
about how David had acted during their lunch date, and again she smiled.

She knew now that he loved her. She yearned for
him to make love to her and yearned for the emotional intimacy that would follow.
She respected him. She admired him. She loved him. And there was nothing Claire
wanted more than to spend the rest of her life with David.

But their physical relationship seemed to be at
a standstill. Though his gentle goodnight kisses thrilled her, he made no attempt
to be more intimate.

Okay Major David Archer, this gentleman
suitor nonsense is beyond boring! En garde!