Jessie continued to amaze me as we moved in and out of the crowd. She was polite and easy with everyone, which was interesting, considering the impression I’d gotten that she was somewhat of an introvert. She didn’t look tired at all, though, after I’d introduced her to the twelfth person who asked.
“Hey,” she said, brushing her bangs out of her face and probably having no idea how incredibly attractive it was. “Jade keeps eyeing the pond, so I’m going to be proactive and take her to the swings. Sound good?”
“Sure.” I smiled and watched as she led Jade over to where the other children and their parents were playing by now.
“Looks good on her,” Hernandez said when Jessie was out of earshot.
“What does?” I pretended to mess with my phone.
“She fits right in. Look, she’s already talking with the moms.”
I looked up to see that sure enough, Jessie already had Jade on a swing and was laughing at something the woman beside her had said. And my friend was right. It did look good.
“This is the one you hired, right? The one you’re going to the ball with?”
“Would you keep it down?” I glanced over my shoulder. “Barnes already approves.” Well, kind of. “I don’t really want to explain to him any more than I already have.”
“Look, dude. All I’m saying is that she doesn’t look hired. She looks happy.” He bumped my shoulder. “And she seems to really care for Jade.”
“She does.” Jessie might curse me up one side and down the other one day, but I would never question her attachment to my sister.
“And Amy didn’t.” He shook his head. “Look, I just don’t get it. Why aren’t you going for her?”
“One problem.” I gave him a wry smile. “She doesn’t date airmen.”
“What?”
“I’m serious. She has this whole list of rules about things that disqualify guys from being datable. And dating airmen is number one.”
“But…” He frowned. “Why?”
“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.
