She waited as I opened the truck door and helped her up, and her mother, who had followed us out, handed up her purse. As soon as the door was closed, I went around to my side, but my mind was still stuck on the way my skin felt, burning pleasantly from the places she had touched it. Which was ridiculous, since we’d touched each other a million times while passing off a sleeping Jade or trading the backpack or bumping into each other in the entryway at my house. But tonight was different. Every touch, every glance was electric. Even being in the same car together felt strange. And I prayed that was a good thing.
“I don’t know what the ladies told you,” I said as we pulled out. “But tonight’s going to have lots of ceremony. It might seem a little outdated…or a lot outdated at first. But there’s significance in everything. And when you’re done, it’s all kind of cool.”
“They told me.” She smiled. “Kim let me borrow her copy of the handbook for Air Force wives.”
I let out a laugh. “And you actually read it?” Talk about the driest read of all time.
“Actually, it was really interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing the Missing Man table.” She paused, and her cheeks brightened slightly. “I mean, I don’t want it to have to be there, but the ceremony itself seemed really—”
“I get it.” I nodded. “The gravity of it all is really…it means something.”
“Exactly. A lot of that stuff doesn’t happen in public anymore, and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”
My heart leaped a little as we got on the highway, and I had to remind myself to stay at a sane speed. The evening still had a long way to go. But its beginning was already more promising than I’d dared to hope. Maybe Jessie wasn’t so out of reach after all.
34
The Missing Man
Jessie
This was ridiculous. Derrick was the same guy I drove in this same truck with day in and day out as we squabbled over what was best for Jade and where to eat lunch. He was the guy who had tossed his flipflop at me when I refused to go swimming because of the approaching thunderstorm. He was the same one I’d wanted to strangle for the first month of the summer.
But good grief, he was hot. His stiff, fitted jacket accentuated the contrast between his trim waist and his broad shoulders. When I’d come down the hall to greet him, I’d had to work unbelievably hard not to stop right at the mouth of the hallway and gawk like a fangirl. His shiny black shoes clicked when he walked, and though he always carried himself well, he stood erect and alert now as though he commanded the scene. All signs of the boy were gone, and he looked every inch a man, the kind that might grin at you and wink from a World War II postcard. And when he put that hat on to walk me out to the car, it about did me in.
How had I missed how freaking attractive this man was? Only as I continued to shoot him sideways glances did I remember how handsome I’d thought he was on our first meeting.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Oh,” I smiled at my lap and shook my head. “I was just thinking about the first time we met.”
“I’m a little afraid to know. I was in full jerk mode that day.”
I chuckled. “Actually, I thought you were pretty cute.” I met his eyes. “Until you opened your mouth.”
He threw his head back and laughed, and suddenly, the truck cab seemed to have enough air in it to breathe again.
“What are those little rectangular decorations?” I asked.
“Which ones?”
“On your chest.” On the chest I had the stupid, sudden desire to touch again, like when I’d leaned against him on the bridge.
He kept his eyes on the road. “Those are my ribbons. If you’re part of a group that does something good or is in a certain conflict or you do something your superiors take notice of, you get a ribbon.”
“Oh. That’s neat.” Yep. This man could be on the front of a historical romance cover, and I’d probably buy every copy on the shelf.
The parking lot was crowded when we got to a building Derrick called “the club”. And though it was probably ridiculous, I felt absolutely giddy as he came around to help me down from the truck in my heels. The costume jewelry Kim had convinced me to buy made me feel like a princess as it sparkled in the light of the sunset, and the swish of the long gown against my legs made me stand taller beside him. And as he took my arm on his, which was the appropriate way in the military, apparently, to hold hands in uniform, I felt more confident and more terrified than I ever had in my life. It was hard not to feel proud on his arm, and yet, we were essentially walking into a lion’s den, at least, based on all my reading. So many people to see and judge whether or not what I did was proper.
When we entered the building, however, beneath the large concrete overhang that looked like a spaceship docking, I immediately relaxed. There were scores of people already inside. And instead of generals and colonels waiting to inspect us, as I’d feared there would be, men and women in uniform and their significant others lazily wandered the bar area as they snacked on hors d’oeuvres and sipped wine and fancy drinks.
A photographer stood in front of a backdrop and snapped pictures of couples. Two men and one woman smiled in greeting as we made our way inside.
“Allen.” A tall man in uniform with dark graying hair and about four times as many ribbons as Derrick had, shook Derrick’s hand. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him. The silver nameplate on his chest said Coleman. “It’s good to see you. And who is this lovely lady?”
“Thank you, sir. This is Jessie Nickleby.”
“Nickleby.” He squinted at me. “That name sounds familiar.”
