Page 90 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
On Friday morning, Lawson knocked on Commander Oakes’s door. This was it. He was ready to get this dreaded meeting over with.
Commander Oakes opened the door, his movements efficient. Not one wasted muscle twitch. He gave half a nod and walked back to his desk. “Have a seat, Captain Phillips,” he said, gesturing toward a chair.
Lawson closed the door behind him. He could fight this decision. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He sat on the plush leather seat and looked at the older man seated across from him. His commander was solid, every square inch of him, even his stiff, iron-set lips.
“We’ve waited long enough,” Commander Oakes said. “If you’re not ready to fly—”
“One more chance,” Lawson said, surprising himself. He hadn’t planned on asking for another try. In fact, he’d loathed the idea of asking. It felt desperate, and a Marine wasn’t desperate. He didn’t want things to end this way, though. Being a pilot was the thing he’d wanted most in the world. He’d never wanted anything more.
Until Julie. He wanted her more.
Commander Oakes stared at him. “I saw how you looked in that cockpit the other day. You aren’t ready, Captain. That’s obvious.”
“I’m ready. I had nerves, but I’m trained to override my nerves. I’m trained to fly. It’s what I love, even after being shot out of the sky. I deserve another chance.” His voice was steadily rising. He’d worked hard to get where he was, and it pissed him off that someone was going to take it from him now. Not without a fight. Julie was worth fighting for, too. She mattered more to him than anything else, even this. Beth was right. He was a stupid idiot for letting her go. Why had it taken him so long to figure that out?
“I’m not taking away your wings. Not permanently. I just think it’s best for the Corps if you teach for a while,” Commander Oakes continued. “You are a valuable resource and we can utilize your knowledge at Camp Neally.”
Lawson’s back teeth clenched tightly. “No offense, sir, but teaching isn’t my dream. I’ve been dreaming about being a Marine Corps pilot since I was eight years old.” And he was a fighter. He didn’t just lie down and take whatever punishment life had to offer. He didn’t just walk away. He wasn’t like his father. Or Sabrina’s father. He stood strong. “Sir, I—”
The phone on the commander’s desk rang. Lawson bit back his words and waited.
Commander Oakes cursed into the phone, drawing Lawson’s attention. “How bad is it?” he asked. His features had gotten impossibly harder. “I see. I’ll start putting together a crew. We just sent our largest squadron for training in the desert, though.”
Lawson read between the lines. Someone was in trouble and they needed Marines to help. When his commander hung up, Lawson leaned forward over the desk between them, bracing the weight of his body with his arms. “What happened?”
Commander Oakes sighed. “A parachute accident during training at Camp Beaumont. They can’t find the Marine.”
Adrenaline surged through Lawson’s body. “I learned to fly with a small helicopter. I can fly most anything out there.” He gestured toward the distant airfield. “Let me help.”
“No. We already have one man missing. If I send you up and something happens—”
“So come with me, sir. I assure you that nothing will happen. This Marine needs us and the longer you stand here arguing with me, the longer he waits, possibly dying.”
Commander Oakes’s steely gaze met his, but Lawson wasn’t backing down. Not when he knew he could help.
“Fine. Gear up, Captain. Let’s go save a life.”
—
A ribbon-cutting ceremony sounded like a much bigger deal than it actually was. There was a thick yellow ribbon—yellow because it was the color of ribbon the community wore to support the troops—wrapped around the posts in front of the building’s entrance. Julie had a large pair of scissors in hand. She was wearing a fitted black dress because theSeaside Daily Newswas here to document the moment. She hoped they wouldn’t be documenting anything else, like how her legs were shaking or how her palms were sweaty when she’d shaken their hands.
This was a big deal to her.
Despite the short notice, a nice-sized crowd had gathered outside the building. The weather was perfect, which she was thankful for. She’d give a small speech, if you could even call it that, and then cut the ribbon. No biggie. Except it was huge.
“Quit stressing,” Kat said, stepping up to her and hugging Julie’s neck. She’d taken the morning off work just to be here. “You’ll be great.”
“Right.” Julie nodded. She’d been giving her own self a pep talk all morning.
Val stood beside Kat. “Break a leg,” she said, raising her brow line playfully.
“Something tells me you really mean that,” Julie joked, feeling better because of the presence of her friends. She’d already spotted Beth and Sabrina in the crowd, too. And despite her earnest efforts not to look for him, she hadn’t seen Lawson.
“Stop it,” Val said, swatting her shoulder.
“Ouch! What?” Julie said, rubbing the spot that Val had hit.
“You’re thinking about him. Stop it. This is your moment. Don’t let anyone ruin it for you.”
