Page 19 of Wishing for Christmas
He peered out again to watch her. Her mouth was drawn in a tight frown. Clara clutched her purse tightly against her body. It made sense she’d be uncomfortable. She still wasn’t used to this whole military scene. Even so, he wasn’t sure what to make of her expression. The other waiting spouses seemed full of excitement.
For a moment, he reconsidered his plan entirely. Maybe this wasn’t the right time. Would Clara be too nervous in this environment?
The plane finally came to a complete stop, and the engines shut down. He swallowed.
“You’re up, McNally,” Will said, raising his eyebrows.
Brent gave a faint smile. He couldn’t possibly tell Will how scared he was, despite Will now being one of his closest friends in the world.
Prior to the deployment, Brent hadn’t known the guy at all—Will being new to the squadron. Rooming with him for a year changed that. Will, blond and athletic, was an outdoorsy boy from South Carolina. He was married with three young daughters, laid-back, hilarious, and loved SEC football. Will had commissioned into the Air Force for “something interesting to do” after college, but had never planned a military career and had no idea how long he expected to stay in. His philosophy on life was so different from Brent’s “plan everything” mentality.
That was what Brent loved most about being in the military. Meeting folks from all over, with different personalities,backgrounds, interests, and experiences—and working together for a common goal.
He stood up. His heart raced. He held the ring box tightly in his hand, waiting for the aircraft door to open.
No, Brent wasn’t turning back now. He had passed V1 already—the term a pilot uses when it’s too late to abort a takeoff. He was going for it now. He had to.
CHAPTER TEN
CLARA
Clara tried to compose herself as the massive airplane came to a stop right in front of her. Her head ached with confusion as she attempted to make sense of the situation.
Brent was about to come off that plane. The deployment was over. Had it even happened? Although she kept trying to explain everything to her brain, she was still having trouble believing it.
She could feel the energy in the crowd swell around her as the staircase was wheeled up to the aircraft door. The families beside her waited with enthusiasm, their eyes turned upward to the plane. Clara forced herself to do the same, realizing she was the only one in the crowd without a giant smile covering her face. She decided to temporarily shrug off her confusion; it was just too hard to fully understand. She’d sort it all out later. For now, she had a show to put on. Clara knew she should act somewhat normal, whatever normal would be in this situation. It would probably look strange to Janie if she greeted Brent with a casual “Hey, what’s up?”—as if she had just seen him yesterday.
Shehadjust seen him yesterday, but as far as Janie was concerned, Clara hadn’t seen her boyfriend in a year. She supposed she needed to act accordingly. She put on the widest eyes and happiest face she could manage.
And sheshouldbe excited—genuinely thrilled. He was back. It was exactly what she had wished for.
Clara noticed her perspective shift as she truly began to understand the incredible stroke of good luck she’d been handed. They hadn’t missed Christmas together. They hadn’t missed anything. How could they have when there was nothing to miss? She and Brent would now be able to pick up right back where they had left off yesterday, as if the whole deployment had never happened. Because it hadn’t happened. They’d skipped over the entire thing.
What was she so worried about anyway? She’d hit the jackpot with that wish coming true. The most important thing was that this whole deployment problem was now behind them. They would get to spend Christmas together.ThisChristmas. So maybe it was now technicallynextChristmas, but who cared? It was happening right now, and their relationship could go on as originally planned.
Clara looked up at the sky and thanked her lucky stars—or, in this case, lucky ornament. She’d skipped over all that hard stuff and got straight to her goal—Christmas with her boyfriend. Wow, that reallywaseasy. She said a silent prayer of gratitude for Christmas magic and watched with sparkling eyes as the aircraft door finally opened.
Brent was the first to come out onto the staircase. There he was, more handsome than she’d ever seen him. She was surprised he wasn’t in his usual green flight suit. Instead, he wore a dressier military uniform, one she’d never seen before. An Air Force blue uniform jacket with matching trousers fit perfectly over his tall, attractive frame. The jacket had silver buttons down the front and a tie underneath. A gold oak leaf adorned each of his broad shoulders, and over his left breast sat a pair of silver wings over rows of military ribbons. He looked so official, so formal, yet so drop-dead gorgeous at the same time.
He pulled on his uniform cap, and his gaze made its way straight to her. He looked at her from underneath the brim and treated her to that familiar dimpled smile. Clara melted. She lowered her head, returning his gaze from beneath her eyelashes. She felt as though she were in a dream. Maybe she was. Brent looked even more fit than she remembered him looking yesterday. His hair was different too, cut a little shorter around the sides. His face had a deep sun-kissed tan. She supposed it all made sense since it had technically been a year since yesterday. At the sight of him, she felt the breath rush out of her. At that moment, one thing was clear—Clara definitely had a thing for a man in uniform.
He descended the stairs, holding a single red rose. Was this how they usually came home from a deployment? As the other airmen began to file out behind him, it seemed that Brent was dressed more formally than everyone else. Most of the others wore loose-fitting, sand-colored uniforms. Also, why was everyone watchinghim? Maybe he was someone more important in the squadron than she’d realized. Was Brent some kind of commander or something? Clara scratched her head. She gave up trying to understand the intricacies of the military. Trying to figure out anything about this absurd situation was complicated enough.
He made his way over to her.
Clara tried her best to act as if she hadn’t seen him the night before—for the sake of those around them.
“Welcome home!” She gave him a wink and wrapped her arms around him.
He pulled her in and buried his face into her neck. He held her tight.
She inhaled the familiar scent of his favorite soap. She lowered her head and whispered in his ear, “I can’t believe we skipped over it all.”
Brent ignored the comment and pulled back. “Clara, I’ve missed you so much.” His face looked serious, but also warm and affectionate. He handed her the rose, then reached into his pocket. “I couldn’t wait to get home so I could ask you this . . .” He dropped to one knee and held out a small velvet box.
As he opened it, her heart stopped. There stood a shiny diamond.
Clara’s mouth popped open. She stared at the ring, her eyes wide in disbelief. She stood motionless, feeling as if she had no concept of reality—and perhaps she didn’t.
