 
SECOND CHANCES

by

Meredith Rae Morgan

Copyright 2011 Meredith Morgan

All Rights Reserved

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Virginia stood on the roof of the lifeboat with her rifle pointed at the top deck of the cruise ship as it sat dead in the water. She heard shots, saw several passengers fall, and then the screaming started again. She aimed her weapon at the place where the passengers had fallen, and waited. In a few minutes, she saw the tip of a gun waving in the air. The man holding the gun turned slightly toward her, and she shot him. She didn't think she killed him, but at least he fell and dropped his gun. She hoped one of the passengers would have the presence of mind to hide it or throw it overboard.

She detected movement out of the corner of her eye, and shifted her attention to her left. One of the hijackers was standing near the railing aiming a rifle at her. She shot his head off. The next instant, she felt the slug hit her. Her hands clasped her chest. She tried to call out a name, but nothing came out of her mouth except a gurgling noise – and foamy blood.

She focused carefully on each random thought that popped into her head with all her concentration, because she was afraid if she allowed herself to lose consciousness, she would die.

## Chapter 1

Had it only been three days since Virginia had ascended the gangplank of the cruise ship, feeling more or less as though she were going to an execution? She couldn't believe she'd let her friends talk her into going on a freaking cruise! For one thing, she hated almost everything about what little she knew of cruising, other than the part about being out on the water.

She didn't mind the idea of traveling alone. She had, in fact, looked into several tours through the AARP. That's what set her friends off. They insisted she should go on a cruise and hopefully meet some fun single people, rather than spending her vacation on a tour bus with a bunch of old farts. Somehow – she wasn't sure how – the gang from the teacher's lounge managed to convince her to book this cruise, if only to shut them up.

The staterooms were not ready yet when she boarded, so she took the opportunity to explore the ship. She started on the main deck and walked from the central atrium all the way forward where she she scouted out the movie theater, some conference rooms and the library, and then all the way aft, where she found a covered deck that would be perfect for sitting outside in the shade. Next she went up to the promenade deck. She stepped outside and walked a lap around the ship, and knew immediately she would spend a lot of time on that walkway over the next four days. She loved the idea of being able to take long walks and watch the water at the same time. She walked a couple more fast laps just for fun.

Deck 7 contained the dining room all the way aft and the theater all the way forward. In the middle was the casino, several bars and some shops. She passed by Decks 8 and 9, knowing they were reserved for staterooms. Deck 10 contained the spa and fitness center forward, and a pool aft. She stopped to confirm the fitness center would be open by 5:00 AM. The attendants looked at her as though she were nuts, but they told her the room would be open, although attendants did not arrive until 6:30. That was fine with her.

The central part of Deck 11 contained a couple of outdoor bars and a pool, with the buffet aft and a beautiful bar at the front of the ship where one could sit in air conditioned comfort and watch the world go by, literally.

The pool area and buffet were packed and hoards of people streamed off the elevators every few minutes. The lines for the buffet were long and barely moving. There appeared to be no place to sit if one did manage to get to the food. Virginia was not a fan of buffet-style dining under the best of circumstances, so she went to the forward staircase and backtracked down to Deck 7, which was quiet. The stores and casino would not open until they were several miles off shore. The piano bar was open and completely empty except for the bartender. For the first time in her life she walked into a bar alone. The bartender asked her what she wanted. She ordered a glass of iced tea and asked if she could get a snack. He gave her an appetizer menu and said he'd have to go to the kitchen for the tea. She said never mind, she'd have water with lemon. She mainly wanted something to eat. She scanned the menu and ordered a plate of crab cakes. She sipped her water.

"You cruising alone?"

"Yes."

"Pardon me for saying so, but you don't look very excited about it."

"In all honesty, I'm not. My so-called friends talked me into this trip, and now I'm sorry I didn't put my foot down and tell them to butt out of my life."

"A lot of people cruise alone. There appear to be two schools of thought on that. Some of them just want to go to fabulous places and be left alone. We have one regular solo-cruiser on this ship who's an older gentleman. He takes perhaps four or five cruises with us every year. He uses the fitness room early in the morning when no one is around, and walks on the promenade deck midday when most people are eating or on shore. The rest of the time he reads in the library or stays in his room. He eats breakfast in the Lido and occasionally stops in here for lunch. He orders room service for dinner and almost never comes out of his room in the evenings, unless there is a really good concert or a special show of some sort.

"On the other hand, there are the people who come on cruises to let down their hair. They leave their inhibitions at home and do things they never do any other time. Those tend to be younger people who get pretty wild. Although, some of the older people can get a little crazy under the right circumstances, typically circumstances involving adult beverages in large quantities.

"Maybe that's the nice thing about cruising. There's something for everyone. You can have as much or as little activity and excitement as you want. Have you cruised before?"

"No. I have done very little traveling. This is something of an experiment for me."

The bartender said, "Keep one thing in mind, whatever you choose to do, you will never see these people again. Enjoy yourself, doing whatever pleases you, even if others think you should be doing something different."

A waiter delivered the crab cakes. She finished them just as the announcement came over the public address system that the staterooms were ready. She walked all the way forward, avoiding the central stairs and elevators, and went down to Deck 5, where her stateroom was located about a third of the way from the front, on the outside. She had a small balcony. A bouquet of flowers sat in a vase on the counter. The card wished her _bon voyage_ from her friends at work.

The room was bigger than she had expected, and very comfortable. The bathroom was tiny but immaculate. While she was exploring the room, someone knocked at the door. She opened it to find a porter with her suitcase. He laid a mat on the bed and set the suitcase on it. Her room steward entered behind the porter, introduced himself as Fernando, and asked if she needed anything. She said she didn't.

After the steward showed her how to use the thermostat and left, she unpacked her suitcase, and sat down on the couch, thumbing through an informational booklet about the ship and its itinerary. When the announcement came over the P. A. system ordering the passengers to report to their lifeboat stations, she took her life jacket and walked up to the Promenade deck and stepped outside. She was among the first to arrive. She stood by the wall and waited quietly, not knowing what to expect. A crew member asked for her room number and checked her off on his clip board.

The next half hour was an ordeal for her. She was mildly claustrophobic, and had a rather large personal space. That was not a good combination during a lifeboat drill on a commercial cruise ship!Soon the deck was filled with people, and just when she thought it was totally full, the crew started pushing people back, packing them in shoulder to shoulder with life jackets touching front and back. A lot of the passengers (many of whom appeared to be quite drunk) thought the whole thing was funny and they made a huge game of it. She focused her gaze on a fire extinguisher hanging from the ceiling and tried to block out the noise, the horrible smell of the aftershave on the man in front of her and the grating voice of the woman to her left who was bitching at her kids. Eventually, the drill was mercifully over, and the all clear whistle sounded from the bridge. Virginia's friends had told her that was when the cruise fun officially began.

Virginia returned to her room, took a shower and considered putting on her pajamas and curling up in a fetal position until the ship docked on Monday. She knew there was a mixer going at that very moment for single passengers. She originally had no intention of attending. She thought it would be nice to sit on her balcony and watch the shore recede as the ship sailed away.

But, her crab cake snack had worn off and her dinner seating wasn't until eight o'clock. She decided to go to the mixer for a free drink and something to eat. All of her friends told her not to pass up any of the free stuff, because there was precious little of it.

The mixer was taking place in one of the larger bars on Deck 6. She put on slacks and a cotton shirt, threw a shawl around her shoulders (because it was ridiculously cold inside the ship), and headed up the stairs.

There were two groups of singles and they occupied opposite ends of the room. The smaller group were "younger" people (for this line, anyway), apparently in their thirties and forties. They were almost all women, with three or four men who all appeared to be gay. The other group consisted of people who appeared to be considerably older than Virginia. Again, most of them were women, but there were a few men.

A waiter approached her with a plate of hot hors d'oeuvres, and she gladly took samples of each of the three things on his tray. She ate those and started toward the bar when another waiter approached her with a tray filled with glasses of wine, saving her the trip. Another waiter offered her some cheese puffs, which she accepted. She grabbed a handful of nuts from one of the tables and munched on those while checking out the crowd. Once she had eaten the nuts, she felt as though she had enough food in her stomach to risk drinking the wine.

She stood off to one side of the room, watching the crowd. The men were checking out the women (except for the ones who were checking out each other). Most of the women were checking out the men, although a large group of Red Hat ladies appeared to be mainly interested in slugging back as many free glasses of wine as they could drink before happy hour was over. Virginia didn't see anyone who appeared to be traveling totally alone. A wave of panic started in the pit of her stomach, but she doused it with a swig of wine.

A deep voice said from right behind her shoulder, "The way I see it, the secret to surviving the next four days will be to stay drunk as much as possible."

She turned and looked up into the eyes of the most handsome man she had met in years. His brown eyes sparkled and his lopsided grin made her smile. She blurted, "If you don't mind my saying so, aren't you a little old for an active duty Marine?"

He raised his eyebrows and asked, "How do you know I'm active duty?"

"Because nobody but a Marine or a knucklehead would wear a haircut like that." She winked, "And you don't look like a knucklehead."

He laughed, "I guess I'll take that for a compliment. How do you know what an active duty Marine looks like?"

"My son was a Marine."

"What is he now?"

"A dead Marine."

He swallowed and closed his eyes for a second. "Was he killed in combat?"

"Yes. Afghanistan in 2002."

"I'm so sorry."

"Me, too. Let's change the subject. What do you say, we just start over? I'll respond to your original comment. You're probably right that the next few days may go by a little easier in a kind of alcoholic haze." She said, "My friends at work talked me into this trip. I'm considering finding some new friends. What's your excuse for being here?"

"My son originally booked this cruise with his wife in a last ditch effort to save their marriage. She left him anyway. He talked me into coming with him in her place. I, too, am already regretting it."

"You've never cruised before?"

"The last boat I was on that was anywhere near this size was the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy off the coast of Vietnam in the spring of 1975."

She raised her eyebrows. "If my memory serves, that was a particularly bad time to be on the JFK. Exactly when were you on that ship?"

"I went to Vietnam after I graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1974. I requested a transfer to another assignment in June 1975."

"You were assigned to the Marine air support division on the JFK during April 1975?"

He did a huge double take. "You know about that?"

She smiled. "I teach high school history. I discovered that the version of the Vietnam war that is related in the history textbooks, was inconsistent with my recollection of events. I started doing research and got carried away with reading books about the war. I like to think of it as a kind of area of expertise for me. I have to tell you that some people refer to it as my obsession.

"You were in the unit that evacuated the Saigon embassy?"

"Yes. After that, I put in for a transfer and spent the rest of my career as a sniper in the special forces."

She chuckled, "And that was an improvement over the gig on the JFK?"

He made a face, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"You were inducted in 1974 and you're still in the Corps. That must make you one of the longest serving Marines ever."

"I guess so. The Corps has been trying to get me to retire for the last decade. Recently, my CO told me that I have to retire when I am 65 whether I want to or not."

She smiled. "I don't know what to say. Maybe 'Boo-ya'."

He laughed.

She asked, "Is your son here?"

"Yeah. He's the guy over by the bar with all those women around him. I figure I'll see him again when we get off the ship. He'd have done better to come alone."

She sipped her wine and said, "I've been watching some of the ladies check you out. If you're eligible and you play your cards right, you may not be lonely."

"You think?"

"Pretty sure."

"What are your plans?"

"I don't know. I may hide in my room until Monday. Then again, I may do something completely out of character and try to have some fun. I haven't done that in more than thirty years, I don't know if I even remember how to do it."

"How is it that you are here by yourself?"

She sighed, "The short answer is my husband died two years ago after a lifetime of chronic depression and workaholism. I had not worked since our kids were little, but after he died I went back to teaching for something to do. The busybodies at school talked me into taking this cruise because they think I should want to meet men."

"Do you?"

She laughed softly, "Not really, but I'm afraid to tell my friends that because they'll all go nuts. My team at school are all married women except for one divorcee who is desperately looking for a man. They think I'm grieving myself to death at home alone. They don't understand that I'm not. I actually have a number of men friends who I hang out with, and I have a very satisfying life."

"Have you cruised before?"

"No. My husband never took off work long enough to go on a proper vacation. My previous travel has included taking the kids to Disney World once by myself in the early 1990's and periodic long weekends at a rented condo in Gatlinburg, again with just the kids. Visits to my dad. That kind of stuff. My husband could – or would – never get away."

"Have you seen the ocean before?"

"Yes. My father was a pilot in the Air Force. When he came back from Vietnam, he was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida for a few years. He and my mom divorced, but I went to visit him there a few times, and we went to the beach. Best of all, he used to rent a small plane and we'd fly all around Florida."

"Did he teach you to fly?"

"No. My dad was very much of a sexist. He was not into the idea of women doing what he considered to be men's jobs. He made both of my brothers join the service, because he believed that all men should serve their country. When I graduated from high school, I enlisted in the Air Force. My dad threw a fit and got my enlistment nullified. He was not a fan of women in the military."

"How's he feel about women in combat?"

"Fortunately, he died before that came about."

"You want another glass of wine?"

"No, thanks. I am not really a wine drinker."

He looked around the room, and asked, "What is up with those ladies over there in the hats? They look like aging sorority girls."

"They are Red Hat ladies. I don't know much about how the groups are organized, but the idea originated from a poem that was popular back in the 1980's, _When I am Old I Shall Wear Purple._ I don't know it by heart, but it's about a woman's determination to throw off convention when she's old and doesn't give a damn about what people think any more. I always thought the idea of the poem is for the woman to become someone sort of like the cartoon character Maxine. The Red Hat ladies I see around my town actually do remind me more of sorority girls than Maxine. All that giggling and chatter. Gives me a headache! I guess the truth is, I hang out mostly with men and groups of women kind of scare me, because women in packs can be dangerous to lone females."

He swapped out his wine glass for a fresh one from a passing tray and said, "It appears the odds are definitely in favor of the men doing okay on this trip."

"The odds are always in favor of the men in any Boomer group. I think I have read that overall the population is actually something like 52% female. I swear the Boomer generation is more like 75% female. It seems to me in every mixed group I've ever been in, there have been nearly twice as many women as men."

"That's interesting. I live in an almost all male world. Seeing so many women in one place is a little disturbing."

"I take it you're not married."

"Divorced. When my wife watched the evacuation of Saigon on TV, we had an 18 month old and she was pregnant. She served me with divorce papers the next time I came home on leave. She told me she was tired of being the number two spouse in what amounted to a plural marriage, because my first and primary marriage was to the Marine Corps." He took a sip of wine. "I was pissed off, primarily because I knew she was right."

"You never remarried?"

"I hardly ever even dated. The Corps was has been my life for 39 years. I never wanted to subject another woman to the poor treatment I gave my wife. She deserved better. I have a number of good women friends. Two in particular who are both widows of guys I served with. We don't date, but when I need an escort for a function like the Marine Ball or something, I can usually count on one or the other of them to be available. Other than that I have devoted myself to my job."

"As a sniper, I'm guessing you've see some action."

"Yep. I have been about everywhere there has been shooting – whether the government classified it as combat or not – between 1974 and 2002. My last combat mission was in Afghanistan in 2002. I scared the hell out of myself. We were in the mountains looking for Bin Laden. We were supposed to be in Afghanistan, but they don't have signs at the border. I think we were actually in Pakistan. Anyway, I was watching the entrance of a cave through my gun site. My whole life up until then, I could stare through a gun site for hours and hardly blink. That day, my eyes kept watering and obstructing my vision. When we returned to the base, I went to the C. O. and told him I needed to retire from combat. He put through my orders instantly. There is nothing more dangerous than an unfit soldier on a battlefield."

"What have you been doing since then?"

"I am a trainer for snipers at Parris Island."

She grinned and whispered, "Boo-ya." He made a face at her.

The organizer of the party stood up and signaled for attention. She welcomed everyone to the cruise, and said that they had planned a variety of organized events for singles throughout the course of the cruise to which everyone was welcome. She encouraged everyone to participate as much or as little as they wished. If anyone wanted to organize something of their own, they should let her know and she'd put out the word. With that, the party ended. The younger people left, but most of the older ones hung around.

He looked at his watch, "Do you have early or late seating for dinner?"

"Late. It appears that most of these folks are settling in for another cocktail hour or two. I rarely drink alcohol and I need to pace myself. I think I'll go for a walk."

He said, "My son and I are at the late seating as well. I think they have seated singles at one or two tables. Perhaps I'll see you then."

She smiled vaguely in his direction and mumbled, "That would be nice." Then she set her nearly full wine glass on a table and left the room.

She did about ten laps around the promenade deck, after which she went back to her room for another quick shower before dinner. The schedule called for casual attire the first night. She wore an ivory cocktail dress with matching flat shoes and a turquoise shawl. She thought that might be too dressy, but one of her friends who had cruised often warned her that people like to dress up on cruises. That was one more strike against cruising in her book. She was not fond of dressing up.

The Marine had been right. Her assigned seat was a large table near the middle of the room, and she recognized many of the people who were seated there as folks who had been at the party earlier. Virginia was one of the last people to arrive before they closed the doors to the dining room. There was only one spot left at the table. It was next to the Marine.

The waiter held the chair for her. The Marine and his son both stood up. The other two men at the table checked her out without standing up. She was relieved to notice that both of those men crossed her off their list before her butt landed in her chair. She thanked the waiter and smiled at the Marine and his son, whispering, "That was not really necessary."

The son laughed, "My dad is kind of a throwback to a bygone era. Unfortunately for my brother and me, he raised us to be like that, too. Sometimes women get pissed off when we hold doors and stand up when a lady comes in the room. I don't know why that's offensive."

She winked at him, "I think it's rather nice, if a little embarrassing."

The Marine cocked his head to the side, "Why embarrassing?"

"Well, it kind of draws attention. I'm not too crazy about being the center of attention."

One of the Red Hat ladies who was sitting across the table and desperately trying to capture the attention of the Marine said, "That's absurd! What woman doesn't like to be the center of attention, especially male attention!" She looked at the Marine as though she were contemplating crawling into his lap.

Laughing, Virginia answered, "Me."

She studied the menu and let the conversation whirl around her. People were making plans for going dancing or to the casino after dinner, and discussing other activities. She ordered a cocktail and leaned back in her chair. The table mates were introducing themselves, one by one. Some of them gave only their names, where they were from and the number of times they had cruised. Others rambled on at length, giving their entire autobiography, some of them in considerably more detail than was necessary. She thought it was hilarious that several of the women made it a point to indicate that they were single, and they looked directly at the Marine to make sure he got the point. She decided this weekend might be amusing, if nothing else.

They were going clockwise around the table. She was amazed at how many cruises some of the people had taken. None of the people at the table piqued her interest in the least. She perked up when it came time for the Marine's son to introduce himself.

"I'm Evan Wilkes. I'm an ophthalmologist from Paducah, Kentucky. This is my first cruise. I'm traveling with my dad. I love to dance and plan to spend as much time as possible on the floor with anyone who's willing to tolerate being pushed around by someone so woefully out of practice."

The Marine said, "I'm Colonel Parker Wilkes, USMC. Originally from Maysville, Kentucky, presently stationed at Parris Island, South Carolina. This is my first cruise on a vessel other than an aircraft carrier. I think my job this weekend is to keep my son, here" he pointed his thumb at Evan, "out of trouble. I hope I'm up to it."

Colonel Parker Wilkes turned to her and raised his eyebrows. She said, "I'm Virginia Travers, from Kent, Ohio. This is my first cruise."

They ordered their food and the conversation flowed as rapidly as the wine. Virginia said very little at dinner. She answered questions that were directed to her, but, otherwise, did not participate in the conversation. The women at the table flirted outrageously with Parker Wilkes. Virginia felt a little sorry for the other men at the table, who might as well have been invisible. She'd have chatted them up a bit but for the fact that they both seemed to be interested mainly in the women who appeared to be rich. Virginia was, in fact, a very comfortable widow, but she apparently didn't look the part because the men didn't pay any attention to her.

Except the Marine.

He seemed to pay attention to her and to no one else. She thought that might be because she was the only female at the table who was not flirting madly with him. She was not playing hard to get. She was just not interested in a shipboard romance.

Then again....

She looked at his profile as he talked to the Red Hat ladies across the table; the chiseled jaw, steel gray hair, erect posture. The only thing about him that did not scream "I am one tough bad-assed sonofabitch" was his doe-like, soft brown eyes.

She sipped her martini and prayed for the meal to end.

## Chapter 2

The second day of the cruise was to be a day at sea culminating in a formal dinner.

Parker woke, as usual, without an alarm, at 4:30 AM. He lingered in bed as long as he could stand it, and then he got up in the dark and made his way to the bathroom where he had left his gym clothes, so as not to disturb Evan, who had come in very late after dancing the night away in the lounge. He dressed quickly and ran up six flights of stairs to the gym. He was pleased to notice that he barely broke a sweat and he wasn't winded when he reached the top deck. _Not bad for an old fart._

As he reached for the door to the gym, Virginia Travers came around the corner and almost ran into him. He smiled and said, "I'm betting we will have the gym to ourselves."

She said, "I hope so. I have a treadmill and Bow-flex in my second bedroom. I am a bit freaked out by the prospect of using a public gym." She had a deer-in-the-headlights look and he half expected her to bolt.

He held the door and let her enter first. They were the only ones in the gym. She put on earphones and hopped on a treadmill where she warmed up with a fast walk. Parker got on a treadmill on the opposite end of the row and set the machine at a comfortable jog. After about 20 minutes, she got off the treadmill and went to the weight bench. She was behind him and he was polite enough not to turn around and stare, but he could hear the weights clanking and her occasional deep breathing. She worked out with the weights for 30 minutes, then returned to the treadmill where she ran – fast – for 20 more minutes. During her final run period, Parker moved to the weight bench and finished his workout with weights and, at the end, some deep stretching.

By 6:00 AM they were both sweaty but relaxed. Parker wiped off with a towel and downed almost a whole bottle of water in one gulp. Virginia was stretching and toweling off at the same time. He said, "You up for a fast walk around the promenade deck before breakfast?"

She said, "Sure. Let's see: that's five flights down and back." She laughed, "I don't get people gaining weight on cruises. All those stairs, and they have an amazing array of healthy choices in food."

"Most people never take the stairs and they eat constantly, not worrying about the calories."

She shook her head. "I can't do that. I am so freaked out at the prospect of gaining a pound, I will probably overcompensate and lose weight on this cruise."

He looked at her up and down. She was in great shape for a woman her age. He said, "Don't lose too much. Doesn't look to me like you have an ounce to spare."

She smiled and said, "Thanks."

They filled their water bottles from the drinking fountain and walked down to the promenade deck where they walked for two miles. They stopped by the doors leading to the stairwell. He said, "I'm going to shower and then go to the buffet for breakfast, after which I'm going to stake out a chair by the pool. I was warned by my room steward that I should get a chair early because they fill up fast. Would you care to join me?"

She stretched and said, "I'll definitely join you for breakfast. I'm starving. I haven't decided what to do during the day."

Half an hour later, he entered the buffet and was surprised to find her already sitting by a window, drinking coffee and reading something on her phone.

He poured coffee for himself and slid into a chair across the table from her. "You a firefighter or something? That was a fast shower."

"I didn't take a shower. I just kind of wiped myself down and changed clothes. I'm sure that I will take several more walks during the day and/or work out in the gym again. I'll take my shower at the end of the day."

"I hadn't thought of that."

"You have to understand. I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to certain things. Water usage is one of them. I know a lot of people who take a shower almost every time they break a sweat. I typically take one a day, no matter what I've been doing. Yesterday, I made an exception, and felt really bad about it."

He chuckled, "That's frugal, and good for the planet."

They got up and wandered around the buffet scoping out the breakfast options. He said, "I can see how people go crazy with the food on cruises. Everything looks wonderful." He went through the line and ordered an omelet with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers and spinach. She dished up a bowl of muesli and some berries.

There were a few other early birds in the dining room, mostly dressed in exercise attire, but they were spaced out around the room, so no one lacked privacy. He said, "One of my friends told me that the best way not to feel claustrophobic on a cruise is to time your activities so you are out of synch with the crowd. Get up early. Eat at off times. Go to bed early."

She laughed out loud, "That is the way I live my entire life. So I should be okay. I have to tell you, crowds of people disturb me."

He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you shy or just anti-social?"

She thought about it for a few minutes before she answered, sipping her coffee and looking out the window at the magnificence of the ocean stretching out in all directions. "I don't think I'm shy. I can get up and speak in public and meet people without awkwardness. I like people, one-on-one, but not in groups. Maybe I'm a little bit anti-social. I prefer to be alone, in very quiet surroundings. When I'm not working, I like to be at home by myself."

"What do you usually do for vacations?"

"When my husband was alive we didn't take vacations, except for the ones I told you about. Last year, my mother and I rented a cabin on Lake Michigan and spent a week reading books and canoeing. It was fantastic, all but for the part about having to listen to Mom's constant monologues about politics."

"Why didn't you invite her to come with you on this trip?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "If you knew my mom you wouldn't have asked that. She was a hippie in the Sixties, and – unlike most of the hippie radicals – she never got over it. She would not be caught dead on a cruise ship, what with their abysmal record for pollution and waste. Frankly, I'm not happy about that myself. Fortunately, she doesn't know I'm here because she is in Haiti working with the Red Cross on the earthquake relief efforts."

"Your dad was an Air Force pilot and your mom was a hippie? That must have been interesting."

"It will not surprise you to learn that they divorced."

"No. What was that like for you? It must have been difficult going back and forth between two such different environments."

"I didn't go back and forth very much. Dad gave Mom full custody of all three of us kids. He traveled a lot. He spent a very large chunk of my childhood in Vietnam. I have always had the impression that the Vietnam War was the most fun he ever had in his life, at least until he became a flight instructor at Top Gun.

"When he was Stateside he was busy training pilots. I talked to him on the phone a lot and visited him during the summer when his schedule allowed. We wrote long letters to one another. (I have every one of them. I saved his letters to me. He saved mine. After he died, his second wife sent me all the letters I wrote to him.) After he retired from active duty, I saw him more. He and Mary Ann moved to a beautiful place near Asheville, North Carolina. The kids and I occasionally spent a week or so with them."

"You lived with your mother?"

"When they first divorced, we moved in with my mother's parents. My grandfather was a professor at Kent State. Mom got her PhD. D. and then she got a job at the university. At that point she bought a tiny house for us and crammed me and my two brothers into it. I shared a bedroom with Mom. My two brothers shared the other bedroom. I had a fantastic childhood."

She looked up at him and raised her eyebrows. "Your turn. You said you're from Maysville, Kentucky. How'd a river rat end up as a sharp-shooter in the Marine Corps."

"Actually the fact that I was a river rat is part of the reason I became a sniper. I grew up on a farm literally on the banks of the Ohio River. My entire extended family lived on the farm. Some of them worked the farm, the rest worked on barges on the river. I was an only child in my immediate family but I grew up with a kind of pack of cousins. My dad was a river barge captain and my mom typically traveled with him as the cook. I spent more time with my grandparents and an aunt and uncle than I did with my parents. There wasn't a lot to do in the way of entertainment, so when we had spare time from the endless round of chores that go with life on a farm, we kids practiced shooting. We shot racoons and other small critters on the Ohio side of the river."

She pursed her lips and asked, "Why the Marine Corps?"

He said, "Before I answer that, why did your son join the Corps?"

She sighed, "Well, he idolized my father and always kind of wanted to be a pilot. But, he had a congenital inner ear problem that caused him to have excruciating pain at high altitudes. He couldn't fly. So, he picked the next best bad-ass thing. That was the official story, anyway. I think the real story was that he was in love with a girl whose dad was a WWII Marine veteran. He didn't approve of my son because he came from a family of pinko-radical-hippie-egghead professors. I think my son joined the Corps to prove that he was a man worthy of the guy's daughter."

"How did that work out?"

"The wench cheated on him while he was away at basic training, and he dumped her. He got killed before he had the opportunity to find another girlfriend." She shook her head, indicating she didn't want to discuss it further. "Now answer my question."

"I didn't want to live on a farm my whole life and I didn't really want to be a barge captain on the Ohio River, although I love boats. The men in my family had a tradition of service in the Marine Corps. My grandfather, my dad and his brothers, and most of my cousins all enlisted in the Marines when they graduated from high school, and some didn't bother to graduate before they enlisted.

"Unlike everybody else in my family, I didn't sign up as an enlisted man immediately out of high school. I went to the Naval Academy. To be honest, I was sort of a draft dodger. My high school guidance counselor talked me into applying for an appointment to Annapolis because I was smart, a good athlete and came from an upstanding family. He thought the Vietnam war would be over by the time I graduated. I thought that sounded like a good idea. I could avoid combat, get a free education, and, as an added bonus, probably get more or better girls as a Marine officer when I graduated. Unfortunately, the Vietnam war was still going on four years later, so I spent a miserable year on the JFK, culminating in the evacuation of Saigon. I have always thought of my decision to go to the Academy as a huge miscalculation."

She said, "Maybe not. You went in as a second lieutenant working on an aircraft carrier in 1974 instead of as a PFC dodging landmines, snakes and snipers in the jungle in 1970."

"You know your history, lady. And you're right."

They finished their breakfast in silence. He said, "Let's stake out some deck chairs by the pool. You don't have to stay all day if you don't want to, but I've got a sack full of books and I plan to read them all."

She threw back her head and laughed toward the ceiling, then she leaned forward and whispered, "Do you pack your books for a trip before you pack your clothes?"

"Of course! Doesn't everyone?"

They returned to their rooms to change and then they met near the pool about fifteen minutes later. She let him select the location of their seats. He picked deck chairs about half way between the pool and the railing, where they could see the view of the ocean and still have easy access to the pool. They dumped their bags on the chairs. He went for more coffee while she fetched towels, and spread them out on the chairs.

She asked him what he was reading. He said, "Well the book I have beside my bed is a history book examining the international political landscape at the dawn of the nineteenth century."

She interrupted, "Is that _The Great Upheaval_ by Jay Winik?"

"Yes. Have you read it?"

"Twice. It's marvelous."

He nodded, "I'm about half way through the first time. It will definitely bear re-reading. But by the pool, my reading standards are different. I have books by Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey. I can't decide which to start first."

She laughed, "Either one would be fine. I can't read Dorsey in public. I picked up _Orange Crush_ in an airport and started it on the plane while we were waiting on the runway. The first chapter had me howling until I cried before the plane even took off. I think the flight attendants thought I was drunk. I was afraid they were going to kick me off the plane."

"What do you have?"

She pulled two books from her bag, "At home, I read history and economics and all kinds of depressing stuff most of the time, interspersed with some historical fiction. Vacation reading , on the other hand, is strictly trash. My choices today by the pool are a chick lit novel about a woman in search of her long lost father or a Gothic romance, which appears to be a bodice ripper."

He chuckled. "I think Gothic romances are written primarily for women, but I like them, too. They do not require too much concentration, but there's something emotionally satisfying about them."

"Yeah, Gothic romance is for the reader's brain kind of like mashed potatoes for the stomach. It satisfies certain cravings that nothing else can."

"Good analogy."

He leaned over and asked, "What's on your nightstand?"

"At home, history books and literary novels. On this cruise, something by Eric VonLustbader. Do you know him?"

"I've heard of him." He chuckled.

"Then I'll say no more."

They stretched out with their coffee and books, and had no further conversation for a while. An hour or so later, Evan joined them, settling into the seat next to Virginia with a book of his own. In another hour, the pool deck was almost full. The Red Hat ladies were wearing matching tee shirts and shorts. Couples seemed to congregate on the outer perimeter by the railings and the single people selected seats nearer the pool. A couple of men were in the pool, one swimming laps and the other just lounging, obviously waiting for someone to join him. After fifteen minutes or so, the lap-swimmer got out and returned to his seat. The other man got out of the pool and moved to the hot tub where he chatted with two older women.

There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was already blazing at 10:30 AM.

Parker looked around. The single women on this cruise were all too old for his son. Evan had told him that he thought that was okay. He was too much on the rebound for a relationship, or even a shipboard romance. He told his dad he planned to focus on finding women who were good dancers to pass the time with. They joked about how maybe if Evan were lucky, a Cougar would take a shine to him. Evan told Parker he thought that his main job for the cruise was going to be protecting his father from the women who were likely to swarm around him. Evan had told his dad, "I know you're immune to the way women look at you, but you should know that you are getting a lot of attention."

Parker thought about that. He was not unaware of the way women looked at him. Typically, he just ignored it. It had been years since he'd dated. He was used to living alone, in a virtually all male world on the base. Other than rigorously keeping in shape (which he had to do for his job), he did nothing to increase his attractiveness. Most of the time, his uniform and his physique were all he needed to cause heads to turn. He had brought his dress uniform for the formal night. He knew that would get plenty of attention, and suddenly he found the idea appealing. The thought crossed his mind that he could have a lot of fun on this cruise. He would never see these people again. Maybe for once in his life he might enjoy and, perhaps even, join in the flirting.

Leaning back in the chair he scanned the deck. Leaving aside the women who were part of a couple, he thought there were some interesting options. There were a couple of women who were obviously very rich. One was traveling with her grown children and some grandchildren. She was very beautiful – too beautiful for her age, in fact; she'd obviously had some very expensive facial remodeling. She appeared to be kind of a bitch, though, and he didn't think her adult children would appreciate his intruding on their vacation.

There was another woman traveling by herself. Parker had learned she was a regular on the cruise line. She looked anorexic and she wore too much makeup for her age. He thought she looked like Twiggy in the Sixties, but the cruise director told him she was both extremely rich and very smart. She might be good company for an evening.

Some of the Red Hat ladies were lovely, but he feared they might be hard to cut from the herd.

Hillary from their table had made it abundantly clear that she was open to anything he might have in mind. She was pretty in a big-haired, Southern gal kind of way, and rich, too, but she was very vain and she didn't seem to be able to talk about anything other than herself. She would be too easy and probably not interesting enough.

There were a couple of younger women who were making it obvious that they were interested. The problem with that was that Parker didn't like flirting with younger women. They made him feel old and kind of pathetic.

At the very last, he let his gaze fall on Virginia Travers. What in the hell was he to make of her? She was very fit, but plain. She was one of the few women her age he'd seen recently who didn't dye her gray hair. She'd obviously had no cosmetic surgery: her nose was crooked; her neck was a bit crinkly; and, she had bags under her eyes. She had a great body from the neck down, though. He thought she behaved almost like an awkward teen-ager. Maybe that was understandable if she had been married a long time and had not dated since her husband's death.

She was smart and funny, in a quirky kind of way. He couldn't tell yet if he actually liked her, but he found her intriguing – and kind of sexy, which was good enough for a four day cruise.

He decided to turn on the charm and see what kind of trouble he could stir up.

## Chapter 3

Virginia looked up from her book and glanced at Parker who had laid his book across his stomach and leaned back on the chaise with his hands behind his head, face upturned toward the sun, with a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. At first he appeared to be totally relaxed, but upon looking closer, she had the sense that he was preparing for something.

She looked back down at her book. A few seconds later, Parker stood up and leaned over her toward Evan. "I'm ready for a dip. How about you two?"

Virginia shook her head. She was not about to take off her cover up and reveal her terrible varicose veins in front of a gorgeous man like Parker Wilkes. She was not generally vain, but her legs were so gross and ugly, she never let them be seen in public.

Evan laughed and said, "I think I'll pass. You go ahead." He added with an evil tone, "Knock yourself out, Dad."

Victoria looked at Evan with a quizzical expression, and then turned to see Parker removing his tee shirt, with one hand, all in one smooth motion. She knew he must have practiced that move. It was _very_ effective. Parker was in his sixties, but he had the body of a much younger man. Victoria thought he looked like Matthew McConnahey's sexier father. His abs rippled as he tossed his shirt on the chair. When he turned away to walk toward the pool she saw equivalent muscle definition on his back and down his legs. He didn't have bulging muscles like a body builder, but rather he had the long, sleek, strong muscles of a runner with just a hint of bulk from weight work. His shoulders were broad and his waist tiny. He had a fabulous ass, and legs that most women would kill for. Victoria was impressed.

She heard Evan laughing softly. She looked at him watching the crowd. Her eyes followed his and she realized that every woman (and some men) on the pool deck were watching Parker, some with what appeared to be bated breath. Evan leaned towards her and commented, "I'm betting he won't be alone in that pool very long."

She nodded, "I betcha the first woman to join him will be the platinum blond with green eyes who sits at our table."

"Hillary?"

"Is that her name?"

"You weren't paying attention during the introductions last night?"

"Not really. And even if I had been, it would have done me no good. I would remember most of what people said about their lives, but I wouldn't remember their names. It's a real problem for me. I can't remember names of people I've known for ages. I don't even try to remember the names of people I've just met."

Parker walked slowly enough to let everyone get a good look but fast enough to make it look as though he really was just heading for the pool instead of preening. He stood on the edge of pool for a minute, did a perfect shallow dive, swam the length of the pool without so much as one kick and surfaced at the corner in front of Virginia and Evan. He crossed his arms on the ledge of the pool and said, "The water's actually fairly warm already."

About that time, several women from all around the deck area headed toward the pool, with Hillary (who was in the front row opposite Virginia) winning the race. Virginia turned to Evan and said, "Pay me."

Evan laughed and slapped her palm. Parker made a face at them and then chatted up some of the women in the pool for a few minutes. In much less time than Virginia would have expected, he pulled himself up on the side of the pool, and shook like a dog, splashing both Virginia and Evan. Evan said, "Hey, watch it. Why are you getting out now? You accomplished what you set out to do."

His father winked and plopped down on his chaise, "Pool's too crowded."

Parker looked at Virginia, who was wearing a coverup consisting of long pants and a tunic. "Don't you swim?"

"I theoretically know how to swim, but I haven't been in a pool in years. I'm not even sure I could swim any more. Swimming's not my thing. I do other things for exercise."

A few minutes later, she stood up and said, "One of the biggest drawbacks of being fair skinned is the tendency to burn. I need to get out of the sun. Her eyes swept across both Parker and Evan without pausing on either one of them and said, "Have a nice day."

She went into the dining room and poured coffee into her large travel mug and headed toward the library. She read for a couple of hours, after which she took a few spins around the promenade deck at a very fast pace. By then she figured the lunch crowd would be gone from the buffet, so she walked up the stairs to the Lido, where she filled a plate with fruit, cheeses and crackers. She filled her cup with iced tea and took her lunch to her room.

She spent the afternoon on her balcony munching on her snack and alternately reading and watching the water. She expected to find the endless expanse of blue water and sky monotonous, but was surprised to discover that it was not. She could see large fish – dolphins and whales – and more small flying fish that she would ever have imagined. She saw birds of every type. She found that it was the opposite of monotonous: it was mesmerizing. Eventually she put down her book and leaned back, enjoying the sound of the water rushing past the ship and the feel of the salt air caressing her face. Lulled by the sea and the fresh air, she dozed off.

The ringing phone inside her room startled her awake. She considered not answering it, but decided she'd better pick up the call for fear it was some kind of emergency message from her mother or her daughter. She hurried to get the phone before it stopped ringing, and said, "Hello."

Parker's baritone said, "It took you long enough. I hope I'm not interrupting something."

She laughed, "No. Actually you literally caught me napping. I can't remember the last time I took a nap in the middle of the day. I feel like such a lazy-bones."

"I think that's what you're supposed to do on a vacation. That's kind of why I'm calling. Evan has abandoned me this afternoon after he discovered the ship's dancers are giving dance lessons in one of the clubs. He joined them to partner with any single women who may be hanging around. I won't see him again until dinner. I was wondering if you'd like to have a drink before time to get dressed."

She thought about that for a while. She couldn't quite understand why this guy seemed so interested in her when every other single woman on the ship was buzzing around him. She was uncomfortable around really handsome men. She said, "I haven't decided whether or not to go to the formal dinner. I borrowed a frock from my daughter, but formal dining isn't really my thing. I'm considering just staying in my room tonight."

He said, "In any case, how about a beer now?"

"That sounds good. There's a covered balcony at the very back of the ship on Deck 5. I'll meet you there."

"Sounds good. I'll grab us some beers on my way down."

She brushed her hair, which was a hopeless exercise. Virginia had always been a quiet and reserved child. Her mother always said that her mane of curly red hair had absorbed every bit of wildness in the girl. The red had mostly turned to gray but remained curly and hopelessly unruly. She changed from her bathing suit cover up to a pair of crop pants and a scoop neck tee shirt. She bought the outfit because it was so retro-looking. She looked like an older version of Sandy in the movie _Grease._ She loved that look. She decided not to think about the possibility that she was too old for it. She bought it because she knew she had the body for it.

She arrived first and arranged two deck chairs and a small table in the shade where they could see the water. Parker arrived a few minutes later carrying a champagne bucket containing four bottles of beer in one hand. In his other hand he had two glasses and a bag of beer nuts.

Virginia clasped her hands like a ballerina, and said, "Oh, it's a party!"

Parker set the goodies on the table and stretched out on the chaise next to her. "Now, what's this shit about you not going to the formal dinner?"

She made a face and sipped her beer directly from the bottle. "I don't know. I like the relaxing and loafing around part of cruising better than I thought I would. I don't know about the fancy dress-up dinner stuff."

"Oh, come on. Be a sport."

"What do you care? If you're looking for an escort, you can go up to the pool deck and pick up a whole bevy of them."

"I know. But, I don't want to spend the weekend with a bunch of women flirting with me and making passes."

"What the hell kind of man wouldn't want that?"

He thought about it for a while and then said, "Well, for one thing I'm with my son, who just got divorced. If anybody's going to score on this cruise, I'd like it to be him. He says he just wants to dance and keep it simple. I think that's wise. I'm his father. I intend to be on my best behavior so as not to embarrass him."

"That's reason enough."

"The other reason is, quite honestly, I just hate flirting and casual sex. I was divorced when I was still in my twenties, and have never remarried. I dated some, but hated it. I ultimately ended up with a few women friends, most of whom are ex-wives or widows of Marines I served with at one time or another. One of those relationships is what they call 'friends with benefits'. I love that expression. We were doing that years before there was a name for it. I don't date at all because I totally suck at it. You are the only single woman I've run into on this ship who hasn't batted her eyes at me. I guess I feel safe around you."

She grinned and chewed some beer nuts, raising her eyebrows. "So, you really want me to go to the formal dinner with you kind of as your body guard?"

"I wouldn't put it quite that way, but if that would persuade you to change your mind, okay."

She leaned back and finished her beer. "Okay. What the hell. I'd hate to turn you down and then find out that you had to spend the entire evening being swarmed by a hoard of beautiful women trying to entice you to have sex with them."

He raised his beer bottle and toasted her, making a silly face, "Thanks. I appreciate that."

They chatted and watched the water until about an hour before dinner. She stood up. "Ordinarily I can shower and dress in twenty minutes flat, but tonight I guess I'll have to break down and put on makeup and try to do something with my hair. That will take longer. I'd better go. I'll meet you in the dining room."

He shook his head. "No. I'll come to your room and we'll walk to the dining room together."

She shrugged, "Okay. If you insist. For someone who doesn't date, you're making this sound awfully date-like."

"I'm making an exception tonight."

"I'm still not going to flirt with you."

"Good. Please don't. It may be interesting to go on a date and behave normally."

"That would be a totally unique experience for me. I have not dated since my husband died, but before I got married, I usually ended up acting like a total dork on dates . I was hopeless at it."

"Let's stick to just behaving normally."

"Deal! I'll see you in an hour."

She showered and put on makeup with a heavier hand than usual. She had a small heart shaped face, which was overwhelmed by her crown of short curly hair flying around it. For dress-up occasions a hairdresser had once suggested she slick back her hair to emphasize her waif-like features and her fabulous figure. She loaded her hair with gel and dried it so it lay straight against her skull, in a kind of mannish look. Her face wasn't pretty, but it was dainty and childlike. The severe hair gave her a strong look that she liked. With the evening makeup she didn't look half bad.

The dress she borrowed from her daughter was ice blue satin. It had boat neckline that was slightly off the shoulder, with three-quarter length sleeves, a tightly fitted bodice to the waist, and a sheath skirt, deeply split up the back to allow for walking or dancing. Her daughter had worn it in a wedding, and hated it because she thought it was too old for her. Virginia agreed it was too old for a twenty-something girl. Upon closer consideration, she decided it was perfect for a matron on a formal cruise night. The shoes that went with the dress were a little too big for her. She addressed that with some toilet paper stuffed into the toes.

She put on the shoes and then slipped into the dress. She caught a glance at herself in the mirror, and did a double take. She had never looked better in her life. At first she couldn't manage the zipper. The dress was too tight to get her arms around to her back. For a second she was afraid she might have to ask Parker to zip her dress for her, but she took a safety pin and some thread from her emergency sewing kit and rigged up a zipper puller. She had just got the dress zipped when Parker knocked on the door. She called for him to wait a minute while she extracted the safety pin from the zipper.

She contemplated putting on lipstick, but decided her figure was the thing she wanted to emphasize. She didn't want to call attention to her plain face.

She opened the door, and gasped. Parker was standing in the hall wearing his dress uniform. She managed not to let her jaw drop.

He looked her up and down, and then did it again, very slowly, for emphasis. He smiled, arched his eyebrows and nodded appreciatively. She smiled and said, "Back atcha."

He leaned forward and whispered, "Would you be offended if I asked you to turn around?"

"Probably tomorrow, when I think about it, but not right now." She turned around slowly and when she had made a full rotation and was looking him in the eyes again, he whistled softly. "Lady, you really should reconsider your reluctance to get into the pool. That is one body that should be shown off in a bathing suit."

She reached inside the closet for a shawl because she knew it would be cold in the dining room. She handed him her key card and a couple of tissues, "Would you mind putting these in your pocket. I don't want to ruin the look with my clunky old purse."

He took the items and put them in his interior pocket. He held out his arm. She put her hand loosely in the crook of his elbow, "I do flaunt my stuff in the gym and riding my bike. I do not ever wear shorts or a bathing suit because I have terrible varicose veins. Spandex is my friend. I never leave home without it."

"That's a shame. Isn't there surgery for that?"

"I suppose so. And if I had the kind of varicose veins that's painful, I'd probably do that. My legs don't hurt. I get plenty of exercise so my muscles support the veins without pain. The problem is they are hideous to look at. My thighs look like a Rand McNally road map. Bleck!" She grinned, "See it's a good thing we're not flirting or getting involved. I'm definitely somebody who's better with clothes on."

He smiled and said, "You definitely do look good in that dress."

She said, "Nobody will notice me. Next to a Marine in his Blues, I might as well be invisible."

They walked up the forward stairs nearest her room, and then strolled arm-in-arm the length of the ship towards the dining room. She whispered, "Are we making a spectacle?"

"I sincerely hope so."

"This is kind of like the performance this morning."

He looked at her and said, "Sort of. It's kind of a game."

"I've always been one to sneak in quietly and go to my seat without drawing attention to myself."

"You're on a cruise with people you'll never see again. You've already done some things you didn't think you could do. For once, walk through the dining room door with your shoulders back and your chin up, demanding every man in the room to look at you and appreciate what he sees. It's fun."

"I'll walk in with my shoulders back and my chin up because my ballet teacher used to swat me with a baton if I slouched. I'll leave the preening to you. You look like a million bucks."

The dining room was almost full. The maitre d'hotel greeted them at the door and a steward led them to their table. The room didn't exactly fall silent, but Virginia could tell that heads were turning all over the place and she could hear a ripple of murmuring. She kept her eyes on the steward's back. When they arrived at the table, the steward pulled out her chair. She thanked him with a smile. Parker pushed her up to the table and then took his seat. Virginia smiled at him and said, "Thank you."

Then, for the first time, she dared to look at her table-mates. It was all she could do not to laugh. The men, who had virtually ignored her before, were looking at her with varying expressions, all of them including a mixture of surprise and lust. The women's expressions ranged from amused to openly hostile. The latter was on the brightly painted face of Hillary, who was otherwise probably the most beautiful older woman on the ship.

Evan laughed, and said, "Good show, Old Bean."

That struck Virginia funny and she started to collapse into a giggle fit. Parker pretended to glare at her and said, "Do NOT encourage him."

She laughed, "Encourage HIM? He's not the one acting like a freaking peacock. Would you mind ordering me a drink? After that, I need one."

Parker turned to the wine steward who was standing behind their chair and ordered a bottle of wine.

Evan leaned over to Virginia and asked, "You look fabulous."

"Thanks. I thought nobody would even notice me tonight what with being on the arm of 'The One. The Arrogant. The Marine.'"

Evan laughed so hard he had to put his napkin up to his face. Parker said, "That's not funny." Then he laughed even harder than Evan.

Once he calmed down, Evan said to his father. "I never thought I would live to see the day you encountered a women who is not intimidated by you."

Virginia held up her finger, "Just for the record. I am always intimidated by handsome men. They make me feel even more of a plane Jane than I know I am, and I'm always afraid I'll say or do something stupid. I just make it a point to never let that show, because I never, ever like to let anybody feel they have the upper hand." She looked at Parker without expression, and added, "That goes double for people who I think actually may, in reality, have the upper hand."

When she was finished she sipped her wine, picked up her menu and said to the table, "What looks good?"

Nobody answered. She swept the table with an inquiring look. Every single person was staring at her in something that looked to her like astonishment, except Evan who looked as though he wanted to stand up and cheer and Parker whose face was utterly expressionless. She said, "What?"

Evan went along with her, "I for one am having steak. Ordinarily I try to eat very little red meat, but I'm guessing tonight would be a good night to splurge."

Virginia said, "That sounds good. But, I have my eye on that jerk chicken. I'm wondering if they would ramp up the spices to the moon."

One of the women at the table said, "Their food is very middle of the road in terms of cuisine and spicing. I like the atmosphere on this line, but it's not the most adventuresome in terms of dining."

Parker said, "That's understandable. They probably cook in batches to feed so many people at one time. I'm guessing that there's a limit to how much customizing they can do."

Virginia made a face. "Well, that kind of leaves out the jerk chicken. I don't like things that should blow me away to be bland. Maybe I should go with the grilled salmon. That can be bland and still be enjoyable."

Hillary said, "I love their lobster tails."

Parker said, "That's a great idea. I'll have surf and turf."

Evan asked, "Is that on the menu?"

"Nope, but I'm going to order a steak and a lobster tail." He winked at the group and said, "Then I will spend the day tomorrow in the gym."

Virginia said, "Me, too, because I'm going to splurge big time and order those garlic mashed potatoes. In fact, I'm quite tempted to order just a big old plate of mashed potatoes and skip the entree altogether, but I guess that would be tacky, wouldn't it?"

Parker grinned at her and said, "Tacky but tempting! How many laps around the promenade deck do you think we'll have to take to walk off this meal?"

"About a thousand if we don't eat dessert."

Hillary said, "Oh, but you must have dessert. It's baked Alaska."

Virginia looked interested, "I've never had baked Alaska."

Parker rolled his eyes and made a face, "It's freaking ice cream and cake. Usually that disgusting Neapolitan ice cream. Bleck."

"I might try it anyway. In which case I'll have to do more than a thousand laps."

Parker laughed, "You're not allowed to run on the deck. Maybe we should run on the treadmill for a while first."

"I'll be in the gym by five. I'll see you whenever you show up."

One of the men across the table looked at her with an incredulous look, "You get up at five in the morning?"

"No. I actually get up at a little before four in the morning. I meditate and do yoga for an hour. Then I do cardio and weight work for an hour. Only then am I ready to begin my day. Sometimes if it's the weekend and I feel lazy, I'll go back to bed with a book, but I never skip my morning routine."

Hillary asked. "What if you're up late the night before."

Virginia thought about that. "I can't remember staying up past eleven in decades. Usually I go to bed about 9:30 and read for an hour or so."

Evan asked, "Not even on New Years Eve?"

"Not even then. Especially not then. My husband and I were not very sociable people. He was a total workaholic. On holidays when he did take off, we typically did absolutely nothing." She shrugged. "I am like the most boring person on the planet."

One of the ladies asked, "How long have you been doing yoga?"

"I grew up doing yoga and meditating." She sipped her wine and made a goofy face, "My mother was a hippie. I mean a bead-wearing, barefoot, anti-war hippie. Interestingly, she was so serious about her yoga practice that she never did drugs of any kind. Hell, to this day, she is a total vegan and she only drinks water or occasionally fruit juice or home-made vegetable juice for a treat. No caffeine. No alcohol. Just water. I grew up that way. She fed my brothers and me meat once in a while because the pediatrician told her she had to.

"We did yoga and sat for meditation time at our house every day. Mom liked to do it before dinner. Attendance was mandatory."

She laughed. "I remember once when my older brother came home on leave, he tried to get out of it by telling mom he had plans to go out with his friends. My mom told him he could go out with his friends but he had to do an hour of yoga to center himself first. It was hilarious. He was a freaking Army Green Beret who walked around like John Wayne. She ordered him to sit and meditate, so he did. I secretly took a photo of him sitting on the floor in the living room in the Lotus position, wearing his jungle fatigues."

One of the men said, "Wait a minute. You said your mom was an anti-war hippie. Your brother was a Green Beret. Say what?"

Virginia laughed. She found herself having fun. She loved to talk about her crazy family. On the one hand she was proud of them. And on the other, she loved to watch the reaction of her audience.

"Both. My mother was opposed to the war before my brother went to Vietnam and got blown up by a landmine. She was a total anti-war lunatic after he died. But, yes, my family is what I like to think of as the best example of what Americans can be if they keep open minds and open hearts. My parents were divorced. My dad was a career officer in the Air Force. He was a hot dog pilot who ended his career as an instructor at Top Gun. My mother was a hippie, a college professor at Kent State. My oldest brother wanted to be a pilot like my dad, but he was too tall to be a pilot, so he joined the Army and went into the special forces. He was killed near the end of his second tour of duty in Vietnam." She paused and said softly, with a slightly bemused expression, "I can finally say that out loud without breaking down." She swallowed. "My second brother was anti-war like my mom, but he also knew that my dad expected him to do military service, so he joined the National Guard. Unlike some famous people in the news, he actually showed up for duty. He retired from the Guard only a few years ago."

Parker looked at her and knitted his eyebrows. "Did you say your mom taught at Kent State. Your brother was in the Ohio National Guard?"

She grinned, and nodded. "Yep. My mother was an anti-war activist. She was very active in the anti-war movement at the university. My brother was a student and he also served in the National Guard."

"Where were they the day of the shootings?"

"All three of us were at the demonstration. My mom was one of the organizers. I was there with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. My brother was with the Guard unit that did the shooting."

She grinned and shrugged, "We have often joked about about the fact that our family was so much like families who fought on both sides of the Civil War."

Evan said, "That must have been awful!"

"You mean living in a house divided like that? On the contrary, it was magnificent. I've often thought we should go out and teach other people to live the way my family does. We have deep and abiding differences of opinion on every possible issue, but we love each other. When my own son decided to join the Marine Corps, I was so angry and afraid, I had to go spend four days in an ashram meditating before I could even speak to him about it. Somehow, I managed to sit down with him and tell him I was proud of him and would support his decision even though I didn't want him to do it." She paused and swirled the wine in her glass. "I had to spend three weeks in that same ashram to pull myself together after the Corps sent me the pieces of him they were able to find after the explosion."

She shook her head and forged ahead, speaking fast, "But what you really wanted to know about was what that day was like at Kent State. Right?"

Parker shook his head like a person coming up for air after being dunked in a pool. "Stop. Stop. Go back. You were at the demonstration? You were only a kid at the time!"

"I was fifteen. Actually I was exactly the same age as the girl in the famous photo."

Someone asked, "You knew her?"

"No. She went to a different school. There were a lot of teenagers there."

Parker asked, "Why were you with the VVAW?"

"That's kind of a long story."

The man seated on her left said, "Oh, please tell us. We have all night."

She glanced around the table and most of the people were nodding. Hillary was sulking over the fact that someone other than her was hogging the attention of the group, but that made it even more fun for Virginia. "Well, as I said my dad was an Air Force pilot. Hot shot. Arrogant. All the things pilots are famous for. He was very good at what he did. I was the proud daughter of an Air Force officer.

"My mom was an anti-war hippie. I understood from the time I was little that it was possible to be against the war without being anti-military. My mother has never been anti-military. She has always supported a strong defense. For years she taught a class in warfare, which was very popular among the ROTC students on campus.

"She was opposed to the Vietnam war for some very specific political and philosophical reasons, which she would still be delighted to explain to anyone who is interested, in positively excruciating detail – for hours on end. After my older brother was killed, my mom kicked up her anti-war activities a few notches. She even started traveling to demonstrations around the country. Occasionally, she took me with her.

"Once we went to Washington DC for a big demonstration. Afterward we were in the airport waiting for our flight home with a whole host of other hippies. Three Green Berets came walking down the concourse wearing jungle fatigues, carrying their large packs. They were just walking to their gate. They didn't even look at us. Actually I think they were pointedly ignoring us, because hippies were known for being horrible to soldiers. A girl who was sitting on the floor jumped up and spat on one of them. The soldiers stopped in the middle of the concourse. They didn't say anything. They were shocked. And obviously – rightly! – offended.

"Something happened to me. My big brother had been a Green Beret. He had been killed in that very uniform, and I was furious that she would be so disrespectful of these guys, who were just doing their job. I jumped up and ran over to her. It was the only time in my life I ever hit anybody in anger, but I stood there in front of that crowd of hippies and those three big soldiers and cold cocked the bitch. Knocked her on her ass in the middle of the concourse. Then I wiped the spit off the guy's face with my bare hand and apologized for her behavior.

"After that, I refused to have anything go to anti-war demonstrations. I became the babysitter for the children of demonstrators, but I refused to associate with Mom's anti-war friends because I thought it was disrespectful to Gary's memory.

"A few months later, I met a guy from the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. I was just shy of fifteen. I was on campus meeting my mom for lunch or something. This guy was passing out handbills about the VVAW. After I talked to him for a while, I knew I'd found My People. From then on, I resumed attending demonstrations, which my mom liked, even if I wouldn't associate with her group. I soon became the Little Sister of every guy in the VVAW in Kent.

"On that infamous May morning things started getting out of hand early. Some of the more radical leaders were inciting the crowd, but my mom and the head of the local VVAW chapter along with people from some of the other groups that made up the demonstration were fanning out through the crowd trying to calm people down. They were trying to make the demonstrators sit down and be quiet. A couple of the VVAW guys appointed themselves my bodyguards, maneuvering our little group to the edge of the crowd where we sat down and tried to encourage others to do so, too. My mom had pushed her way to the middle of the crowd where the demonstrators were taunting the Guard and throwing rocks and crap. Thank God I didn't know it at the time, but when the Guard fired, Mom was about six feet away from two of the kids who were shot.

"I ended up sitting on the ground between two big burly vets, staring into the barrel of a National Guardsman's rifle. I raised my eyes and met the Guardsman's gaze. It wasn't my brother. My brother was further down the line, but I knew the guy who was pointing his gun at me. He blinked and I could see him raise his gun about three inches, so if he was ordered to fire, he'd fire over our heads. Looking down the line of rifles, I could tell that most of their rifles were similarly elevated. Most. But not all."

She paused for effect. "When the shooting started, one of the guys pushed me down on the ground and threw his body across mine." She looked around the table and almost hissed, "Don't ever let anybody tell you that the Vietnam veterans weren't brave, heroic sons of bitches even after they came home. Maybe especially after they came home, considering how they have been treated... ." She shook her head and cleared her throat, forcing herself to control her emotions, "When the shooting stopped, he jumped up and dragged me away from the crowd. We got to the edge of the crowd and he pushed me away, telling me to run and not stop until I got home. The guys looped back to help with the wounded. I ran a little ways, and then I looped back to find my mother.

"It was pandemonium for a while.

"Fortunately, most of the crowed disbursed after the shots were fired. It didn't take me long to find my mother. Naturally, she was in the middle of the chaos, helping with the wounded. I didn't say anything to her, because she was busy. Once I assured myself that she was okay, I ran all the way home. I did the only thing I knew would calm me down. I sat on the floor in the lotus position concentrating on my breathing and waited for my mother and my brother to join me.

"He arrived first, still in his Guard uniform. He changed quickly and joined me on the floor. A while later my mother came home. She saw the two of us, safe and unharmed, chanting, and she burst into tears. We all cried for long time, then we centered ourselves and meditated until we were calm."

"Nobody in my family participated in any more demonstrations after that."

The man across the table said, "The anti-war movement ended the war."

Virginia sniffed and made a derisive noise. "No, it didn't! The war ended on its own. The politicians had our military completely tied up, making it incapable of doing what would have been necessary to win. The North Vietnamese invaded and kicked us out of the country. The anti-war movement, in my opinion, had absolutely no influence on the outcome whatsoever. It's only impact was to create ill will between liberals and the military. I believe that is unnecessary and hurtful to our country. I'm still a dues paying member of the VVAW and virtually all of my best friends are, too, but I haven't attended a demonstration of any kind since the May 1970. I think the whole anti-war movement was an unholy god-awful disaster."

Evan asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Some of us were there to exercise our freedom of speech and to petition our government to reverse political policies we believed were wrong. I was only a teenager, but I was very clear about my purpose in demonstrating. I demonstrated with a brotherhood of guys who had served our country and who believed in the basic premises that America stands for. Too many of the demonstrators were there to spit in Uncle Sam's face. I could never be a part of that."

Evan asked, "Did your mom continue to demonstrate?"

"No. She never attended another demonstration after the Kent State Massacre. She continued to work behind the scenes. She ended up becoming very politically active, but she decided that demonstrating was too dangerous. Not because you could get shot. She has no problem putting her life on the line for things she believes in. After she retired from teaching she became a Red Cross disaster volunteer. She's been in Haiti for months helping with the earthquake recovery, and that is only her latest foray into the aftermath of a disaster.

"Mom decided that the danger in demonstrations was that there were too many people with too many different agendas. You could end up being caught up in something that wasn't what you intended for it to be. She was right. There were too many people in those crowds who were not just anti-war, but they were anti-America. My mother, my living brother and I could not be a part of that, if for no other reason than that our dead brother would have come back to haunt us, and our dad would have kicked our asses."

She smiled with a loving look on her face, remembering. Then she added, "As I said at the outset, my family managed to be able to love one another and live in peace despite our vast differences. Hell, my mom and dad remained very good friends even after they divorced. In fact, he called us the night of the shootings in Kent and told each one of us that he was proud of our commitment to act on our beliefs, whether he agreed with them or not. I know that disagreeing in love is possible. I've lived it my whole life. It breaks my heart to see our country so divided and bitter when it is so utterly unnecessary."

The table was silent for a few minutes. Virginia said, "I'm sorry. That was totally unacceptable table talk."

One of the ladies said, "I don't think so. It thought it was a good story."

Virginia looked around and asked, "Anybody else got a good story? I'm tired of hearing myself talk."

Hillary seized the opportunity to launch into a long narrative about traveling to China, shortly after Nixon's first trip, with her first husband who was a State Department diplomat. She was a good story-teller and most of the table was enthralled. At one point Virginia looked at Parker with a question in her eyes. He smiled, not with his lips but with his eyes.

## Chapter 4

Parker was blown away by Virginia's story. He watched her eating her soup. He had a sense that she was not really listening to the others' stories, at least not as intently as she appeared to be. He knew he was staring at her almost rudely, but he couldn't help it. She was not beautiful. Her face was dainty and delicate, almost childlike. Her body was a knockout, even with the slightly crinkly skin on her neck and the beginnings of age spots on the back of her hands.

Her hands were amazing. They were tiny like the rest of her and her knuckles were a little knobby with what looked like the beginnings of arthritis, but her hands were knotted with muscles and the veins stood out, like the hands of a weightlifter or a prizefighter.

She was physically strong, that was clear. But beyond physical strength, she exuded another kind of strength – or power – of some sort. He couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly. Whatever its origin, it was magnetic.

Other than occasionally moving food to her mouth and chewing, she sat totally motionless. Parker wondered if that was the result of so much yoga and meditation. Despite her outwardly serene demeanor, he had the sense that she could spring into action in a flash if necessary. She appeared very relaxed, but he sensed that she was deceptively alert.

He found it a little surprising that he wasn't more sexually attracted to her. He considered the possibility of making a pass at her if the opportunity arose, but given how great she looked in that dress he was surprised to discover those feelings were only tentative and somewhat hesitant. Then he realized that her power was something he didn't understand, and he was a little leery of it. The truth was that he was very attracted to her, but if he were really honest, he'd have to admit she scared him a little. He was unaccustomed to being intimidated by women.

She never moved. Never looked at him. In fact, she turned to look at someone to her left. Then she kicked the side of his foot, ever so gently but enough to let him know that she knew he was staring at her. Could she read his mind? _God, I hope not._

He topped off her wine and then tried to focus on the conversation at the table instead of the force field of energy that seemed to be growing around Virginia.

Hillary leaned forward and said, "Parker, you have been very quiet and have not shared any of your stories. Surely for someone who's been in the service as long as you have, you must have some wonderful stories."

Evan said, "If you don't tell some of your stories, I will."

Parker grinned at his son. "In that case, I'd better talk fast. Seems the subject of this story fest is adventures we had when we were young. I had adventures in the service, but I don't like to talk about those much. I want to tell you about the summer I spent working with my parents on a tug boat on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers." He launched into a long narrative about a trip he made from Maysville to New Orleans the summer he was fourteen. He was an experienced story-teller and the tale was amusing and entertaining.

When he was finished Virginia grinned at him and said, "My, my you're just a regular Huck Finn."

He grinned. "You know that was my favorite book when I was a kid. I can't tell you how many times I've read it. I actually took it with me on that trip."

Evan said, "Did I tell you they removed it from the library at my son's school?"

"No!"

"Yes. It has been deemed to be racist."

One of the ladies held up both hands, "Could we please not go there. I'm a librarian. I am generally the stereotypical mousy Marian the Librarian type, but I turn into a screaming, f-bomb-dropping, raving maniac when the subject of banning books comes up."

Virginia giggled, "As amusing as that might be, we should probably steer clear on my account, too. My mother was a college professor as were both of my grandparents. I'm a history teacher, myself. I get a little worked up on the subject of censorship, too." She tried to look sheepish, but couldn't quite pull it off.

Evan looked around. "How many teachers are there at this table?" Every one raised their hands except the librarian, Hillary, Evan and Parker.

Parker decided to break down and acknowledge Hillary if only to see if Virginia would react. He leaned forward slightly and asked, "Hillary, what do you do?"

Hillary looked as though she would melt at the very thought of him speaking directly to her. Virginia didn't move but he sensed interior laughter. Hillary said, "I have married very well. As I told you earlier my first husband was a diplomat. After we divorced, I married a surgeon. I have been blessed to have never had to work at a paying job."

Virginia smiled at her and said, "I'll bet you've put in forty hours a week almost every week of your life raising money for community charities, though."

Hillary looked surprised and said, with what appeared to be genuine modesty, "I have been active in my community. It always seemed to be the right thing to do for someone in my circumstances."

Evan said, "Well, aren't we just the most _decent_ group of people imaginable?"

One of the ladies asked Virginia, "You said you meditate and practice yoga. Are you a Buddhist?"

Virginia took a sip of wine and held up her glass, saying, "Obviously not! I know some people who combine yoga with prayer forms from various religions. My family was not religious in any way, so my meditation practice is without religious content. In fact, my personal practice involves as little content of any kind as possible. I'm basically a breath-counter."

The woman looked very disapproving. Before she could launch into some kind of religious spiel, Parker said, "We need to steer clear of religion, too."

The man next to Virginia said, with a hint of a leer in his voice, "We could talk about sex."

Virginia laughed, "In light of the stories I've heard about cruises, I suggest that we be really different from everybody else and _not_ talk about sex."

One of the women said, "Oh, come on. That's the main reason some people go on cruises."

The waiters passed the dessert menus, cautioning that the Baked Alaska would be available that evening only. The subject turned to food. Virginia said, "I know what we can talk about. Dessert! What is the best dessert you ever had?"

There was applause around the table. It was perfectly safe table talk. Hillary, who seemed to be willing to retract the claws after Virginia's nice comment earlier, said, "Your idea. You start."

Virginia closed her eyes, smiled and said, "You're going to laugh at how mundane it is, but my favorite dessert of all time is vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip cookies crumbled on top. Not that cookie dough ice cream shit. I want my cookies baked and then crumbled on top. I let the ice cream melt until it's almost like soft serve, then I mix the cookies in and eat it, very slowly."

Parker said, "I thought you said we shouldn't talk about sex."

She blushed and then shook off her embarrassment and laughed, "I'm a widow. I get my enjoyment where I can."

Everybody laughed and proceeded to go around the table with dessert stories. The baked Alaska was okay. Virginia took a couple of bites and pushed her plate aside. She smiled, "You're right. It's cake and ice cream. I'll pass."

He said, "They have ice cream and cookies in the Lido. Want to go for a walk and then get dessert later."

"Yes!"

They excused themselves and walked out of the dining room with Virginia in the lead and Parker following close behind. They had been almost the last to arrive and they were among the first to leave the dining room, so they made something of an exit in addition to the big entrance.

They went outside the promenade deck and Parker set a brisk pace. Virginia struggled to keep up at first. Then she stopped and took off her too-big shoes, after which she was able to keep up with him more easily, despite the fact that he was much taller than her. She said, "Thank you for talking me into that. I had fun."

He looked at his watch. "It's only ten o'clock. We have a whole hour before you turn into a pumpkin. Want to go dancing?"

She sighed. "I don't know how to dance. At least not slow dancing."

"Have you ever done anything just for fun. Wild crazy fun?"

She walked beside him, thinking. "Not in a very long time. When I was in college, one year a bunch of us went to Florida on Spring Break. I smoked pot and had sex with a stranger. It turned out not to be fun at all. The dope made me paranoid. And the guy was a lousy in bed, of course I was not really aware of how awful it was until later." She thought about it some more. "I think the most fun thing I ever did that I actually enjoyed – besides eating ice cream and cookies, every time – was the time I took my kids to Florida when they were little. I didn't care much for Disney World, but I loved the beach. We jumped in the waves and rode bikes on the beach. That was fun."

"When was the last time you went to the beach."

"That time."

"You enjoyed it that much, but you never went back?"

"It's hard to explain. That time was great, but the kids got older and they became involved in school. They both went to camp in the summers. We never took family vacations. I guess I was kind of afraid that I'd never be able to repeat that first time, and I didn't want to try."

"Did you have a good marriage?"

"My husband was a good man. He provided well for us. He was very damaged, however. I met him through the VVAW. He was just back from 18 months in Vietnam, and he was severely wounded in body, mind and spirit. The physical wounds healed. I think eventually some of the emotional pain healed. His soul never recovered. He made an excellent living so we never wanted for anything materially, but he worked too hard and was utterly incapable of letting himself have any enjoyment out of life. He felt guilty for being alive when so many people he loved were dead. I spent thirty years on a private suicide watch. Every time I left him alone, I feared he would kill himself."

"Did you love him?"

"I'm not sure what we had was ever love. We had great sex from the beginning, and always. We had a very good family life. He was involved in the kids' lives. We never missed a school performance or a sporting event. We did little things together. We had family game night on Sunday which was the only day of the week he took off of work. My family liked him. His family liked me. We were content. He wasn't capable of loving anyone, except, possibly, his kids – although they'd probably have told you that they weren't sure about that."

"Did he die before or after your son?"

"Thankfully, he died six months before Randy was killed.

"When those Marines came to my house, – before I opened the door, I saw that they were Marines and I knew why they were there – I remember feeling so grateful that Tom was already dead. I could not have helped him suffer through that loss, while dealing with my own pain."

"You suffered through it alone."

She whispered, "But I only had to cope with my own grief, not his, too. Please, let's change the subject."

He took her hand and said with a brighter tone, "Well, lady, you are going to the beach tomorrow. You can jump in the waves, if there are any, although these waters tend to be very calm. I want to go kayaking in the ocean. We can go snorkeling, too."

"I told you. I'm not putting on a bathing suit where people can see me."

"How about a wet suit with pants?"

She looked at him, amazed. "I've never though of that!"

He grinned with a lascivious expression and said, "Honey, you would look so hot in a wet suit!"

She said, "Do they have wet suits you can rent?"

"We'll find out tomorrow."

"Well, even if they don't. I'll go to the beach and sit in the sand, watching you strut your stuff. That will be entertaining at least."

"You ready for dessert?"

"Nah. I'm too full even for ice cream and cookies. Let's do that tomorrow after the beach."

"You want to go to the casino?"

"Nope. Too cheap for gambling!"

"You want to keep walking around in circles for an hour."

"That would be fine if that's what you want to do, but there is something else I'd like to do. Since you've got me in the mood to lighten up and try new things."

"What?"

"It's dark. Almost everyone is inside. I've never been in a hot tub. I'd like to try it."

"Bathing suit and all?"

"As I said, it's dark."

"There are lights in the hot tub."

"You don't have to look too close, if you wouldn't mind."

"How about I tell you something very personal about me that may make you feel better, but will embarrass me to say out loud."

"What?"

"I'm a tit man, and I don't think my eyes will drift below your chest."

She laughed. "I don't know about you, but I'm embarrassed. I appreciate your sharing that, though. It helps."

"I'm embarrassed, too. Let's go change. I'll meet you upstairs in ten minutes."

He was waiting for the elevator when she walked past on the stairs. He followed her. They walked up six flights of stairs and neither of them was winded at the top. She winked at him. He gave her a high five.

The lighting by the hot tub was very low and they were the only ones nearby. A few couples were necking off in corners of the pool deck and a group was partying in the pool bar. Virginia was wearing the same cover-up she had worn by the pool, consisting of pants and a tunic. He said gently, "If you want you can wear the pants in the pool."

She shook her head. "No. They won't be dry by tomorrow. Let me get in first." She slipped out of her pants and stepped into the warm water. She took off her tunic and threw it on top of the pants. Parker caught his breath. She might have been in her mid-fifties, and it showed in spots, but she was very compact and in great shape. Her breasts appeared to be completely natural. It had been decades since he'd touched a breast that wasn't full of silicone. It was all he could to not to reach out and grab her.

He walked over to the towel rack and took out a couple of towels. He placed them on the dry deck where he could reach them. Then he turned on the bubbler before he got into the water. She looked surprised, and pleased. The bubbler made the water opaque. She sank down up to her neck, closed her eyes, groaning with pleasure. "I always thought a hot tub looked like it would feel good. This is unbelievable."

"Let me tell you something. You groan like that one more time, and you might be getting more pleasure than you bargained for."

She looked embarrassed and said, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Just don't do it again." He winked at her.

They were quiet for a while. She settled back down and closed her eyes. Suddenly she opened her eyes and said, "Should we not stay here too long? We had wine with dinner. Isn't there a risk of heart attacks in a hot tub if you've been drinking?"

"For one thing we didn't even finish that bottle of wine. I don't think the tub is hot enough to be dangerous. Ten or fifteen minutes is certainly safe, which is about all the time you have if you're going to make it to bed by eleven. That's about as long as I can stand to sit in a tub of water anyway. Relax. I set the bubbler timer for ten minutes. We'll get out it goes off."

She leaned back and floated her arms on the water. Her breasts jiggled in the bubbles and Parker had to use all the self-control he had to keep his hands resting on the ledge. Her eyes were closed, so he stared at her. Without opening her eyes, she said, "I wish you wouldn't stare at me like that. It's making me uncomfortable."

"How do you know I'm staring at you?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him, obviously puzzled, "Can't you tell when someone is looking at you?"

He thought about that and said, "I don't think so."

"I don't believe you."

"I can tell that someone else is nearby even if I can't see them. But I can't tell if someone is looking at me. You can? Huh?"

"That actually surprises me for a sniper. I'd think you'd have developed instincts like that. But, yeah, if I'm in a crowd, I can't always tell who is looking at me, but I almost always know if someone is staring at me."

He chuckled and asked, "Can can you tell what part of the body they're looking at?"

"Most of the time, which is why it was surprising to me that you were concentrating on my face and not elsewhere."

"You want to know the truth?"

"I don't know. Do I?"

"I'm glad to know that you can't read minds." He paused, "Can you?"

"No. I can't read minds exactly, but I often know what people are thinking by watching their face. I can't tell what people are thinking when I have my eyes closed."

"Good. Keep them closed while we're here. I'm enjoying some thoughts that I'd like to keep to myself."

"Why were you looking at my face and not my boobs?"

"Initially, because when I looked at your breasts I wanted to touch them so much I had to look at something else to avoid reaching out and doing something that would have probably ruined a very special moment for you. Then once I started studying your face, I found it so fascinating, I let my eyes stay there."

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "That may very well be the kindest and most touching thing someone has ever done for me. Thank you." Giant tears welled up in her eyes and fell into the water. She added, "I failed to mention earlier, I'm a terrible cry baby."

The bubbler cut off. She put her hands over her lap. He said, "Let me get out first. You want me to get us a nightcap from the bar?"

"I don't want a drink, but I'd love a glass of water."

He stepped out of the tub dried himself with one towel pushed the other one toward her. He headed for the bar without looking back at her. She got out of the tub dried herself and wrapped up in a dry towel. She spread more towels over two chairs by the pool. He was back in a minute with a glass of ice water for her and a beer for himself. She leaned back in the chair and said, "The last twenty four plus hours have been maybe some of the best times I've had in my life."

"We still have all day tomorrow and Sunday."

She smiled. And then she yawned.

He looked at his watch. "Five till eleven, Cinderella."

She stretched. "Part of me would like to order a beer and stay up all night talking, but I'm not going to do that. We dock at 6:00 AM and the first tenders leave the boat at 7:30. I plan to be in the gym by five, so I don't miss a moment of my day at the beach."

He stood up and took her hand to lift her from her chair. "Then we'd both better hit the sack. Tomorrow will be a long day."

He walked her to her cabin. She had put her pants back on but carried the tunic over her arm. He looked down the front of her bathing suit and resisted the urge to touch her. She smiled at him and said, "Oh, for Pete's sake, go ahead."

"You mean it?"

"Yes. Get it over with."

He touched her and smiled. "I knew they were all natural."

"You could have asked."

"This is more fun." He took his hand away. "My friend with whom I share benefits has a wonderful body and she's a great lover, but she has breast implants. I hate them. They're hard and unnatural."

"My mother had implants after her mastectomy. I tease her because she's got the boobs of a twenty-five year old at her age. I've never touched them, of course. My mom hates them, too, but the doctor who did her mastectomy was such a butcher, she got upset every time she looked at herself in the mirror, so she went through with the reconstruction even though she initially planned to simply use prosthetic devices. What do they feel like?"

"They're nasty. Like rubber balls." He chuckled. "I keep telling her I'd like to find a friend with natural boobs, but I like her too well in other ways."

"You aren't in love with her?"

"No. We're good friends. We know each other way too well to risk emotional involvement. We hang out together. We have sex a few times a year. It's a relationship of convenience."

"Do either of you see other people?"

"She dates other men, but she doesn't have sex with them. I used to date other women, but I haven't been on a date in years, until tonight."

She raised her eyebrows. "Was tonight a date?"

He put his finger under her chin and said, "It wasn't supposed to be, but it turned out that way."

"You were very upset at first when I started telling my story, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was. When you started talking about your anti-war involvement, I actually thought about leaving the room. I have never had any use for the anti-war people. I had too many unfortunate interactions with hippies back in the day. I'm glad I stuck around, because your story touched me. For the first time I realized that there may have been people among the demonstrators who didn't think I was a crazed baby-killer."

She put her arms around him and whispered into his chest, "The hippies tripping out on LSD got the most attention, but I've got to tell you, those crowds always included considerable numbers of family members of men who were serving or who had given everything already. A lot of us just wanted to bring you guys home, because we didn't want your families to go through what we had been through." Her tears dripped on his bare chest.

He put his arms around her and whispered into her hair, "Thank you."

She looked up into his eyes. They were shining and filled with pain.

"We need to call it a night, Colonel."

He kissed her ever so lightly and briefly on the lips, murmuring, "Good night. I'll see you in the morning." Turning and walking away after tasting her mouth was a triumph of self-control.

## Chapter 5

She closed the door and leaned against the inside, while wave after wave of emotion washed over her: fear mingled with excitement; frustrated sexual arousal beat out embarrassment; and, anticipation for the next day was overshadowed by anxiety over the possibility that he might move on to flirt with someone else.

Never one to indulge her emotions, she washed her face, brushed her teeth and hung her bathing suit in the bathroom. She crawled into bed, nude, as always. For the first time in a long time she had trouble going to sleep.

Despite her late night, she woke at 3:45 before her alarm went off. She did yoga exercises for forty minutes, breathing carefully. At the end, she sat on her balcony in the lotus position, simply breathing for twenty minutes. At a few minutes before five, she put on exercise clothes and ran up the stairs to the gym. She was only slightly winded when she arrived. She had done her weight work the day before, so this morning she hopped on the treadmill, ramped it up to a 15% incline and set off at a moderate jog.

Five minutes later, she heard the door open. Parker stepped onto the treadmill next to her and said, "Howdy, ma'am. Did you rest well?"

"As a matter of fact, I didn't."

He looked unabashedly pleased by that. "Prurient thoughts, I hope."

"Perhaps a few. Mostly just my usual neurotic anxiety and crazy mental monkey chatter. How about you?"

"I was busy focusing on the prurient thoughts. No time for anxiety or neurotic worrying. I'll have plenty of time for that after I get home."

"You don't strike me as the least bit anxious or neurotic."

"You're not the only good actor around."

"Understood." She lowered the elevation and bumped up the speed so she was running at the same pace as Parker. "What's on the agenda for today, Colonel?"

"After we're through here, we'll have chow. Then we can go for a walk around the deck for a while. By about eight we can get ready to go ashore. They have bike rentals, but the whole island is only a couple of miles long. I figure we can walk or jog for a while and then go to the beach. I checked with the desk. They do have wetsuits and snorkeling gear along with canoes, paddle boats and kayaks. We can get all kinds of exercise and then eat hamburgers and ice cream for lunch. How does that sound?"

"That sounds absolutely wonderful! What do I have to do to arrange for a wetsuit?"

"There's a rental hut on the island."

She grinned. "I'm excited!"

At eight fifteen they were waiting by the tender door. There were only a few other early birds waiting with them. The sea was glassy and the sky cloudless. Virginia was surprised that there were no waves. The ocean was like a lake with amazingly clear water. She could see all the way to the bottom. The fish were beautiful. She looked up and said, "I think I do want to try snorkeling."

She rented a wetsuit and snorkel gear. He rented snorkel gear for himself and a two-person kayak. The rental agent told them where they could swim and where they couldn't. Parker didn't bother with a wet suit. The water was warm enough for him. Virginia initially looked at a wet suit with short sleeves and pants that ended at the knee. The rental agent looked at her and said, "Ma'am with that white skin of yours, I'd recommend a full body suit. You're going to have to take care of your face with heavy duty sunblock, but a full suit will keep you from getting sunburned anyplace else. You'll be hot out in the sun, but the water's cool, and, later, you'll be glad you took the precaution."

"Do you think I'll be the only one in a wet suit?"

"No. Quite a few people wear them. Sometimes people don't like the cool water. Some people have fair skin. Some people have modesty issues. There will be a lot of sunburned folks at dinner tonight who should have spent a few bucks on a suit."

"Thanks."

She went into a bathroom to change. Parker flipped the guy $10 and said, "Thanks."

The guy grinned, "She's gonna look good in that suit!"

"She's old enough to be your mother."

"Maybe from the neck up."

Parker laughed. Virginia came out in the baby blue wetsuit that fit her like skin. He laughed.

"Just what is so funny?"

"The rental agent was right. You are very hot."

"That kid? He's a child."

"He thought you were one hot mama."

She sighed and said, "I am going to be one literally hot mama if I don't get into the water soon. This suit's very warm."

He let her go ahead. She turned and said over her shoulder, "What are you doing, checking out my ass?"

"Damn right I am. You squished your boobs into that tight suit and ruined the view from the front. I thought I'd check out the behind."

"And?"

"No complaints on this end either."

He suggested they snorkel first and then kayak. Even though she was in great shape, she was unused to swimming, and he expected her become tired. He could paddle the kayak by himself if she pooped out before he did. He showed her how to use the snorkel gear and then they duck-walked into the water until it was deep enough to swim.

She was surprised at how easy it was to swim with the flippers and the slick suit. She could almost keep up with Parker, although she thought he was probably swimming slower than he would have if she weren't there. Once they arrived at the snorkeling area she realized she didn't know how to do a surface dive. Parker tried to teach her but she couldn't get the hang of it. He offered to let her ride on his back. She moved behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. He said, "Don't forget. You have to breathe OUT."

"Got it!" But she forgot. On the first dive, she was so amazed by the beautiful fish she gasped, and inhaled water. Parker pushed her up out of the water held her over his arm and slapped her back, while treading water. She sputtered, coughed and gasped for air.

"Dammit, I told you to breathe out or hold your breath during the dive."

"I'm sorry. I forgot. Could we try again?"

"OK but this time concentrate and try not to fucking drown on me."

"Yes, sir. Got it."

After a few more tries she got the hang of it. She discovered that if she put her hand on his diaphragm, she could follow his breathing pattern. That helped her time her own breathing. After a few false starts, she even learned to do a successful, if very splashy and messy, surface dive of her own. Parker teased her about scaring away the fish.

They played in the water for a couple of hours. Then they got into the kayak and went further out into deeper water, where they couldn't see all the way to the bottom. A dolphin suddenly came alongside. Parker whispered, "Don't touch him." The dolphin swam with them for a little way. Then he squirted them with water from he blow hole and swam away. Virginia was very quiet. Parker leaned forward, "You okay?"

She turned to him with tears in her eyes. "Oh, my God, did you see how beautiful that creature was? His eyes? I swear he was smiling."

"You've never seen a dolphin before?"

"I've seen them in aquariums, behind glass, where they swim in circles and look depressed. Animals in captivity make me sad. This one was wild and free and happy. I'd come out here naked with my varicose veins hanging out to see that again."

"As attractive as that image is, it won't be necessary."

A little while later the dolphin came back and checked them out again. Virginia talked to it as though it could understand, thanking the animal for joining them and for making this day so special for her. As she spoke she leaned closer to the dolphin. It stuck its head out of the water, nodding and making a sound like laughter and waving its flippers. Virginia said, "Thank you so much."

The dolphin waved again and then flipped up into the air and disappeared into the deep water.

Parker leaned forward and asked, "Do you always talk to animals?"

"Oh, yes. I talk to animals. I talk to plants. If it's a living creature with a soul, I'll talk to it."

"I thought animals didn't have souls. And certainly not plants."

"You have been bamboozled by some kind of goofy Christian doctrine. Every living thing has a soul. That's the life force that differentiates inanimate from animate things."

"Says who?"

"Me."

"Based on what?"

"My observations of the world I live in."

## Chapter 6

Parker looked at her back. She was sitting perfectly straight in the seat. Her back was not touching the back of the seat. She was looking around at the scenery but she followed his paddle strokes exactly.

"How are you doing that?"

"What?"

"Even when I change the rhythm of the strokes, you are only a second behind me."

"You shift your weight just slightly to the opposite side of where you're going to put in the paddle, and just before you dip it in, you lean forward. I just do what you do, in the opposite direction."

"But you can't see me do it."

"We're in a boat. When you move. The boat moves. I can feel it."

He realized that she had amazing powers of concentration and observation. He said, "You know. I bet you could learn to dance in about a minute flat. Because it amounts to doing what you're doing right now. Feeling where your partner wants to go and then moving along in the opposite direction. What do you say we try it tonight?"

She said, "OK." He somehow thought she was barely listening.

She whispered, "Look!" Just ahead of them there was a pair of dolphins feeding. They swam around in a circle, herding a school of fish together. Then they dove into the fish, splashing and slashing through the school. They surfaced some distance away, located the school again and started over. After a few minutes, the dolphins moved on, gamboling in the water and evidently having a blast. Virginia clapped her hands in delight.

A little while later, he said, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. They're grilling hamburgers. What do you say?"

"I hardly ever eat red meat, but this weekend is all about doing stuff I never do any other time. I'm up for that. And ice cream for dessert, of course."

He leaned forward and whispered. "I checked. They have chocolate chip cookies, too."

"Let's go!"

Parker was tired by the time they lugged the kayak onto the beach, but Virginia seemed as fresh as she had at five AM. She had not missed a paddle stroke. He was as impressed by her stamina as he was by her ass. They went through the line and took hamburgers with all the fixings. Parker took some fries as well. Virginia opted for melon. They sat across from one another in the shade of a covered pavilion.

Virginia said, "God, it's hot in this suit." She unzipped the top and slipped out of the sleeves, letting the top fall to her waist, like a surfer. It was an unselfconscious act on her part. The whole thing took all of five seconds, which was long enough for Parker to become totally aroused. He put his head in his hands and fought for control.

She leaned forward and asked, "Are you okay?"

He swallowed hard and then took a long swallow of iced tea. He leaned forward and whispered, "Please do NOT do that again."

"What?"

"The strip tease bit."

At first it looked as though she didn't understand, then he could see a look of comprehension dawn in her eyes, at which point she blushed, a deep burgundy that reached all the way down her to her chest and crept under the edge of her suit. He followed it with his eyes. She said, "I'm so sorry."

He laughed, "Oh, please don't apologize. It was utterly wonderful. Just don't ask me to get up for a little while."

She said, "I thought we weren't going to flirt."

He looked at her and met her eyes, "Understand this well, ma'am. I am not flirting with you. I am flat-out, straight-ahead pursuing you. I'm pretty sure that if the opportunity arises before the end of this cruise, I will make a regular old, honest-to-God pass. I can't remember the last time I came on to a woman I'd just met. You can feel free to turn me down, and I'll respect your wishes, but we're both doing things on this trip that we don't do any other time. You have my attention. Fully. And I don't kid around once my hormones kick in."

She smiled, and blushed again. She cut her hamburger in half, and put half of it on his plate. Then she cut the other half into two sections. "I'll be sick all afternoon if I eat a whole hamburger." She looked up and said, "And I don't want to be sick because I want to go dancing tonight."

"Maybe we should take a nap this afternoon so you can stay up a little later."

"That might not be a bad idea. I think I've had enough sun."

"Let's see if we can find a place in the shade to crash after lunch."

Virginia ate only a quarter of her hamburger. She ate all of the melon slices. Parker felt like a pig eating his hamburger, and the half of hers she had given him. He looked at the piece that was left on her plate. She motioned for him to take it. She said, "You're going to have to do a lot of laps around the promenade deck and/or boogie till dawn to work off that meal."

He shrugged. "It's worth it, though."

As they left the table, she said, "If we're through in the water, I think I'm going to change out of this suit. For one thing, it's very hot. For another thing, I feel weird. I'm the only one on the beach wearing a wet suit."

She got her day pack out of the locker they had selected and went into the bathroom to change. She came out in her white coverup, carrying the wetsuit. Parker said, "You look much more comfortable, but, damn, I miss that wet suit already."

"Behave!"

They returned the snorkel gear and walked along the beach looking for a place in the shade. All of the chairs were taken. Parker spied a double hammock strung between two palm trees. It was in the shade. He said, "If you don't mind being close, that's an option, or we can go back to the ship. I'm sure there are plenty of places in the shade there. I think everybody on the whole ship is here, so we shouldn't have trouble finding a chair."

She pondered for a minute. "I don't want to leave the beach. Let's try the hammock." She turned and looked at him through narrowed eyes, "Assuming, of course, that you will mind your manners."

"I promise to try to behave."

He plopped down in the middle of the hammock. She sat down on the side, and fell on her ass in the sand, knocking him out also. He stood up brushing sand off his butt and said, "Jesus Christ, woman, have you never been in a hammock before? You can't sit on the side, for God's sake."

She stood up, looking sheepish. "No. I never have been in a hammock before."

"Let's try this again. This time you get in first. Let me help you." He stretched the hammock and told her to put her butt in the middle and lie down quickly. Once she was balanced, he stretched the netting to one side and swung his legs up. He put his right arm under her head. She rested her head against his shoulder. He could tell she was fighting back tears.

"You okay?"

She shook her head and said, "Every night of my married life I slept in my husbands arms like this."

"You miss him?"

She thought about that longer than he expected her to. "Actually, I don't miss him personally very much at all. He was a very difficult person to be married to. As I told you, he was depressed and unhappy. I mourned him when he died, but I actually found that I was more at ease living alone than I ever had been living with him. I never knew when he was going to lose his temper or go into one of his depressive spirals. I don't miss him most of the time. I do miss the physical intimacy, however. That was always very good."

Parker could think of a hundred responses, all of them inappropriate, so he said nothing. He also resisted the urge to put his other arm around her.

They lay quietly for a while. Parker thought she may have fallen asleep and raised his head to look at her face. She smiled up at him and winked, "There you go, staring at me again."

He put his head back down and said, "You said your dad remarried. Did your mom?"

"No. My mom is a total ascetic. She has never admitted it to me, but I think she may be a Buddhist nun or at least she's taken some kind of vows of some sort. We were the strangest hippie family in America. We dressed like regular hippies, which is to say we dressed pretty much like homeless people. Mom bought all our clothes at the Goodwill, even though we could afford better. She wanted to dress like poor people to identify with the poor and also for environmental reasons. She was seriously into recycling of everything. We didn't buy anything new except for underwear. We were vegan and we meditated – only we were serious about both and not dilettantes like most hippies.

"We were different from other hippies in a few important ways. A lot of hippies were dirty. They didn't bathe and their houses were disgusting. My mother is a fanatic about cleanliness. We all bathed every day. We cleaned the house from top to bottom every Saturday morning before anyone was allowed out of the house. We had bare wood floors which were swept twice a week and mopped every Saturday. We scrubbed the tub every time we used it and cleaned the toilets and sinks daily. We washed the inside of the windows monthly and the outside twice a year.

"My mother was as opposed to the use of any kind of chemicals in the body as she was opposed to the war. She did not allow alcohol or drugs of any kind into the house, including prescription medication. All our medicine was homeopathic. We never went to a regular medical doctor. We went to a Chinese lady who did acupuncture and gave us herbs.

"Mom was also not a fan of free love. Frankly, I think she was almost completely asexual. She and I shared a bedroom. To my knowledge she never went on a date while I lived at home, and I've never heard her mention a man since I moved out."

"What about you? What did you do for fun before you got married? Did you date much?"

"After I started college, I occasionally drank beer and smoked pot. I assure you I only did that when I was spending the night with a friend so I could get it out of my system before I had to face my mother. I had that one crazy weekend in Florida. When I was in high school and even college I didn't really date very much because most of the guys I hung out with regularly were VVAW guys who were too old for me. But, compared with the combat hardened men I hung out with, the pimply high school and college boys I knew held no interest for me. I kind of skipped the whole high school dating thing.

"I met Tom through the VVAW shortly after I graduated from college. By then I was old enough to date the veterans I hung around with. We dated briefly and then got married. He was the only guy I ever really went out with, and – other than the one time in Florida – the only man I ever had sex with."

"How did your mom feel about you marrying a Vet?"

"She liked all my VVAW friends. Our house was always open to any of them, provided they didn't bring beer or smoke anything in the house. Naturally, few of them took her up on her hospitality because most of them drank like fish and virtually all of them smoked cigarettes and a lot of them smoked pot, too." She chuckled. "Anyway, Mom didn't have a problem with Tom being a Veteran. What she had a problem with was the fact that he refused to get psychiatric counseling, which she thought he needed for what she believed was PTSD. It turned out she was totally right about his need for counseling. I don't think he had PTSD. He didn't have nightmares or flashbacks or any of that. I think he was chronically depressed. I ended up in counseling myself a few times out of desperation." She sighed.

"Why did you ask if my mom remarried?"

"I was curious about the way she brought you up. There is something about you that seems very innocent and childlike. Maybe it's partly your looks. You look like a young girl, but you are obviously strong." He took her small but muscular hand in his large powerful one. "Squeeze my hand." She clamped down until he winced. Then she stopped. He chuckled, "Very strong. But you talk to animals and clap at the antics of fish and you've never snorkeled or slept in a hammock or dated. It's almost as though you've lived in some kind of bubble."

She leaned back against him, turning slightly so she could look into his face, but not so far as to alter the balance in the hammock. "That's a very good observation. In a way, you're right. I discovered after Tom died that I had been living in something like suspended animation for a long time. I didn't have a job. I did some charity work but not as much as I should have. I mainly stayed at home, working out furiously, cleaning stuff that didn't need to be cleaned and reading books to escape.

"When I was growing up, my mother had a TV but we were only allowed to watch PBS, and even that for only an hour or two on the weekend, so I never got in the habit of watching TV. I stopped reading the newspapers when Ronald Reagan was elected and have never resumed the habit. I basically hid in my house for most of my marriage.

"When you live with someone who is depressed and miserable, I guess you live as though you are depressed, too. The only thing that kept me even partially sane was my daily practice of yoga, meditation and exercise. I exercise a lot less now than I did when Tom was alive. I limit myself to an hour or so a day, plus two classes a week. When it's nice out I may take long walks or bike rides on the weekends, but other than that I stick with what I consider to be a moderate schedule. When Tom was alive, sometimes I'd work out for four or five hours a day, every day." She laughed, "I'm downright flabby now compared to then."

Parker smiled at her and poked his index finger into her hard stomach. "I detect no flab."

She stretched and relaxed against him. "It's sad to say, but I feel much better these days." She paused and drew a ragged breath. "I got over Tom's death fairly easily. He had spent thirty years wanting to die. I figured he finally got what he wanted. The thing that almost sent me over the edge was Randy's death. I had a really bad year after my son was killed. I actually checked myself into a hospital at one point. They just wanted to give me drugs, so I checked myself out. I went to my mom's favorite ashram in West Virginia, and spent three weeks on my butt in the temple, mostly trying to think of one good reason for not putting a gun in my mouth and ending my pain. One day, I discovered that I would not do that, ever. At that point, I felt it was safe for me to go home.

"After that, I decided it was time for me to put aside my mourning and a build a life for me. Not as somebody's wife or somebody's mother. A life for myself. I put my house up for sale, and rented an apartment. I had always maintained my teaching certificate. In fact, I took so much continuing education, I actually have a PhD and could teach in college. Anyway, I got a job teaching history in the high school I attended when I was a kid. I got involved with a couple of organizations in town and made some new friends. Last year, I vacationed with my mom. This year my friends talked me into taking this trip by myself.

"They insist that I need to have some fun. The problem is that I guess I never really learned how to simply have fun, on the one hand. And, on the other hand, my life is so simple and small that small, simple things entertain me sufficiently. Big entertainment events overwhelm me. I can assure you this is my first and my last cruise. As wonderful as it is to have met someone like you, the noise, crowds and constant activity are overwhelming. I'm glad I didn't go on a longer cruise."

He lifted his head and looked into her eyes, "What will you do when you leave the ship?"

"I have the whole summer off. I am considering buying a rail pass ticket and hopping on a westbound train, getting on and off when something strikes my fancy. My daughter is in medical school in Chicago. I will end up there in August when she has a break between summer session and fall. She's going to show me around Chicago. Between now and then, I have no specific plans."

She looked up at him, "Enough about me. What about you? What will you do when we leave the ship and you go back to your regular life?"

Parker felt himself wanting to bury his face in her hair and cry. He swallowed hard and said, "Immediately, I will return to Parris Island and continue to train Marines in the fine art of being a sniper. The easy part of that is training them to shoot straight. The hard part is training them in the techniques they'll need to stay alive.

"Long term, I have been informed that I am expected to retire on my 65th birthday, which will occur next month. At that point, I have no earthly idea what in the fuck I will do with myself." He paused for a long time and then said the words he had held in his heart for years but never dared to speak aloud, "I'm scared, because I can't imagine life without the Corps."

She took his hand and held it tightly, but she said nothing. Parker pulled himself together and smiled into her eyes, "Maybe your story will help. Maybe I could come to like the idea of building a new life, after I think about it for a while, but I don't want to go to an ashram and sit on the ground."

"Where are you going to live?"

"I don't know. I always assumed I'd move to Paducah to be near my kids, but I've lived near the ocean for a number of years and I like it. I may stay in South Carolina or coastal Georgia. I'm not sure. I've never owned a house. I've always lived on base housing and saved my money. I suppose I can afford to live about anywhere."

She was quiet for a few minutes then she said, "Let's make a deal."

"What?"

"Let's play Scarlet O'Hara for the next forty eight hours. Let's not think about the future or worry about what may happen. Let's just enjoy ourselves, right here, right now. We'll worry about the future when we get off the ship."

He decided to seize the opportunity. "How much enjoyment do you have in mind for us to have?"

She smiled, "Let's just see what happens!" A puzzled and concerned look flashed across her face.

He asked, "What's wrong?"

"Well, first of all, I have to go to the bathroom and, secondly, I'm ready for some ice cream, but I don't know how to get out of this contraption without landing on my ass in the sand again."

"Thank you for the warning. Let me get up first, because if you try to get up first, we'll both fall." He hopped out of the hammock quickly. Then he leaned over and said, "The easiest and safest way get your uncoordinated self up is, this way." He picked her up like a child and set her on her feet in front of him.

She laughed and said, "Thanks. I'm going to the bathroom. I'll meet you by the ice cream."

They ate their dessert and then took a tender back to the ship before the mad rush at the end of the day.

As they walked up the stairs from the tender port she asked, "What are you going to do now?"

"I was kind of thinking about a nap. What about you."

"I need to stretch my legs after all that balancing in the hammock. I think I'd like to go for a walk. Then maybe I might splurge on something else I've never done."

"What's that?"

"I've never had a massage. I'd like to have one of those hot stone treatments. Doesn't that sound delicious?"

"Yes, it is wonderful. I get massages regularly."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I have a really good massage therapist who takes good care of my muscles. I'm way too old to crawl around on my elbows and shlep big weapons around the way I do, so I have to take extra care, especially of my shoulders and arms."

"How much do you think a massage on this ship would cost?"

"Too much, but it would be worth it. You should do it. Call the spa from any phone and make an appointment. We can go for a walk for a little while. I recommend that you meditate for at least fifteen or twenty minutes before you go to the spa."

"You meditate?"

"Not the way you do. But my masseuse has taught me enough breathing exercises to get me pretty relaxed before she starts working on my shoulders. Before I learned to do that, it would take her twenty minutes to get me to settle down,"

"Interesting. I feel pretty relaxed already. Why don't you get a massage, too?"

"No. I have a feeling that you may need assistance back to your room. I don't want to be so weak kneed that I can't help you."

"It makes you weak in the knees?"

"Oh, yeah! I used to have to lie on the table for at least fifteen minutes and then I'd sit in my car for another fifteen minutes. Now, Paulina comes to my apartment, always late in the afternoon on Friday. She has a portable table. She does the massage in my bedroom, then kind of rolls me off the table, helps me to bed and lets herself out. I typically don't move until I wake up the next morning."

"Maybe I shouldn't do it."

"Do it. No more than a half hour. Tell the masseuse this is your first time so she'll take it easy on you."

She made the appointment for four o'clock. They strolled around the deck and then walked up the stairs slowly to the spa. He said, "I'm going to go have a beer in the bar. I'll meet you here in half an hour. I'm pretty sure you may need some help, and you will take the elevator down to your room. That's an order."

"Yes, Sir." She winked, "I'll see you in half an hour."

Parker ordered a beer but only took a couple of sips. It was mostly an excuse to hang out in the bar until she was finished. Several people tried to start conversations with him, but he really wanted to be alone, so he blew them off.

He could not figure out what it was about that woman that fascinated him so. She seemed open and trusting and natural, but there was something more that drew him to her. He couldn't put his finger on what it was. Then again, maybe he just wanted to have sex with her. It was totally out of character for him to come onto a woman he had just met, and she was clearly not someone who was in the habit of having casual sex. They had both stepped out of their ordinary boxes for the weekend. Unless she put up a stop sign, which she didn't appear to be likely to do, Parker expected to get lucky very soon.

He could see the entrance to the spa. Virginia came out of the booth with the masseuse along side of her. She looked positively radiant and appeared to be almost floating. She shook the masseuse's hand and started for the door. Parker got up and met her in the hall outside the spa. He put his arm around her waist and led her to the elevator, saying, "I don't have to ask you how it was. You look like someone who has achieved Enlightenment."

"I don't know about that, but I'm pretty sure I could levitate about now. That was totally wonderful. Now I want a shower and a nap."

He walked her to her room. "Do you want me to wait while you shower? You could get light headed and fall."

"Actually, the lady warned me not to shower too soon, but I really want to get the sand off my feet before I get into bed. Would you mind waiting?"

"Not at all. Leave door cracked a little and don't let the water get too hot." She went into the bathroom. He could hear her moving around and undressing. It occurred to him that she was completely oblivious to the effect that was having on him. He sat on the couch and leafed through a cruise line magazine that was lying on the table. She showered quickly and came out a few minutes later wearing a white terrycloth robe and her hair wrapped in a towel.

"I feel much better now. Would you do me one more favor?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "Sure. What do you need?"

She took the towel off her head and let the robe fall around her feet. Then she leaned forward, and put her hands on his shoulders, whispering, "I need you to make love to me. Right. Now."

## Chapter 7

It was almost seven o'clock when Virginia awoke. Parker was still sleeping, with his arms above his head and his body sprawled diagonally across the bed. She sat up and took the opportunity to study him carefully, starting at his feet and moving her eyes slowly up his nude form, savoring the look of him and memorizing every inch of him. When her gaze reached his face she simply sat there watching him. Eventually, he opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Now, who's staring?"

"I want to memorize your body. You are beautiful."

"So are you."

She leaned forward and kissed him. "Seems to me we have a couple of options."

"Such as?"

"We could get up now, get dressed and go to dinner and dancing, as we had planned."

"Or?"

"Or we could order room service and stay here."

"And if we stay here?"

"I don't know. We're old. You think we'd be up for a repeat performance?"

"Speak for yourself about that old shit. I'm pretty sure I will be ready for Round Two in a little while if you play your cards right."

They studied the room service menu and decided to order pizza. He asked if she wanted wine or beer. She shook her head. "No alcohol for either of us. It will make us sleepy. Order two liters of water and an ice bucket. I have plans for tonight and I don't want either of us to be sleepy."

He grinned, "What kind of plans?"

"You'll see."

They ate the pizza on the balcony. He was surprised that she did not put on a robe. She seemed totally comfortable being nude in front of him. He put on a robe before going out on the balcony. He noticed she threw a towel over the chair to sit on and draped the napkin across her thighs.

"Is nudism also one of your practices?"

"Oh, yes. I don't wear clothes in the house except in the wintertime, and then I usually only wear a big ugly green fleece robe that was Randy's." They finished the pizza and washed it down with ice water. He put the tray out in the hall and returned to the balcony.

"Now, tell me about these plans you have for us?"

She stood up and pushed his robe off his shoulders. "First of all, we both need a shower. You think we can squeeze in there together?"

"If we're willing to get real close."

She nuzzled his chest and said, "I'm willing to get as close as necessary."

The tiny shower was awkward and cramped. There was more rinsing off than actual washing. He whispered, "You think we could do it here?"

"Nope. We're going to do it on the balcony. Outside, in the fresh air. We'll have to be very quiet." She looked up into his eyes, "None of that groaning crap."

"I wasn't the only one groaning."

"I was moaning. There's a difference. Anyway, because those balconies are open, we'll have to be very quiet."

"I don't think we can do it on that chair."

"I moved the chairs back. We can do it on the floor."

"You've been thinking about this, haven't you?"

"All day long. In intricately wonderful detail."

They made love on the floor of the balcony, this time very slowly and without making any noise. Afterward, he moved to the chair and she sat on the floor beside him, with her cheek resting on his thigh. She listened to the water rushing and watched the moonlight glimmering on the water. She didn't think she had ever been so content. He stirred.

"Do you want something?"

He started to get up, "I want some more water."

"I'll get it for you."

She brought them each a glass of water. He thanked her and asked her if she had happened to look at the clock. She said, "It's nine-thirty."

"You want to go dancing?"

"Not if it involves putting on clothes. Can we dance here?"

"We don't have any music."

"Do we really need music when we have the rhythm of our hearts?"

"No. But then we don't really need to dance because we already made love. Dancing is kind of like foreplay. It might be kind of anti-climactic at this point."

She laughed. "Post-climactic, anyway."

She sat back down on the floor. "I say we sit here until we're ready to go to sleep."

"Can I have a beer now?"

"Do you really need one?"

"I guess not."

About ten thirty he yawned and stood up. "I'm ready for bed. Do you want me to go back to my room?"

"Not really."

"I'd like to go brush my teeth and change my underwear anyway. How about I come back in ten minutes and we'll hit the hay."

"Okay."

She had straightened up the room by the time he got back. It looked almost as though the steward had cleaned it. He said, "You'd make a great Marine. So very neat and clean."

She smiled. "Coming from you, I consider that high praise."

"It's the highest I've got."

They crawled into bed and snuggled for a while. He said in an off handed kind of way, "Just out of curiosity, how do you feel about guns?"

"Oh, I love to shoot! You will probably be surprised to learn that I am a very good shot."

He sat up and looked at her. "That is surprising! I half expected you to launch into an anti-gun tirade."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm all for the very strictest gun control, as un-American as that may sound. I personally do not own any guns. I use my instructors' guns. I think everybody should know how to shoot. Kind of like everybody should know CPR and the Heimlich maneuver in case of an emergency. I think everybody should know self-defense, including self defense with weapons."

He bonked himself on the head, "That's what it is about you that has been driving me crazy! Oh. My. God. I have been wracking my brain for two days trying to figure out what it is about the way you move and the power you exude. You're into martial arts, aren't you?"

She laughed, "Oh, yeah. Big time! A lot of the guys in the VVAW were into karate and jujitsu back in the Seventies. Jujitsu was my husband's only hobby. I had taken ballet as a kid, and initially I loved the body movement and control of martial arts. I started with tai chi and karate. Later, I got into the self-defense and combat stuff through Tom and his buddies. Over the years, most of them quit their practice. They got old and fat and stiff. I have kept up with it. My favorite thing is swords and fighting sticks. But I can shoot guns, too."

"Hand guns?"

"Pistols, rifles, automatic weapons. One of my shooting instructors knew this dude who was some kind of a mercenary. He owned a virtual arsenal of illegal military weapons. He trained people to be mercenaries at a place out in the desert in Arizona. I spent a couple of weeks there once, shooting some serious artillery."

He ran his hand up her body and rested it on her breast, "You truly would make one kick ass Marine, and with great tits, as a bonus."

She smiled. "Thanks."

He ran his hands down her thighs. He could feel the lumpiness of the veins. "Are you sure they don't hurt you?"

"Sometimes they get sore. If I exercise and take a hot bath, they feel better."

He scooted down and held her close. She whispered, "Will I bother you if I get up to do yoga in the morning."

"No. Call me when you're ready to go to the gym. I brought exercise clothes with me."

"Good."

She nuzzled against him and murmured, "Good-night, Colonel."

"Good-night, ninja-lady." He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

## Chapter 8

She laid her hand on his flat abdomen and fell asleep instantly.

Parker lay listening to her breathing for a long time. He was rocked to his very soul, and only part of that was because of the great sex. For two days, he had planned to have sex with her. He reckoned they'd have a couple of days to enjoy some fun in the sack, and then never see each other again. Now he wasn't so sure that was what he wanted.

This woman was not only lovely and fit and completely uninhibited in bed, she was a PhD and a martial arts expert.

His wife had been young, and a virgin. He taught her to make love the way he liked it. The sex with her was good, but she hated living on military bases and hated him being away all the time. She divorced him when Evan was a newborn.

The first woman he dated after his divorce was a very smart woman, a lawyer. She was the widow of a Marine who had been killed in Vietnam. She was not interested in sex or marriage to a soldier but she was a fabulous conversationalist. Parker still got together with her a couple of times a year to get drunk and have long, loud arguments about politics. He liked to take her to the Marine ball because she looked great in an evening gown, was a decent dancer, and could converse with the officers and keep up with their wives when it came to drinking.

The other woman he dated, who was still his regular sex partner, was very sexy and uninhibited. Sometimes she got a little wild even for Parker. She was a nice lady, but she wasn't very smart and she hated the fact that he was a soldier. She was not someone with whom he was likely to form a primary relationship.

Virginia was smart, sexy and she was the daughter of a military officer, not to mention the mother of a Marine killed in action. She had a 360-degree understanding of a military man. What was more, she was also into martial arts and weaponry, so she knew from experience the thrill of that kind of activity, even if she had never been in actual combat. He had never met a woman he could talk to, have sex with and who would understand his commitment to the military lifestyle. What was more, she lived a virtually Spartan military life-style, just as he did.

Parker wasn't so sure he would be willing to let her go at the end of the cruise. But, he was pretty sure she did not see what was going on as a relationship with any long-term potential. He glanced at the clock and decided he'd better leave that worry for another day. Four o'clock came early. He buried his face in her hair. The last thing he noticed before he fell asleep was that she smelled like the jasmine body wash they had used in the shower.

About three-thirty in the morning someone pounded on the door and yelled for them to get up.

Parker and Virginia both jumped out of bed, instantly alert. Parker answered the door, still nude. Virginia stood behind him, equally nude. The room steward said, "There is an emergency. You are asked to please go to the atrium area on Deck 6 urgently." He had a clip board in his hand. He made a check on the paper and then asked Parker, "What is your room number, sir?" Parker told him. He made notation on the clip board and then said, "Please to hurry."

Parker said, "What happened?"

"They will tell you when you arrive on Deck 6. Hurry!"

They dressed in their exercise clothes and ran up the stairs to the lounge area. Passengers were crammed into every square inch of the room and more people were arriving by the minute. Officers stood around the perimeter of the room urging people to sit down quietly and squeeze in. Parker looked at Virginia. She mouthed, "Hijack." He nodded. They sidled along the wall until they were next to one of the senior officers. Parker whispered, "I'm a United States Marine with special ops training. The lady here is heavy into martial arts and weaponry. I'm guessing you may be in need of assistance at some point. Count us in."

The officer turned slightly to look at them and whispered, "The ship has been hijacked. We believe the hijackers have been hiding among the crew."

"Where are they?"

"Some of them are on the bridge with the captain and engineer. They have told us the ship is rigged with explosives. They say they will blow it up. We think some of them are still hiding among the crew."

"What are their demands?"

"I don't know."

"Do you have any weapons on board."

"Yes. We have some hand guns in a locked cabinet in the captains' office."

"Who has the key?"

"The captain and the first officer."

"Where is the first officer?"

"I believe he is dead. His body is in his office."

"The key would be on his body?"

"I hope so."

The officer leaned forward slightly and let Parker and Virginia slip out the door behind him. They found themselves in an interior hallway, with doors on either side. He thought this must be the office suite. They moved noiselessly down the hall opening doors carefully. The first two offices were empty. The third one contained the body of the Cruise Director. The next office also contained the body of an officer. Parker motioned Virginia inside. He stood guard at the door. Virginia rifled through the officer's pockets and found a key ring. She moved behind Parker and slipped the key ring into his hand.

They continued down the hall. The Captain's office was at the far end of the hall. They found the gun cabinet and Parker fumbled through the keys until he found one that worked. They each selected two hand guns and several clips of ammo. Neither of them had any pockets. There were holsters in the cabinet. They each took a holster. Parker felt a little ridiculous in exercise attire with a holster. Virginia chuckled. "You look right sexy there, Pardner."

"Shut up."

She immediately got serious and said, "Okay. Now what?"

He squatted down as though planning to map out their next moves on the carpet. She joined him on the floor. "We're probably okay here for now. Let's think."

Virginia got up and went to the closet. "You're about the same size as the Captain. Maybe you could put on his uniform. That will at least hide your weapons."

They didn't find a whole uniform but they found a pair of pants and a dinner jacket. The captain's pants were a little short for Parker, but otherwise the clothes fit and covered his weapons. She said, "You think I could return to my room and get dressed in clothes?"

"Probably not. I'd bet they're patrolling the floors."

"Are there any female officers who might have an office on this floor."

"Let's look."

They didn't find any women's clothes, but Virginia found a large man's dress shirt which she put it on over her exercise tights. It looked like something someone might throw on when dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. They returned to the atrium and entered behind the officer. Parker whispered, "The cabinet is now unlocked. We each helped ourselves to two pistols."

The officer nodded and whispered, "Would you stand here? I'll be back shortly."

Parker's military bearing made him believable as a ship's officer and the dinner jacket was white, resembling the other officers' uniforms. The passengers were all so worked up it didn't appear anyone noticed the switch. Parker didn't see anyone dressed as a crew member in the room. Virginia sat down on the floor at his feet and made like the other passengers, only without all the crying and hysterics. She leaned back against his legs and he could feel that she was tense, but her heart was beating more or less normally. She seemed calm.

Parker noticed that one-by-one the officers who stood guard around the room seemed to tense up and then relax. He watched carefully and noticed that someone entered behind an officer across the room. He reached his hand behind his back and then slid it into his pocket. They were being armed. After each officer took the weapon, he looked at Parker for a few seconds to let him know they knew who he was. Each time, he looked down at woman sitting in front of him and then back at the officer, raising his eyebrow, and hoping they would understand she was armed as well.

The officer returned with a bulge under his jacket. Parker joined Virginia on the floor. His eyes searched the room for others who might be helpful. He saw two people doing the same thing. He met eyes with one of them. The guy looked at him and mouthed, "Police." Parker nodded and kept searching. He found another guy and met his gaze. Parker raised his eyebrows. The guy mouthed, "Army." Everyone else was cowering on the floor, quaking and crying. He glanced at Virginia. She was sweeping the room the same way he had. She lowered her gaze and looked at the floor. She whispered, "There's a guy over by the bar. He is in an officer's uniform, but I recognize him one of the crew who works in the dining room. I think he is searching the crowd for people like us."

Parker lowered his head and slumped forward. Virginia put her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.

The place was crammed with people. It was getting hot. The smell of fear was sour and pervasive. As more people crowded in, the smells of urine and vomit were added. Parker and Virginia did not move or make eye contact with anyone.

After a while several people entered with the captain in front. There were six hijackers in that group, all of them armed. Two held their weapons pointed at the captain's head. The other four waved their guns around the room. Passengers started screaming and crying. One of the hijackers said something to the captain. He raised his arms and appealed for quiet. With great difficulty the crowd was silenced except for the sounds of a couple of whimpering children.

The captain said, "Please, remain calm. The ship has been take over by a group of people who wish to have a public platform. They have asked for press coverage. We believe that the press will arrive shortly. In the meantime, please remain seated here. Do not try to go back to your rooms. Remain seated and be calm. The crew will bring in water shortly."

One of the hijackers motioned the captain back out the door. The other five remained in the room. They told the passengers to be quiet. Parker put his hand in the pocket of the jacket and discovered a cell phone. To Parker's delight, the phone had Internet access. He clicked it on and prayed it was not password protected. It was not, which made him wonder about the captain's judgment, but he was grateful. He logged on to his work email remotely and sent a May Day message to his commanding officer, advising of his location and the urgent need for military assistance. He typed in the phone number and requested confirmation of receipt by text message.

Virginia watched him, reading the message over his arm as he typed. After he hit "send" she gave him a raised thumb. He took it between his thumb and index finger and wiggled it.

After a while a man came into the room, wearing the uniform of one of the wine stewards. He carried a gun. He said something to one of the hijackers covering the room. They instructed the passengers to get up slowly a few at a time. They were to go outside on the decks.

Virginia leaned against Parker and whispered, "They're going to start shooting passengers, aren't they."

"That would be my guess."

The officer standing behind them gently nudged Parker with his shoe. He indicated with his finger they should crawl out behind him into the interior hallway. They waited until a group of people were ordered to get up, including some very noisy children and a disabled old lady who needed assistance getting up off the floor. That distracted the hijackers enough to give Parker and Virginia the cover they needed to get out of the room. Once they were in the hall, they didn't know where to go. So they waited. A minute later, an officer crept around the corner. He motioned for them to follow him, and led them to an interior stairwell, with a sign indicating it was for crew only.

The cell phone vibrated in Parker's pocket. He took it out, glanced at the text message screen, and said to the officer, "The US Coast Guard and Navy are on the way."

"How did you get word out?"

"I found a cell phone in the captain's jacket pocket. I didn't think he'd mind if I used it to send out a SOS."

Virginia asked, "Where are we going?"

"The hijackers say they have planted bombs on the ship. I and a few other officers who have managed to get away are looking for them."

Parker said, "They're taking the passengers outside on the decks. My guess is they are going to start shooting a few at a time. Do you have any guns on board bigger than these pistols?"

"Yes. There are four high powered rifles on each of the life boats."

Virginia said, "Ideally, it would be better if we could get off the ship in order to line up some shots."

Parker thought that sounded like a good idea. He looked at the officer. "Any chance of dropping a life boat?"

An American dressed as a crew member appeared in the doorway and said, "The first officer told me to tell you they are moving passengers to the outside by the railings on Decks Eleven and Six."

Parker asked, "All the way around the ship?"

"On the port side. There aren't enough hijackers to guard all the way around."

Virginia asked, "How many are there?"

"The officers are not sure, maybe a dozen or so. There could be more. They were among the crew. I think you can trust all officers. Be careful of crew."

"Including you?" Parker asked with his eyebrows raised."

"No, sir. I'm not a crew member. I'm a firefighter. I borrowed this jacket from my room steward when he came to wake us."

"Do the officers know about us?"

"Yes, sir. They don't know who you are but they know that you figured out how to get the guns and that you must be military."

"Are you armed?"

"No, sir."

Virginia handed him one of her weapons and a couple of clips of ammo.

Parker said to the officer, "Can you drop a lifeboat on the starboard side, someplace in the vicinity of the tender port?"

He gave Parker a skeptical look, shrugged and said, "I can try."

Parker asked, "Where's the key to the gun box on the lifeboat?"

"Under the life jacket box by the steering console."

"If we keep going down these stairs can we get to the tender port?"

"Yes. Go all the way down and then forward. There's a catwalk."

Virginia asked, "Will we be able to start the motor?"

"Lifeboat motors are never locked and they are always fueled and ready. Just flip the switch and go."

Parker said, "Don't forget, I have the captain's cell phone. Do you know the number?"

"Yes."

"Send me a text message to let me know when you drop the boat."

The officer said, "Okay," and started up the stairs toward the lifeboat deck.

Parker and Virginia headed down the stairs. The firefighter asked them if they wanted him to go with them. Virginia asked, "Can you shoot a rifle?"

"No."

Parker asked, "Can you drive a boat?"

"No."

"Then go with the people looking for bombs. That's more up a firefighter's alley. You'd be no help to us."

Parker took off down the stairs, sliding down the railings like a sailor. Virginia followed, getting the hang of sliding and swinging in a couple of tries. The firefighter joined the other officers who descended the stairs at a slower pace, sweeping the interior of the ship with flashlights looking for explosives.

Parker and Virginia arrived at the tender port and managed to get it open far enough to slip through. The cell phone vibrated. It was a voice call. The officer said, "I'm lowering the boat. It is calm enough you should be able to jump onto it from the tender port."

At that moment they saw the bottom of the boat pass in front of them. They waited until it was a few feet below them. It slowed but did not stop. Parker jumped onto the top of the vessel and Virginia followed. They both landed on the balls of their feet, knees flexed and their fingers grazing the surface in case they needed to catch their balance. As the boat settled in the water, they flipped the hatch and dropped into the boat. Parker started the engine while Virginia went after the rifles.

She said, "These are good. High powered. 'Scopes. Lots of ammo."

He asked, "Can you drive a boat?"

"No. I've never been on a boat before this trip."

"Okay. That means you're in charge of shooting."

"Shooting, I can do."

"Have you ever shot at a person."

She looked at him and said, "I never needed to shoot a person before now, but my training is sufficient that I believe I can do it."

"Okay. Get yourself situated."

He swung the boat away from the ship and started to arc around the front of the ship. He sent a text message and tapped in the phone number. A few seconds later, the phone vibrated. He picked it up and said, "Colonel Parker Wilkes, USMC, we've got a bit of a situation here."

The voice on the other end of the phone laughed and identified himself as the commander of a Coast Guard vessel, "We just had a call from the Commandant at Parris Island. He told me you were on that ship and that he figured you'd manage to get yourself armed and ready to help. Have you?"

"Yes, sir. I am armed and am sort of in command of a life boat right now. The hijackers are herding the passengers out onto the decks. Presumably they're about to start killing people. My friend here and I propose to shoot at least some of the hijackers."

"Who's your friend?"

Parker laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, sir. Let's just say it's a fellow passenger who can shoot a rifle. How far away are you?"

"We're close but the hijackers have threatened to blow up the ship altogether if we don't stay back. We're just beyond the horizon from you, but we don't dare move closer. The Navy's sending in a sub, but it may take it a while to get there. Hold on a minute. The Marine Corps and the Navy want to join the call." After some clicking and dialing tones, the Coast Guard came back on the line and introduced a Navy officer on a submarine and a Marine officer from Camp Lejeune.

The Marine said, "Jesus Christ, Parker, can't you even go on vacation without getting into combat."

"Evidently not, Sir."

"What's your situation?"

"Hijackers have taken over the ship. They supposedly have planted bombs. They are armed with simple rifles. We don't know how many there are. They were masquerading as crew. There could be a slew of them."

"You have weapons?"

"I have two hand guns and four high powered rifles. I also have a partner who says she knows how to shoot the rifles. I'm driving the boat."

"What boat?"

"A life boat."

The Naval officer laughed, "Leave it to a Marine to figure out how to steal a fucking lifeboat in the middle of an emergency."

Parker said, "Special ops training taught me to utilize whatever resources may be available. I'm simply doing the necessary."

"Excuse me, Colonel Wilkes, did you mention that your shooter is female?"

"Yes, Sir. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to drive a boat, so I'm going to have to take her word that she can shoot."

"Is she military?"

"Ah, no, Sir. I think we don't have time to get into that. How long do you think it will be before the sub gets here?"

"Maybe half an hour. They're bringing a bomb team complete with dogs."

"Tell them to enter through the tender port on the starboard side. The hijackers have the passengers outside on the port side."

Virginia yelled, "I just heard two gunshots and now screaming."

Parker said, "We have to go. Get that sub here as fast as you can. We'll try to hold them off as long as we can, but we only have four rifles and I don't know how I'm going to shoot and maneuver the boat at the same time."

"Do you have a radio?"

"Yeah, but I didn't turn it on because the leaders of the hijackers are on the bridge with the captain. I didn't want them to know my position."

"Turn the radio on. They're going to know your position in a minute anyway. Even you can't drive, shoot and talk on the phone."

Parker flipped on the radio and could hear all kinds of chatter. The hijackers on the bridge were yelling at somebody on the radio in a language he didn't understand. He could tell the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard had open channels as well, but they were remaining quiet. He moved the life boat around the front of the ship, keeping close. The hijackers wouldn't be able to see it because it was under the overhang of the ship, but at the same time Virginia couldn't line up a shot until he pulled out into open water.

Virginia had taken off the big shirt and was loading the rifles. He noticed she moved with precision and obviously knew what she was doing. She set up a sniper's nest on the roof of the vessel just aft of the navigation console. She came inside and handed him one rifle. "I don't know how the hell you may manage it, but in case you can drive and shoot at the same time, here you go. I'll be totally exposed up there if you turn away from the ship, but I think I'll be able to get good shots and be protected if you keep the nose pointed directly at the ship."

"I think I can do that. If I have to turn around, is there something you can crawl under?"

"Yeah. Just give me a heads-up so I can take cover."

She turned to go. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. "We are on our own for at least twenty minutes, maybe longer. The Navy is sending in a sub with a bomb squad. Once they find the explosives, the Navy and Coast Guard will move in."

"I understand. We just need to pin them down for a while. Right?"

"Wrong. We need to shoot them. Every person you see on that deck with a weapon in his hands is your target. Shoot to kill." He took her face in his hand, "Do not worry about it if you accidentally hit a passenger. You cannot let yourself be rattled. Do you understand?"

She laughed up into his face, "How much oriental martial arts have you studied?"

"Not much, I admit. I'm a sniper, not a hand-to-hand combat guy."

"I have studied every kind of martial arts method imaginable for more than thirty years and I've practice yoga and breath control my whole life. My focus will amaze you. I have to admit, I'd rather fight hand to hand, but I can shoot straight when I have to, regardless of the target. What's your plan?"

"I'm going to pull out in the open water and make a general announcement over the radio that they are to throw their weapons overboard. If they do not disarm we will shoot them. I will count to five, and then you will start shooting. Even if you can't line up a kill shot. Fire at something. I'll try to help if I can."

"Can you drop the anchor?"

"I don't dare risk that, although the seas are so calm I may be able to let her drift and squeeze off a few shots. Are you ready?"

She nodded. Then she looked up at him and said, "I promise not to take any unnecessary chances. I want you to do the same. Got that?"

"Got it."

She crawled out the hatch and hunkered down in her nest only a few feet behind him, but outside where she was exposed. Just before he pulled the lifeboat out into view of the vessel he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He glanced at her through a port hole. She looked alert but relaxed. He wanted some of that.

## Chapter 9

Virginia settled herself into her sniper's nest wishing she had kissed him. She shook that thought from her head. This was serious, and all she could think about was how incredibly sexy she found Parker, especially after he flipped into command mode. She took a few deep cleansing breaths and refocused her thoughts on the terrorists who were preparing to murder innocent passengers on the cruise ship. She closed her eyes and filled herself with rage and hate. Her instructors had taught her well, she'd always hoped she would never have to use the combat skills she had learned. This was an emergency and she was confident she was up to it.

She wondered if any of the guys she trained with would believe this, assuming she lived to tell the story.

About that time she saw the news helicopter. She shouted, "Parker, tell that news bird to get back."

He flipped on the loudspeaker and said, "This is Lifeboat #6 to the news chopper. Get the hell out of here. Now!"

The news helicopter kept advancing toward the ship. Parker repeated, "I said, get the fuck back. You are endangering lives, including your own."

Virginia stood up and aimed at the news chopper with her rifle. She sensed danger to her right, and swung the rifle toward the ship, shooting one of the hijackers who was aiming at her. His body fell, end over end, into the ocean.

Parker shouted, "Good shot, Baby!"

"Don't ever call me me Baby, goddammit!"

The news chopper backed off a bit, but Virginia could tell the cameras were still rolling. Virginia shot another one of the hijackers on the top deck. Parker let the vessel drift for a minute and leaned out the window, fired two shots, killing two hijackers on Deck Six.

Virginia screamed, "Parker, get down!" He hit the deck as she stood up and shot a man dressed as a crew member standing in the tender port only a few yards from their position, with a rifle aimed at Parker.

Gunshots rang out on the top deck and the hijackers tossed several dead passengers into the water from the Lido. That was the opening Virginia needed. She stood up and started picking off the hijackers on the top deck. She killed two and thought she winged another one. Somehow miraculously she had not hit any passengers.

The remaining hijackers got wise. They pushed the passengers in front of them. Virginia couldn't see who was armed. The hijackers started shooting passengers from behind, and ordering other passengers to throw the bodies overboard. The captain came on the radio and asked the lifeboat to pull back.

Parker ducked back under the cover of the ship's overhang and moved the vessel back to the starboard side, near the tender port. Virginia dropped through the hatch and joined him by the navigation console. He switched the radio to a U. S. military channel and asked if anyone had orders for him. The commander of the submarine said, "We'll be there in a few minutes. Hold your position and stay out of sight, unless there is some reason to do otherwise."

"Roger, that. I'm switching back to the ship's frequency."

"Okay. If we have a private message, we'll call you or text you. How much charge do you have on the cell phone?"

"It's fully charged."

"Sit tight."

Virginia rummaged around in the vessel and found a cooler that contained bottled water. There was no ice. She explored further and discovered a head. She grinned, "Thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to jump in the water to relieve myself."

Parker held the vessel steady. When she came out, he said, "You think you could keep from crashing into the ship while I take a leak?"

"I'll try. Tell me what to do."

Parker showed her the controls and told her to basically do as little as possible and try to say under the ledge but not too close to the ship. She chuckled, "No pressure or anything, but, please, pee fast!"

She held the craft in more or less the same position until he came out of the head. He took the wheel and noticed her staring off into space. He asked her what was wrong. She turned and looked up into his face, her eyes peering into his soul. "I'm afraid this is a bad situation. Very bad."

He pulled her toward him and she slid up into his lap. They held onto each other without saying anything until they felt a vibration coming from under the vessel. She looked startled. He said, "The sub."

A few minutes later the sub rose slowly, barely breaking the surface of the water. Parker pulled the lifeboat back to allow the sub to get close to the ship. He saw someone moving inside the opening of the tender port and raised his rifle. A ship's officer stepped into the light and held out his empty hands. Parker put down the rifle and waved. The guy gave him a thumbs up.

Parker switched to the military channel, and asked the sub if they wanted him to create a diversion. They told him no. He was to stay put. He asked if there was anyone on the sub who could drive the lifeboat so he could increase their firepower. The radio operator said there probably was he'd check and get back to them.

About that time the forward hatch on the sub flipped open and two Navy SEALS hopped out. They threw ropes with hooks on the end to the officer in the doorway. He hooked the ropes to the top of the port. The SEALS pulled the ropes taught. One of them stuck his head over the open hatch and said something. A few minutes later, a team of ten men dressed in white haz-mat suits filed out of the hatch and started climbing like ants up the rope and into the ship.

After that, another team of eight men wearing all black entered the ship.

Virginia said, "I'm assuming that first group was the bomb squad. What was the second?"

"Probably an infiltration team of SEALS. They'll try to take back the ship from the inside."

An officer appeared at the hatch and stood half in and half out of the sub. "I'm Captain Alderson. You must be Colonel Wilkes."

"Yep. You're a sight for sore eyes even if you are the Navy."

Alderson laughed and said, "The Marines were ready to mount an expeditionary force and come in with bombers. They get seriously pissed off when one of their own is in danger. But, we were closer."

"That's funny. The Marine Corps has been trying to get rid of me for years. You'd think they'd consider this an opportunity to get me off the payroll."

Alderson didn't laugh. "We've got a bomb squad in there looking for explosives. We've got SEAL sharp-shooters who will try to sneak up and take out terrorists. We could use you to create a diversion with the lifeboat."

Parker said, "I've got four rifles and plenty of ammo. I need somebody who can drive the boat, and maybe another shooter if you can spare one."

The captain shook his head, "All the sharp-shooters are inside the cruise ship, but I can send up someone to operate the vessel. You think you and," he looked at Virginia and raised his eyebrows in surprise, "the lady can handle the shooting."

"I guess we'll have to."

"You want some automatic weapons?"

Parker shook his head, "No. I think regular rifles would be better. I'm afraid we're going to shoot passengers by mistake. An automatic weapon would increase that danger."

"I guess you're right."

"When do you want us to move?"

"Our guys will signal when they have positioned themselves outside the bridge."

"Okay. Let me know."

"I'll send somebody over in a few minutes. You need anything? Food? Water?"

Parker looked at Virginia and raised his eyebrows. She shook her head. He said, "No. We're good."

The captain started to go, but then turned and asked, "Ma'am, what's your name?"

"Virginia Travers."

He nodded. "There's a hospital ship waiting just on the other side of the horizon. They are waiting for the signal to pull in closer to help wounded passengers and crew. I'm supposed to tell you that your mother is on that ship."

Virginia looked incredulous. "How is that possible?"

"They pulled the ship over from Haiti. Your mom heard about the hijacking and volunteered to go with the ship. She didn't know you were on this cruise until she saw pictures of you on the TV a little while ago. There has been some incredible footage of your sharp-shooting. You can expect a lot of media attention when you get home.

"Anyway, your mom's nearby. We thought you might like to know."

Parker asked, "How old is your mom?"

"She's 74 and too damned old to be traipsing around from one disaster to another like she does, but I'm not going to be the one to tell her that. She'd kick my ass."

The captain disappeared into the sub. Parker was sitting in the pilot's seat, which was about as high as a bar stool. He pulled her close, holding her between his legs. He ran his hands slowly from the bottom of her buttocks up her back, checking the tension in her shoulders. She was tense, but not too much. He kneaded her shoulders a minute more to relieve his tension than hers. Then he ran his hands lightly over her shoulders and down across her breasts and abdomen, ending up with his hands on her hips.

"What was that for?"

"To help me relax. To let you know that you're beautiful. To let you know what I wish we were doing instead of this."

Then he pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the mouth, the kind of kiss that she knew would leave her lips bruised and her teeth sore, but she returned it with matching force. The kiss lasted until they heard the hatch start to open. At that point they separated, and Virginia wiped her mouth and smoothed her hair. She tasted blood. She had a tooth in front that protruded slightly on one edge. Rough kissing inevitably ended up cutting the inside of her lip. Parker looked at her with a confused expression, licking his lips. She whispered, "It's blood. I've got a rough tooth in the front. I got carried away and forgot about it. It cut my lip."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. It's happened before." She chuckled, "But not for a _very_ long time."

A young sailor jumped from the top of the sub to the lifeboat an dropped through the hatch into the vessel. "Carl Peters. Seaman 1st Class. Pleased to meet you, Col. Wilkes. Ma'am."

Parker saluted. Virginia held out her hand, "Virginia."

Parker left Peters at the controls, and followed Virginia to the gun cabinet where they took out more ammunition, since there would be two of them shooting.

The captain's phone rang and Parker flipped it up to his ear. "Captain Alderson here. Here's what we want you to do. If you can get clean shots at any of the hijackers, by all means take them out. If you can't – which is likely, because as we understand it, they are using passengers as shields – shoot at anything you can. The side of the vessel. Up in the air. Over the heads of the passengers but close enough to be scary. Make a lot of noise. Waste as many bullets as you have to."

"How will we know when to stop?"

"Hopefully our guys will take back the ship and blow the all clear whistle."

"Did they find explosives?"

"Yeah. Lots. They are working on disarming them now."

"So in other words, we keep firing until the whistle blows or the ship goes 'boom'."

"That's about the size of it."

They rang off. Parker said to the sailor, "I'm going up top to familiarize myself with the guns. You okay here?"

"Yeah. I want to play with the controls. Where are you set up?"

Virginia said, "I set up just aft of the pilot console. That give us cover if you're facing the ship, but if you have to turn around, there's a kind of lip in the roof that we could duck into. We can also keep the spare rifles there."

Parker said, "Good work. Let's get set."

Virginia climbed through the hatch in the roof with a small boost from Parker. He raised himself through the hatch, hanging up for a second because his shoulders were too broad. He had to twist out. Virginia laughed, "That was a rather graphic reminder of childbirth."

"You said you have a daughter in addition to the son who was killed?"

"Yeah."

He held out the phone. "You should call her. If your mom saw the pictures, your daughter has probably seen them, too."

She took the phone and said, "Part of me wants to call her and let her know I'm okay. The rest of me is not looking forward to the ass-chewing she's going to give me for doing this."

"Not unlike the ass-chewing you'd like to give your own mother for her activities?"

"Shut up."

She took the phone and stepped aside. Parker occupied himself by quadruple checking the rifles. She came back and handed him the phone. "I'm glad I did that. She was a freaking out. Shelton and I are not particularly close. We've never had a falling out or anything. We're just very different types of people. She's kind of the quintessential Gen Y kid. I've always been an embarrassment to her what with my yoga and vegan diet and martial arts. She would have preferred a soccer mom who worked on PTA committees. She spent as much time away from home as possible because Tom was always so depressed, so maybe we never really got to know one another. Anyway, I only talk to her every couple of weeks. She was glad I called."

He said, "Do you have any questions?"

"Yes, I have a big one. That ship is metal on the outside. Where the hell are we going to shoot that won't run the risk of ricocheting and killing passengers, or even us."

"I've been thinking about that, too. Can you think of anything at the exterior of the ship that is permeable enough to shoot into it?"

"The floors of the decks appear to be teak, but the walls and the ceilings are metal. Even if we fire over their heads, we'll kill passengers."

She suggested, "We could fire over their heads on Deck 11."

"Yeah. We could, but then they won't take us seriously."

"Are you saying we may have to kill some passengers to make the terrorists take us seriously?"

He said through his teeth, "I'm saying there is always collateral damage and you can't let it freak you out."

She looked him in the eyes and said, "You do not have to worry about me freaking out during the crisis. I'm very calm in a crisis. I'll fall apart, afterward, but we'll deal with that when the time comes."

They were quiet for a few minutes. She said, "There are windows all around on the Promenade Deck and the deck above is all staterooms, which should be empty. We could shoot out the windows. There would certainly be injuries from flying glass, but probably less serious than ricocheting bullets. It would make lots of smashing and crashing that would create the diversion we're after."

"Excellent idea. On the top deck, you could shoot crew members. We know the terrorists are hiding among the crew."

"Yeah, but what if there are others like the resourceful firefighter."

"We can't worry about that."

"Okay. There are windows and a bunch of antennas up there. I could shoot out the windows in the buffet and the gym, plus I could probably knock over some stuff if I shoot at some of the antennas and electrical equipment. That might make some noise and maybe, if we're lucky, some sparks. We might have to get pretty far out from the ship to allow me to line up those shots, though."

"I like your thinking. I also like the fact that you are going to let me take Deck 6."

"That's the most likely place where passengers will get killed. You're the sharp-shooter and the soldier. It makes sense. I'm just going to shoot wildly at the top to try to pin them down and make as much noise and chaos as possible."

He grinned and chucked her under the chin, "That's my girl!"

She chuckled. Then a more serious look passed over her face. She looked up at him and said, "Really?"

He thought about it for a second and nodded slowly, "Yeah. I think, really."

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, "Then, perhaps, after we finish making things go boom and wrecking havoc here, we should consider making some plans for picking up where we left off last night.

"That sounds like a plan. Since I'm soon to be retired and essentially homeless, I reckon we will have all the time in the world."

"Yes, but we both have a lot of lonely time to make up for. We can't waste a nanosecond." She leaned against him and tried to maintain her edge. It was so hard not to relax into his arms and feel safe and cared for. With difficulty she moved away from him. They locked eyes for a second and then they let go of one another and each turned inward to prepare for whatever might happen next.

Seaman Peters yelled, "Heads up, folks. We're going to move out in 30 seconds."

Parker and Virginia crouched low in a groove on the roof between the wall behind the pilot's console and the aft of the removable roof.

Peters gunned the engine and headed out from under the ship's overhang. Approximately fifty yards from the ship he flipped the boat around to face the ship directly. Parker and Virginia rose simultaneously from behind the console and opened fire.

## Chapter 10

Parker noticed that Virginia seized an opportunity right away. There were two hijackers visible on the top deck, waving guns and yelling at the passengers. Virginia picked them both off with two kill-shots.

Parker yelled, "I think you're as good a shot as me."

"Maybe someday we should go to a shooting range and see who's the top dog."

"I'm there."

There were no terrorists visible on the promenade deck, but Parker knew they were there due to the passengers who were falling on the deck and then being tossed over the railing. Sharks were beginning to swarm in the water where the bodies had fallen. He shuddered.

Then he gritted his teeth, raised his weapon and commenced – carefully and methodically – to shoot out windows, starting wherever he saw a passenger fall. It worked. When the windows shattered, the passengers fell to the ground and the hijackers stood up to shoot back at him. He thought he only wounded the first two. The third one dropped instantly with a chest wound Parker thought was probably mortal.

Virginia was shooting over the heads of the people on the Lido deck, trying to pin the passengers down on the deck, hoping the hijackers would come to the railing. One did. She shot him as he raised his weapon to shoot. His gun flew over the side and tumbled end over end into the ocean. His body fell backwards.

She waited, searching for another target. Parker yelled, "Make some noise."

She scanned the top deck and then started shooting at the array of antennas, wires and telecommunications equipment that were everywhere at the apex of the ship. Antennas tumbled, wires fell, and sparks flew like Fourth of July fireworks all over the top deck.

Virginia laughed and yelled, "Whooaaa!'"

Parker said, "Talk about shock and awe! Break some glass. It's fun." He proceeded to alternately take out windows on the promenade deck as well as windows on the deck above, which made showers of glass fall from above. At some point he remembered that the doors to the promenade deck were teak. The passengers and, presumably the terrorists, tended to be congregated near the doors. Every few minutes, he unloaded on one of the three sets of doors, shattering them, and making a lot of noise in the process. A few more hijackers showed themselves. He didn't think he killed them all, but he disabled them.

Virginia shot a couple more people with rifles on the top deck. She yelled, "How the hell many of them are there?"

"I don't know, but there are hundreds of crew members. Hey, I need to reload. Take a crack at those doors. It's kind of fun. Makes big noise and splinters."

He ducked down and she fired off a few rounds at the doors on Deck Six. Then she lifted her weapon and shot a large antenna at the top of the ship. A hail of green sparks sprayed the deck, then the antenna fell and knocked down two more pieces of equipment that made more sparks, one of which exploded.

Parker stood up, "We're not supposed to blow up the god-damned ship."

"Sorry. That was an accident." It was effective, though. It created a stir among the people on the Lido Deck. A couple of new hijackers showed themselves, trying to herd the passengers together. Virginia killed one of them and wounded the other one.

After Parker reloaded, Virginia ducked to reload her weapon. Parker managed to get a shot at the doors to the buffet, they were double sliding doors which he feared might be bullet-proof, but he had the opportunity, so he pumped a flew slugs into the door to see what would happen. The outer door shattered. The force apparently broke the interior door, too, and glass sprayed everywhere. The passengers, many of whom who were congregated in the pool area near the buffet, fell to the deck and tried to crawl away. Four of the hijackers ran to the railing and started firing at the lifeboat. Parker ducked behind the console, and grabbed Virginia just as she started to stand up.

He said, "There are four of them at the railing. These guys hold the weapons like they know how to use them, unlike some of the others who were just waving them around. You take the two on the right. I'll take the two on the left."

"OK."

They waited until there was a slight pause in the hail of shots raining down on the vessel. Then they stood up together and started shooting. Parker had the sense that Virginia wasn't really aiming, she was spraying the deck with bullets. He took two shots. Both of the hijackers on the left dropped to the deck, and their guns fell into the ocean. Virginia had killed the other two as well. They both paused for a minute waiting for another terrorist to show himself. The passengers on both the Lido and the Promenade decks were all lying on the deck. Presumably the terrorists had all been either disabled or they were lying on the deck to to stay out of the line of fire.

Parker said, "I suppose as long as nobody moves, we can stop shooting."

Virginia said, "Right."

They both held their positions, weapons ready, scanning the ship for signs of anyone with a weapon.

An officer came out on the promenade deck, with a pistol in his hand. Parker and Virginia both pointed their weapons at him. He put the gun in his pocket and held up his hands. They lowered their weapons only slightly. The officer said something to the passengers, and began herding them toward the doors.

Virginia said, "Do we want them to do that?"

"No."

Parker yelled for Seaman Peters to get on the loudspeaker and ask them to leave the passengers outside where they were visible. The officer turned around and looked at them with contempt in his black eyes. "Parker, he's not an officer. All the officers are European. That guy is Oriental-looking like the other hijackers."

"Shoot him."

She did.

Seaman Peters instructed the passengers to stay down on the deck but to remain outside unless instructed otherwise by the Captain of the ship or the U. S. Navy.

Parker said through the porthole, "Coasties won't like that. They're technically in command of this operation."

"Fuck the Coasties."

At that point there was almost total silence, except for the hum of the lifeboat engine. The ship loomed white and silent like a ghost ship. The screaming and shooting aboard had ceased. Bodies floated in the ocean, which was red with blood and boiling with the frenzy of the sharks feeding on the dead. Parker saw no movement anywhere on the ship. He glanced at the door to the tender port, in the hope that one of the SEALS would give him a high sign that they had disarmed the explosives. The door was a gaping black hole.

Virginia fired once at the top deck, then she swung the rifle to her left and fired again. Parker looked up and saw another "officer" fall on the Lido, his rifle clattering across the deck. He turned to congratulate her on the shot and heard a gurgle that stopped his heart. Virginia was still on her feet but she was clasping her chest, which bloomed with a chrysanthemum bloodstain.

Parker yelled through the hatch, "She's shot. It's bad. Get us to the hospital ship, now!"

"Roger that."

The vessel jolted from idle speed to top speed in much less time than Parker would have thought possible. He could hear Peters on the radio advising the Navy commander of their situation and asking the hospital ship to be ready for them.

Parker sat down on the roof of the lifeboat and cradled Virginia in his lap. Murmuring to her. Running his hand across her face. He did not dare to look at her chest. The bubbling blood trickling from her mouth and the pain in her eyes told him more than he wanted to know about her injury. Amazingly, she was conscious. He looked into her eyes. He was somewhat surprised not to see the terror that typically accompanied such wounds. He saw pain. A lot of it. He also saw the power he had detected from the minute he met her: the psychic and spiritual power to hold herself together, even under the specter of death. She was holding onto consciousness with every ounce of strength she could muster.

He said, "We're taking you to the hospital ship. Hang in there." She put her hand on his as it caressed her cheek and blew him a kiss. He returned it with a real one, tasting her blood for the second time that day.

Parker heard chopper rotors. Thinking the Navy might have sent a chopper to take her to a hospital on the mainland, he looked up. It wasn't the Navy. It was the news chopper he had chased off before, taking pictures. He picked up his rifle with his right hand and aimed it at the chopper, while still cradling Virginia against his body with his left arm. He yelled at Seaman Peters, "Tell that bird to back off or I'll shoot it down."

Seaman Peters demanded that the news chopper to move back. The Captain of the hospital ship chimed in and demanded all non-military aircraft to vacate the area.

The chopper backed off a bit, but Parker knew the camera crews would just switch to long range lenses. It occurred to him that Virginia's mother and daughter might watch her die on national television. As angry as he was at the news camera operator with so little compassion, he could not allow himself to be distracted. He had to focus on Virginia. She was shivering and slipping into shock. He put both arms around her, held her to his chest and rocked her like a baby. He buried his face in her hair and pleaded with her to keep breathing and hang on until they got her to the hospital ship. She couldn't answer, but he could feel her very bones fighting for life. He tried to impart whatever strength he had to help her, holding her, rocking her and talking to her. It was not really conversation: it was babbling, some of it incoherent, he knew. But he knew he had to keep talking because he believed that she could hear him.

After what seemed like an eternity, the life boat reached the hospital ship. At that moment, the "all clear" whistle blew on the cruise ship. The Navy and Coast Guard vessels leaped forward, racing toward the ship. The hospital ship would move closer, too, once they had Virginia stowed aboard.

Peters yelled, "They think it would be easier on her to raise her up to the deck in a basket instead of trying to get her in over a ramp to the tender port."

"I agree. Ask them if they'll drop a line for me."

"There was never a question of anything else."

Peters backed the vessel away from the side of the ship. Three ropes dropped from the top deck. One was a stretcher. One was an empty harness. The third was a harness bearing a sailor (probably a medic) who was steadying the stretcher and who would help Parker get Virginia secured and keep her steady during the ascent.

The sailor dropped to the roof, and said to Parker. "You've done this before, I hope."

"Absolutely."

They worked in silence, moving Virginia's body onto the stretcher and strapping her securely. She was still conscious and did not appear to be afraid, but she was suffering terribly. Parker could barely stand to look at her, but it seemed to comfort her when he made eye contact. Every time he looked at her she was staring at him. He forced himself to meet her gaze as much as he could and still be of help to the medic. As the medic finished checking the clasps, Parker hooked himself into the other harness and leaned over her, holding her hand, "We're going for a little ride. Then the doctors will fix you right up."

Her eyes clouded over. She didn't want him to lie to her. He added, "This will be much smoother than trying to take you through the port and up through the ship.

The medic called, "She's all set. You ready, sir?"

"Yes."

The medic tugged on the line three times. Parker and the medic each held onto the stretcher to keep it from twirling around. Parker managed to reach her hand, and clasped it. He continued to babble, whatever nonsense that came into his head. She continued to stare into his eyes, barely blinking – and grinding her teeth in pain.

A team of nurses and doctors were waiting on the deck. They expertly released her from the basket and transferred her to a gurney. Two sailors helped release Parker from his harness. He went to her side and took her hand again.

An older woman wearing jeans and a white shirt came out on the deck and stood on the other side of the stretcher. She bent down and kissed Virginia on the cheek. Virginia tore her eyes away from Parker and looked up at her mother. Parker noticed that she looked at her mother with much the same expression she had been looking at him. Neither woman cried. The woman took Virginia's other hand, kissed her on the cheek again. Virginia made a kissing gesture, and patted her mother's hand with a finger.

Then she looked back at Parker, and motioned for him to come closer. He leaned close to her. She met his eyes with her own, blazing in pain but somehow defiant and strong. She whispered, "I would have loved you fiercely."

Then and only then did her eyes fill with tears. She closed them slowly, and, at last, retreated into unconsciousness.

The medical team whisked her away. Parker believed that there was nothing they could do to save her.

Virginia's mother held out her hand and said, "I'm Meriwether Stone, Virginia's mother. Call me Merri."

"I'm Parker Wilkes. Virginia and I met on the cruise."

The smile on her lips did not alter the pinched look around her eyes. "That was some fancy shooting on both your parts. I have known for years that Virginia practiced all kinds of martial arts. Other than a few karate competitions I attended many years ago when she and my grandson both competed, I have not seen her in action. It was impressive."

"Yes, ma'am. It was. I've never met a woman like her before. She is strong alright."

A sailor walked up to them and said to Virginia's mother, "Ms. Travers is being prepped for surgery. We are positioning the ship closer to the cruise ship. They'll begin the surgery once we stop. We expect to begin taking on wounded passengers shortly. There's a waiting area near the surgical unit if you'd like to wait there. You'll be close by so the doctors can give you an update."

He turned to Parker and said, "Are you hurt, Sir?"

For the first time, Parker looked down at himself. He was covered in blood. He wiped his face and found blood there as well. He shook his head, "No. This is all her blood. I'm intact."

The sailor nodded and said, "We have a fresh uniform for you, Sir. The captain says you're welcome to shower and change in his quarters. After that you can either wait with Ms. Stone or you're invited to the bridge."

"Thank you. I think I'll take you up on the shower."

The sailor showed him to the captain's quarters and pointed out a freshly pressed Marine uniform laid out on the bed. It looked just his size. He started to ask. The sailor laughed. "We have a couple of Marine doctors on the ship. One of them called your CO. Turns out you and he are about the same size. He's a captain. The Marines sent proper rank insignia over with a shipment of medical supplies we needed."

When he exited the captain's quarters, he found a sailor waiting to escort him to the bridge. On the way he asked, "Do you know if Ms. Travers is out of surgery yet."

"I believe they are just getting started, sir. They didn't want to risk opening her up while we were moving. Now that we're at anchor, they are going to see what they can do."

Parker looked at the sailor and said softly, "They're wasting their time."

"Doctors feel compelled to make every possible effort to save a life."

Parker shrugged. On the bridge, he greeted the captain briefly, and thanked him for the use of his shower. Captain Johnson waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and shook Parker's hand. "Think nothing of it."

"What's the situation on the cruise ship?"

"The few hijackers that you and Ms. Travers didn't take out – and there were _very_ few – surrendered. The SEALs located four different explosive devices. They were able to disarm them all. That was touch and go at least with one of the bombs, evidently, but they managed. The passengers who were not wounded will remain on the ship, which will take them to Santo Domingo. From there, they will be transferred by air to Ft. Lauderdale. The cruise line has already chartered a small freighter to take the luggage directly to the pier in Lauderdale."

"Are there enough flights from Santo Domingo to Florida to move all the passengers?"

"The cruise line chartered six jumbos. They are going to shuttle the passengers. It may take most of the day, but they are pulling out all the stops to do it right. The world's eyes are on them and they can't afford to fuck up."

"Especially not after they let something like twenty terrorists with guns and explosives slip through their pre-hiring screenings."

"I'm thinking that may be on their mind. At least I hope it is." Johnson looked Parker up and down, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No. Not physically. I'm just mentally and emotionally exhausted."

"Feel free to sack out in my quarters. I'm going to be up here for a very long time without a break. I won't have the chance to use it any time soon."

"Thanks. I may take you up on that after while. Right now I'd like go keep her mother company."

Johnson nodded, and said, "That one appears to be one hell of a woman!"

"You got that right! I wish to God I'd have had a chance to get to know her better."

A few minutes later Parker walked into the vestibule outside the surgical unit. Merri Stone was talking on a cell phone. He poured coffee that he didn't really want, for something to do. A few minutes later she ended the call and looked up at him, saying simply, "She's still in surgery."

He nodded and sat down next to her. He still had the cruise ship captain's cell phone. "Did you speak to her daughter?"

She shook her head. "The only number I have for her is her apartment land line. I don't have her cell number. I left a message, but she's a medical student. God knows when she'll be home."

He held out the phone. "Virginia spoke to her daughter at this number just before the shooting started."

Merri looked at the number and said, "That's different from the number I have. Let's try it."

Parker hit redial. Virginia's daughter picked up on the first ring and said in a voice that teetered on the brink of hysteria, "Mom! Are you okay?"

Parker handed the phone to Merri, "Shelton, this is Grandma. Your mother is in surgery. I will be honest with you and tell you it does not look good."

"What the hell was she doing out there? How did you get there?"

"I came with the hospital ship. I don't know how your mother came to be on that lifeboat. Colonel Wilkes and I haven't had a chance to talk yet. Nor have we heard from the doctors."

"Is that man there with you? Let me talk to him."

Merri handed the phone to Parker with a strangely amused look on her face. "Shelton would like to speak with you."

He took the phone and said, "Miss Travers, my name is Parker Wilkes. I assume you have some questions."

"I sure the fuck do! What kind of man lets a woman go out and put herself in danger like that? And what was your relationship to my mother? She never mentioned you to me, but it appeared from the way you two were behaving on that boat there's a lot she hadn't mentioned to me. Where did she learn to shoot like that? I knew she took jujitsu but I didn't know she used guns. Just, what the hell happened today?!"

Parker waited while the girl wound herself down. He held the phone out and turned on the speaker. Merri listened to the tirade of questions that exploded out of Shelton's pain. She smiled but tears filled her eyes. When Shelton was finally quiet, Parker explained, briefly, how he and her mother had come to be on that lifeboat.

"I swear to God, my mother is the most cussedly stubborn and independent person on the planet."

Parker said, "She is also amazingly strong in many ways. And she loves you very much."

"She has a damned funny way of showing it."

Merri said, "Shelton, how can you say that? You never wanted for anything. Virginia is a good mother."

"Yeah she was always there for us, physically, but she was never there for us emotionally. I don't know. Maybe daddy sucked the life out of her so badly she had nothing left over. All I know is that for most of my life my mother has been either absent or present but doing something incredibly odd or embarrassing."

Parker said, with ice in his voice, "Miss Travers, pardon me for saying so, but your mother just saved the lives of thousands upon thousands of people, one of them being me. That should not qualify as odd or embarrassing. It should make you proud of her."

"I understand what you're saying, but if she were just a regular normal mother she'd be home right now watering her flowers." She made an impatient and annoyed noise. Then she paused and said, more softly, "What happens now? Will she be okay?"

Merri said, "Based on the location of her wound and the blood she had lost, I'd say her chances are very slim."

"So, she saved all those people and got herself killed. Okay. I guess I'm supposed to be proud of her, just like I'm supposed to be proud of Randy and Uncle Gary. You know, I'm not interested in having a family full of dead heroes. I'd rather have a family of ordinary people who are alive. Call me back when you know for sure how the surgery goes."

She hung up.

Merri closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't know how much you know about Virginia's life. Her late husband was a chronically depressed and, I believe, borderline paranoid schizophrenic. Their home was a living hell. He was not physically abusive. He was a workaholic who was physically absent most of the time. When he was home, he was emotionally withdrawn, or he was angry and verbally abusive to all of them.

"Her son was killed in Afghanistan six months after Tom finally managed to work himself to death.

"Shelton is the younger of the two children. She grew up under the cloud of her father's depression and then grieved terribly over Randy, who was one of those Golden Boy types. Everybody loved him, and Shelton adored him.

"Virginia suffered terribly with grief for months, but she managed to pull herself back from the brink and move on. I have been amazed and delighted to discover that Virginia was beginning to show signs of becoming the lovely, vibrant girl she used to be. Unfortunately, I don't think Shelton had seen her lately. The mother she knew was a silent, morose person who often went through the motions of her life like a Stepford Wife."

"The woman I met on this cruise was delightful, vivacious, smart, funny, and amazingly fit and strong."

Merri looked at him and said, "You left out sexy."

"That too."

"There was always that. I don't think Virginia ever had any idea how appealing she was to men. Fortunately, for her she was always surrounded by a cadre of male friends who protected her from anyone who might treat her with anything other than the utmost respect."

"From what she said, it sounded as though most of her friends are men."

"I don't think Virginia ever had a girlfriend. She has some female friends now, but her best friends always have been men. My cell phone has rung constantly today. I was just talking to one of the guys and asked him to tell the others to quit calling. I promised that whatever happens, I'll call Travis. He's the guy who pulled her through Randy's death. They've been friends for 35 years. He can spread the word among the others."

She said softly, "Would you mind telling me about the cruise? I'd like to assure myself that she was enjoying herself."

He smiled, leaning his head back and remembering. He told her about the hot tub and the encounter with the dolphin and Virginia's efforts to learn to snorkel. He told her about how Virginia knocked everybody's socks off at the formal dinner. He laughed, "She insisted that nobody would even notice her because I was wearing my dress uniform, but I assure you nobody even knew I was in the room. She was amazing."

She cleared her throat and asked, "Did you make love?"

He didn't answer. She added, "It would be okay if you did."

"Yes."

"Sex was always very important to her and it may have been the thing she struggled hardest with after her husband died. She could never understand how I could live alone without a man in my life. She always lived a very _physical_ existence. Exercise. Gardening. Cleanliness was an obsession with her and she cleaned house like a madwoman. I guess it makes sense that someone like that would be very sensual."

"Has she dated much since her husband died?"

"No. It's a small town. Her choices are limited, and most of the men that she would be most likely to date have been her friends so long she's told me it felt incestuous to try to date them. This may be inappropriate for a mother to tell, but I think you'll find it amusing. She and one of her guy friends decided to go on a real date. He had just gotten divorced. It was after Tom died but before Randy was killed. She was doing well. She and her friend went out to dinner and then decided to go back to her house and have sex. She told me that they felt awkward at first but they thought once things got under way they'd be okay. Evidently, at some point fairly far along in the proceedings, he rolled over hopped out of bed and said, 'I can't do this. It's like fucking my sister.'"

"What did she do?"

Merri laughed, "She said first she got mad and yelled at him for a few minutes. Considering her vocabulary, I'm sure she called him a few crude names. Then she got out of bed, and they watched movies and drank beer. He slept on the couch. I don't think she's made any further attempts at dating." She looked at him. "Until now." She gave him a soft, sad smile.

"Did she tell you how she came to be so capable with guns? That was something she never mentioned to me. I thought she mainly did karate and jujitsu."

"She didn't go into any detail, but I had the impression that it kind of grew out of the martial arts thing, and that her husband was kind of into some extreme combat kind of stuff. It sounded to me like she initially went along for the ride, and found herself enjoying it." He chuckled, "She told me she was pretty good with a gun, but her favorite thing was swords." He still had his eyes closed and his face lit up, "I have to tell you some amazing thoughts went through my mind, imagining that woman with a sword in her hand."

Her mother chuckled, and said, "That's a terrifying prospect. She's pretty scary when she's mad."

"I have to confess, ma'am. My thoughts went in a whole different direction than that."

They were quiet for a while. Outside Parker could hear noises as hundreds of wounded passengers were being brought onto the ship and moved towards various treatment rooms. Time dragged. He just wanted it to be over. "Tell me about her when she was little."

"She no doubt told you about our crazy family. She was very proud of us.

"I bought my house when she was about six. I think my parents were glad to see us move out because both Virginia and Gary were very energetic and difficult kids. Robbie was quiet and shy. He was no trouble. Gary was all boy. He was loud and kind of the family clown. Virginia was the one who worried me the most and who, also, routinely blew me away with her maturity at times. I think she has a very old soul.

"She was strong and independent from the time she was little. She was argumentative. God, that kid would argue with a post! And cuss it out in the process. I think I washed her mouth out with soap for swearing once a week, and finally gave up in frustration. I decided if 'fuck' was her favorite word, I was not going to prevent her from using it. Actually, Gary was the one who finally got her to stop swearing, at least at home. I think she called him a fuckhead or something. He slapped her literally across the kitchen. She stood up and wiped the blood off her face, smiled, and then went into her bedroom. She moderated her language after that, at least when Gary was around. She also became very close to him from then on. I think she didn't respect him until then. After that, they were inseparable. That is, until he went to Vietnam and got killed."

"She took that hard?"

"Yes, she did. We both did. We took it not only hard: we took it personally."

"She told me you were anti-war before that, but you became a regular crusader after."

"That's true. What she probably didn't mention was that she went even further than I did. She quit school and went to work for the VVAW full time when she was fifteen. We had some screaming rows about that, I'll tell you. I think I may have dropped a few f-bombs during those fights myself. But, there was never any chance of making her change her course after she had made up her mind about something."

"Did she really punch someone for spitting on a soldier?"

"Yes, she did." She closed her eyes and smiled. "That may be the defining moment of her life. Or at least it was the moment that showed me who she is. I don't know how she did it, but she always had a clarity of purpose that was remarkable for such a young girl. She was against the Vietnam war, but she was never a pacifist. She was not opposed to all war. She was just opposed to that particular one. For some very specific reasons, most of which she learned from me. I was a political science professor, and I brought my work home.

"Anyway, she was anti-war and anti-Nixon – oh, my God, did she hate Nixon – but she was not anti-military or anti-America. On the contrary, she was very proud of her hot shot pilot father and her Green Beret brother. Do you remember that horrible song about the Green Berets?" He nodded and made a face.

Merri grinned. "She knew all the words and every time her brother walked in the door she'd stand up and sing the chorus. None of us was certain whether she was teasing or serious, but we never tested her because if she were really serious about that and we made fun of her, we knew there'd be seven kinds of hell to pay.

"That day in the airport, we were tired. Exhausted. We'd been hassled by the cops all day long, and there were counter-demonstrators as well who kept trying to pick fights with us. Virginia and I were sitting near the gate. We merited seats because I was one of the organizers of the group, and about the oldest person there. Virginia was the youngest.

"A lot of people were sitting on the floor in the gate area. I saw the three soldiers coming down the concourse, and I kind of steeled myself. I knew the kinds of things that happened when some hippies encountered soldiers in public places. I didn't like it, but it never occurred to me to try to do anything about it. The guys were walking along, talking. When they saw our group, they stopped talking and walked a little faster. They did not look at us. A girl stood up and spat on one of the soldiers. Typically when that would happen, others would say mean things. Before anyone could say or do anything and before the soldier even wiped his face, Virginia was all but flying across the gate area, screaming like the Banshee, 'Who in the FUCK do you think you are?'

"She threw a huge round-house punch that mercifully did not hit the girl in the nose. If it had, it would have shattered her face. It ended up to be a glancing blow off the side of her head. The blow knocked the girl to the ground and then Virginia kicked her out of the middle of the hallway.

"The next thing that happened is the thing I remember the most. She wiped the spit off the soldier's face with her bare hand and very loudly apologized 'on behalf of the civilized members of our group.' Then she wiped her hand on her jeans, and shook his hand and the hands of the other two soldiers, saying, "Welcome home from hell, guys. It's kind of hellish here, too, but at least nobody will be shooting at you, and the chow's decent.'

"They laughed and went on their way.

"Virginia returned to her seat without even glancing at the girl she had decked, who was still lying in a heap on the floor of the corridor.

"Virginia never went to another demonstration after that until she got involved with the Vietnam Vets Against the War."

"Did she go back to school then?"

"She never went back to high school. She got her GED instead." She laughed. The kid read constantly. I was a college professor. She had access to books. She decided she could get a much better education reading on her own than all the bullshit busywork they gave her to do in high school. Frankly, I agreed with her. I made a deal with her that if she had not achieved her GED by the time she was 17, she'd re-enroll in high school."

"And?"

"She achieved her GED when she was sixteen. Without ever taking a class. She passed all sections of the test on the first try."

"Did she enroll in college at that point?"

"No. By then she was working almost full-time in the anti-war movement and doing volunteer work at the VA hospital, which to her way of thinking amounted to the same thing. She felt that we had an obligation to prevent new soldiers from being sent into harm's way, but we had just as much of an obligation to take care of the wounded soldiers who had been there. I don't think she ever really understood how unusual that attitude was at the time. It may be even more rare now."

"That's quite a gal you raised there, Mom."

"She was a handful alright. But, I had a hard time arguing with her because I agreed with her. And I couldn't very well forbid her from working against the war when I was doing the same thing. Besides, she had an entourage of Vets who protected her like a bunch of mother ducks."

"She's a very complicated person."

"Actually, I don't think so. I think she's really a very simple person. She lives according to a simple code of ethics, that is precise and clear. She believes that life involves struggle, mortal combat even. What is important is that a person only engages in combat in the service of the greater good and that she uses only as much force as is necessary to win. It is a very simple creed to articulate. Very difficult to live. Somehow my amazing daughter has managed to live true to her code her whole life."

Merri's voice broke. Parker took her hand.

He said, "She meditates every morning. I watched her when she thought I was sleeping. She was so still it was as though she was not breathing at all. It actually scared me."

"You can do that when you are highly experienced in meditation. You literally slow down your heart and your breathing becomes very slow, too. It feels wonderful."

He needed to get up and walk around, "You want some coffee or food?"

"I don't drink coffee, but I'd love a bottle of water and maybe some fruit if you can find any."

He walked out to the nurse's station and asked if they could order up some fruit and water. She smiled, "Yes, Sir. You want anything else?" He asked for coffee and a turkey sandwich. He wasn't hungry, but he knew he needed to eat something.

When he returned to the waiting room, Merri was sitting up straight with her eyes closed, breathing slowly. He tried not to disturb her, returning to his chair, closing his eyes and wishing that he might be able to sleep for a few minutes. Someone brought the food. They each ate a few bites and then pushed the tray away.

After that, they merely waited in the wordless, fearful and morbid silence that envelopes hospital waiting rooms everywhere.

Eventually, the surgeon came out of the O. R. He was still in his scrubs, covered in blood. Parker knew Virginia had to be dead if she lost that much more blood.

The surgeon smiled at Merri. "Ma'am. That is one strong lady in there. I do not have any earthly idea how she did it, but she survived the surgery. We removed all the shell fragments." He sighed and said, "I'll be honest and tell you, she nearly bled out. We finally got the bleeding stopped and the transfusions are now starting to restore her to a normal blood level. We have done all we can do medically. We'll keep her clean and give her medication for pain, but now it's all up to her." He shook his head in what looked like wonderment, "I won't predict what her chances are. When I looked at her wound for the first time, I thought she had zero chance of surviving the surgery. She may still die. She's been through a terrible trauma. But, if she is strong enough to still be alive now. I'd say there is a slim chance that she might actually make it."

He looked at Parker and then Merri again, "After what I saw of her today on the news, I sincerely hope so."

Merri said, "Her daughter is in Chicago. Where will you take Virginia? I want to get Shelton there as soon as possible."

Parker said, "I think I can help with that." He looked at the doctor. "When will you be able to move her?"

"I'd love to let her rest for 24 hours, but frankly, we need the O. R. for other patients. A Marine medical chopper is on its way. We're going to send her to a trauma center in Miami." He looked at Merri and said, "You can go, too."

She looked at Parker and asked, "Will you come as well?"

"Yes, if you don't mind."

Merri said, "I think she's going to need both of us."

He nodded. He took the phone out of his pocket and said, "Call Miss Priss."

She said, "She's not that bad. You just got off on a bad foot." She dialed and told Shelton that her mother had survived the operation and would be moved to Miami. She said, "I don't know." She looked up at Parker and asked, "Should she fly to Miami?"

He took the phone, "Miss Travers, go ahead and leave for the airport. Your best bet might be Midway. Hop on the first flight you can get to Miami. Don't worry about how much it costs. The cruise line may not know it yet, but they'll be taking care of this for you. Call me when you know what time your flight will land and I'll let you know where we are. We don't know yet what hospital they are taking her to."

Her voice was raspy. She had obviously been crying, "Will she live?"

He said, "We don't know. I doubted she would survive the surgery. But she did. She may live. One thing is certain: you need to get to Miami as soon as possible."

"I will. And, Mr. Wilkes. I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"People say and do things when they're under stress that they regret. Perhaps when you get to Miami, we can start over."

"I hope so."

He ended the call and turned to the doctor. "How long will it take you to get her ready?"

"Half an hour."

Parker turned to Merri and said, "Ma'am, I want to go up to the bridge and thank the Captain personally. I'll meet you at the chopper pad when it's time to go."

She nodded and patted his arm.

On the bridge, Captain Johnson filled him in on the situation. There were more than 400 cruise passengers who had been injured. The ones with minor injuries would be staying with the cruise ship. Most of the rest were being transported to the military vessels. The most seriously wounded were being airlifted directly to trauma units in Miami and Tampa.

"Will the hospital be able to take her?"

The captain smiled. "The cruise line has arranged for her to have a private suite. They are flying in gunshot specialists from around the country. They are pulling out all the stops to take care of her."

"Good. I told her daughter the cruise line would pay for her plane ticket."

"They might send a private plane for her if you let them know where she is."

"Could you do that?"

"Sure. I've been in contact with their legal department all afternoon. Do you have her number?"

Parker gave it to him and told him that she was heading for Midway airport.

An officer wearing a headset turned and said, "Col. Wilkes, they're ready for you on the pad."

He sprinted for the top deck of the ship, where the medivac helicopter sat with rotors already turning. He hopped into the seat next to the pilot. The aircraft lifted off before he had his seat belt fully fastened. There was a mirror on the visor. He looked back at Merri who was sitting behind him. Virginia was on a stretcher in the back, looking like a mummy, completely swaddled in bandages and blankets. She was accompanied by a doctor and a nurse who never took their eyes off the monitors. He noticed that neither one of them touched Virginia or talked to her. That bothered him.

It was a long flight by helicopter to Miami. Eventually, they landed on a helipad atop the hospital. The medical team unloaded Virginia, while a woman from the cruise line greeted Parker and Merri, and escorted them down an elevator. She identified herself as Heather Watkins, a customer relations specialist with the cruise line. She told them that she was completely at their service for as long as they were in Miami. A luxury suite had been arranged for Virginia that included a separate bedroom for her mother and daughter. She looked at Parker and said, "We will arrange a hotel room if you like or we'll set up another room in the hospital if you want to stay here."

Merri said, "Her daughter will be arriving soon."

"Her daughter is en route. We chartered a plane in Chicago. She should be landing in about half an hour. We have the room set up here for you and Miss Travers. Whenever you feel comfortable doing so, we'll be happy to move you to a hotel. The company wants you to be able to focus totally on doing whatever you can to help your daughter heal. We will take care of everything else."

She looked at Parker again and added, "That goes for you, too, Sir."

The room was obviously one of those used for the ultra rich and/or celebrities. It was essentially a private intensive care unit, with an adjoining hotel room for guests that consisted of both a bedroom and a sitting room. There was food on the table in the sitting room.

Merri turned to the lady, "I can tell you, I need toiletries and clothes. I have been working in Jamaica on the earthquake relief. When I heard they were sending the hospital ship to rescue a cruise liner, I volunteered. I boarded without any luggage. Fortunately, I did bring my passport and wallet."

Heather looked at her and said, "Size four?"

"Make it six. I don't like my clothes too snug."

"We'll start with basic pants, shirts, undies and pajamas. You can add from there. I'll put in a call. Colonel, what do you need?"

"Um, my luggage is on the ship. If you can find it just send it here. In the meantime, I'd like a toothbrush, toothpaste and shaving gear. I showered but did not shave in the captain's quarters. Maybe a couple changes of underwear in case the luggage is hard to locate."

Heather blushed, "Briefs or boxers?"

He smiled and blushed a little, too, "Briefs."

Just before she walked out the door, Heather said, "I'm going to go meet Miss Travers at the airport and order up these items. I'll be back shortly. If you need anything in the meantime, dial double 00 on the room phone. The hospital staff has been instructed to give you the VIP treatment all the way."

After Heather left, Merri said, "I'm impressed with the cruise line's courtesy."

Parker made a face, "What it amounts to is damage control. They have a potential corporate catastrophe on their hands. They want to be seen to be doing everything they can to keep people happy. I'd be willing to bet that lady is here under orders from the company legal department to give us whatever we ask for – and keep attorneys away from us."

Merri chuckled, "Wonder what will happen when they find out that Virginia's best friend is a lawyer. A very successful personal injury lawyer."

He laughed out loud and said, "I'm guessing there will be some folks at the cruise line who may be needing fresh undies, at that point. Is her friend coming?"

"I told him to stay in Ohio until we get a better feel for her condition. He has been her guardian angel since the day he met her when she was fourteen, and has been at her side through every thing that has happened to her since. He was the best man at her wedding. The groom's sister was the maid of honor, to even things out."

"I think he should be here. That's the kind of voice that will help bring her back."

"What do you mean?"

"I suppose that any injury or serious illness that results in surgery does the same thing, but I've been shot and I can tell you that even when everybody thinks you're unconscious and can't hear what's going on, a lot of the time you can hear everything people say. A familiar voice can be like a lifeline that you can hold onto, to bring you back. I was seriously wounded in Iraq in 1989. A nurse at the hospital in Germany literally talked me back to life. I've done it a few times with guys in my unit who were badly wounded." He leaned forward and looked her in the eyes, putting his hands on her shoulders, "And you and I and Miss Shelton are going to talk your daughter back to life, too."

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, I hope we can do it."

He took her in his arms and hugged her, saying, with more conviction than the felt, "We will do it."

## Chapter 11

When Virginia regained consciousness she thought she had been blinded. She couldn't see anything. Then she realized she was completely covered in bandages. She could not move. She was aware that she was on a respirator, but she was sufficiently drugged that it didn't bother her. The agonizing pain in her chest had stopped. Now she just hurt everywhere, but there was no one particular place that hurt more than others. She listened. There was a whooshing noise and she felt as though she was moving. She somehow understood through the drugs that she was being airlifted somewhere. She could not remember what happened to her. The last thing she remembered was sitting down at dinner the first night of the cruise. She remembered looking around the table and making eye contact with a Marine. His amazing brown eyes held hers for only a second, but during that second something hard inside her broke. She liked the feeling of relief that followed. She wondered what had happened next.

She waited, trying to figure out what was happening.

She deduced from the sounds it made that she must be in a helicopter. Soon the sound of the motor changed and the sound of the rotors got louder. She could feel the chopper descending. The last few feet made her stomach lurch. Then they stopped and the noise and the vibration of the motors ceased. She missed the vibration. It had been very comforting.

That reminded her of how she used to put Shelton on top of the dryer when she was colicky. The vibration sometimes (but not always) calmed her high-strung daughter as well.

Shelton. _I wonder if she knows what happened and if she will be able to come to me._ Then she decided that was ridiculous. Shelton was in medical school. She couldn't drop everything because her idiot mother had gone off and got herself in trouble.

She tried again to remember what happened. With an injury to her chest that hurt in the way hers had, she knew she must have been shot, but she could not remember how she had managed to get herself shot on a cruise ship. She laughed inside her mouth at the thought that Travis would say something along the lines of, "Woman, you could get yourself in a fucking pickle in church, for Christ's sake!"

She could feel people moving around her, unbuckling, unstrapping, moving equipment. Nobody talked to her. They spoke in rapid jargon that sounded like gibberish to her. She wanted to say, "Hey, I'm here!" but she could not speak.

She felt warmth spreading up her arm, then she lost consciousness again.

The next time she woke, she could tell she was in a bed. She could hear soft music playing. It was the kind of soft, smooth jazz she liked. There was a machine by her bed on one side that whooshed. She thought that must be the respirator. There was a machine on the other side that beeped intermittently in a very annoying way. She would like to have been able to ask them to move it, but she was still on the respirator and could not move or talk.

She heard a voice talking softly. No, it was reading. It was her mother's voice reading from _Anne of Green Gables._ She thought perhaps she was delirious and having auditory hallucinations, but her mother kept reading. Virginia concentrated as hard as she could, and focused on her mother's voice. _Anne of Green Gables_ had been her favorite book when she was a kid. She read it over and over, but had not read it in decades. She could barely remember the story line, but she remembered how she loved the novels. She listened to her mother reading and found herself swept along with the story. Her mother read on and on. Too soon, she stopped reading and spoke directly to Virginia, "I have to take a break now, Sweetheart. I need to get some water and a bite to eat. Shelton will take over now. I love you. I'll be back soon." There was a pressure at her side in the general vicinity of her hand. Her mother had attempted to squeeze her hand, but couldn't quite find it in the mountain of bandages and swaddling. Virginia was could feel the pressure of her mother's touch through the covers. It was wonderful.

She heard the chair move. Then another pressure, softer, and a wonderfully familiar voice, "Hi, Mom, it's Shelton. I'll read to you, too, in a few minutes, but I want to tell you about my trip here. You'll get a kick out of it, especially considering our running feud about my materialistic ways. Seems that you have got yourself shot at the expense of a very wealthy cruise line with a serious publicity problem. They are pulling out all the stops for you. I was on my way to the airport to buy a regular ticket when somebody called me and told me they were chartering a plane for me. They picked me up at Midway and flew me directly to Miami. In the air, I had a wonderful lunch on china plates with linen napkins. When I arrived in Miami, they met me with a limo. They're putting us up in a private suite here in the hospital. Somebody told me that this is the suite where celebrities recuperate from plastic surgery. Grandma and I have been laughing about how we need to enjoy all this luxury while we can because when you come to, you'll throw a fit and check yourself out of here. The people have all been very nice and the doctors are taking really good care of you.

"I saw the video of you on TV. You were just amazing! But, I'm not supposed to talk about that.

"You always ask about school. School is fine. I've decided that medical school is slightly better than law school, based upon what I'm hearing from law students that I know. But not by much. I guess the medical school classes are more interesting, but the overwhelming amount of information there is to learn gets to me sometimes. I feel as though future lives depend on me learning it all. I feel as though I don't dare forget anything. It becomes very stressful.

"You'll like this. You know I quit my morning meditation practice when I went to college. I just couldn't sustain it in a dorm. Besides, it was a little rebellion for me.

"Unfortunately, it was a little rebellion that was not so good for me. You've had me meditating and doing yoga my whole life. Quitting was a bad move for me. After a couple of semesters of medical school I found myself with all kinds of stress-related issues. Couldn't sleep. Drank too much caffeine. Yada. Yada. Anyway, recently I started morning practice again. I quit using caffeine altogether, although I do eat meat and I do occasionally have a beer. But, generally, I've gone back to clean living with daily yoga and meditation. Not only do I feel better, but my grades have improved. Not that my grades were bad, but now I'm in the top ten percent of my class. Ta-Da!

"But, do you know what they call the person who graduates last in their medical school class? Answer: 'Doctor'. So, unlike in undergrad school, for me now it's not all about the grades, it's about what I can learn and how what I do learn will make me a better doctor.

"Speaking of doctors, you have the Dream Team of all trauma teams. They've got guys here from all over. If any medical team can pull you through, this one can. And, what's really been nice, once they found out I'm a medical student, they all went into teaching mode. When I'm not on duty here talking to you, they let me follow them around and they explain what they're doing. The down side of that is that I know a little more about your innards that I'd like. Especially considering the condition of your innards.

"Jesus, Mom, how in the hell are you still alive?"

There was a small space of blessed silence and Virginia half wished that Shelton would hush, but she regained her voice and continued, "Anyway, they have even arranged for me to get some credit for the stuff I'm doing here. I'm excused from my classes, but will have to go back and take my exams at the end of the semester. Hopefully, you'll be far enough along that I'll be able to risk the trip.

"Shoot, by then, you'll probably be back at home working in your tomato patch.

"Anyway, school is good.

"It's good to be able to spend some time with Grandma. We're sharing a room. We don't talk to each other too much because by the end of the day, we're almost all talked out, but it's cool to be with her. I didn't realize how much I miss her. Well, maybe I don't really miss her because I'm so busy I don't have time to think about missing her, but it's nice to spend time with her. It would be better if you were able to join us. We've been talking about how the three of us should go someplace together. Grandma and I would like to go on a cruise and the company has told us that we can go for free anytime, anywhere for any cruise. We will understand, however, if you don't want to go on another cruise, after this experience. Anyway, when you wake up you can tell us what you'd like to do. We think the cruise company would pay for whatever we want to do. Col. Wilkes says he figures they will give you about anything you might want more or less forever.

"Speaking of Col. Wilkes, I feel really bad about him. We got off to a bad start, and he doesn't like me at all. I was upset when you were first hurt and I shot off my mouth and said some stupid things. He interpreted that as me being a selfish little bitch and not caring about you. I guess he was right. I was thinking of myself and I was scared you would die like Randy and leave me all alone, so anyway I said some selfish things and pissed him off. Now he doesn't like me. I'm trying to redeem myself in his eyes, partly for your sake and partly because now that I've gotten to know him I know he's a really, really good and decent person and it hurts me to think that he doesn't like me. I hope that doesn't create a problem for you in the future.

"He's a really nice man and I think he loves you. But, he says he doesn't know you well enough to know if he loves you. It appears he is determined to make you pull through so he can find out. Lord, that man is single-mindedly stubborn when it comes to you, and probably everything else, actually.

"I'm running out of babbling material. How about I read the next chapter of your book? I never read this book, but I've been reading it to you, and I've also been reading the chapters that Grandma reads to you. It's really good. I understand why you loved it when you were a little girl.

"Do you remember how pissed off you got at me when you gave me _The Girl of the Limberlost_ and I told you it was stupid. As prevue of coming attractions, I'm here to tell you that when we finish _Green Gables_ we're going to read that one. I never did finish it. I guess if you're still in the same situation when we finish this story, we might as well explore the Limberlost together. Anyway, here goes with the next chapter from _Anne_..."

Shelton read in a kind of sing-song voice, without expression. Unlike Mother's story-teller reading voice that held Virginia's attention and let her mind float on the story, Shelton's reading skills (or lack thereof) merely made Virginia bored and sleepy.

Later Virginia woke again. She still couldn't see, but the room was quiet and there was something about the atmosphere that made her think it must be night. A different voice was speaking. This one was right by her ear. In fact, she could tell that someone was leaning on the bed next to her head. There was pressure above her head and pressure near her hand. This person was as close to her as possible with all the bandages, tubes and paraphernalia. It was a man. At first she thought it was Travis, but it wasn't Travis' voice. It was a deeper voice that vibrated as it whispered in her ear.

"You will be glad to know that Travis is arriving tomorrow. He wanted to come right away, but the doctors already think you have too much company with the three of us. They don't like the fact that we're talking to you so much. They say you need your rest. I know that you sleep when you need to sleep. I can tell from the monitor when you are sleeping. There is a change when you stop sleeping. The doctors say you are in a drug-induced coma to keep you calm until they can take the respirator out. That may be true, but people in a coma can sometimes hear. I'm banking on that. So, at my instigation, your mom put her foot down and said that we will talk to you around the clock and there's nothing they can do about it. One of us will be here when you wake up. You will never at any time be alone. I have to admit it will be nice to have Travis give us some help. Your mom and Shelton share the day. I've been taking the night shift. I don't want to give up my time alone with you in the wee hours, so Travis is going to take the evening. That will give your mom and Shelton a shorter day, and I can come in a little later. We'll work out the exact schedule, but one of us will be with you all the time.

"Shelton is going to have to go home for a few days to take her exams in a week or so. One of the other guys from Kent will join us for a couple of days if you haven't regained consciousness. I'm guessing that will be a delight for you to hear a familiar voices with some new stories. I'm running out of material. I have started repeating favorite stories in the hope that you'll enjoy them just because I'm enjoying telling them, and that you won't be annoyed by the repetition.

"Your mother is every bit as magnificent as you told me, and even more. She is your PR person. When the press asks me questions, I tell them to fuck off. When they ask Shelton questions, she goes into way more detail than she should so we have refused to allow the press access to her. Your mom is a lovely old lady who's bright and personable, but Travis has coached her carefully about what she should say and what she shouldn't. So, she's handling press relations.

"Merri and I are having fun with the idea of what the doctors and the cruise line people are going to say when Travis arrives and they find out he's a personal injury attorney. They will shit a brick, but there's nothing they can do. He'll be here as your friend. He is also representing your mother and Shelton as their personal attorney, but we're not telling the doctors or the cruise line that just yet. We all assume that you will let him represent you as well. But Travis says you're so fucking stubborn you may go all soft and refuse to sue the cruise line. If that's the case, we'll all have to have a conversation. You're mom is going to keep score on the f-bombs and let us know at the end of the fight who the biggest potty mouth is. Her money is on you, by the way.

"I can't wait to meet Travis. We've talked on the phone a number of times. He adores you. At first he wasn't too keen on me. We've talked enough to know that I'm not some pervert out to do you harm, although I think he's reserving his final judgment on me until after he meets me. I hope I can win him over, because I'm pretty sure I'll have no shot at you if Travis objects to me. I intend to make sure that doesn't happen.

"I feel sure that Shelton will have told you that I don't like her. It is true that we got off on a bad foot, and I have a very hard time getting past first impressions. Where Shelton is concerned, I'm trying. She's basically a nice kid. But, she's a kid and she really pisses me off sometimes. Correction: most of the time. I tell her not to take it too personally. I offered to give her my daughter's number so she could be assured that I was pissed off at Gracie too, from the time she was about eleven until she got married and suddenly turned into a wonderful human being. I think it's nothing personal. I guess I just do not like young girls. I'm sorry if I've made Shelton feel bad.

"I understand your mom and Shelton are reading to you from _Anne of Green Gables._ I'm going to leave that shit to them. Gracie went through an _Anne_ phase. She didn't read the books but she watched the PBS series over and over and over. I guess you have to be a girl to really 'get' those stories. I brought a book that might piss you off. I'm thinking, however, that it might at least amuse you. It's by Eric VonLustbader. I don't know if it's the one you were going to read on the cruise, but I'm guessing it doesn't matter. From what I can tell, his books are all mainly about sex and the plot is totally incidental. It cracks me up that you read that stuff, but if it turns you on, fine. If it pisses you off, that's fine too. I'm just looking for a reaction of any kind. So, here goes..."

Virginia was puzzled. She didn't know who this man was. He must know her pretty well to be taking such liberties, but she had no idea who he could be. Could she have met him on the cruise and reached such an astonishing degree of intimacy already? _Who the hell reads soft core porn to somebody in a coma for God's sake!_ She started to get pissed off, then it struck her funny. No matter who he was or how long he had known her, he'd figured her out. The best way to make her snap out of a funk was to either piss her off or arouse her sexually. Tom had done the latter for years. Travis specialized in the former. Whoever he was, this guy was willing to go either way. She laughed inside her head.

The laugh blipped on the blood pressure monitor, and the man leaned against her, laughing, and said, "Success! Someday I hope you'll tell me if you're pissed off or amused."

She listened carefully. He read beautifully. If sunshine on a sandy beach made noise, it would be the sound of his voice, warm and crackling. He read the story expressively, deepening his voice for the male parts. He did not try to imitate female voices, but reading them in a neutral voice was enough of a contrast for her to follow. She knew a racy passage was coming when he leaned closer and lowered his voice to a lascivious whisper. He read slowly, leaving spaces that she could fill in with her imagination. He read the sex scenes as though he were acting them out. Inviting her – commanding her, even – to respond. And she did. The blood pressure monitor was proof.

A nurse came in and checked the machine. She asked the man, "What were you doing?"

"Reading to her."

"Whatever it was, it got a reaction. It's impossible to tell whether it was positive or negative, but at this point any reaction is a good thing. Keep reading."

Virginia could hear the door close. The man chuckled and leaned close once again, "Now, I have official permission for this. Where was I? Oh, my, I've lost my place. I think I'll just have to start all over."

Virginia laughed again. He read on and on for what seemed like hours, and it was hours. She laughed a lot that night, occasionally at the incongruity of the situation, and occasionally at the ludicrous story line in the book that came between the sex scenes. When he read the sexy parts she perked up and listened carefully. Every time. She responded to one particular scene so markedly that he thought she might be waking up. He read it again three times. Virginia was exhausted by the end of the third time, but she was also very close to consciousness.

Just then she heard her mother's voice, "Good morning, Parker. Did she have a good night?"

He said, "I sincerely hope so. She did react a couple of times. Once the nurse even came in."

"Are we getting closer?"

"I hope so."

"What did you read to her?"

"If you don't mind, ma'am, I'd rather not say."

"I'm guessing it was some action thriller which would be good. I'm going to tell you something that I am not supposed to know and I hope it doesn't make you think less of her. I happened to know that she likes books that are pretty racy, if you know what I mean. I'm wondering if something like that might make good late night reading when Shelton's asleep."

"That's a good idea, Merri. I just might try that. Let me say good-bye to Virginia and then I'll be out of your way."

Virginia felt the pressure of his hand on hers and his other hand on the pillow by her head. She could feel his breath where he was kissing the bandages in the general vicinity of her cheek. He whispered, "Tonight, my dear, we'll pick up where we left off this morning. Now, I have to go back to my hotel – and take a long, cold shower."

Virginia laughed. Merri exclaimed, "She reacted! Kiss her again!"

He said, "I'm not Prince Charming." He did, however, lean over and kiss her again, "See you later, Sleeping Beauty."

Then she was alone with her mother who chatted for a while mostly about gossip from Kent regarding university people Virginia didn't know. When Merri ran out of things to say on her own, she picked up where Shelton had left off on the _Green Gables_ book.

Virginia allowed herself to float away on her mother's voice. She had been awake most of the night, listening to the man's voice. He had repeatedly made love to her with that voice using someone else's words. She wasn't sure why he thought that was appropriate, but he had done it. He reached down to the dreadful place where she was stuck, and touched the part of her that was most likely to respond. She thought that was hilarious. She also knew that when she was able to speak, she was going to give him some serious hell for such inappropriate behavior towards a helpless, unconscious person.

Then she realized that was the first time it occurred to her that she might actually live. She let that thought crystallize in her mind, and considered it as though it was a thing apart from her: Life; Living; To live, and not to die; To open her eyes and see; To make them take the infernal respirator out of her mouth so she could talk; To get out of bed and walk; To find out who owned the voice that pulled her back from the abyss.

Drifting on her mothers words, she sank into sleep. On another day she would live. Today she was too tired. She needed to rest. He'd be back later and she wanted to be able to stay awake and listen to his voice.

## Chapter 12

Parker arrived at the hospital about nine PM. Shelton's voice was almost hoarse. "I took an extra long shift. Grandma's voice gave out this afternoon."

"It will be good to have Travis and Ben come to spell us. Your grandmother is under enough strain already." He patted her arm, "As are you, too, Shelton."

"Yeah, but I'm not as old as her. And my mom's her daughter. I remember at Randy's funeral both Mom and Grandma crying and saying that the worst thing imaginable is to see your child suffer and die and you can't do anything about it." She started to cry.

"Shhhhh. No maudlin thoughts spoken aloud here! There will be time for tears for all of us later. How did she do today?"

"I think she slept most of the day. A couple of times the monitor blipped like you showed me when you think she's not sleeping. I asked the nurse about that. She said she didn't know if that's what those blips meant or not. Anyway, Mom seemed to be resting. The funny thing was she seemed more relaxed. I don't know why I think that, but that's the sense I had from her today."

"Good. I think we're making progress. How is your studying going?"

"I'm okay with my microbiology class. Chemistry freaks me out. I plan to study most of the night."

"Please close the door so my reading won't disturb you."

She laughed, "Grandma told me what she suggested, and she told me that the look on your fact indicated you might take her up on it."

He stepped closer, "This is probably way inappropriate to tell a girl about her mother, but I had already figured that out and was in the process of trying it."

Shelton closed her eyes and shook her head, "My mom's a pistol. Literally."

"We're going to wake her up. If she remembers how we did it she'll probably yell at all of us for disturbing her rest so relentlessly."

"I read somewhere that some primitive witch doctors would intentionally annoy people in a coma and piss them off so much they'd wake up."

"Whatever works."

"Goodnight, Colonel Wilkes."

"'Night, Shelton."

She headed for the bedroom. He said, "Aren't you going to say good-night to your mother?"

Shelton called from the door, "'Night, Mom. Sweet dreams."

Parker scooted up to the side of the bed and kissed her near what he thought was her ear. Her neurosurgeon came in. He said, "I'm sorry to be here so late. I have been in surgery all day with a very complicated head injury. I wanted to check in on Mrs. Rambo before I go home."

Parker looked up, annoyed. "Do you want me to get her mother?"

"No. I just want to check on her. And I really wanted to talk to you." He checked Virginia's vital signs, adjusted some nobs on the monitor and leaned over her saying, "You're doing great, Ms. Travers, I think we're making so much progress here we should relieve you of some bandages."

He unwrapped the bandages that covered her eyes, exposing her forehead and her greasy, matted hair. He patted her head, "I'll have a nurse come in tomorrow morning and dry shampoo your hair. Or maybe your mother would like to do it. That will make you feel better. I think you might be able to enjoy having people touch your skin without all those bandages."

He stepped toward the door and beckoned Parker to follow. The doctor said, "First of all, I have a sneaky feeling I know what you're doing. If I knew for certain I would probably feel morally compelled to tell you to stop. It appears to be working, however. We'll stick with the 'don't ask, don't tell' strategy.

"From studying the monitor tapes from last night, I think last night she came very close to consciousness a couple of times. I don't know that for sure. She certainly has a lot more brain activity when you are around, not to mention other chemical activity going on in her body. She responds to you. The autonomic nervous system is the first to develop at birth, the last to die at death, and the first to recover after trauma. Keep talking to her. It seems to be working.

"I took the bandage off her eyes. People in coma often open their eyes without actually regaining consciousness. If she really wakes up have the nurse call me. Once she's conscious, I'll be willing to try to remove the respirator. She fought it something fierce when we put it in. I'm afraid if she wakes up all the way she's going to flip out. Keep her as calm as you can if it comes to that."

"Okay. Thank you, doctor."

"Maybe I should thank you. If what you're doing works, I'm going to get credit for saving a hopeless case."

The doctor stepped out, and Parker returned to the side of the bed, leaned over and kissed her eyelids. He brushed her hair. And he talked to her. A running commentary about what he was doing, like a mother would talk to a baby. He reminded her that Travis would arrive the next day. He got a warm soapy cloth and washed the exposed portion of her face. Then he dried it carefully and massaged in some lotion.

Finally, he settled down and pulled up the chair close to the bed and said, "Okay, Sleeping Beauty, let's pick up where we left off last night. To save time and avoid boredom or confusion, I went through the book and marked out all the parts that involve the supposed story in this book. That was just a kind framework on which to hang all the sex. It makes no sense and wastes our precious time. Therefore, I'm cutting through all the bullshit and going for just the good stuff. You can read the story yourself later if you are so inclined."

The monitor blipped. He decided she was laughing when that happened.

He read to her for several hours. Occasionally, he took breaks from reading and just talked to her. At one point he narrated for her everything he remembered about their own love-making, slowly, and in minute detail. The advantage to talking to her, as opposed to reading to her, was that he could read the monitors while he talked. He knew her body was responding to his words. He was careful not to touch her while he talked. He thought that her body might respond to touch automatically, but it would only respond to words if there was some kernel of consciousness somewhere.

He ran out of things to say and then went back to the book. Something changed in her. He glanced at the monitor. Her heart was racing. Her breathing was stronger than it had been; she was actually trying to breathe on her own. Her body was moving not in the jerky twitches of deep coma but more like someone shifting to a more comfortable position.

He put the book in his jacket pocket and stood up he leaned across the bed, putting one hand on either side of her. "Come on, Sweetheart, I know you're there. You're so close. Come on. Open your eyes. Look at me." Over and over he demanded her to wake up. He did not shake her or touch her. He simply called her.

The nurse came in and told him to use Virginia's name.

"Virginia, come on, sweetheart. Virginia, wake up. It's time for you to wake up."

Again and again he called her name. The monitors did not fall back to their earlier positions, but they did not come up any further.

He was becoming angry. She was resisting him. She was playing with him. Teasing him, He hissed, "God dammit, Virginia, quit farting around and wake up. Come on, Baby, wake up."

She opened her eyes and glared at him and then closed them immediately.

## Chapter 13

Virginia was aghast to hear the story he told her of her wanton behavior on the cruise ship. She was rather pleased to know that the man she had hooked up with was the one she thought of as "the Marine" because she couldn't remember his name. She still couldn't remember anything that happened after dinner that first night, but the man had told her enough to know that she had joined the many other people who go on cruises and behave in ways they never would do any other time. She thought she should be embarrassed. Instead she mainly felt disappointed that she didn't remember it, because it sounded like she had a great time. Or, to be more precise, she had some great sex. She was pretty sure she must have done some other fun things, too, for her to have succumbed to his charms so quickly. Too bad she didn't remember any of it.

She liked it when he told her those things, but she kind of liked his reading to her better. His reading voice was stronger and more salacious than his conversational voice and he didn't stumble around for words. But when he was just talking to her, he was talking directly to her, not reading from a book. She liked that. A lot.

He started babbling a bunch of stuff that she didn't really want to hear so she decided to think about living again. She knew the doctor had taken off the bandages around her eyes. She knew that all she had to do was open her eyes and she would could look into his eyes again. She liked the thought of that because she remembered that he had amazing eyes. She would see her mother and her daughter and she would live.

She hesitated. There had been so many times in her life when she wanted to die from unhappiness or fear or grief or just tiredness from living a life with a mentally ill person. This was her chance. She knew she could do it. All she had to do was close her mind and refuse to listen to his voice. All she had to do was to think of her brother and her son and her father, her grandparents, and all the other people she had loved who were dead. She didn't have to live any more. She could sink into the darkness and be free of everything.

The nurse said, "We're losing her!"

Parker crawled up on the bed like a masseuse doing deep body work. The nurse protested, but he was far away, fighting a battle that he would win, or else.

"Virginia, I know you can hear me. Open your eyes. Look at me. Virginia. Come back to me. Now. Open your eyes."

The monitors continued to drop. The nurse started calling her name, louder. Merri and Shelton came out of the bedroom.

Parker was on all fours over her in the bed, demanding her to wake up. The nurse was calling her name. Merri and Shelton came to the side of the bed and started calling her name, too.

Virginia's mind opened enough to hear them. She knew who they were. The nurse's wonderful contralto with the Island accent who called her Baby. That nurse was the only person in the world who could call her that without pissing her off.

He had called her Baby. For some reason she thought this was not the first time. She hated it when men called women Baby. It was demeaning and sexist.

She heard her mother and Shelton calling her. Her mother was old and would be dead soon. Shelton was young, independent, and didn't need her.

The Marine was on the bed on top of her, calling her. She wondered if that was embarrassing her mother or Shelton. She thought it should probably embarrass her, too. But she rather liked the thought.

"Come on, Baby, open your god-damned eyes!"

She opened her eyes and glared at him again. She tried to speak.

The nurse said, "She's back. Keep talking. I'll call the doctor."

Shelton and Merri fell silent, watching Virginia now thrashing around, fighting against the restraints and the respirator. Only a moment before, Parker had been angry and demanding, now he was soothing and gentle, holding the sides of her head trying to keep her still, cooing, "No. No. Don't fight it. The doctor promised to come and take it out as soon as you woke up. Relax and breathe, slowly. Like yoga. Breathe. Slowly. Pretend you're doing yoga. Relax and breathe. It'll be gone in a minute and then you can give me hell for calling you Baby."

He smiled at her and kissed her forehead, "If I knew that would work so well, I'd have been in here singing along with Neil Sedaka music. That might have saved the three of us a lot of hassle."

Virginia's eyes crinkled in a smile.

Her mother burst into tears and so did Shelton. Parker hopped off the bed and let Merri and Shelton move closer to touch Virginia and kiss her forehead. He stepped out of her line of vision, and she became agitated.

Merri said, "Parker, I think she wants you to stay close where she can see you." She moved around to the other side of the bed and Parker moved close to her side.

Virginia felt a wave of nausea and panic. He continued to croon, "No. No. No. Don't panic. It will be gone soon. Breathe and relax. Do you want us to play some music?"

Virginia raised her eyebrows and he laughed, "Other than Neil Sedaka." She nodded as best she could. Shelton went to the CD changer and put on a New Age chimes CD that a friend had given her to de-stress with during exams. Merri held Virginia's hand.

Shelton stood by her head and rubbed her forehead. "Ew. It's greasy."

Parker said, "It's lotion. I washed her face with that hand soap. I was afraid it would get scaly and dry so I put lotion on it. I'm sure that's not made for the face, but it seemed like the thing to do."

_Mother called him "Parker."_ Virginia thought the name Parker was just wonderful. Parker. She wracked her brain to remember his last name, but knew it had sunk below her ability to dredge it up. She had a hard time remembering names under the best of circumstances. She'd have to embarrass herself by asking him for an introduction after the doctor came to take the respirator out. The music helped some, but what helped even more was his lips beside her ear whispering. "It's okay. The doctor is coming. Relax. Breathe. It's okay." She could feel his warm breath on her skin.

Virginia looked at her daughter and her mother and then she looked up into the amazing brown eyes of the man whose name was Parker. The eyes were incredible, but his voice was the thing that had pulled her back from the maw of death itself. It was a voice that could command a nearly-dead person to wake up even when she didn't really want to. Somewhere in the mists of her memory she heard him shout, "Shoot him!" She knew that some day she would remember it all. Someday when she was strong enough. Today would not be that day.

His voice could seduce, for sure, but it could make demands, and swear. _What the hell kind of asshole cusses at a person in a god-damned coma??!_

A heartbeat later that same voice could coo like a mother comforting an infant, wrapping her in verbal velvet that made her feel warm and safe and willing to do anything he'd ask of her so long as he kept talking.

Then again, who talks to a sick person non-stop around the clock and keeps them from getting any rest?

A mysterious man named Parker. That's who.

Virginia didn't know what to make of these events, but, now that she had decided to live, she knew she would soon find out. She hoped she would like what she learned.

He was still murmuring into her ear that she should relax and breathe. She had never used a mantra or music in her meditation practice. She decided to let her mind float on his voice in an effort to combat the panic. She closed her eyes and he hissed at her, "Don't you dare go to sleep now. Open your eyes." His voice contained violence and she had a feeling if she started drifting off again, he might slap her. That would piss her off. Which would, of course, be the whole point.

She giggled. The sound around the ventilator was technically disgusting but all three of her visitors reacted as if she had just stood up and sung an aria. She chuckled again, this time without the sound.

Merri laughed out loud and said, "You know, Parker, I have the feeling that you should be enjoying the peaceful silence now because if I know my daughter – and I do – I'm pretty sure that when they take the ventilator out, she's going to have a lot to say."

Shelton fell into a giggle fit and leaned over saying, "Mom, do you remember when Randy and I wrote on the walls of the dining room with markers? Do you remember what you said?"

Virginia was horrified that Shelton remembered that. It was the one and only outburst of cursing she ever directed at her children. And it was really bad. Virginia's eyes got big and she tried to wordlessly demand Shelton not to tell.

Shelton was becoming giddy. She wiped her eyes and said, between hiccups. "I don't technically remember this, because I was so young. But it was Randy's favorite story about Mom, and I've heard it so many times I memorized it and I almost feel as though I remember it. He told it to all of his friends before they'd come to visit for the first time. Some of his friends never would come to our house because they were so afraid to meet our Amazon mom.

"Anyway, my parents had just had the entire inside of the house painted. Randy decided we should decorate the newly painted dining room wall with markers. Permanent markers. We were drawing on the wall when Mom walked in the room with a basked of laundry, which she dropped on the floor. She started yelling, 'What the fuck? You little fuckheads, I'm going to kill the both of you! What the fuck were you thinking?' We ran into Randy's room and crawled under the bed. Mom came after us still screaming and calling us fuckheads at the top of her lungs. She came into the room and moved the bed. We really thought we were dead. She looked at us cowering there and burst into tears, apologizing to us."

Merri said, without any humor in her voice, "As I recall, she spent the whole afternoon moving the china cabinet to cover it up before your dad got home."

Shelton sniffed, "Yeah. He'd have beat the snot out of Randy if he'd ever found out."

Parker was laughing, "Your dad never found out?"

"Mom would never let him move the china cabinet. As far as I know those marks were still there until the next time she repainted."

Virginia joined the laughter, but that disrupted the rhythm of the respirator and she started to choke. Parker rubbed her throat and cooed to her in an effort to keep her from vomiting. "No more joking around. Although, Merri, I think you're right. I think our peace and quiet may soon be over."

Virginia pretended to glare at him, but the glare turned to a wink.

## Chapter 14

For the first time since she went into surgery, Parker let down his guard and tears filled his eyes. He buried his face in the tangle of blankets and bandages across her chest and willed himself to get a grip on his emotions. He heard a gurgle in her throat that was not that different from the sound she made when she was first shot. He looked up at her and said with a grin, "You just be quiet until the doctor gets here. I don't want you to choke to death now that we've come this far."

At that point it was Merri's turn to lose it. She fled the room.

Shelton dead-panned. "Bunch of emotional basket cases in this room right about now."

The nurse said, "I think you've each earned a melt down." She turned to Virginia. "Okay, now, Baby, I gotta tell you..."

Virginia didn't react to the word. Parker's eyebrows went up and he leaned back, "Hey, what the fuck? How come she can call you Baby and you lie there like a cherub. I call you Baby and it pisses you off enough to return from the dead?"

The nurse said, "Because I'm a woman and old enough to be her mother. I call everybody Baby, because it's my job to take care of them like they were my babies. You're a man. When a man calls a woman who's that strong Baby, it's fightin' words."

Parker looked at Virginia and asked, "Is that right?"

She winked.

He said, "I'm really sorry. Honest. It was not meant that way."

Virginia blinked twice.

Shelton asked, "Before they take the tubes out so Mom can't interrupt you a thousand times. Tell me about how it was you came to be armed and on that lifeboat."

Parker thought about it for a minute. "Well, we stole a bunch of guns and helped arm the officers. And then we talked an officer into dropping a life boat which we kind of hijacked. At the beginning, Annie Oakley over there was doing all the shooting because she doesn't know how to drive a boat. A situation I hope to rectify, by the way. Later, when the Navy arrived, they asked us to go back and serve as a diversion while they moved in a team of SEALs and a bomb squad to find the explosives and retake the ship from the inside. We borrowed a sailor from the sub. He drove the boat so we could both shoot. You saw that part on TV."

Shelton said, "Okay, I'm sure that's all true. Or at least as close to the truth as a soldier just coming in from a fight can tell."

Virginia made a sign language cheering motion with her fingers, because her hands were tied down and she couldn't bring her hands together to clap. Parker glared at her and said, "I told you to settle down."

She flipped him the bird.

Shelton said, "You are so gonna get it!"

He chuckled, "I sure hope so." He winked at Virginia and then turned back to Shelton, "So what is it about my story that you don't understand?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you put yourself in danger like that. It wasn't your fight."

"Oh, yes, it was our fight. We were in danger just like all the passengers. The difference between them and us was we had special skills and know-how to do something other than sit on the floor and hope the hijackers didn't shoot us. We took action to defend ourselves, and in the process to protect the other passengers."

"But why didn't you just stay on the Navy sub and let them handle it."

"I'm a soldier. My job is fighting other people's battles. The Navy and the Coast Guard were there. I was there. I pitched in to do my part. It was a matter of doing my job."

"What about her? Why didn't she stay on the sub and out of harm's way?"

About that time Merri returned, but Parker didn't notice her. He looked at Virginia with something that everybody in the room thought looked a whole lot like love shining in his eyes. Then he turned back to Shelton and grinned, "Damn if I know. I guess she's just a fucking idiot or something."

Merri said softly with a kind of dreamy look on her face, obviously remembering Virginia as a girl. "She did it because she's a soldier, too. She's been a soldier in an army of one her entire life. She's a brave and heroic soldier who has spent her whole life fighting, so other people don't have to."

She leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead. Then she turned to Shelton, winked, and said, "Which just proves that she is a fucking idiot – rushing off all the time to tilt with windmills."

They were all laughing with tears rolling down their faces when the doctor came into the room. Even Virginia was shaking with suppressed laughter. The doctor stood inside the door, and said, "Well, I hardly expected to walk into a party here." He looked at Parker and said, "As I told you earlier. Your work here may make a hero out of me as a surgeon."

Parker said, "It would probably be better if you just took credit for her resurrection and didn't go into any detail about what went on behind the scenes."

"I think that's wise."

Travis Banner walked in the door at that moment. He looked around the room and then at Virginia. He said, "It's aliiiiiive!"

Virginia narrowed her eyes and waved at the doctor motioning toward the ventilator. Travis said, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe you should leave it in. This is the longest I've ever heard the wench be quiet since I met her when she was fifteen."

Parker shook Travis' hand and said, "Yep. I reckon these are going to be the last moments of peace and quiet any of us – particularly me – will have for a good long while."

Virginia flipped him off again. The doctor asked them to leave the room so he could take the tubes out. Travis called. "Watch out, Doc. The tongue on that one is just vicious." She flipped him off, too.

Merri, Shelton and the two men went into the sitting room. Travis looked around and said, "These are some quality digs, you got here."

Merri said, "The cruise line is taking care of everything."

"I'll just bet they are! Have you told them yet that I'm your attorney?"

Merri said, "No. So far we are on very good terms. They're paying for everything. They chartered a plane to bring Shelton here and put us up in these nice rooms. I saw no reason to bring up the subject of an attorney."

He nodded. "I think you should keep it that way. For one thing, the cruise line is motivated to take care of Ginny for publicity reasons. For another, Ginny's the one with the real claim here, and we all know that she's probably going to accept whatever the cruise line gives her and tell me to fuck off. Until it becomes necessary to play the attorney card, I'm just a family friend."

Parker said, "I think that may be a good thing where the doctors are concerned, too. So far she's gotten stellar care. The very best imaginable. If the doctors think there's an attorney watching, they will get defensive, and I hate to think of what that could mean for Virginia."

Travis nodded, "Spot on, Bro. When doctors get defensive, patients end up being guinea pigs to all kinds of tests and experimental treatments so the doctors can say they did all they could do."

Travis took Merri in his arms and hugged her tightly, "How you holding up, Mom?"

"I'm okay. I'm much better now that she's awake."

He laughed. "Once they take the tube out, you may feel differently."

Merri laughed. "Actually I think Parker will be her primary target, so I'm, for maybe the first time in my life, not feeling too worried about taking the brunt of her venom."

Shelton laughed, "Mom's so predictable."

Travis looked at Parker and said, "I don't know about that. Who'd have thought she'd go on a cruise and end up in a combat situation with what appears to be the man of her dreams."

Parker raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why would you guess that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Could have something to do with the way she was just looking at you and the way you looked at her when you left the room. You may have only met a few days ago, but you know and I know that you spend a few hours in a foxhole with a person, things can get real deep, real fast."

Parker said, "I spent most of my career as a sniper. I was usually alone in my nest. But, yeah you're right."

Shelton volunteered, "I guess that goes double when you're already 'involved' with the person you're in the foxhole with."

Travis asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means I think that Mom and Col. Wilkes were in the process of having a shipboard fling before the hijackers so rudely interrupted the fun."

Parker tried to look bland and asked, "On what basis do you make that statement?"

Shelton sighed and said, "Well, my mom's not the only intuitive one in our family. The sexual tension between the two of you was obvious even when she was unconscious."

Travis shot Parker a withering look, but Merri said, "It's okay, Travis. I honestly think it's okay."

The doctor knocked on the door and opened it, with a huge grin on his face. He said, "My patient is ready for visitors. I hope you're ready for her."

Virginia was reclining in the bed. The doctor had covered her filthy hair with a scarf. The tubes and bandages were gone from her face. Huge bandages still covered her torso from her neck to her abdomen. She looked more fragile and childlike than usual. They stood around her bed for a moment without saying anything. She was – miraculously – alive. For her mother and her daughter, the overwhelming awareness of that fact prevented any speech. They rushed to her and threw themselves against her laughing and crying and murmuring nonsense. Virginia responded in kind. Kissing them patting them as best she could – given that she could not raise her arms to hug them – , and crying.

Shelton moved around the bed to the same side as her grandmother to allow Travis step up close. He kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. She whispered something back. He kissed her again and said out loud, "Anybody ever tell you it's a total pain in the ass to be friends with you?"

Speaking the first words out loud after her ordeal she croaked, "That seems to be a pretty universal opinion."

Travis turned toward Parker and stepped back, "Welcome to the club, Bro. Don't say you weren't warned."

Parker leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. Briefly and gently. There was not a person in the room who didn't feel the shock wave of electricity that resulted.

Virginia looked up at him and said, hoarsely, "What the _fuck_ kind of person does that shit to a person who's like nine-tenths dead?"

He leaned close and said very distinctly, "The kind of person who's desperate to make sure she doesn't go all the way to dead."

Tears filled both their eyes and they kissed again.

Shelton said, "Oh, geez, with the mushy stuff!"

Parker and Virginia were lost in each other's gaze and they neither heard nor commented on the remark.

Merri said, "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for a drink."

Shelton said, "You don't drink."

"I'm going to have water with lemon. You all can drink whatever you want."

Shelton, Merri and Travis left Virginia and Parker alone, closing the door behind them.

Parker wanted so badly to throw himself on her and cry. Instead he pulled up the chair and sat close to her as he had each night. He took her hand and asked, "Are you in any pain? Can I get you anything?"

"It doesn't hurt too bad. The nurse said she'd bumped up the pain medication, so I'll probably conk out shortly. I've had a lot of excitement. Also breathing on my own seems to involve muscles that haven't been doing much for a while. It hurts a little, but the doc says that will go away shortly."

They were quiet for a few minutes. She said, "I feel as though I owe you an apology."

"Why?"

"I don't remember."

"You don't remember why you owe me an apology?"

"No. I don't remember anything about what we did on the cruise. You told me, of course – in minute detail – about the sex. I hope we had some other fun besides that. But, I don't remember anything about it. The last thing I remember was sitting down at dinner the first night. And then I woke up in the helicopter on the way here, with no idea of what happened. When you talked to me. I didn't know who you were. You were just a voice."

"Well, then, maybe that's a good thing. We'll have to just start over and this time, take our time and get to know each other properly instead of behaving like a couple of horny adolescents."

"Oh, I don't know, from the way you described it, there was nothing adolescent about our activities."

He kissed her hand. "I'm trying to help you out here, honey. You're not cooperating."

He was still leaning over her hand, so she tweeked his nose, saying, "The general opinion is that I'm an uncooperative pain in the ass. You have been warned."

He scooted even closer. "You don't need to apologize. Your memory may come back and it may not. You've had a terrible trauma. I'm just glad you're alive." He smiled and leaned forward, "I'll be happy to introduce myself to you again."

He paused for a moment, considering whether to go on. Then he added, "I have no doubt that we will fight and argue and battle our way through the coming days, weeks, and – I hope – years, but I have no doubt that it will be worth it." His eyes clouded over. "If you don't remember what happened, you probably don't remember the last thing you said before you finally let yourself pass out on the hospital ship." She shook her head. "You looked at me and whispered, 'I would have loved you fiercely.'"

He leaned back a little for emphasis and said, "Well, my dear, I have been loving you fiercely for a couple of weeks here, and I expect that now that you are back in business you will step up and return the favor. Even if you have to start over."

She asked, "What if I don't fall in love with you this time?"

He studied her face for a long time, massaging her palm. Eventually he said with the low, seductive voice he used when he read to her, "I suppose it's my job to make sure you do."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"By loving you with all my might."

## Chapter 15

For a minute Virginia was a little afraid. She didn't think she had room for a man in her life. She had pared her life down to a comfortable round of work and exercise, with a few good friends and civic activities. She was not in the market for a romance. Especially not a romance with an alpha male like Parker. Then it crossed her mind that a guy like that might be the only kind of man she could respect enough to really love. She knew that she owed him the chance. After all, he literally brought her back from the dead.

She said, "I just wanted to be honest with you."

"You must always be honest with me, even if you think it will be painful."

"That's the only way I operate."

"Me, too."

Travis came out of the bedroom, "It's very late. The ladies are going to sack out again after being interrupted by all this drama. I am going to my hotel and get some rest, too." He walked over to Virginia's side, kissed her on the tip of her nose, "Your mom's going to sleep late. I'll come in the morning so we can talk."

He looked at Parker, "I have a cab on the way. I'm staying at the same hotel as you. You want a lift?"

"No. I still don't want to leave her alone until I feel sure she's totally out of the woods. I'll let her rest when she's ready to sleep, but I'll stay here in case she needs anything."

Travis nodded and said. "I come early in the morning. I'm sure you'll be exhausted."

"I'll be fine. At least I don't have to talk all night."

The men shook hands and Travis left.

"You don't have to stay with me, you know. The nurse is watching the monitors."

"I want to."

"Why?"

"I have never met a woman before that I thought I could love completely. I think you're the one. I want to do whatever I can to give that a chance. If it doesn't work out, I'll be able to say I did everything I could. The first order of business is to get you back on your feet. After that, we'll have to see what happens."

"Don't you have to go back to your job?"

"You don't remember, I was scheduled to retire in a month. I have like four months of leave time accrued. I am taking this month as vacation, and then I'll be retired. I am totally and completely at your disposal for as long as you will tolerate me under your feet."

She didn't respond, but she studied his face and found that she liked it. In a flicker of memory, she saw him laughing in the water. She liked that. Her eyes drooped.

He lowered the head of the bed slightly and adjusted the pillows. He kissed her and said, "Get some rest. Good-night, Sweetheart. Pleasant dreams."

She murmured something unintelligible before drifting off.

## Chapter 16

Parker kept his vigil. Watching her. Watching the monitors. Trying not to be too hopeful, and yet allowing himself to believe that she might live.

The next few days were busy. Shelton went back to Chicago to take her exams. This time she flew commercial, but the cruise line paid for the ticket. Travis stayed for a few days. Ben did not come because the doctors wanted to limit Virginia's visitors. Merri and Parker tried to allow Travis and Virginia as much time together as possible. Therapists came in several times a day to work on strengthening Virginia's muscles. In three days, she could walk across the room (with a walker) and sit in a chair for a while.

After a few days, the nurse told her the doctors had determined she was able to go to the physical therapy room located in the basement. The next morning, an orderly came in with a wheelchair and whisked her off to what he told her they referred to as the Torture Chamber. She made some crack about how that sounded like fun. She blew a kiss to Parker and left the room for the first time since her arrival.

The emotional ordeal had begun to catch up to Merri, and she started sleeping late and napping in the afternoons. Travis spent the days with Virginia, and Parker came in the late afternoon, and continued to keep his nightly vigils. Everyone told him to stop, but he couldn't stand the thought of Virginia waking up in the middle of the night alone. The hospital brought him breakfast when they brought Virginia's. That morning they were delaying Virginia's breakfast. Parker asked them to bring him a pot of coffee. He sat staring out the window, with random thoughts floating through his mind, willing himself to relax and to quit feeling so terrified now that Virginia seemed to be likely to recover. He sighed, one of those soul-cleansing, cathartic sighs that often accompanies a life-altering decision.

Travis was standing at the door and heard it. He chuckled, "I'm not going to even ask what brought that on." He jerked his thumb at the empty bed and asked, "Where's our girl?"

"Physical therapy. You want some coffee?"

Travis held up a large cup from the coffee shop in the lobby. "This is better. You want me to get you a cup?"

"No. At least while we're here, I'm going to continue to drink this institutional stuff. I've been drinking Marine Corps coffee for decades. I figure I can wait a few more weeks to find out what good coffee tastes like."

They were quiet for a few minutes. Parker asked, "How did you meet Virginia?"

Travis closed his eyes and smiled at the memory. "I was wounded in Vietnam." He held up his right arm to show the absence of a hand at the end of it. "My sidearm jammed and exploded in my hand. Fortunately, I was holding it out from my body and it only took the one hand. But, that was the hand that contained my trigger finger. It wasn't a mortal injury, but it was good enough to get me a medical discharge. That was in 1968."

"I'd say that was a pretty good time to make your exit from Vietnam, especially if you were able to do it in something other than body bag."

"Right. Anyway, I was angry and bitter. I was not a fan of the war before I went into the service. Seventeen months after my arrival in country, I was totally opposed to the war. When I got back to Ohio, I felt like an alien. No, I felt like Public Enemy Number One. I enrolled in Kent State under the GI bill. It was tough because I was right handed. I had to learn to take notes with my left hand. Some profs would let me record lectures, but most wouldn't. Anyway, the university was not very accommodating to a disabled vet. The students were awful. You know how it was. They thought we were all potential mass murderers. I tried to find a part time job, but nobody would hire me on account of I was one of those drug-crazed baby-killers they saw on the nightly news. I refrained from pointing out there were a lot of drug-crazed hippies on campus, too, and nobody seemed to be afraid of them. I joined the VFW, but the WWII and Korean vets weren't too happy to have me in their midst, so I left them alone. Anyway it was a bad time, and I started down the path toward despair that too many of us guys went down.

"One night in my favorite sleazy bar I met a guy who told me about a bunch of vets who had started an organization specifically for us. I checked it out, and got involved.

"Our issues were only partly anti-war work. None of us really believed that the anti-war movement would have any real impact or influence. We knew that the government didn't give a shit what the public thought, or even what the military thought. Nixon was going to do what he was going to do regardless of what anybody had to say about it, and the hippies could prance around and demonstrate all they wanted. The opinions of a bunch of college students who generally didn't vote didn't matter.

"One of our biggest initiatives in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War was jobs. We wanted to be able to earn a living when we found ourselves no longer acceptable cannon fodder for Nixon's war machine. It was the number one problem for returning vets everywhere. I can still get worked up about how blatantly business owners discriminated against us."

He paused until he settled down, and then went on, "Anyway, one day I was passing out fliers on campus inviting students to meet with us to discuss how we could work together. The kinder students ignored me. More of them told me to 'fuck off' or made comments inquiring how many women I had raped in Vietnam. At one point, a young girl walked up to me and asked me for a flier. She looked like she was about nine or ten. In actuality she was fourteen. She stood there and read the whole thing, and then started firing questions at me like a prosecuting attorney cross-examining a hostile witness. Frankly, I was unable to answer most of her questions, but I made notes and told her I'd find out the answers and I'd fill her in, if her parents would let her come to our meeting."

He laughed, "Thereupon, she told me that her parents didn't have anything to say about the matter of her attendance at the meeting. She promised to be there. When it came to her anti-war activities, Ginny was virtually an emancipated minor. Merri had no control over her.

"I didn't think any more about it, until she surprised me by showing up at the meeting, which was definitely not a place for a kid. There were only about three women in the group, two of them wives of vets and one was the mother of a soldier who had been killed. The rest of the people there were veterans, a lot of them wounded. Some had been back a while and were not coping well. Others had just returned, and they were still disoriented.

"I saw her come in, and sort of appointed myself her baby-sitter. I was worried about how some of the guys might treat her. I needn't have. Before that evening was over, she was one of us. She told us about her mom's anti-war activities. She asked good questions. She was willing to learn from us. Because of the analytical thought processes and organizational skills she had picked up from her mother, she had a lot to teach us about organizing demonstrations.

"A few months later her brother was killed. Ginny was very supportive of her mother in those first few days, and she held up well at the funeral. I went and a few of the other guys did as well. That evening, after the people left her house, she called me on the phone and asked if she could come to our meeting room, which was one of the guy's apartments that had turned into a kind of crash pad. We were always very careful about not being alone with Ginny without any other women being present. I suggested that maybe we could just talk on her front porch. She insisted on being with the guys. Her mother was in bed. Her other brother was still up when I got there. I asked him if he wanted to go with us, hoping he would. I didn't like the idea of Ginny walking in on a bunch of guys who would be smoking dope and drinking beer. They had always been very respectful of her, but I never stopped worrying.

"She told me in no uncertain terms that her brother would not be joining us. She walked out of the house and got in my car.

"I drove her to the apartment. There were about six guys there, all of them drunk or high or both. Ginny asked for a Pepsi. She just sat there for a while. Nobody talked too much. Sergeant Pepper was playing on the record player. Ginny sat in a big easy chair that made her look like that character on Laugh In, Edith Ann. She didn't say a word. She just sat there sipping pop and listening to the music with her eyes closed. After a while, she curled up in a fetal position and started crying, without making any noise. One of the guys who was sitting on the floor near her, moved a little and laid his hand on the back of her neck. She reached out with her left hand and he took it in his other hand. She cried quietly for a couple of hours. Then she sat up, looked at the clock, rubbed her eyes and wiped her nose on her sleeve. She asked me to take her home.

"None of us ever discussed that evening, but I'd be willing to be that if you asked any of the guys who were there, it was etched into our very souls. By the time she left, all of the guys were totally sober. You could feel the hot waves of grief and rage pulsing from her little body. It was awful. But it was something we had each experienced in our lives at one time or another. Her instincts told her that she was safe to have her melt-down in our midst, and that we would understand. She was right.

"After that, she was not merely a part of our group. She was kind of the heart of our group. She represented all of our families and girlfriends who deserved to not have us come home so damaged – or dead.

"I didn't have any living family, so I adopted her as my little sister. She accepted me as part of her family. Interestingly enough, so did Merri and Rob. I didn't take Gary's place. That place remains a black hole in their family to this day. I was an add-on."

"Were you the guy who protected her on the day of the shootings at Kent State?"

"No. Actually, I was with her mother when the shooting started. We were doing everything we could to defuse the situation. She was with a couple of the newer guys. We told them to remain on the edge of the crowd and to keep Ginny as far away as she would let them. Actually, we did that as much for their protection as for hers. They were just back from Vietnam, and we weren't sure how they would react if there was any shooting."

Parker sipped his coffee, and said, "I always resented the anti-war people, including you guys. I guess I'm learning to see the whole thing in a very different way."

"When were you in 'Nam?"

"I went to college first. I didn't get to the party until 1974."

Travis laughed. "You went to college? I hear you went to Annapolis. Most guys would mention that."

"I figured you wouldn't be impressed by that."

"Actually, I am. Perhaps I'm even more impressed that you wouldn't mention it."

Parker shrugged. "Hell, that was so long ago, it hardly matters anymore. The stuff I learned after I graduated was what formed me as a soldier and as a person."

After a brief silence, Travis said softly. "I also hear that you were there for the big finale in Vietnam plus a whole bunch of other shit after that."

"Yep."

They were both quiet. Parker did not like to talk about his combat experiences with other people, not even other vets. He knew he should talk about it, and Travis was the kind of guy he knew would understand. But, Parker had already resolved most of the emotional issues having to do with his military past. The task before him was to forge a future. In order to do that, he had to let go of the past.

He decided to change the subject. "Are you married?"

"Yeah. I'm actually married for the second time. I think this one will take."

"How does your wife feel about your relationship with Virginia?"

"She totally accepts Ginny as though she were really my sister. My kids all call her Aunt Ginny. We're kin in every way but genetics. My wife's cool with that."

"Virginia has told me about her husband. What was your view of her marriage?"

Travis made a bitter face, "He was an asshole who did not deserve her, or really anybody, for that matter. I'll tell you the truth, once I actually considered killing Tom just to get Ginny out from under his cloud of sorrow and pain. One day we were on the shooting range. The damned fool idiot walked right in front of me as I was aiming. It would have looked like an accident. I was totally ready to squeeze the trigger."

"Why didn't you?"

"Ginny was standing next to me. She turned to me hissed, 'Don't!'" Travis paused for a long time. "Significantly, she did not yell at him to get out of the way. She didn't want me to be the one to shoot him."

"Why didn't she leave him?"

"Because she's loyal and faithful to her promises, even when she shouldn't be. She thought he needed her. Fact is, he'd probably have been better off without her. She kept him just together enough to function. Without her, he'd have probably been hospitalized, which would have been good for him.

"For me the hardest thing was watching a bright, sassy, sparkling, incredibly intelligent young girl turn into a morose and almost completely silent woman. She hardly spoke for the last few years before Tom died. She worked out furiously, and oh my God, you should have seen her in classes with fighting sticks!! She was a regular Amazon. She let all her frustrations and rage out in her classes, and it was an amazing thing to behold. Some of our guys signed up for the classes just to watch her. She looked like a fucking female Bruce Lee."

"What about recently?"

"For about a year after Randy died, she grieved like only a mother can. To her credit, she learned a lesson from Tom. Instead of internalizing her grief, allowing it to eat at her from the inside, she let it out. For moths she'd cry for hours every day. She'd talk. Oh, God, it was so hard to listen to her talk. She'd talk and sob over the loss of not just Randy, but her brother and her dad and her grandparents. Significantly, she never talked about the loss of Tom. She let it all out. She suffered terribly, but it allowed her to heal.

"About six months after he died, my wife called me at work and said she'd just passed by Ginny's house and there was a for sale sign out front. I went over there immediately, and found Ginny going from room to room making piles of things to throw out and give away. I asked her what the hell she was doing. She said she decided to start a new life, and the first thing she had to do was move out of Tom's house.

"She moved into an apartment, got a job and started slowly turning back into herself again. At that point, she didn't talk much about whatever was going on inside of her, but I could tell that she was finding and/or creating a new mature Ginny from the remnants of the girl she had been and the refuse of the life that had imploded.

"Recently, she emerged, like a butterfly, as a healthy, whole and spectacular woman, born anew at midlife. She's a thing of beauty, inside and out."

Parker raised his coffee cup in a toast and said, "I won't argue with you there."

Travis was quiet for a while, but seemed to have something else to say. He squirmed a bit and got up to look out the window. Parker asked, "Is there something else you want to tell me?"

Travis continued to look out the window and did not turn around to face Parker. He said very softly, "I think you are perfect for one another."

Parker didn't realize how much he had wanted to hear those words from Travis until they were out. It was an effort not to let out his breath. Instead he breathed normally through his nose until he though he could trust his voice. Then he asked the question that really mattered, and tried to focus on not holding his breath waiting for the answer, "Does she know you feel that way?"

"Yes."

Parker was grateful that Travis was still looking out the window because he knew a wave of relief washed over his face. He could feel his entire soul expanding for a second. Then he asked the most important question of all, "What does she think?"

Travis turned around and looked at Parker with a combination of joy and amusement in his eyes and said, "All the bitch will say is that time will tell." He winked, "But, the good news is that she appears to be inclined to explore the possibility."

Parker said softly, "That's all I can really ask of her at this point."

Travis walked back to his chair, tossed his coffee cup in the trash can and said, "You have something else going for you."

"What would that be?"

"Your cheerleaders: Merri and Shelton. They both adore you."

Parker started to say something, but was interrupted by Virginia's entry in her wheelchair, looking sweaty and exhausted, but elated. She announced, "That was one hell of a workout! I have good news to report. My doctor says he thinks I will be able to leave the hospital in a week or two."

Travis asked, "What? How the hell does a person from being almost dead to out of the hospital in only a couple of weeks?"

She shrugged and grinned, "He says it was partly due to me being in such great shape to begin with." She told them that she was something of a sensation among the physical therapists because she was so strong, and so willing to cooperate with the painful exercises without bitching. In fact, she tended to want to push herself more than they would have liked. She laughed, "I am motivated by my desire to get the fuck out of here. The room is nice, but it's a freaking hospital. I want to go home."

The three of them chatted for a while, and then Parker left Virginia and Travis alone. He returned late in the afternoon, and found Virginia alone, which was unusual. "Where's Merri?"

"She napping. She is totally exhausted. I want to get out of here so she will feel that it is okay to go home, and I mean home as in Ohio, not Haiti. I swear to God, I will clobber her if she so much as mentions going back to Haiti without a good long R&R at home."

Parker said, "I agree with you. Hopefully with you, Travis, Shelton and me all aligned, we can persuade her to take it easy for a while."

"I hope so, but you don't know how stubborn that old bitch can be."

Parker chuckled and murmured, "I think the apple didn't fall far from the tree."

Virginia snapped, "Shut up!" Then she laughed.

He said, "I want to float an idea by you. Don't say no until I'm finished. You told me that you had the entire summer free. You said you were thinking about buying an AmeriPass and schlepping around the country all summer. You're going to need a lot of rest, but you'll also need and want to get a lot of exercise to bring back your strength. I'm essentially homeless right now. I lived on base housing, but I'm soon to be retired, and I have to find a place to live. I love the ocean. I don't know where I want to go permanently, but I've been looking at condos on the beach for the summer. I'll make sure it's a place with a gym. I'd like you to join me. We can walk or run on the beach. We can work out together in the gym and get acquainted. I don't want you to answer me right now. I want you to think about it."

Virginia said, "Actually, I have been thinking along similar lines. I talked to Mom about it. Walking on the beach seems to me to be a great way to heal, physically and emotionally. I never thought about it, but I bet a lot of the newer condos probably have fitness centers. Before she went to Haiti, Mom had been looking at places on the east coast of Florida. She has some friends who retired here and she was thinking about moving to a warmer place, or at least wintering here. She suggested I look into that for my recuperation. Obviously, I'm not up to traveling as I had planned."

"That may not be a bad idea. There are nice flat beaches for walking. Where are you two looking?"

"Actually, Mom thinks it was a great idea for me to rent a condo on the beach, but she says she needs to go back home for a while. (Between you and me, I'm betting that she plans to go back to Ohio and then return to Haiti. That way she'll be out of reach so I can't kill her.)

"She suggested that I talk to you about coming with me."

"Your mother suggested you shack up with me for the summer?"

"Well, the only other alternative was Shelton, but I don't think is a good idea. Shelton and I love each other, but I don't ever want us to have to live together again. Actually, to be honest I think my mom is hoping that the arrangement with you would become more or less permanent. She really likes you. Actually, if I don't fall in love with you, you should give her a shot. She's utterly smitten with you."

"I like her, too, but she's a tad old for me. Although, I have a feeling she'd kick my ass if she heard me say that." They both laughed. He added, "So do you want me to start looking for apartments?"

"Yeah. I don't have any preference except I guess I would like an ocean view and the place has to have a fitness center."

"We'll get a three bedroom."

"Why three?"

"One for me. One for you. And one for your Mom or your daughter or any of your friends you may want to have visit."

"Thank you. That sounds wonderful. I have $4000 budgeted for my summer train trip that I'm obviously not going to take. I can contribute that much toward the rent for a few months."

"Okay. But, we're going to call this recuperation and therapy. I think the cruise line will pay for it. It will be a hell of a lot cheaper for them than putting us all up here."

"They're paying for you, too?

"They are paying for everything. The company has a serious legal problem. Thousands of passengers have already sued them alleging they were negligent in their screening of employees, allowing the hijackers to infiltrate the crew. You were the most seriously wounded passenger who survived. You are also the highest profile. I will tell you that for every one asshole on TV who has wanted to paint you as a murderer, there are fifteen who consider you a hero of the first magnitude. There's been talk of the American Medal of Freedom. In any case, the cruise line has – without admitting legal liability – more or less accepted responsibility for your care. You should discuss the legal ramifications with Travis, but, I know that the company representatives have basically given us a blank check to do what we need to do to get you back on your feet. I'll talk to Heather about what they are willing to do for us in the next phase of your recovery."

"I don't want money from them."

"I promised Travis I would not discuss your potential claim against the cruise line with you. You must talk to him about it. I will tell you, however, that I think that paying for your living expenses while you recuperate is the least they can do. I'm perfectly willing to let them pay mine, too, while I'm helping you. I respect you for not wanting to make a claim for cash. You deserve to have your medical bills paid, including the costs of rehabilitation."

Virginia was quiet for a while. Eventually she nodded and said, "OK. Whatever." Parker noticed that her entire mood had changed. She was quiet and seemed almost afraid. At first he thought she was freaked at the possibility of moving so quickly in their relationship – for the second time.

He simply waited until she was ready to talk. Eventually she said, "I've heard some of you mention that the events of that day were on the news."

"Yes. There was a television news helicopter following us. We each threatened to shoot it down."

"I'd like to see the video."

"I don't think you should, at least not yet."

"I need to see it. I'm probably going to have to speak to the press eventually. Mom's been holding them off, but I'll have to talk to them at some point."

"First of all, you do not have any obligation to speak to the press. At all. Now or ever. Secondly, if you do speak to them you may be better off to say you don't remember. We killed and wounded a few passengers. There is some hue and cry about that. There has also been some controversy about you shooting the Oriental-looking officer. It turned out he was one of the hijackers, but there are some pundits who are making a big deal out of the fact that you didn't know that when you shot him."

"Am I going to be charged with a crime?"

"No. We were in international waters. Jurisdiction there is murky. You're an American. The prosecutor here in Miami has already announced that he's not interested in even investigating your actions. One of the passengers you killed was Italian. Her family and the Italian government have already waived any claims. It's not really a legal issue. It's just a bunch of fuckheads showing their ignorance on TV and talk radio."

"Then I have no problem!"

"How so?"

"I haven't watched the news on TV since the night that Ronald Reagan was elected president, and, in my opinion, radios are for music only. I have never once listened to talk radio. I listen almost exclusively to music over the internet. I don't even have a radio at home. In the car, I listen to CD's."

He laughed. "How do you get your news?"

"I am not exactly a news junkie. I'm a historian. I know that most of the time people don't know what events are really significant or the actual significance of the important events until long after they are over. Half the time I don't bother with the news. My friends laugh at me for being clueless, but I don't care. When something happens that I want to know about, call me old fashioned, but I read newspapers. Actually, I read them online, so maybe I'm not that old fashioned."

She looked into his eyes again. The seriousness in her gaze would not be denied. "I want to see the video."

He said almost under his breathe, obviously with great reluctance, "I'll see what I can do."

She sat up in bed held out her hands in a gesture of invitation and said, "In the meantime, tell me about you. I don't remember anything you may have told me on the cruise. I imagine you know everything there is to know about me because I probably blathered on endlessly about my family during the cruise, and you've spent some quality time with my mother and Travis who have probably filled you in on more than you would ever care to know about me. If we're going to spend the summer together, I want to get to know you. I figure now's as good a time as any to start down that road."

He paused for a long time. Then he told her about the things he had shared on the cruise, the farm up-bringing, the trips on the river with his parents, his being the first person in his family to go to college. He described a positively idyllic childhood and youth, on the banks of the Ohio, wandering the green fields of his family farm and living in the bosom of a large, close family.

Soon, the conversation lagged. Virginia said, "Somehow I feel a big 'but' at the end of everything you just told me. What is it?"

"Before I answer that, I want to know how you feel you fit into your hometown."

She laughed, "I'm the child and grandchild of professors. I was a bookish child who taught myself to read before I went to kindergarten. Yeah, I dropped out of high school. But, I had more important things to do at the time than put up with the stupid BS that passes for high school education in America. I ended up getting my GED, going to college and, eventually, earning a PhD. D. I was destined from before birth to live in a college town. I am totally at home there. It has never crossed my mind that I might want to live anyplace else, except occasionally during February in really cold, snowy winters."

He shook his head. "I didn't have the same experience on the farm. Granted, I grew up in a wonderfully 'functional' home where everyone loved one another. There were no alcoholics or abusers in our family. My family was comprised of good, decent, church-going Kentuckians. Our parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles doted on all of us kids. The 'but' is that I always felt like I had landed in their midst by mistake. I was always the odd duck. Everybody in my family thought I was weird. It was very uncomfortable for all of us because we lived in such close proximity. My family were hurt because they believed that I was rejecting them when I failed to fit into their lifestyle. I was hurt because they tried so hard to make me be someone I wasn't. I think I spent my entire youth feeling disrespected.

"Other than occasional trips on Dad's barge where I really clicked with the crew, I don't remember feeling like I totally fit into my world until I went to Annapolis. There, for the first time in my life, I found 'my people.' I loved every minute of my college experience, and I have thrived on the discipline of the Marine Corps ever since.

"I was born to be a soldier, not a farmer or a barge captain."

"My dad felt that way about the Air Force. My son felt that way about the Marines. I never understood it. Tell me more about what is so appealing about the military?"

Parker reflected on that for a long time before he answered. It was a good question, asked in good faith by a woman who deserved an honest answer. He sighed, fidgeted in his chair and made a rueful face. "Maybe it's one of those things you have to experience to understand it. It's partly the cool feeling of being a part of something bigger than yourself. In the service, you know you're just a cog in the wheel, but you're a cog in an awesome wheel."

He stopped and looked off into space murmuring, "Yeah, a lot of it sucks. The food. The accommodations. The pay, at least until you become an officer. The horrible things you see in combat. That's all awful.

"But, the other side of the coin is that you never feel alone. Somebody always has your back. There is always someone there to cover you under fire or hang out with you when there is no action happening. I know that a lot of people find the military life-style confining, impersonal and bureaucratic. The flip side of those things is that the military is secure, safe and unambiguous."

Virginia reached out and took his hand, whispering, "I hear a 'so what the hell am I going to do now' coming."

He put his head down on the side of the bed, gritting his teeth, trying not to cry. She gripped his hand while he struggled for control. Eventually, he looked up at her and asked, "Can you teach me how to build a new life at this late date?"

She smiled, "I suppose we'll have to do that together. After my husband and my son died, I built a new life without any particular man. I built a life that centered around my job, my exercise practice and my friends. I didn't leave room for a man. Now, I have to rearrange things to make space for you. You're going to have to learn to build a life that doesn't include the Marine Corps, but may include me. I think we'll have to grope our way forward together."

He nodded and said, "I'm scared."

She patted his hand and said, "I'm scared, too, but we can't let that stop us from doing what we have to do. A soldier more than anyone should know a thing or two about feeling fear and still doing the necessary."

"Yeah a rational soldier should. Rational soldiers are afraid in combat. I have to confess to you, I was never afraid in combat, except for once. I have never been afraid to die. I don't know why, but I'm not. I did have certain preferences about how to die. I was totally freaked out when we were evacuating the embassy in Saigon and we flew over the ocean. I looked down and saw those giant South Pacific sharks, some of them munching on people who had fallen or jumped from the choppers. I did not want to die like that. That's why I requested a transfer.

"When the hijackers on the cruise ship started throwing dead people overboard and the sharks swarmed, I flashed back to that time. I'll take a bullet, but I do not want to die in the water.

"In any case, I was too stupid or too arrogant to ever be afraid of death."

She chuckled, "I've heard my father, my brother and my son all say the same thing. Maybe you have to get to that point to be a good soldier. You have to stare into the face of death and say, 'Fuck you.'"

He chuckled, then asked, stroking her hand, "What scares you?"

She thought about that for a long time before she answered, "I'm scared of a lot of things, but right now I think the thing that scares me the most is the possibility of loving someone again, and having to lose them. At one point before I woke up I knew that I had a choice: I could stop listening to you and Mom and Shelton, and drift away, or I could follow your voices and live. I seriously did not want to live. I've lost so many loved ones. Mom's old. Shelton's about to embark on her medical career and doesn't need me. I didn't want to get involved with you because it would be just one more relationship that I might lose. I thought that dying would be simpler and less painful." She smiled and put her other hand over his, "But you wouldn't let me go."

"You're damned right, I wouldn't. I want to know what you know. I want to understand your strength. I have spent a lifetime in the military. I can shoot people and be shot at with relatively little personal turmoil. You had zero military experience but you stood there and shot people and had people shooting at you with amazing calm. I couldn't let you go without learning what you know."

She laughed, "You won't believe me when I tell you the deep, mysterious secret."

"What is it?"

"I've learned how not to hold my breath when I'm afraid."

"Yoga. Right?"

"Right. As long as you keep breathing, you can stay alive."

"That's deep."

"Actually, it's very deep. Think about it."

## Chapter 17

The next day Parker came in carrying a DVD. He told Merri and Virginia that the TV station had given him the raw, unedited video, which contained a lot more material than was ever shown on TV. "I still don't think you should watch it."

"Have you seen it?"

"Yes."

"Is it bad?"

"Yes. It was horrible for me to watch."

"I want to see it. How long is it?"

"About an hour."

"How long did the whole thing last in real time?"

"The shooting part was two separate times. A total of maybe 10 minutes, fifteen at the most."

"What's the rest of it?"

"Shots of the ship and the passengers on the deck. Shots of the military vessels. There's some kind of embarrassing footage of us waiting for the signal to start the diversionary maneuvers. The longest part is the part after you were shot. The helicopter followed us and recorded the entire thing, including how we moved you onto the hospital ship. I would rather not watch it again, if you don't mind."

She nodded and said, "Actually, I'd rather watch it by myself."

Parker and Merri went into the other room, leaving Virginia alone, with the TV remote in her hand. She asked them not to come out until she buzzed them.

She watched the video all the way through in amazement. She barely noticed herself. She had a pretty good idea how the video of her was playing in certain circles: A fit woman in spandex shooting at bad guys. Somebody would probably want to make a movie out of it.

But, her real focus was on Parker. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He was a few weeks shy of sixty-five but he moved and acted like a much younger man. He was amazing! Driving the boat and shooting at the same time. At one point on the video she turned to Parker with fire in her eyes. She read her own lips spitting, "Don't call me Baby!"

She laughed.

While they were waiting for what she thought of as the second assault, the camera caught them in a very intimate moment. He ran his hands over her body as if both possessing it and memorizing it. Then they kissed. Both of them ended up with blood on their mouths. _That damned crooked tooth!_

The second assault was even more incredible than the earlier one. She could not take her eyes off Parker. With Peters piloting the boat, Parker was free to do what he did best: shoot bad guys. His focus and concentration matched hers, and he moved like a dancer. There were a few times when they coordinated shots, and they moved so precisely together it looked as though the scene had been choreographed.

She had her back to the camera at the moment she was shot. She was grateful for that, but she only felt grateful for a second. The camera caught the look on Parker's face when he saw her wound. That look was much more graphic and horrifying than it would have been if the camera had captured her chest exploding. Watching the event through his eyes was almost too much for her.

Unfortunately, it got worse. Much worse. He took her in his arms and cradled her in his lap. Her blood was everywhere. He kissed her and her blood smeared his face. He looked up directly at the camera and pointed his rifle at the cameraman, holding her in one arm, prepared to shoot the cameraman if they didn't back off. Virginia looked at the combination of killing rage and grief in his eyes and thought of the weeks since when he had been at her side – and on her side – every moment. She knew that this was the man she would spend the rest of her life with, whether or not she fell in love with him. He deserved that much. She was thrilled by the prospect of being with someone who was so strong and reliable, after spending virtually her whole marriage carrying the emotional load for both her and her husband.

The transfer from the lifeboat to the hospital ship was dizzying. The sailor and Parker did their best to keep her from swinging too much, but they were not entirely successful. Parker maintained eye contact with her through the entire ascent, and he never stopped talking to her.

On the deck of the ship, Parker leaned over and listened to her say something. He kissed her and then her mother moved in. Parker stood by the wall and cried, but only for a minute. Then he got himself under control and went inside the ship.

She could tell from his demeanor that he thought she would die.

With a wound like she had, she wasn't quite sure why she didn't die. She should have died in the operating room, but she didn't. She could have and would have slipped away many times in the days afterward, but the voices of the people who loved her pulled her back.

The one voice with the most powerful pull on her was Parker's.

She smiled. She didn't think that falling in love with him would be a problem.

She backed the video up to the point where he threatened to shoot the chopper. _How could I not love someone who would protect me so ferociously?_

She knew he would love her just as fiercely as she would love him. Which would be both a good and a bad thing. There was no way their relationship would avoid being tumultuous. She chuckled at the thought of the adventure that awaited them.

She buzzed the sitting room and asked Parker to take the DVD away. "I won't need to watch it a second time." She added, "And I don't want to talk about it right now."

Changing the subject, the three of them sat around looking at condos online. The cruise line had agreed to pay the rent for any condo they chose for up to six months. The doctors asked them to stay in South Florida so they could continue treating her with the same medical team. Neither of them was particularly crazy about Miami Beach, but it had the advantage of plenty of nice condos and long stretches of flat beach for walking.

One afternoon, her surgeon came in with a nurse, another doctor Virginia had not seen before and a woman who was not dressed in medical garb. They sat down and her doctor said, "Virginia, it's time for us to take off the bandages and start the next phase of your physical therapy. But, before we do, we want to prepare you. You might want your family to step out of the room."

"No. I want them to hear this. I don't know that I want them to see it when you take the bandages off, but I want them to hear what you have to say."

"Okay. We have not discussed your injuries with you before this because we wanted you to focus on regaining your strength. Your progress, like your survival in the first place, has been little short of miraculous.

"First, I have to tell you about your injury itself. The bullet hit your sternum at a slight angle. If it had gone in straight, it would have penetrated the heart and you'd have died instantly. Instead, it hit at a slight angle. The sternum did its job protecting the heart, and the bullet shattered. The pieces of the bullet flew out in a spray that essentially caused your entire chest and part of your abdomen to literally explode. By the time they got you into surgery, there was a gaping hole where the front of your torso should have been."

Merri reached out and took Virginia's hand. Virginia thought she might be sick, but she started breathing very deeply and very slowly. Based on the video she had seen and how it felt when someone touched the bandages over her chest, she had a vague idea where this was headed. She wanted to hear the doctor out before she reacted.

"That probably saved your life. There were very few bullet fragments inside your body, and we managed to get them all out in the first surgery. Following that, there were some frantic telephone consultations with specialists around the country. You needed massive skin grafts, but the Navy ship did not have a plastic surgeon on board. The Navy had some inert material that they were able to use as a temporary measure in the first surgery on the ship. They covered your wound as best they could and infused you with massive amounts of blood and antibiotics.

"By the time you got to Miami we had assembled a team of reconstructive surgeons and we had consulted with experts around the world. We took you back into surgery immediately. We took skin from your buttocks, the backs of your legs and your lower back. Basically we took as much skin as we could from everywhere on your body that could spare it. We left your arms and your upper back intact. The scars from where we took the skin will fade eventually and you may even consider someday having a few abrasion treatments if you want to even out the color and smooth the wrinkles.

"The skin grafts on the front of your body all took very well and there has been no sign of infection. We didn't even try to use skin from a donor, because we were afraid that, because you were so weak and had lost so much blood with your own antibodies in it, any hint of tissue rejection would have killed you.

"The grafts cover the entire area from your sternum to just below your waist. It's good healthy skin. With some physical therapy you'll soon be able to raise your arms and get back to your exercise routine. Most of your pectoral muscles are gone, so you won't have the upper body strength you once had, nor do you have the muscular padding on your chest you used to have. I recommend that you not shoot anything bigger than a hand gun. Do you do archery, too?"

"No. Swords and fighting sticks are my thing."

He laughed, "Oh, Lord, what I wouldn't give to see you with a sword in your hand! Actually swords and sticks you can probably do, eventually after you regain your arm strength. You won't be able to do anything that will put any significant pressure on your chest, such as rifles – at least not without using a padded vest."

She nodded and said, "Let's cut to the chase. What you're telling me is that my breasts are gone. Right?"

"Correct. As well as your navel."

Shelton asked, "Could she have reconstructive surgery?"

The doctor turned to the other physician and said, "I'm going to let Dr. Montana discuss that."

The woman doctor said, "We have consulted many plastic surgeons. About three quarters of them believe that you are not a good candidate for reconstruction because you've lost too much muscle. Some have ideas about what we might be able to do to rebuild breasts. The problem with that is that you don't have enough skin left for us to do the grafting that would be necessary and, at this point, we still don't recommend running the risk of rejection by using donor tissue. We may eventually come up with something to offer, but right now you don't have a lot of options that we feel comfortable recommending. There is a lot of research going on into artificial skin, which would be the perfect option for you if it becomes commercially available. For now, however, I have to tell you, I recommend against even attempting reconstruction in the immediate future."

The room was quiet. Dr. Montana said, "I brought Mrs. Saunders with me. She assists my patients who want to – or have to – use prosthetic devices. She has some very good options to discuss with you. We'll totally understand if you don't want to discuss that right now, but she's here if you want to know more about those options."

Virginia nodded. She could barely breathe. The emotional pain scorching her soul was so awful she thought she would pass out. For one horrible moment she wished with all her heart she had not lived. She felt a flood of rage that Parker and her mother and daughter had coaxed her to come back from the dead, only to live with a mutilated body. She had taken care of her body carefully and was very proud of it. Now it was maimed and scarred, and it would never be right again.

She closed her eyes and took three very slow deep breaths, forcing the pain to drain away, leaving her calm and ready for what she feared would be the horror of the next few minutes. When she opened her eyes, she didn't dare look at anyone but Dr. Montana. "I want to see my body."

The surgeon, whose unpronounceable name Virginia could never remember, said, "Perhaps your family should step outside."

Virginia thought about that. "No. I don't wear clothes at home. Mom changed my diapers and has seen me naked at home. If Parker and I are going to live together at least for the summer, he'll need to see it, too, if he wants to. They can both stay if they want to."

She looked at her mother and then she looked deeply into Parker's eyes and said, "Although I'll totally understand if either of you would rather not stay."

Merri said, "Darling, I'm sure that you and I will have the opportunity to share in private. I am still too tortured by the way I felt when I first looked at my chest after my mastectomy to tolerate this."

Virginia looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. "I understand, Mom. I kind of thought you'd feel that way. Your first surgeon was a fucking butcher." She smiled and winked, "'Course the replacement pair is right fine."

Her mother couldn't manage a return smile, but she did manage not to cry. She kissed Virginia and left the room.

She somehow – _God alone knows how! –_ Virginia regained her composure, and looked at Parker. "What is your choice?"

He leaned over her and whispered into her ear, his warm breath caressing her neck, "An atomic bomb couldn't get me out of this room. We got here together. I'm with you for the next phase, too."

Virginia nearly collapsed with relief.

## Chapter 18

Parker wished with all his heart that he had let her die. It was selfish of him to make her live. The pain in her eyes was worse than the pain she had experienced when she was shot. This was emotional pain that could not be treated with surgery or pain pills. This was something she'd have to live with, forever. He could feel the waves of panic and despair wafting up from her soul. And he shared them.

Virginia got up and sat in a chair by the bed. "Okay, let's get this over with."

Parker stepped up behind her. She couldn't lift her arms to take his hand, so he put one hand on each of her shoulders, massaging gently. He untied her hospital gown. The doctor pulled it down and laid it across her lap. Her chest was swathed in bandages and thick gauze. Slowly and gently the doctor cut away the tape. After a while, the only thing that was left was a huge square of medicated gauze that covered her from below her collarbone to just above her pubis.

The doctor said, "There's a thick coating of gooey medicine on your skin to keep it from becoming infected and to keep it soft. We'll switch you to regular ointment now, so it won't be so greasy. I recommend that you continue to keep it covered with gauze for a while until the skin toughens up a little. We'll give you a brush you can start using soon to keep the blood flow moving and to toughen it up, but it will be very soft and tender for a long time. You've lost a lot of muscle tone from being in bed, so to you it will feel flabby. Don't worry about that. Once you get back to training all that muscle will come back except the pecs."

She nodded and made an impatient gesture with her hands. "Take it off."

Parker watched her as she looked down at her chest. It looked like someone's back, completely smooth with no nipples and no navel. Parker managed not to gasp. He momentarily paused in his comforting massage, then he resumed, slowly and with increasing force to help reassure her as the doctor wiped the Vaseline-like ointment off with a towel.

Virginia was quiet for a long time. "What do the scars on the rest of my body look like?"

The lady with the prosthetic devices had a large mirror. Virginia stood up and dropped her robe and hospital gown. She stepped away from the pile of tape and bandages and stood nude turning around, looking at herself in the mirror.

Parker stared at her body, which he thought was still a thing of beauty, albeit like a cracked vase. The scarring on her back was noticeable but was healing nicely. Her butt looked kind of wrinkled, not unlike the backside of an ordinary middle aged lady. Other than her magnificent breasts, Virginia's body had been rather boyish before. Now it looked completely boyish, fit and trim, and curvy in all the right places except the chest.

She turned back around and cocked her head, with a question in her eyes, "My butt wasn't that tight before. What did you do?"

The surgeon looked a little sheepish, "Well, your glutes are amazing, but your skin was beginning to sag a little, as skin does when it ages. When we took the skin off we did a little nip and tuck here and there, so when the skin grew back it would not sag."

Parker could see Virginia's body begin to shake. He thought she was going to cry. Instead she threw her head back laughed, saying, "So I'll have no boobs but I'll have the ass of a twenty year old."

The surgeon said, "Something like that. We didn't think you would mind. You obviously take great care of your body."

Virginia stepped closer to the mirror and looked at her chest, pursing her lips, "Could you make me a belly button and maybe nipples?"

The surgeon said, "Definitely a navel. Nipples may be more problematic, again because we're reluctant to use foreign tissue, for reasons of rejection."

The prosthetic lady said, "Most of our products come with nipples."

Virginia chuckled and the doctor asked what was funny. She pointed to a mole on her stomach. "That used to be on my butt."

She smiled at the plastic surgeon, "You did a really good job. I saw my mom's chest after her mastectomy. It was awful and her butt where they took skin grafts still looks angry and ugly."

"We did the best we could." The doctor blinked back tears. "You have a beautiful body, and we hated to damage it so."

Virginia nodded, "I suppose that, given the alternative, this is fine." She studied her body in the mirror for several long seconds. She quipped, "Well, at least I won't have to worry about saggy boobs hanging down to my navel when I get old."

Parker continued to stare at her body and absorb the pain that was now radiating like heat from her soul. He was surprised to discover that he still found her beautiful. More than anything, he wanted to take her into his arms and prove to her that he was still attracted to her.

She turned to him and met his eyes. Without looking at the doctors, she said, "Please leave us."

When they had gone, Virginia stepped into the circle of Parker's, arms and sobbed. He felt his heart break and then the love that he felt for her healed it immediately, and gave him the strength not to cry, too, but to simply hold her.

Without thinking about it, he began running his hands up and down the back of her body, in longer and longer strokes, first lightly and tentatively and then with more pressure. She stopped sobbing but still clung to him as he stroked her body in a way that started out as a comforting gesture, but became increasingly sensual.

## Chapter 19

Virginia's initial outburst was overdue and she knew it. It contained more than the grief for her lost breasts, but was really a cathartic tossing away of all the fear and pain of the past weeks. She might never be able to tell anyone – other than maybe Parker, someday – , but after the initial shock wore off, she discovered to her surprise, she still liked her body. She always had thought her breasts were too big. She hated how they bounced when she jogged. She had always bound them with an ace bandage when she was at the shooting gallery or doing martial arts hand-to-hand combat. Except for the absence of nipples, she didn't mind the missing protuberances on her chest. They'd served their useful purpose when she nursed her children. After that, they were more of a nuisance than anything. She thought she looked a little like Peter Pan, and that was not an altogether bad thing.

Once she had a minute to study her reflection, she knew she would be okay with her new body, and suddenly she felt glad to be alive again. She was ready to get to work on the therapy that would put her back in a position to start training so she could get back in shape.

She knew standing there naked and boyish that she would be okay. In fact, she was determined to be better than ever.

The question was, would the man with the voice that saved her life come with her on that journey. She looked up into his eyes and whispered, "Do you think you could ever want me again?"

He cupped his hands under her buttocks and then ran both his hands, with fingers spread, up the front of her, hungrily. Then he took her head in his hands and said, "I want you every waking minute. Would you like me to prove it?"

"Yes, please."

The act was fast, and not particularly artful, but he got through to her that he was not repelled by or intimidated by her strange new body. She responded immediately and with a total lack of inhibition. She could tell that surprised him a little. When it was over, they clung to one another for a long minute.

Soon Virginia stepped out of his arms and turned to look at herself in the mirror. She asked, "Isn't this kind of a sacrifice for a tit man?"

He stepped up behind her and ran his hands over her sides and then touched her cheeks, "I'll just have to love all the other parts of you more to make up for the loss of the girls." He winked, "Like maybe that new and improved ass."

She smiled. "You know, we've both been given second chances at love. And I've been given a second chance at life itself. I plan to take full advantage of both."

He grinned and then buried his face in her hair to hide the tears in his eyes, "Oh, my dear, we will love each other so fiercely."

She turned around, put her arms around his waist and bit him on the neck – gently. "Is that fierce enough for you?" He made a face that indicated she'd need to do better than that.

She shook her head, waved him away and said, "I think I need to get dressed and let Mom know I'm okay. I also need to call Shelton."

"You ladies need to spend some time together. I'm going to go sign a lease on a condo."

"How long is the lease?"

"Doctors say they think they'll release you by the end of the summer. I'm signing a three month lease." He looked at her with a serious expression, "I think we'll know where we are in three months' time."

"Oh, I think we'll know way sooner than that!"

She already knew that he was her soul-mate and life's partner. If he could love her despite her disfigurement, she knew she would be alright. She blew him a kiss, and headed toward the apartment to demonstrate to her mother that she was okay, and then to call her daughter.

## The End ##

**Meredith Morgan** is a pseudonym for an author who grew up in the Midwest and now lives in Florida.

Born at the apex of the Baby Boom wave in the mid 1950's, every time she thinks of some great new, original idea or plan, she knows that next week it will show up on the cover of "Time" Magazine as the "Next Big Thing." She exhibits all the narcissistic Boomer neuroses, plus a few extra just to make things interesting, all of which she pours into her writing.

She enjoys walking the beaches, cooking (in theory if not in actual practice), and collecting odd, unusual and utterly useless bits of knowledge.

Visit her blog at: <http://meredith-morgan.blogspot.com/>
