Angel's Peak (Virgin River #10)(51)

An air force squadron is a little like a small town. The men who work and fly together get real tight, and Sean had a close working relationship with their squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Sorrell. That came in real handy, since Sean had to phone and tell Jake the circumstances that would bring him to Beale during his leave—he wanted to give his mother and daughter a tour of the base and the airplane, the U-2. Given the high security, he had to have special permission and an escort, even though it was basically Sean’s ride.

“Daughter?” Jake had asked during their phone conversation. “Our most notorious bachelor has a daughter?”

“That’s right,” he said, and for the first time it struck him how lucky he was that little accident had happened with a woman he happened to have had a serious relationship with. Then he thought of something that struck him damn hard. What if that accident had happened with someone he hardly knew—like Cindy? “I’ll explain more about that later, but obviously I just learned about her and the one thing she’s asked of me is to see my plane. And my mother happens to be in town also.”

“Good,” Jake had said. “Your mother can keep an eye on your daughter while you and I steal a half hour for a conversation.”

“On Saturday?” Sean asked.

“I’ll be in the office when you’re done with your tour.”

Sean drove his mom and Rosie around the base and showed them the hangar and an airplane that happened to be in for maintenance. He laughed when Rosie put both her little hands over her cheeks and gasped at the size of the U-2. He took a picture of her in the cockpit without getting any of the instrument panel in the photo. In fact, he’d have Jake download the pictures, delete them from his camera and send them to Franci’s e-mail address when he was satisfied there wasn’t the slightest security breach. It wasn’t as though the U-2 was a secret—the plane sat on static display during air shows. But this was a working plane.

He also showed her the KC-135 tankers that refueled the jets in the air, a batch of C-130s and a staggeringly huge C-5. By three o’clock, Rosie was completely exhausted and Maureen was looking a little worn, as well. He took them to the squadron’s waiting area—not very fancy—and asked them to read for twenty or thirty minutes. “I won’t be long. We can have dinner on the way home. I’m sure Rosie will nap in the car after I fill her belly.”

Jake Sorrell stood from his desk and came around to shake Sean’s hand. “I’m glad you had an excuse to come in from leave, Sean. I thought about calling you…”

“What’s up?” Sean asked, before sitting down.

“What’s up is four years. You only got on the waiting list for an open slot at Air Command and Staff College when you pinned on major and you’ve been flying under the radar. You know you’re maxed out here. It’s time for you to be reassigned. Have you thought about that?”

Sean looked down and shook his head. “Think there’s any way I can get this put off a few months? I just found my daughter, man. She and her mother live close to Beale.”

“I’d sure like to hear about that, if it’s something you can talk about.”

“I can guess what people might think, but it’s not sleazy at all. Franci and I were a couple.” Then he proceeded to explain how he’d given the woman plenty of good reasons to think she was better off going it alone. He didn’t even realize how differently he was seeing the situation now. In less than a week he’d gone from it’s all her fault to I made her do it. “I need some time to get this straightened out a little bit, Jake. Franci’s not jumping into anything with me and I can’t just run out on Rosie the minute I find her. It could screw the kid up for life.”

“Any chance you can put things together with the mother?”

Sean gave him a contrite expression. “The woman I told I’d never get married or have children with four years ago? She might be slightly wary.”

Jake, father of four, sat back in his chair. “Smooth.”

“I need time, Jake.”

“You have to look at your options,” he said. “You’re overdue.”

“I did look at my options, but they were all different before I knew I had a child. I figured if I didn’t get Air Command and Staff the first try, I’d go to Iraq or Saudi in the U-2 and earn my slot to ACSC. I’m not real anxious to do it that way now.”

Sean was an Air Force Academy grad, a former fighter pilot, a distinguished graduate of several training programs—and all of that added up to not only a command position in the not-too-distant future but, if he hung in there, the rank of general. From the age of eighteen, that had been his plan—to end his career running the world from the Pentagon. Of course, there were steps—assignments, career-building training programs like Air Command and Staff College, remote tours, et cetera.

“Well, I suggest you take another look at the options,” Jake said. “Your leave is approved through November, but if you don’t put in for an assignment somewhere, orders are going to be cut without any input from you. You know what’s out there—U-2 overseas accompanied or remote, change of mission to U-2 in weather, a staff job somewhere, or you might get lucky and slip into an open slot at Air Command and Staff…” Jake leaned forward, folding his hands on top of his desk. “The hard part about being a family man in the military—we serve where we’re needed. The air force gives you a chance to put together an assignment if you can, but you know what’s expected of you, and the air force will take its pound of flesh.”