"Brad," Leigh Ann said, stretching out in his arms, "I've never felt like this before… not in two weeks, or two months. I thought about what you said — living a lifetime in twenty-four hours — and I've always been a lady who has gone by the rules."
"Of a civilized society," Brad interjected, holding her head in the crook of his neck.
"Yes," she replied in a low, muted voice. "Now, I want to express my feelings, say what I really mean, and trust and love again."
"Leigh Ann," Brad said, gently kissing her soft hair, "my feelings for you are genuine, even though we've been together only a short time."
"Mine, too."
Brad's mind raced, ecstatic in the knowledge that the beautiful woman lying next to him wanted him in the same way he wanted her. "Leigh Ann," Brad ventured, "let's go for a swim in the ocean."
Her eyes widened when she raised her head. "Brad, I can't go swimming in this dress… and I'm not wearing a bra."
Brad pulled her next to him. "I hadn't planned for us to swim in our clothes."
She kissed him in the small of his throat. "You're incorrigible."
"Leigh Ann," Brad raised her chin, "this is happening faster than I had ever imagined." They remained quiet a moment, locked in their embrace. She could hear his heartbeat.
"We haven't even had an intimate relationship," Leigh Ann sighed.
Brad chuckled. "You have a quaint way with words."
"Okay, flyboy, we haven't been to bed together," she laughed, then poked him in the ribs, "but I have no doubt that you'll make the proper arrangements."
Brad started to respond, then glimpsed movement a few yards away. Startled, he snapped his head to the side. He saw a bright yellow aloha shirt.
"Sorry," a somber Harry Hutton said. "We've been trying to find you." Leigh Ann sat upright, gripping Brad's arm.
"What the hell is going on?" Brad asked, experiencing a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He leaned forward to a sitting position.
"We ' ve been recalled," Harry announced painfully, "to Subic… to the carrier."
"Oh, no," Leigh Ann gasped, then trembled once.
"Harry," Brad said icily, "if this is one of your practical jokes, I am going to kick your ass." He turned to Leigh Ann. "Pardon me."
"Brad," Hutton said, venturing closer, "I am not kidding. The ship is getting underway tomorrow. The word was sent to Barbers Point, where they had a record of where we're staying, and the base duty officer notified the hotel operator. The assistant manager had seen us make the luau reservations, so they knew where to find us."
"Goddamnit," Brad swore to himself. "What the hell happened to the ten-day to two-week estimate?"
"Nick called Subic," Harry answered, "and talked to Jocko. The problem wasn't as severe as they had anticipated. The yard people worked around the clock to replace whatever the hell was broken. They ran the engine with the ship tied to the dock, and they didn't have any vibration."
Brad turned to Leigh Ann. "I'm sorry, this is Harry Hutton, my roommate. Harry, Leigh Ann Ladasau."
They exchanged polite greetings.
"When do we have to leave?" Brad asked, placing a comforting hand on Leigh Ann's knee.
"As soon as possible," Harry answered gloomily. "They've got us scheduled on an air-force tanker — a KC-135 — leaving for Guam at oh three hundred."
Brad looked at his watch. They had a little less than four hours to departure time. "Harry, you guys go ahead. I'll change, check out of our room, then take a cab to Hickam."
"Okay," Hutton replied, feeling like an intruder. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Leigh Ann."
"Nice meeting you, Harry. I hope I'll see you again, under more pleasant circumstances."
"I hope so, too," he responded, then hurried to leave a message at the front desk for Palmer and Lunsford.
"Brad, please hold me."
He took her in his arms, suffering the anguish of impending separation. The powers that be were going to tear him away from this beautiful, wonderful woman, and send him back to war. A war filled with senseless death and destruction.
"Darling," Leigh Ann said, misty-eyed, "I want to see you off… at the base."
Brad steeled himself and held her closer. "Leigh Ann, I'm not going to have you riding alone in a taxi at three in the morning." "Brad, I'm twenty-two years old."
"Please," he said uncomfortably, "let me have my way on this one. I'm a little overprotective when I care for someone."
Leigh Ann choked back a sob. "Okay, I'll wait for you in the lobby."
Brad escorted her to the lobby, then hurried to the suite. He quickly changed into his uniform, packed his belongings, checked for items left behind, and returned to the front desk.
He was perplexed to find that Leigh Ann was nowhere in sight. Brad settled the room account, threw his overnight bag over his shoulder, and started for the entry.
Leigh Ann rushed into the lobby as Brad reached the entrance. "Brad," she called. "Wait."
He spun around and handed his bag to the bellhop. "I'll need a cab, please."
She stopped in front of Brad, tentatively extending a small hand. "Please accept these from me… so you'll have something tangible to remind you of me."
Brad took the small pendant and the wallet-sized photo of Leigh Ann. Her picture, in black and white, was stunning.
"I had to get the picture out of my father's wallet. I'll get him another one when we get home."
"Leigh Ann," Brad stammered, "I don't know what to say."
She stared into his eyes. "Tell me that you will write to me, and that you'll be true to me… and that you'll come back safely."
Brad walked her to a spot affording some privacy, then held her tightly. "Leigh Ann, I care deeply about you." They remained quiet, feeling the distress of separation.
"Brad, I need your address," she said as she handed him her home address. "I'll write every day, I promise."
Brad wrote his address on one of his calling cards and gave it to Leigh Ann. He unbuttoned his khaki shirt, removed his gold wings, replaced the snaps over the prongs, then held Leigh Ann.
"Come back to me," she said, wiping away a tear, "safely."
"Count on it," Brad replied, squeezing the gold wings into her small palm. "We belong together… forever."
"Oh, Brad, I'm scared."
Brad turned and walked to the taxi, not trusting his voice. His world had been shattered by the reality of leaving Leigh Ann, and the certainty of what he had to face over the skies of North Vietnam.
Chapter 19
The KC-135 shrieked like a thousand banshees as it thundered down the long runway. The four Pratt & Whitney turbojets strained to propel the fully loaded tanker to takeoff speed. The noise was deafening.
Brad sat in a tip-down troop seat close to the darkened cockpit. He watched the pilots, then turned and looked the length of the long, windowless fuselage. Harry and Nick were already stretched out on the uncomfortable passenger seats.
After what seemed like an eternity, the heavy aircraft lifted smoothly off the pavement with 500 feet of runway to spare. Brad unclenched his sweaty palms, exercising his tense fingers.
The laboring tankers, fueled to maximum capacity, had to depart late at night or early in the morning. The pilots had to take advantage of the cooler temperatures in order to get the maximum thrust from their engines.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Brad opened his breast pocket and gently lifted out the pendant on a gold chain. Even in the drab lighting, he could distinguish the intricate design around the dove. He held the shiny ornament in his left hand and reached into his pocket again, extracting the picture of Leigh Ann.
Brad stared at her image as if to keep her close even though they would soon be worlds apart — he in his chaotic world of aerial warfare, and Leigh Ann in her more civilized surroundings. They had had so little time together. He hoped that she was peacefully asleep.