He saw her standing, looking curiously around when he was still a hundred feet away.
Callie McKenzie!
As he walked toward her she spotted him. She beamed.
“Hello, Jake.”
He couldn’t think of anything to say.
“You’ve lost some weight,” she said.
“Been sick.”
“Oh. Well, aren’t you glad to see me?”
“Thunderstruck. I’m speechless.”
She looked even better than he remembered. As he stared her eyes danced with amusement and a smile grew on her face.
“I never expected to see you here,” he told her. “Not in a million years.”
“Life is full of surprises.”
“Isn’t it, though?”
He was rooted where he stood, unable to take his eyes off her and unsure what to do next. Why was she here? Why hadn’t she written in five months? Then a thought stuck him: “Did you come with someone?” he asked and glanced around, half expecting to see her mother, or even some man.
“No.” She reached out and touched his arm. “All these sailors are staring at us. Can you sign me in so we can go somewhere and talk?”
Jake flushed. “Oh, yes, sure.”
The officer of the deck and quartermaster of the watch grinned shamelessly, enjoying Jake’s obvious discomfort. Jake scribbled his name beside Callie’s in the visitors’ log, then steered her away with two fingers on her elbow.
“Let’s go up to the flight deck. Fine view of the bay area from up there.”
Indeed, the view from the flight deck was spectacular. The San Francisco skyline, Treasure Island, airliners coming and going at San Francisco International and Oakland — the panorama would have frozen most people who had spent the largest part of the last eight months looking at empty ocean dead in their tracks. However Jake Grafton was too acutely aware of the presence of Callie McKenzie to give the scene more than a glance.
“How are your folks?” he asked finally, breaking the silence.
“They’re fine. And yours?”
“Okay. Almost called you a time or two.”
“And I almost wrote you. I should have. And you should have called.”
“Why didn’t you write?”
“I didn’t want to influence your decision. To stay in or get out, what to do with your life. This was your decision, Jake, not mine.”
“Well, I made it. I’m staying in.”
“Why?”
Jake Grafton ran his fingers through his hair. “I was looking for something. Turns out I had it all along and just didn’t realize it.”
“What were you looking for?”
“Something worth doing. Something that made a difference. The war was such a mess…I guess that I lost sight of what we’re all about here. It’s more than ships and planes and cats and traps. I realized that finally.”
“I always thought that what you did was important.”
“Your dad didn’t.”
“Dad? I love him dearly but this is my life, not his.”
“So what are you going to do with your life?”
She didn’t answer. She lowered her head and began walking slowly. Jake stayed with her. When she got to the bow of the ship she stood looking across the water at San Francisco with the wind playing in her hair.
“I guess I’m like most modern women. I want a family and a career. Languages have always fascinated me, and I have found I love to teach. That’s the big plan, but some of it is contingent.”
“On what?”
“On you.”
“Well, I don’t think that’s very fair. After all, lady, you shoved me out into the cold to make up my own mind.”
“You were never out in the cold, Jake. There hasn’t been an hour in the last eight months that I wasn’t thinking about you. I’ve read and reread your letters until I almost wore out the paper. Especially that last letter. I think I was wondering too, wondering if you loved me as much as I loved you.”
“You were always with me too,” he confessed, and grinned. “Maybe an hour or two now and then you slipped away, but most of the time you were there.”
Her hand found his. They began strolling along the deck. The breeze was fresh and crisp.
“So why did you come here?” he asked.
“I came to get married.”
He gaped. It was like a kick in the stomach. He had thought… He jerked his hand from her grasp.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” he managed.
“You,” she said, her head cocked slightly to one side, her lips twisting into a grin.
“Me?”
“Who else could it be? I love you more than words can tell, Jacob Lee Grafton.”
“You want to marry me?”
She laughed. He had always liked her laugh. “Do you want me to get down on one knee and propose?”
“I accept,” he told her and seized both her hands. “Where and when?”
“This afternoon. Anywhere.”
“My God, woman! This is sudden. Are you sure?”
“I’ve been thinking about this for a year,” she told him. “I’m absolutely certain.”
“Well, I’ll be…” He took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair. Then he remembered the ring. He pulled it from his shirt pocket, looked at it, then put it on her finger.
Now she was surprised. “You knew I was coming?”
“No. I bought that for you over a year ago. Been carrying it ever since.”
“Oh, Jake,” she said and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips found his.
He finally broke the embrace and seized her hand. “Come on. We’ll need a best man. My BN is still aboard. He and I were going to have lunch together.”
The quickest way to Flap’s stateroom was into the catwalk behind the island, then into the 0–3 level and down. On the catwalk Jake happened to glance at the pier. There was a pink Cadillac convertible parked at the foot of the officers’ brow with four women in it.
Muldowski was walking across the brow. Now he turned and saluted the American flag on the fantail.
Jake cupped his hand to his mouth and shouted, “Muldowski! Hey, Bosun!”
The warrant officer looked up. He pointed.
“I’m getting married,” Jake Grafton roared. “Will you give the bride away?”
“When?” Muldowski boomed.
“This afternoon. Wait for us. We’ll be down in ten minutes.”
“Is that the bride?”
“Yes.”
“I may keep her my—” The rest of the bosun’s comment was drowned by music as the band launched into another tune.
The women in the convertible were on their feet applauding. The bosun started clapping too, as did dozens of people on the pier.
Callie was grinning broadly. She looked so happy. What the heck! In full view of the world Jake swept her into his arms.