Chapter 1

I was pissed. Really pissed. I loved my career. I loved my life. As simple as it was, it was enjoyable ... And all mine. My attitude sucked right then, but normally I was a fairly, mostly anyway, content guy. I was pissed about being there. I didn’t hate being there. I liked it there. I hated WHY I was there. I’m sure my aura wasn’t the light golden pink color they show around happy people in the movies.

A little voice behind me, dripping in saccharine sweet artificial politeness, asked, “Hey, can you pass the mustard, mister?”

“Bite me!” How juvenile of me, I know, but it just slipped out. Without looking, I handed someone the mustard bottle over my shoulder, then felt a strange sensation on the tendon running from my neck to my shoulder. I jerked away. Someone was biting me! They bit me!!!

I turned quickly. There was this girl.

All I could see was a vision of extreme cuteness before my eyes.

“Did you just bite me?”

“Yes, Charlie, I did. And if you say ‘bite me’ again, I’ll do it again. Maybe someplace more interesting?”

“Bethany? Bethany Ann Swanson? Is that you?” She nodded. “How the hell are you, sweetheart?” I pulled her into my arms and gave her a huge hug. I kissed her cheek while I felt her return the hug, three-fold.

Bethany Swanson was my long-ago girlfriend Annie’s little sister. Prettier, cuter, and yes, older now than she was before I left home to conquer the world some seven years prior. Hard to imagine her in this way, for sure. I had seen her briefly a few times while I’d been home on leave over the years, but not quite this ‘up close and personal’. What a difference!

“Better than you are, by a long shot, and way better than I was just ten minutes ago. I’m glad you came home, Charlie, but yet I’m not, if that makes sense. It’s good to see you, really good, but I wish your mom and dad were still here, you know? I loved them, Charlie. They always treated me so well when I hung out with you and Annie at your house. Hell, I felt like I was their daughter sometimes. Your Mom even took me shopping for my prom dress. That was fun.”

She told me the story of her helping my mother clean up our yard after a storm came through. Her mother was in Pennsylvania with her ailing grandmother at the time and my father was away on business. The two of them were chatting about girl stuff and the need for the dress came up.

“I’d love to see a picture of that, Bethany.”

“Pick me up tonight around six. Dress nice. I’ll take you to dinner then we’ll go to my place and do just that. Mom and Dad would love to see you.”

“Sounds like a winner. Hey, kiddo, how’s your sister?”

“Kiddo? Charlie, I’ll be nineteen next month. I’m in college for Christ’s sake.”

“Sorry. You have grown up. Quite nicely, I might add.”

She giggled. “Thank you! It’s important for you to understand that at this point. Ironically, Charlie, Annie’s in Tucson, Arizona, married to an Air Force pilot there. I guess she has a thing for them, even if they weren’t in the service yet.” She smiled at me and batted her eyes a bit.

I had been flying since I was fifteen, licensed the week I turned seventeen, and after my college days in Colorado Springs at one of my broke ass uncle’s universities, he let me play in his fleet of toys. I had taken Annie up a few times in my father’s old plane during our senior year in high school. That was before she advised me that she had no intention of trying to maintain a long-distance relationship while still in her youth. It would be hard for me to explain to anyone how happy I was to hear that revelation, but I didn’t dare share that with her. Best to let her think I was heartbroken.

We went out a few times while I was on leave during my freshman year. Even doolies get a bit of time off. It came to nothing, though, and when I came back that summer, she was seeing someone else she had met while attending our state university. Interestingly, he was a local boy, having been a couple of years ahead of us at a different high school. No problems. I was pretty wrapped up in making sure my attendance as a legacy at the academy wasn’t squandered on stupidity or a lack of trying.

My father and my grandfather were both graduates of the Air Force Academy, my grandfather becoming a Major General before he retired. My father retired as a Colonel to run our family business when Grandpa died. I had a lot to live up to without a doubt.

Which brings us to the subject of my tome. I was home, burying my parents, when I ran into Bethany, certainly a breath of fresh air in the stench that was currently my life. I had just been promoted to captain and was going to be trained, then transferred back to a fighter wing, after serving as a VIP aircraft pilot for a few years. I had been flying everything from T1As to C-20Hs to C32s and C40s, mostly right seat. In civilian lingo, biz jets, 737s, and 757s. I was just recently assigned as the AC, aircraft commander, of a C-12J, a twin-engine turbo prop, and was shuttling Military and State Department VIPs from Joint Base Andrews to New York City when I got the call about Mom and Dad being in a massive interstate pileup during a dense fog event. A truck hit them from behind and smashed them into the truck in front of them. They died immediately, instantly on impact, from what I was told. After seeing the pictures of the accident, I could only pray that was true. Gruesome was an understatement.

“Bethany, I would love to do just that. I miss the little munchkin that used to traipse all over town with us, but to be honest, I don’t think I’ll be seeing her again. You really have changed. Are you sure you want to waste your time with an old fuddy duddy like me?”

“You have no idea, mister. Be at my house at six. Look good. I want to show you off.”

“I’ll do my best, hon, but I don’t have a lot to work with.”

She laughed. “Shut up. You’re all that. If you don’t know it, it doesn’t matter. I do. I have to run. Kiss me goodbye, Charlie. Please?” I kissed her on the lips, briefly, she smiled dreamily, touched my cheek, and out she ran with her friend, giggling and carrying on, holding the bag she had placed her sandwiches back into after she used the mustard on them.

Wow. That was an interesting meeting. Almost nineteen, huh? I guess that means last time we spent any time together she was pushing twelve. Oh, my, what a thought.

I went back to the house and went through some more of my parents’ things, trying to decide what to keep, pitch, sell, give away, or just let sit in the corner collecting tears and dust. My commander knew I was resigning my regular commission and due to the circumstances, moving back home. I was going to need to spend at least a few years in the reserves to square my deal with Uncle Sam and would be living in that house while I did. I thought I’d probably do a lot longer than that, but one never knew. We had a reserve outfit close by, they had a spot for a Major that I could fill and grow into, I just had to learn how to pass gas. Oh well, the life of an air refueling pilot couldn’t be all that bad ... Could it?

Bethany’s mother, Elizabeth or Liz, met me at the door a few minutes before six. She let me in, hugged me, kissed my cheek, and started fawning all over me. She mentioned how much she liked my parents and how much she was going to miss them, then just hugged me and we held each other for a few quiet moments.

Her parents were always nice to me when Annie and I dated, then when she cut me loose, it was me that wound up explaining the breakup to all of our parents. Her father and I were probably the most relieved. I could see it in his eyes, and he could see it in mine, I think.

I’m sure he knew that even though I was happy with Annie, she was a loose cannon and wasn’t going to settle down anytime soon. A couple of years ago, maybe three, he told me over a glass of really good scotch that she was on her third fiancé after a total of about ten “quote serious unquote” relationships. That’s how he put it, too. He was on my side, though, he said, and was glad I didn’t get pulled down into the mud with her.

He came into the room and shook my hand. Once he’d made sure I was still amenable to it, he pulled me back into his study and the booze came back out. “She’ll be another fifteen minutes at least, Charlie. She thinks this is a date, so you’ll have to suffer like it is one. Let’s have a drink and talk for a bit.” His taste in whiskey is as good as his taste in scotch. Maker’s Mark on the rocks. I liked it. “I already miss your old man. Believe that. He was the only honest golf partner I had in this town. Damn it to hell anyway. Charlie, IS this a date, by the way?”

“Sam, you need to ask your precious little girl about that. I doubt she knows that I’m leaving active duty and moving back here yet, so there is that. If she does know, or thinks she knows, it may well be a date. She’s a doll, sir, and a man could do much worse than having you and Mrs. Swanson as in-laws.”

I heard a voice behind me, startling me just a bit. “Charlie, just call me Liz. Please. Trust me, it’s a date. I’m sure of it. You have our blessing if I’m right. If I’m not, and it happens later, you’ll still have it. OK?”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” She raised a wine glass and the three of us toasted that announcement.

“So, you’re moving back. Leaving the service?” Liz asked.

“Kind of. I’m switching to the reserves and paying off my debt. It’s a commitment I made when I went into the academy, and I need to repay it. I may just stay in the reserves for the duration. I don’t know yet, but I can do my thing on weekends, a few weeks a year, and anytime I get called up to fly. Who knows what’ll happen, but it should be interesting. I haven’t exactly been flying combat missions up until now, so anything will be exciting. I think.” I smirked and got a couple of acknowledgements and smiles in return.

“So, I won’t have you all to myself, then?” Bethany heard most of that, evidently. We turned to see her standing at the door.

“Bethany Ann, have you been eavesdropping?”

“Pretty much. I understand. I don’t care. I just want to spend some time with my biggest crush for like the last seven or eight years. I was ten when they started dating and eleven or twelve when Annie kicked him to the curb. I’m finally here to pick him up, brush him off, and take him to dinner. Come on, Charlie, let’s blow this pop stand before these old people talk your ear off. We can all look at pictures and tell lies when we get back. That OK, Mom? Dad?”

“Of course, sweetie, but keep in mind I ain’t THAT old. I can’t even join AARP yet. Don’t forget that. And you aren’t too old to spank, you know!”

“Ackkkk. Charlie, save me from him. He’s an ogre. Daddy Shrek. He’s terrible!” She ran over to him, pulled him down by his ear and kissed him on the cheek, hugged her mother, and off we went on a brand-new journey. I noticed then that she was wearing all black. Dress, choker, bracelet, stockings, shoes, everything was black. I appreciated that. She was showing me that she cared. I was in black as well, save my shirt. The tie was black and graduated stripes of gray, but we were a pretty dark couple, for sure.

Bethany told me she made seven o’clock reservations at Frankie’s, a popular and very upscale steak house on the outskirts of town. I have been there several times. Homecoming was held there, as well as Christmas parties with my parents. Prom dinner, with her sister, come to think of it, was at Frankie’s. It really was the place the kids with a few bucks went to impress their girlfriends, and I guess families with some means spent family time there as well.

“Why Frankie’s, doll face? Why not Burger King or Mickey D’s?”

“Please don’t tell me you’re that ignorant, Charlie.”

“Oh, so your mother was right? This is a date?”

“If there is a God, and she loves me, yes, this is a date.”

“I’m rather glad to hear that, Bethany. That means I get another kiss tonight. A kiss goodnight, at least?”

“At least,” she said with a guilty grin.

We sat at that table eating, talking, drinking, and laughing until after they closed at nine o’clock. I’d never been more comfortable with anyone before. I took care of the bill, then on the way to the car she asked if everything was going well.

“I’m going to tell you now, young lady, since you asked, but I will preface my answer with a statement about myself and something I need to find in the person I’m in a relationship with. I assume you are asking if this can be one?” She nodded, a worried look on her gorgeous face. “One thing I need is honesty. One hundred percent honesty. I’ve been in a couple of relationships before, and that value wasn’t practiced. They were short lived. The relationships. So, doll, honesty above all else?”

“Yes, Charlie. I can promise you that.”

“Good. I was just telling myself that I’m more comfortable around you than I ever have been with anyone. Ever. I’m thinking we can give it a go.”

“Take me home. We need to look at pictures and tell lies. My parents await.”

I walked her to the car noticing more about her appearance. She was trying very hard to be all she could be, to coin a phrase. The little black dress was short. Very, very short. Her heels were high. Very, very high. Thinking back carefully, all the way back, including the young puppy love girlfriends I had even before Annie in high school, I had to admit Bethany was the most beautiful, striking, magnificent creature that has ever held my hand, let alone kissed me. She was most definitely taking my mind off my troubles and the reason I was there in town at all.

“I’d be more than happy to, sweetie. Has anyone told you how pretty you are tonight?”

“Only with their eyes. The way you look at me is telling me just that, but to be honest, the words sound good, too. Thank you.”

We crossed the parking lot, stopped at the car, and just before I opened the door for her, she turned to me, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me like she knew what she wanted, and it was me. Our tongues met, her moan vibrated through my core, and I became very uncomfortable just below the belt. I’m sure she felt it pressing into her mid-section just above her hip bone. Bethany was not a tall girl. She took after her mother that way, whereas Annie took after her father.

Her hand was on the back of my head, fingers caressing it through my hair while we kissed. Much like my observations of her, it was by far the most intimate, stirring, most exciting kiss I’d ever shared. My day, that day, proved to be a milestone in my life. Just ten hours after biting me, her venom had reached my heart and I had succumbed to the vixen that was Bethany Ann Swanson.

We made it to her house, finally, and sat with her mother and father for another two hours talking about my parents, the trouble all of us kids got into, and what my future looked like.