Coach Maddie and the Marine (12 page)

Chapter Twelve

Tears burned in Maddie’s eyes when the plane carrying Callie touched down on the tarmac. The wait for her to exit the plane was nearly unbearable. It seemed longer than her whole deployment.

The weather was cool and clear. With Halloween just around the corner, the heat of summer was a distant memory.

She tried to rest her hands on Andrew’s shoulders, but he jumped up and down, furiously waving the small American flag she’d purchased for him on the way to the airfield. His face was flushed from the excitement. He wore his favorite long-sleeved T-shirt, a bright red one with a huge flag in the center. Callie had bought it from the Base Exchange for him a few days before she left. It had hung on him then, but fit him better now. He would’ve worn it every day if Maddie hadn’t insisted on washing it. His newly finished scrapbook was nestled in a padded box, covered with construction paper cutouts, on the ground by his feet.

A brass band played marching tunes like “Stars and Stripes Forever” and she found herself tapping her feet in time to the music.

The first few soldiers disembarked. She stood on her tiptoes and searched the line for a glimpse of Callie. Finally, an eternity and a half later, midway in the line of soldiers moving down the steps from the plane, she saw her. A wave of relief, so strong it threatened to make her faint, washed over her like a flood. Even though she’d talked to Callie a couple of days ago and she’d reassured Maddie that she was safe and sound, on a secure American base in Germany, and on her way home, her heart had still been clouded with paralyzing fear for her sister.

But now, just seconds from hugging her sister, she let go of all the worry she’d held on to for the last fifteen months.

Callie stepped from the bottom step onto the tarmac. As soon as she walked across the painted red line that kept the families a safe distance from the planes, she and Andrew rushed toward her. Callie dropped her rucksack and bent to take Andrew into the circle of her arms.

No Hallmark commercial ever filmed could capture the emotion.

After several minutes, Callie stood, running her fingers through Andrews’s hair. He held on to her leg and leaned against her like a much younger child.

“Maddie,” Callie said, tears choking her voice. “My little sister.”

Maddie embraced her and held her as tightly as she could. After several minutes of shoulder-racking sobs, the sisters pulled away from each other. She stepped back and took in every inch of Callie, cataloging her from head to toe. She searched for changes in her sister—any injuries she hadn’t told her about, worry lines on her face. Callie looked great. She was a little thinner than when she’d left, her desert fatigues fit her loosely now, and she had a deep bronze tan, but her broad smile and sparkling blue eyes told her that she was the same old Callie.

“Let’s go get a milkshake, kiddo, and start catching up,” Callie said.

“Mom, we won the football league championship. We didn’t lose a single game. Aunt Maddie was the best coach we’ve ever had,” Andrew said as they headed toward the parking lot. “And guess what? I made you something. Look.” He handed her the box holding the scrapbook.

They loaded Callie’s bag into the trunk of the car and headed toward the drugstore to order the biggest milkshake on the menu.

“This scrapbook is so thoughtful. Now I can see everything that happened while I was gone.”

Maddie was glad Andrew was in the backseat and couldn’t see the regret that washed over Callie’s face as she flipped through more than a year of her son’s life that she’d missed and could never get back.

Andrew was asleep by eight. He’d talked continuously all afternoon—trying to catch Callie up on every detail of the last year. Callie tucked him in while Maddie made a huge pitcher of margaritas. She placed the pitcher on a tray with two glasses and a dish of salt. She carried it out to the back porch and poured the two glasses full to the brim.

Callie closed the back door quietly behind her. “Wow. Does he always talk that much?”She laughed.

“No. It’s just the excitement. He’ll be back to his normal self in a couple of days.”

Callie eased down into the chair beside her. “It is so good to be home. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you two.”

“Oh, yes I do. We’ve missed you so much, Callie. There just aren’t the words to tell you how much.” She felt tears welling up in her eyes again.

“Okay—no more of this sappy stuff. Andrew caught me up on his life, albeit in hyperspeed. Now it’s your turn.”

“There’s nothing much to tell and besides, I want to hear about you first.”

“That’s not what Andrew says. I want to talk about happy things, simple things. I’ve seen enough war and wounded men to last me ten lifetimes. It’s the last thing I want to talk about, or even think about for that matter.”

“I’m so sorry you had to see all that terrible stuff.”

“It’s over now. Thank God. Tell me about the guy first, and football second,” Callie said, eating some salt off the rim of her glass.

“There was a guy. Lieutenant David Sterling, Frank’s CO. He was with Frank when he died.”

“That’s heavy,” Callie said.

“He taught me about football and even signed on to be my assistant coach. Things got a little heavy for a while and then he left. End of story.”

“Whoa, slow down and start from the beginning. And don’t leave out any of the juicy parts. I hate it when you try to do that. What are sisters for if not to dish all the details?”

“Well, I met him the night Andrew decided to recruit his own football coach…” she began.

Callie listened intently to every detail of the short-lived romance. She sat quietly, encouraging her sister with a hand on her arm.

Two pitchers of margaritas later, eyes streaked with tears, she finished the story.

“Maybe he’s not as bad as you think. It’s possible that something really did come up unexpectedly. Sometimes those things happen in the military.”

“I appreciate your trying to spare my feelings, but I was just a way to get past his guilt and regret, nothing more. I should have known when a guy like him had never been married that there was something terribly wrong with him. Oh, Callie, what on earth was I thinking?”

“Falling in love can happen to anyone. You had no idea it would end like this. I’m so sorry he broke your heart. But I’m not willing to count this guy out just yet.”

“He screwed me over. Plain and simple,” she said. “One minute he was telling me he was in love with me and wanted to talk about marriage, and the next moment he’s not answering his phone or responding to texts.”

“Just give him a little more time to come back and explain things to you. I don’t want you to pass up the one man who can make you totally happy over a silly misunderstanding.”

“You think it’s just a silly misunderstanding? We flirted, we went on a date, he seduced me, made me all sorts of promises about forever, and then he disappeared. What’s to misunderstand, Callie?”

“You left out the part about helping you with the team, hanging out with Andrew, ordering special wine for your dinner date. Those aren’t things a man does if sex is all he’s interested in getting. Those are sweet and romantic things that a decent man would do because he really likes you. Why can’t you just keep an open mind at least for a few more days?”

“It’s been weeks. He’s history.” She crossed her legs and looked off into the distance.

Callie took her sister’s wrist in her fingers. “Why don’t you let me ask around the base? Maybe someone knows something they might tell another soldier that they wouldn’t tell a civilian.”

Maddie wasn’t convinced. “He’s history,” she repeated. “Soon to be ancient.”

The girls decided that it wouldn’t be in their best interest to mix another pitcher of drinks. She already felt woozy and the planked floor spun a bit when she rose from her chair.

“Let’s call it a night,” she said. “It’s been a really emotional day. Let’s get some rest and we’ll do something fun tomorrow, just the three of us.”

Callie became serious. “I can never thank you enough for all you did while I was gone. You’re the best sister I could ever ask for, and more. I love you so much.”

She hugged Callie. “No.
You’re
the best sister in the world. Not me. I love you, too.”

“And tomorrow, you have to tell me about the football.”

“That’s a deal.”

She lay awake on her bed, watching the ceiling fan, trying to stop thinking about David. As usual, she was unsuccessful.

How could he have faked his feelings like that? Why did he have to make all those promises to her?

Their times together—at Paolo’s, on the sofa talking football, the dinner at Merrimon’s—played like a continuous movie loop over and over again in her head. It was impossible to think of anything but him.

Sorry bastard.

...

After weeks of trying to refuse the medal, David had gotten nowhere.

No one in the chain of command wanted to hear about his survivor guilt, his opinion that he was a failure, not a hero. The Corps was sticking to their story and his commanding officer, General Rodgers, had ordered him to be at the award ceremony.

He still had a choice: accept the award or face court martial.

A court martial didn’t sound like the way he wanted to end his military career.

He checked the alignment of his medals in the mirror. Everything was squared away. If a person didn’t look too closely, he looked like the poster child for the Corps. But his eyes told a different story. Even he could see the sadness in them.

Against his will, he’d be accepting the Bronze Star today, but he’d managed to do one thing right. He’d insisted that Frank Westerfield be awarded one too. While it would be several months before all the paperwork made its way through the Corps, Maddie would be able to accept it on his behalf.

He’d insisted on a half-right.

Not that it felt right.

The ceremony was held on the drill field. A handful of marines standing at attention waiting on General Rodgers to pin a medal on their chest.

He stood stock still, barely met the general’s eye when he pinned the ribbon on his uniform and offered congratulations.

He was having trouble keeping his emotions in check and the Marine Corps didn’t take kindly to waterworks.

...

Maddie spent the next two weeks helping Callie and Andrew get reinstalled in their own house. Even though base housing would have made more economic sense for Callie, she loved having a place of her own where she could hang pictures and get away from all the rigidity of the military. The house was only a few short blocks from Maddie’s place. Andrew would be able to ride his bike back and forth.

They were still trying to decide where they were going to stage the big Thanksgiving meal.

One afternoon, while she and Callie were placing books on the shelves in the living room, Callie said, “I know you’re going to be pissed, but I’ve been asking some questions around base about Lieutenant Sterling.”

“Callie, I told you it was over between us. He betrayed my trust. There’s no going back now.”

“I know he hurt you, but listen, every single person I’ve talked to says he’s the real thing, a really decent guy who joined the Corps for the right reasons. He just got a Bronze Star. They were giving it to him today at an awards ceremony on the drill field.”

She froze. “What for? He hasn’t been in combat since Frank’s death.”

“For doing everything he could to bring Frank home, even in very dangerous conditions.”

“But Frank was killed. How does that equal a medal?”

Callie stopped unpacking and looked at her sister. “Lieutenant Sterling did the best he could. He was following orders. No one could’ve anticipated what happened.”

She thought she’d forgiven him years ago. In her head, she knew that Callie was right. He wasn’t to blame, but the award somehow made things different. Anger, long-buried, surged into her throat. “I know you’re right but I’m still so pissed off.”

Callie nodded. “That might never completely go away.”

She shoved a handful of hardbacks into the bookcase with a thump. She couldn’t bear to think about Frank or David. Not anymore. For so many years, Frank had occupied all her thoughts. Then David came along and helped her remember what it meant to be a woman. Now he was out of the picture, too.

She should’ve trusted her first instincts and refused to get involved. He wasn’t the only one who was to blame for the short-lived relationship.

Callie and Andrew were the only two people she needed.

“You’ve already been home two weeks and we haven’t even been to the movies. Let’s go tomorrow afternoon while Andrew’s at Rowan’s. I’ll buy the popcorn,” she said.

“Can I have some Junior Mints, too? The Afghans couldn’t seem to figure out why anyone would want to mix mint and chocolate.”

The sound of Callie’s laughter made her heart sing.

...

The package looked normal. Priority mail. His parents’ address in Mississippi in the top left corner. When his mother offered to send it, he’d foolishly believed the day he opened the box would be one of the happiest of his life.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

He didn’t want to open the box, wanted to toss it in a closet and forget it. But he couldn’t. He knew his mother well enough to know she’d included a note and would ask him all about the contents the next time they talked on the phone.

He took a deep breath and slid his knife from his pocket. “Now or never,” he muttered, and cut into the clear tape.

There was a note.

He ripped open the flowered envelope. On the matching notecard, in his mother’s large looping hand, it read:

Son,

Sorry it took me so long to get this to the Post Office. I dropped it by the jewelry store and had it cleaned and appraised. You’ll need to keep the paperwork for your insurance. Dad and I couldn’t be happier that you’ve finally met the right girl. We’ll love her just like the daughter we never had. I’ve enclosed your grandmother’s engagement ring and wedding band. We hope that you and Maddie will be as happy as we’ve been. There’s nothing more wonderful than waking up beside your best friend every morning.