Unlikely Lovers (23 page)

She was informed that the ceremony marking her promotion to Lt. Colonel would be held the end of the month. She called her mother to invite her.

“Do you mind if I bring Aunt Pat along?”

“Would I mind?
That would be great. I’d love to see her.”

The day before the ceremony, Jessica drove to Oklahoma City to pick the women up at the airport. She waved as she saw them approaching.

“Oh, my sweet Jessica, it’s so good to see you.” Aunt Pat hugged her.

“It’s good to see you too, Aunt Pat. Hi, Mom
.” She looked at her mother over her aunt’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry I missed you on your last two visits home. I was on a cruise the first time and in Seattle the second time.”

“How was the cruise?”

“Wonderful. Now I hear
you’re having some man problems, dear, what are we going to do to remedy that?”

“Now, Pat…
” Ginny warned her sister in law.

“It’s okay, Mom. Aunt Pat, I’m not sure if we can remedy it, but I’m going to sure give it a try. I’ll tell you all about it over dinner.”

“Be sure and ask your aunt to show you her cruise pictures. They’ll make you green with envy.”

“Nice place for you to go on your honeymoon, Jess
ica, a Bahaman cruise. I might even be willing to spring for it as a wedding gift.”

“Pat…what are you doing?”
Ginny sighed.

“Mom, it’s okay, really. There just may be a honeymoon in my future if things work out the way I’m planning.”

“Then let’s find a place to eat, because I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got up your sleeve, baby girl.” Her mother hugged her before going in search of her luggage.

Jessica drove out of the
city before stopping for dinner. Once settled, she told her mother and her aunt of her plan to win Cody back.

“It’s ingeni
ous. If this doesn’t work then I’m afraid nothing will, darling,” Ginny told her daughter with a smile.

“I agree, sweetheart, that young man of yours doesn’t stand a chance. It’s so romantic,” Aunt Pat added.

During dinner, they looked at the pictures from the cruise and talked about little Dakota.

“When is the christening? Won’t you and Cody both be going up for that?”
Ginny asked.

“It’s in a few weeks, and yes, I guess we will. But we
’ll go separately. The time isn’t right yet to put my plan into action.”

They finished dinner and arrived back in Lawton later that evening. Jessica took them to their hotel and made sure the two women were settled in before going back home to her own apartment. She wanted to get a good night’s sleep to look rested for the ceremony. Her mother had asked her before she left the hotel why she didn’t invite Cody to the ceremony.

“Mom, I just can’t. I don’t know how he’d feel about that with all that’s happened.”

“But you said yourself that
you’re in an amicable state right now.”

“Amicable yes, but we have virtually no contact with each other.”

“You know what’s best, I guess. I’d have liked to have met him.”

“If things work out, you will, Mom. And if things don’t work out, then I guess it really doesn’t matter, now does it?”

The ceremony was perfect. She could see the pride in her mother’s and her aunt’s eyes as she was awarded the new commission. Jessica knew her dad was watching proudly from heaven. After pictures were taken and they’d attended the reception, she treated her family to dinner. They were staying until Sunday, so Jessica took them out for a day of shopping on Saturday. On Sunday morning, she drove them back to the airport to see them off.

And before she knew it, the time for little Dakota’s christening had arrived. As she had expected, Cody
hadn’t asked her to ride up with him, so she decided to fly instead of drive.

The weekend went well. She and Cody were civil to one another but he didn’t make a move on her
. The weekend was totally about the Reed family.

She had watched as he held
Dakota in his strong arms, cooing and talking to the baby.
What a wonderful daddy he would be
.

Cody offered to drop her off on his way out of town. Surprised at the offer, she looked at him and for lack of knowing what else to say, simply asked, “Are you sure it’s no trouble?”

“No, trouble at all, Jessie, just let me know when you’re ready to go.”

As she rode beside him in the beloved red truck, the conversation was basic. They talked mainly about the weekend.

And then he said, “I still find it hard to believe it’s Missy and Andy who are married and have a baby instead of us, don’t you?”

“Yes, I guess so. But envious as I am of what they have together, I couldn’t be happier for them.”

“I feel the same way. Here we are. I’ll park the truck and see you off.” He grabbed her bag from the back of the truck and helped her out.

When it was time to go, he simply said, “See you around,
Jessie.”

She boarded the plane and said to herself
, you don’t know it yet, Mr. Jones, but it may very well be us someday. She napped on the plane, dreaming again of Cody and a bride whose face was not revealed to her.

She was on leave for the next six weeks. The traditional office party had been thrown in her behalf and she and Karen had promised to stay in touch. She planned to spend the next week relaxing and preparing for her new position. The last two weeks of her leave would be spent unpacking and getting settled. And the three weeks in between…well that remained to be seen.

She drove to Lake Lawtonka, walking and thinking about Cody and times they
’d spent there. Then she drove up to Mt. Scott, enjoying the beautiful scenery. Coming back, she stopped at Fisherman’s Cove for dinner. And on the way home, she stopped at the small church where she and Cody had gone that Christmas Eve so long ago. She sat in the church, asking for guidance. When she left, she was content for the first time in months. The answer she’d been searching for had come to her, as crystal clear as the water in the lake had been that afternoon.

When she returned home, she called her mother and then Missy. After that, she called Karen and Bruce.

“I’ve come to a decision,” she had told all of them. “I’m going ahead with the plan now.”

She went to bed that night and dreamt again of Cody and the bride. This time
when she got to the part where he lifted the bride’s veil, she saw the face of the bride. Taking this as a sign she was on the right path, she slept peacefully for the first time in months.

T
oday’s the day, she thought to herself as she jumped out of bed on Friday morning and prepared herself for what was coming. She dressed carefully in her dress uniform. She needed to stop by the office first. She took care of her business there as quickly as she could then drove to the Goodyear plant. It’s now or never, she told herself as she sat in the car, trying to muster up the courage to do what she’d come there to do. Taking a page from the book of her favorite actor, she got out and walked inside with her head held high, in true Officer and a Gentleman style. She asked the first person she saw where she could find Cody Jones and the woman led her to him. She pointed him out and Jessica stood watching him work. He was as handsome as ever, the sight of his muscular body and wavy, light brown hair causing a familiar tingling feeling that began in the pit of her stomach and spread throughout her body. She watched as he held a clipboard and talked to some other men. As she walked toward him, several of the men whistled.

Cody looked up and saw her
.

When she finally reached him, he looked at her and said, “And to what do I owe this honor, Major Walsh?”

“Actually it’s Lieutenant Colonel Walsh now,” she informed him coolly, although she wasn’t feeling cool at all.

“So you finally got your big promotion. Good job,
Jessie. I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you, Cody.”

“Why are you here?”

“
I’m leaving for Fort Riley in the next few weeks.”

“And you’re here to say goodbye?
Jessie, you could’ve come to the apartment. It would’ve been fine. Why’d you come here?”

Several of his co-workers were listening to the conversation,
and he seemed annoyed, but she didn’t care.

“Shut up and listen to me
for once in your life, Cody.”

“Guess she told you, Jones
y,” one of the men laughed.

“And when Officer Walsh speaks, I listen, is that it?” he asked her coc
kily, appearing to grow angry.

“You might want to hear what I have to say.”

He handed the clipboard to one of the other men and taking her arm, walked her to where they would be out of earshot. “Say what you came to say, Jessie. I’m listening.”

Taking a deep breath, she
began, “Cody, during the last two years we’ve taken each other to heaven and to hell and back more times than I care to remember. Now the day we both knew was coming is here. I’m being transferred to another post. I’m leaving Oklahoma. It’s the day we’ve both known was coming and the day we’ve both dreaded.”

“Go on,” he urged.

“We’ve both been so stupid. The answer to our problem has been staring us in the face all along. We’ve both been too stubborn to see it.”

“Jess
ie, just what are you trying to say? There isn’t much else to be said. Uncle Sam owns you and I don’t. You have to leave and there’s not one thing you or I either one can do about it. We’ve discussed this many times. It’s over. There’s no other way.”

“
Yes, there is. Andy and Missy have been able to make it work. Why can’t we?”

“They’re not us,” he reminded her simply.

She looked into his big, beautiful brown eyes and said, “No, they’re not us, but there’s a way. I love you, Cody Jones and I don’t want to leave Oklahoma without you. I’ve been without you and I don’t like it, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life that way. But we can never go back to the way it was. You’ve said yourself that there’s too much water under the bridge.”

“S
o what are you suggesting, Jessie? I’m not following.”

“I
want you to come with me…as my husband. Can you leave this life behind and accept mine? Will you marry me?”

He looked at her in amazement, “Are you sure,
baby? Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?”

“I love you more than anything in this world and I can’t live without you another day. We’ve worried so much about my leaving we failed to realize that you aren’t tied to this town or this job.”

“And you really think we can make it work?”

“No more games, no more secrets
, no more lies and half truths and I know we can make it work.”

He sighed deeply and look
ed into her emerald eyes as he replied, “That’s all I’ve ever needed to hear you say.”

“Cody?” she asked, afraid to breathe. Her future happiness depended on what he said next.

He pulled her to him and kissed her for all in the plant to see. “Yes, I’ll marry you, pretty lady,” he whispered. “I love you and my life has been nothing without you. I’ve known that for a long time now.”

His co-workers cheered and said, “Go, Jonesy.”

He scooped her up into his strong arms and turning to his co-workers, announcing proudly, “I’m getting married and moving to Kansas.”

The entire plant full of workers began to cheer. He carried her out, accepting well wishes from the other workers as they passed them.

When they reached his truck in the parking lot, he set her down and unlocked the door. “I have something for you, Jessie. It’s been patiently sitting in my glove compartment for a very long time, waiting for a day I thought might never come.”

He
reached in and took the small black velvet box from its resting place. Opening it, he removed the diamond ring and slipped it on her finger.

“Oh, Cody, it’s perfect. I can’t believe you still have it,” she said as she held it up to the bright Oklahoma sunlight and admired the glimmer of the diamond.

“I could never bring myself to get rid of it.”

He kissed her then
. A kiss that surpassed any the two of them had shared in the past. It was a kiss filled with deep love and the sweet promise of forever.

The End

Anna Kristell is a small town gal who loves romance. She started reading romance novels as a teen and hasn't put them down since. Along with reading, writing has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. Always composing short stories and poems, she finally decided to write a novel. This was an ongoing labor of love, interrupted several times along the way, but finally finished. And then came another...and another...the stories in her head have a mind of their own. Her first published novel, "Unlikely Lovers" will be released by Rebel Ink Press in 2013.