by Jenna Brandt
As they returned to the DCSRA, Adam basked in the pleasure of a job well done, and the secret affection of the woman he cared deeply about.
Twelve
The rest of the week passed with them preparing for the mock simulation. By the time the day arrived, Adam was certain he was going to make Clara proud.
The team stood outside the urban rubble training grounds that had been set with various props, decoys, and live victims. None of the teams had been given previous access, making it fair for all of them.
The captain came to the front of the forty-two trainees that still remained. “Good afternoon, DCSRA trainees. Today marks the end of your training with us. We’re confident that all of you will prove yourselves worthy of being called Disaster City Search and Rescue Academy graduates. Each of you represent the best of the best in the search and rescue world. On this final day, each of you get to demonstrate the skills you’ve mastered during two hundred hours of the most intense, most elite S & R training in existence. When you exit these grounds, remember, you represent the most prestigious academy in the world. Go make us proud.”
The captain stepped back letting the teams move forward onto the training grounds. Adam was shocked at the level of detail present. There were two police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck set up around the area. There were off-duty members from neighboring departments of each, already moving around as if in a real-life scenario.
Adam glanced around and noticed that the other teams seemed to be taking in the surroundings. His instinct told him he was wasting time, so without further thought, he gave Valor the cue to start searching. They worked their way through the rubble on the west end of the training grounds. Valor found a few decoys but didn’t make the mistake of falling for them. They bypassed them and continued on. Further into the rubble, he heard groaning and realized there was a victim nearby. He knew it wasn’t in the scope of his job to find victims, but they were supposed to be working together as a team. He moved closer to find a woman half-buried between two pieces of wood. Adam raised his hand to gesture over to one of the nearby rescue teams. He pointed out the victim, then moved on to search for any signs of an actual explosive device.
Thirty minutes passed and all Adam and Valor had to show for their time was two more decoys they managed to avoid. He was beginning to wonder if there were any bombs planted in the area at all. Just as he was about to give up and switch sections, Valor’s tail started to wag in the pattern that indicated he smelled something. His interest was being drawn to a corner of a nearby building. Adam let Valor guide him over to the spot, and he noticed that he was homed in on a drain pipe. Valor moved closer, his inspection becoming more intense every second. By the time he sat down next to it, Adam knew there was a bomb in the pipe. He raised his hand to signal he’d found an explosive device.
Once it was confirmed, his first successful location set off a ripple effect. After that, they found three more bombs as well as another victim. By the end of the mock scenario, Adam was certain he had succeeded in being one of the best performers of the day.
The scenario concluded, and the trainees, civilian volunteers, and DCSRA staff gathered in the middle to go over the results. Adam watched as Clara, along with the other instructors, came to stand at the front of the group with the captain and Sarge in the center.
“I’m sorry, I’m late,” one of the male civilians said, rushing up to the group. “I didn’t know the event ended.”
The man must have tripped on something, stumbling forward and knocking straight into Clara who was standing at the edge of the group. They both went tumbling towards the ground. There was the familiar popping sound that the devices made when they were triggered. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem, but Clara wasn’t wearing protective gear since she hadn’t been in the scenario.
Adam darted forward, pushing people out of his way so he could get to Clara. She must have borne most of the blast because she was covered in bright green paint. He stooped down beside her, asking frantically, “Are you okay? Can you see all right?”
Clara rolled over and blinked several times. She brushed her hair out of her face, which had come loose from her bun. “I’m fine, just a little banged up.”
“Thank goodness. I was so worried when I thought you might be hurt. I didn’t know what I would do.” Without thinking of the consequences, he bent forward and placed a kiss on her lips.
There were several gasps, along with grumbles from the growing crowd, but in that moment, Adam didn’t care. He simply needed to kiss the woman he was falling for.
Thirteen
The aftermath from her public kiss with Adam had been more intense than Clara would’ve ever suspected. She received a lengthy lecture by her superiors that it was unprofessional to allow a romantic relationship to develop with a trainee. They decided that due to her glowing record up until that point though, they wouldn’t fire her over it. She would, however, be receiving a letter of formal reprimand in her file.
They weren’t the only ones who were upset with her though. Ever since the incident, she received disapproving looks from her fellow instructors and almost all of the trainees. It seemed they all thought that because of how she felt about Adam, she had been giving him special treatment. She wasn’t sure how to convince them that wasn’t the case.
The day of graduation came, and Clara wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Part of her was glad to get this class behind her, but the other part knew that meant Adam would be returning to his life in the Army. She’d been stupid enough to get caught up in her feelings for him. She never completely considered the fact she might jeopardize her reputation over something that was never meant to last.
Clara sat with the other instructors behind the captain, who was standing behind the podium in the amphitheater.
“I have to say, I’m rather impressed with the lot of you,” the captain praised with a proud grin. “I wasn’t sure what to expect with so many issues that occurred with this class. We had nearly half our initial recruits leave due to training accidents or an inability to keep up with the requirements. Even with your limited numbers, however, you’ve far exceeded many classes before you. Today, as we give each of you a pin of completion, know that it means you have proven yourself worthy. Wear it with pride, knowing that you are the best of the best.”
The trainees came up one at a time, receiving their certificate along with their pin. They turned to face the cameras, each taking a photo with first the captain, then the sergeant. Adam was towards the last of the names to be called. The captain had thought about withholding his top honors ribbon, but after talking with Miller who confirmed all of Adam’s accomplishments, they decided to award it to him anyway.
As he came forward, Clara couldn’t help but watch him with pride. She had to mask how proud she was of him, of course, since they both had steered clear of each other since the public kiss. Today, though, she could watch him, along with everyone else, and not be judged for it. Despite the fact that she had a blemish on her record because of him, she was glad that he was going to finally be able to get the assignment he always wanted. She cared about Adam and wanted him to succeed.
There was a small reception after the graduation. Everyone was more relaxed now that there was no longer the instructors and trainee division. All of them were simply DCSRA graduates.
Adam came up and pulled Clara to the side. “I need to talk with you about what happened.”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” she whispered, glancing around to make sure no one could hear them. “I shouldn’t be talking with you, Adam.”
“I know that I made a mistake when I kissed you publicly like that. It was stupid and impulsive, and I should have thought about what would happen to you because of it.”
“It wasn’t just a mistake because it was public. It shouldn’t have happened at all. It was a mistake to get involved with you in the first place. I knew better, but I let my attraction to you override my good judgment. Now, I have to bear th
e consequences for my actions.”
“I know you want to pretend that what’s between us is merely attraction. It would make it easier to dismiss it, but we both know it’s more than that. I care about you, Clara.”
“Well, you shouldn’t. We have different lives. You’re going to get a new assignment overseas. I’m going to have a new batch of recruits coming in. It will never work between us.”
“You don’t know that,” Adam argued. “If you would just consider giving us a chance.”
Clara shook her head. “There’s no point. It’s better to just move on.”
“I can’t believe you mean that. I won’t.”
Clara could see the hurt in Adam’s eyes. She wished she hadn’t put it there, but if she had to hurt him to let go of what he thought they could be, she would do it. “Your time here is done, Adam, which means we are done. Besides, once you get back to your life in the Army, I’ll become a distant memory of a nice time you had while at training. Look, I have to go, but have a safe trip back to Colorado.”
Clara turned around and left before she changed her mind. If she stayed one more minute around him, she was afraid she might let him kiss her again. That wasn’t going to happen though. It was time for both of them to move on.
Fourteen
Two weeks had passed since Adam had returned to his Army base in Clear Mountain. Though he enjoyed returning to his church and friends, he couldn’t keep from thinking about Clara and what he’d left behind.
“Adam, did you hear me?” Aiden asked, a puzzled look on his face. “I asked you three times what toppings you want on the pizza.”
“I’m good with whatever,” he mumbled out, realizing he had been distracted with thoughts of Clara again.
“Geez, ever since you got back from your training, you’ve been acting really weird. What happened to you in Texas?”
Adam hadn’t discussed it with anyone, thinking that with time, he would stop caring about Clara and it wouldn’t matter. That hadn’t been the case. Instead, he found himself thinking about her more and more. If not talking about it wasn’t working, he wondered if he did discuss it with someone, it could help him move on.
“I met someone,” Adam admitted. “But before you ask, it was doomed from the start.”
“Why is that?” Aiden probed. “Often we think that’s the case, but there’s usually a solution to any problem.”
“Not this time, Aiden. This time, I fell for the wrong woman.”
“If you like her, she can’t be. Why don’t you bring her over sometime so we can meet her?”
Adam shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. She was my instructor at the academy.”
“Oh, I see,” Aiden said, closing his laptop and coming to sit down by his friend. “Pizza can wait. This I need to hear. Tell me everything.”
Adam spent the next twenty minutes telling Aiden all about Clara and what happened between them.
“Look, I can’t tell you what to do. All I can do is point you in the direction of where I get my answers. Pray about it, Adam. God will show you what to do.”
The advice was solid. Adam had been trying to figure all of this out on his own, when really, he should have been asking for God’s help. Later that evening, he spent an hour in prayer, and by the end of it, he knew what he needed to do. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Clara’s phone number. She answered on the second ring.
“Why are you calling me, Adam?”
He could hear the exasperation in her voice, but he didn’t let it deter him. “I had to call you, Clara. I can’t stop thinking about you. I know you’re going to say it will pass, but I don’t think so. It’s been the exact opposite. The longer I’m away from you, the more intense my feelings grow.”
“It still doesn’t change anything about our situation.”
“You’re right; it doesn’t. I also don’t think you were willing to listen to me when I was there at Disaster City. I’m hoping you will now. I think we should try to make a long-distance relationship work.”
“That’s just it, Adam, they don’t work. I’ve known too many people that have fallen into that trap. We’ll agree to try. We’ll call each other, video chat, and even make a couple of trips back and forth. Eventually, it will become too much though, and we’ll call it quits. Meanwhile, our feelings will deepen, and the breakup will be ten times worse. This way, we cut our losses before we let our hearts get involved.”
“My heart is already involved,” Adam lamented. “Cutting me off hasn’t stopped that from happening.”
There were some voices drifting in from Clara’s phone. “Look, I have to go, Adam. It’s sweet that you want to make this work, but I just don’t see any way it can.”
He heard the click from her end, and the silence hit him like a ton of bricks. He had envisioned the phone call going so differently in his head. He thought she cared about him as much as he did her. Now, he wondered if he had been mistaken.
As he placed his cell phone back in his pocket, a deep sadness took hold of his heart. He wondered how he was ever going to get over Clara.
Fifteen
The news that the captain was retiring and that Sarge was taking over the running of the academy had come as a shock to everyone. With the vacancy of a second in command, several of the instructors put in for the position. To Clara’s surprise, Miller was chosen to take the job, leaving her firmly without someone to run the bomb detection classes with.
“What are we going to do, boy?” Clara asked, rubbing the top of Rebel’s head. “I hate the idea of replacing Miller with some random stranger.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, she stood up and made her way over to the computer. She decided to catch up on her emails and look at the list of new recruits coming at the beginning of next month.
The third email down contained pictures from the last class. She clicked the button and scrolled through it. Picture after picture, Adam’s handsome face kept showing up. Her hand faltered as she saw one in which she was talking to him. It had been during the first week, but even at that point, it was clear there was something between them.
Even though she had tried to forget about Adam over the past month, her heart wouldn’t let her. She had told him that a long-distance relationship wasn’t worth trying. Unfortunately, she had found herself contemplating multiple times whether she should call him back and tell him she was willing to take the risk.
Had she been stupid to give up on the potential they had? Did she let a good guy pass her by because she was afraid of getting hurt? If she had, was there a way to fix it now?
Then an idea came to her. She needed a partner to help her teach at the academy. Adam had graduated at the top of his class. He was one of the best handlers she’d ever seen, and he would be a real asset to the academy.
Clara set to work on her plan. It would take a lot of favors, and she would have to pull some major strings, but she was going to do whatever it took to set things right.
Sixteen
The phone rang and Adam glanced down at the screen. Clara’s name flashed across it. Should he answer it? Last time they talked, she’d made it pretty clear that she wasn’t interested in anything with him, but here she was calling him. Did that mean she’d changed her mind?
Knowing he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t find out, he answered the call. “Hello.”
“Hey, Adam, I was hoping you might have a few minutes to talk.”
“What’s going on, Clara?”
“I have some news.”
“What kind of news?” Adam asked with apprehension. He didn’t like surprises.
“The captain decided to retire and Sarge is taking over the academy.”
“Is that so? The captain was great, but Sarge will do a good job. I’m not really sure why you’re calling to tell me this though.”
“Because Miller will be second in command. With him moving up to an administrative position, it leaves a spot open in the bomb detection unit.”
; “Still not sure why you’re calling me,” Adam said, the irritation clear in his voice. “This is the kind of stuff you tell your boyfriend, Clara, and you made it clear you didn’t want that to be me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Adam. I did want that, but I didn’t see how it could ever work between us. That’s when I realized this was the perfect solution. You need to take the position in the bomb detection unit.”
“Wait, what?” he stammered out in confusion. “How would that even work? I still have two years left on my Army contract.”
“I know that, and before I even called you to offer you the job, I checked with everyone involved. The captain is ex-Army—I’m not sure if you knew that—and as a parting gift to me, he called in a favor. If you want the position at DCSRA, he got them to agree to allow you to finish out your contract here where you can train Army recruits in detection.”
“You did that?”
“Yes, I want us to work, Adam, and that means we have to be together. I know it was your dream to work overseas in hot zones, but you can still do a lot of good by training other officers and soldiers to do what you do. Think of how many people they could save? That could be the legacy you leave behind, and the way you honor your squad.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m hoping you’ll say yes. If you do, the next class starts in a week. You’d have to be here by then.”
Adam wasn’t sure what to say. He felt like he was in shock from the offer, but when he thought about it, all that mattered was finding a way to be with Clara.