“I’m afraid I don’t have time to chat. I’m due for back-to-back surgeries and won’t be done until after six tonight. If you’re rested by then, perhaps you could join me for a meal in the dining hall about seven, and we can discuss your duties.” He raised a brow. “Just ask anyone where it is. The compound’s small.”
He glanced at his watch. “Gotta run. I’ll catch up with you later.” He strode off without a backward glance.
The expression on her young host’s face said it all. “He’s a wonderful doctor. We always count it a blessing when we get him. He works nonstop when he’s here, and the children adore him.”
Watching Michael rush off for another surgery in his wrinkled scrubs and his hair mussed, reminded her of another doctor she once knew. There was passion for his work in every step. It was beautiful to behold, but a painful reminder of what she’d lost.
Glad that her initiation tour was finished, Callie grabbed a quick shower and crawled onto the metal cot she’d been assigned. She never felt so exhausted, and yet so alive at the same time.
The alarm on her watch woke her at 6:30 P.M. and she dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a white cotton V-neck shirt. It took only a few minutes to reach the chow hall. She snagged a table and waited for Michael with trepidation. They had not parted on good terms. Harsh words had been said between them after Will and Amy’s funeral and his words still rang in her ear.
“What the hell were you doing, sleeping on the job? I was barely gone two weeks? If they’d been in assisted-living this wouldn’t have happened.”
Angry at his words and feeling guilty, Callie retorted, “You have the gall to accuse me of neglecting your grandparents? It wasn’t me galloping around the world leaving my elderly grandparents alone. They were in their 90’s for heaven sake. What did you think would happen one day while you were out cavorting around?”
Michael had simply glared at her then stalked away, and she hadn’t spoken to him since. Dinner tonight would no doubt be awkward, but they would need to come to an understanding if they were going to work side-by-side for the next two weeks. She glanced at her watch and sighed. He was late, not a good beginning. She decided to get a cup of coffee, when she spied Michael coming through the doorway. He’d changed out of scrubs and like her was dressed casually. Before he reached the table, she could see the fatigue lines around his eyes. “Complications?”
“Minor. Sorry I’m late. Things don’t move like clockwork around here.”
“No problem. I was going to get a cup of coffee. You want one?”
“How about we grab our meal first? I’m starved. I missed lunch.”
“That’s seems to be a habit with you. I’m amazed you’re not skin and bones.”
Michael chuckled. “I make up for it when I do get to eat.”
After loading their plates, they sat down to eat, speaking minimally until they’d finished.
Finally, pushing his plate away, Michael sighed. “That’s better. Now I feel human and can converse like a sane person. I’m a beast when I’m hungry.”
“As opposed to any other time?”
His lips twitched, a sheepish expression on his face. “I believe I owe you an apology for the way I spoke to you after my grandparents’ funeral. In my defense, I’d just flown back from here and was running on low sleep and a lack of food. The loss of not one but both of them at the same time left me feeling shell-shocked and angry with grief. I’m afraid I took it out on you.”
Now, realizing that Michael wasn’t off jaunting around the world and lying on sandy beaches with hot babes, but was instead performing humanitarian work made her realize how badly she’d misjudged him. “Perhaps I was a bit hasty in my own remarks to you. I’m sorry too. What do you say we call it a truce, and begin again since we are going to be working together for the next two weeks?”
“I’d like that.” The smile he gave her would have melted the hardest of hearts. “I never heard the ending of my grandparents’ story. Perhaps if you don’t mind and you’re not too tired, you could tell it to me and about their last few days.”
“I’d be happy to. Let me get another cup of coffee, first.”
Two hours and two cups later, Callie had finished sharing Amy and Will’s story. She described their last day and the peace they seemed to have found together.
“We should all be so lucky,” Michael said. “My mother and father never seemed very close, and shortly after his death my mother remarried and moved to Florida. She’s not one to call or write often—too busy with her social life. Whereas neither of my grandparents would have been happy without the other. The coroner concluded Will’s body simply gave out and mostly likely my grandmother’s heart failed at the loss of Will. I’m sure they are happy wherever they are.”
Callie blinked back the tears that Michael’s words evoked. There was no doubt in her mind that Will was now cavorting on his two god-given feet with Amy at his side.
Michael tapped the table with the palm of his hand. “All right then, if you think you’ll be rested by tomorrow afternoon, I can have you added to the surgical rotation. In the meantime, how about accompanying me to check on my last patient?”
Callie stood up. “Lead on, Doc.”
Chapter 44
Callie had come to deeply admire Michael after working with him side-by-side. He was an extremely proficient surgeon and made the most complicated of surgeries look easy. He pushed himself to complete as many operations as possible within a twenty-four-hour period. His pace was brutal, but she managed to keep up. He said he wouldn’t have the opportunity to be back there for another year so he wanted to complete the list of patients he’d been given.
With barely enough time to eat and sleep, two weeks flew by, but they were the most rewarding two weeks Callie had ever experienced. The new happy smiles on the once-disfigured faces melted the heart and brought tears to the eyes of many of the staff, Callie and the good doc included. She was loathed to say good-bye but promised to return the following year.
Michael had been unable to see her off as he was in surgery when she left for the airport. She scribbled him a note. They had said their good-byes the night before, and he promised to keep in touch. He was slotted to stay on for another week.
Returning to the farmhouse proved anticlimactic after being part of a busy team, and for the first time she found herself lonely. She’d learned to be self-sufficient at an early age, and always felt comfortable being by herself, but now something was missing and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew what or should she say who it was.
Although Michael never crossed the line between personal and professional while in Madagascar, they had become a good team and she hoped good friends. If she were honest with herself, she wouldn’t mind being more than friends with Michael. Amy and Will must be smiling down from heaven at her if they could hear her thoughts. She glanced at the photo the staff had snapped of her on her last evening. They had caught her laughing up at Michael. He might become a beast when hungry, but he became slap-happy when exhausted. Yes, she outlined his image with her fingertips, she would miss him, and miss him dearly.
But as Callie had learned the hard way, life had a habit of moving on whether you wanted it to or not, so she returned to the real world and got back to job hunting. The question was what did she want to do and would she recognize it if it hit her in the face?
Two weeks had passed since her return, and she thought to hear from Michael by now, but every time she checked her messages, there were no new calls. She’d spoken with her mom after she gotten back and been invited to an afternoon get together on Saturday. She agreed to bring dessert.
She had the best intentions of getting up early to make a batch of brownies, but after a restless night of illicit dreams of Michael, she slept in later than usual and didn’t stumble into the kitchen until well after ten o’
clock. She made a cup of coffee and went to open the door to the back porch and froze. The barn door stood wide open, and fresh bales of hay were stacked inside. She could see through the open door the shadow of a man using a pitchfork. Who the hell is that, and what’s he doing here? Had Michael given someone permission to use the place without notifying her?
She retraced her steps to the living room and glanced out the picture window. At the sight of Michael’s BMW in the driveway her blood pressure dropped, but then rose again when she realized it must be Michael in the barn.
She reached into the kitchen cupboard, grabbed another mug, and filled it with coffee before exiting the backdoor and making her way to the barn. The sight before her took her breath away. The bare-chested Michael pitching hay belonged on a Mr. Farmhand USA calendar.
She stepped into the doorway holding two cups of coffee. “Coffee, tea, or me?”
There was no mistaking the lustful grin, as Michael set his pitchfork down against the wall and strolled into the light. “How about I start with the coffee, and we can go from there?”
“Exactly what did you have in mind? A quick roll in the hay?”
“What gave it away?” He reached for the mug she held out and took a sip. “Ah, and the girl makes coffee, too?”
“Now, now, Doc. You don’t want to put your foot in it just when you were making headway.”
“And was I?”
“What, making headway? You’re drinking your coffee, not wearing it. I’d say that’s an encouraging sign.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Ah, Callie girl, you never fail to amuse me. It sure took you long enough to warm up to me.”
“Who says I have? Beside you don’t mix business with pleasure, if I remember correctly.”
“And I do believe you have selective hearing. I’m pretty sure I said, I don’t date women I work with, and I had one hell of a time honoring that conviction while in Madagascar. Now, I’ll ask you again, how about a little afternoon delight?”
“No can do. It’s still morning.”
Michael growled at her, removed the coffee mug from her fingers, and set both of theirs cups on the window ledge in the barn before backing her slowly to the mound of fresh hay that had been covered with a brightly-colored quilt.
“I thought we might start a new tradition. This barn seemed to hold magical powers for my grandparents. I’m hoping for a similar effect.”
“Are you ever going to stop talking and kiss me?”
He grinned and did just that, and a whole lot more.
Epilogue
It was an early spring day and thankfully the weather decided to be agreeable as Callie floated out the back door of the farmhouse on her father’s arm to stand under the old maple tree by the barn. Michael stood there waiting patiently with his best man as a few close family and friends looked on. Michael’s mother had arrived and been openly disdainful of the wedding location. She would have preferred a country club atmosphere, but Callie and Michael paid her no never mind. They were right where they wanted to be—surrounded by loving memories from both the past and those made anew over the last year.
Just as they completed their vows, a flock of geese flapped their wings from the field north of the barn and took off to finish their flight to Canada. Callie glanced up and pointed to the geese flying in a missing-man formation. They were two birds shy, and she wondered if perhaps one was injured and its mate had stayed behind with it. When she scanned the field she could make out the presence of two geese that stood facing them. Suddenly, the larger of the two touched his beak to the smaller one, then raised a wing as if to wave before they both simultaneously lifted off quacking loudly as they flew to catch up with the flock.
Michael put his arm around her and held her close as they stood watching the pair soar away.
Amy gazed up at her new husband and asked, “Do you think your grandparents would have approved of our marriage?”
He smiled back at her. “I think they just did.”
Dear Reader:
Thank you for taking the time to read When the Geese Fly North, Book 2 (Amy’s Story) in my Return to the Home Front series published by Soul Mate Publishing. I hope you enjoyed the story of Amy and Will as much as I enjoyed creating it. Please enjoy the first two chapters of Book 1 – Cherished Wings (Fran’s Story) in the Return to the Home Front Series.
I would love to hear from my readers. Please visit me at traceyldragon.com and sign up for my newsletter if you would like to be kept abreast of my latest work.
Tracey L. Dragon
Romance – Where the Past & Present Meet
www.traceyldragon.com
Tracey L. [email protected]
Please enjoy the first two chapters of Book 1 (Fran’s story) in the Return to the Home Front series, Cherished Wings!
Chapter 1
February 2013
Reaching into her sweater pocket, Sara Kennedy fingered the metal Navy wings she’d accidentally discovered between the folds of an old flannel nightgown tucked neatly away in her grandmother’s dresser drawer. The metal pin felt cool in her hand—a mysterious object that had begun to fascinate her. Her grandfather had not served during World War II because of flat feet, and no relatives she knew of were in the Navy. So, who did the wings belong to and why had Grams kept them for so long?
Sara swallowed back tears as she gazed at the face of her grandmother, Frances Kennedy, asleep in the hospital bed. Her dull-gray hair, short and flat, lay lifeless against the pillow. The psoriasis that had plagued her grandmother for most of her life had left a quarter-sized, pink patch on the left side of her lined and wrinkled cheek. Her slight snore punctuated the somber room. A nurse entered and turned down the dials on the machine beside the bed, silencing the ever-constant beeps. Sara could have kissed her.
“Hey, girl.” Sara’s younger sister, Lynne, dressed in her patterned scrubs, entered the room and hugged her around the neck. “How’s she doing?”
“About the same. She’s been asleep since I’ve been here.” Sara reached over and moved her trench coat from the vacant chair. “Here, take a load off and tell me how your day went.”
Lynne plopped down wearily. “Long. I’m exhausted and my feet are killing me.” She heeled off one of her imitation Dr. Scholl’s orthopedic clogs and thrust a foot beneath her. “It’s good to sit down. I haven’t had more than a fifteen-minute break today where I managed to inhale lunch and give you a call. A couple of emergencies came in.”
Sara shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it. On your feet all day taking care of sick children, emotionally, I’d be a basket case.”
“It’s not usually as tough as today. We were shorthanded is all, and with the two emergencies back-to-back, everyone needed to pitch in.”
“Girl, I admire you.”
“Me?” Her sister shifted forward in her seat. “I’m a nurse in a rural hospital while you are the CEO of your own publishing firm.”
“It’s not as impressive as it sounds.”
“Yeah, right. You escaped small town USA for the Big Apple. You’ve lived overseas and now own your own business. What’s to admire?”
“Believe me, it just sounds that way.”
“Okay, whatever you say.” Lynne rolled her eyes at her.
“All right, all right, maybe . . .” She held up her thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart. “. . . a little bit impressive.”
Her sister crossed her arms, raised a perfectly arched brow and nodded toward her grandmother. “She glows with pride every time she speaks about you and whatever your latest achievement is. She is incredibly proud of you. We all are.”
Blinking back tears, Sara glanced away and stared out the window. “I’ll never forget the day I left town. I said goodbye to everyone, but Grams was nowhere around. I found her in t
he backyard hanging up wash. She said she didn’t want to watch me leave. I hugged her and told her I’d be back, but she just shook her head at me and said, ‘No, you won’t.’ And she was right, of course, I never made it here for more than a few days at a time every couple of years or so.”
“She wouldn’t want you to feel bad.” Lynne reached over and squeezed Sara’s hand. “Of all of us, you were the one always restless, wanting more out of life than Albion had to offer. I believe she thought you were the most like her.”
Sara choked back her response. She’d gotten more than she’d bargained for when she moved away. She had her wings good and clipped in the process, and she was honest enough to admit she was now too afraid to try and spread them again. “I think I always believed Grams longed for more than the narrow existence her life had to offer. I’m glad I was able to provide it for her, even if it was vicariously.” Thinking of wings, Sara reached into her pocket then gave the pin she had discovered at her grandmother’s house to Lynne. “What does this look like to you?”
Her sister turned the wings over in her hand, lips pursed. “An old military insignia worn by somebody in the Navy, most likely a pilot is my best guess. Where did you get it?”
“At the house tucked between the folds of an old flannel nightgown in Gram’s dresser.”
“Hmm. That’s strange.” Her sister glanced at the metal pin again.
“Who do you suppose it belonged to?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s something she picked up at a yard sale and later tossed in her drawer.”
That scenario didn’t pass muster with Sara. Not the way she’d found the wings placed between the folds of the nightgown. They didn’t just happen to fall there.
When The Geese Fly North Page 19