Nodding, Megan sipped the hot tea. “Funny, I was thinking about this very same thing, Mina. My cousin, Emma Shaheen, said that they’re enlarging a new program where women who want to learn to knit and crochet can create scarves, cloaks and sweaters for their worldwide catalog. Emma said they’re selling the wool goods these women create on the web. They’re being bought so fast they can’t keep up with the demand. The women who do the work get eighty percent of the money.”
Mina’s eyebrows rose with surprise. “We are thinking along the same lines. What will it take to teach the widows? They, in turn, can teach the other women in our villages.”
“Yes, it’s a good plan. From what Emma was saying, someone teaches the women to knit. And they only have a few teachers and they’re in high demand. There are a lot of villages in Afghanistan waiting for these instructors to fly in and teach them.” Mina frowned. “But I know how to knit and crochet. I could take some time and teach them myself. I could get the patterns from Emma and they can start making them sooner.”
“What about the wool?” Mina asked, worried. “We don’t have many sheep. We have goats and cattle.”
Sipping the tea, Megan said, “Let me talk to Luke. Maybe he knows where we could lay our hands on the supplies we need.”
“He is an amazing person,” Mina agreed. Her expression grew merry. “And you two are well suited to one another.”
Megan wanted to tamp down any romantic suggestions. “We do work well together. And we’re both field medics and we share a love of helping others.”
Mina shrugged and said nothing, but the knowing smile remained on her face. “And how much will this cost us? Do you know?”
“I don’t. I’ll ask him tonight.”
“And don’t forget to tell him he owes you a box of chocolates.”
Laughing heartily, Megan said, “Oh, not to worry. That’s the first thing he’s going to hear about when I get back to the compound.”
* * *
Megan’s spirits lifted as a CH-47 bearing Emma and Kahlid Shaheen arrived midafternoon. The helo landed, throwing up dust in all directions. Hall had ordered Marines to be on guard for against Taliban soldiers lobbing grenade launchers at the helo on the ground. To Megan’s surprise, her family members brought a lot of supplies with them. In minutes, Marines gathered to help the two loadmasters clear the pallets out of the belly of the bird. Then, the helicopter pulled up its rear ramp and promptly took off. Out of the billowing dust clouds walked red-haired Emma and her tall, handsome Apache combat pilot husband, Captain Khalid Shaheen. He wore a dark green U.S. Army uniform and she wore a light blue one, denoting her civilian status.
Hurrying forward, Megan opened her arms as Emma rushed toward her.
“Hey!” Emma said, hugging her. “It’s so good to see you, cousin!”
Laughing, Megan released Emma and grinned. “You two are a sight for sore eyes! That’s smart of you to get that helo out of here. You must have had a backup crew?”
Emma pushed her hair away from her face, her helmet tucked beneath her left arm. “We have two BJS women pilots at the controls.”
Khalid came over and hugged Emma, as well. “Good to see you, Megan. How are you hanging in here?” He smiled as he released her.
“By our fingernails,” she joked.
Khalid scowled and studied the mountains around them. “This is a very dangerous place for all of you,” he agreed.
“Come on, Captain Hall is waiting for you,” Megan urged, grasping Emma’s hand. “The C.O. asked that Luke Collier, our other medic, be present, as well as the X.O., Lieutenant Speed, and Sergeant Payne.”
“The more the merrier,” Emma said, slipping her arm around Megan’s waist. They quickly moved from one end of the compound to the other.
Inside HQ, Hall shook Emma’s and Khalid’s hands. There were enough chairs for everyone to sit around the rough-hewn picnic table that served as their strategy area. Megan felt good that she was placed next to Luke. When Emma and Khalid noticed his bandaged hands, they simply nodded a hello to him. The C.O. and X.O. sat at either end with Buck Payne seated next to Megan. A lance corporal served them hot coffee in tin mugs. In the background, the chatter of radios was nonstop. Megan almost felt soothed by the sound. There were two more squads out patrolling the area.
Hall had a notebook and pen in front of him. He focused on Emma and Khalid. “Thanks for taking the time to fly out here. What can you do for us?”
Khalid leaned forward. “The pallets we’ve brought in today, Captain Hall, contain wooden desks, textbooks and supplies for the children of Lar Sholtan.” He grinned. “We added some boxes of candy, of course.”
Hall smiled and nodded as he scribbled notes. “Sounds good. What else?”
Emma took over. “Captain, a jirga must be convened with Timor Khan and the other elders. “You must make it clear that the education is for boys and girls. If the jirga wants only boys educated and not the girls, we’ll refuse to help. You will provide information about the services we’ll give to the village through our charity. If the jirga approves, we will have a male teacher fly out here once a building is found for a classroom.”
Megan sat back, silently agreeing. The Taliban wanted no girl or woman educated. It was dead wrong. By educating the women, they would have a chance to throw off the shackles of imprisonment because they would realize a bigger, better world was out there.
She glanced at Luke. He’d changed clothes, his face was scrubbed clean and his hair was dark and still damp from a recent shower.
Her heart swelled with a powerful emotion that caught her off guard. He was a true hero, a man who had selflessly put his life on the line to save wounded Marines. She’d just received information from Bagram via radio that all three Marines would live. One Marine had lost his leg. That, she’d expected. At least he had his life, and Luke had given him that chance. A fierce new emotion flooded her. How badly she wanted to love this heroic medic. He was a self-effacing man, never talking about how he risked his life for others. She’d heard Buck talking to Captain Hall about putting him up for a medal.
Lieutenant Sean Speed spoke up. “I’ll see to it Timor Khan gets a jirga together in the next few days, if possible.”
Khalid nodded. “Good. You’ll have a lot of material to present to the elders. I’m hoping they won’t knee jerk on the girls being educated, as well.”
“Makes all of us,” Hall growled.
“And,” Khalid said, “there are some boxes the Marines are going to like. They have come from America through our charity. Different women’s groups in the States have been baking cookies for about two weeks. They call it the Cookie Surge.”
Payne grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Hey, that’s pretty decent, Captain Shaheen. I know my men will like them. Thank you.”
Hall beamed. “Hell, Buck, you better put a guard on those items or we’re going to have a hundred and forty Marines tearing into those boxes and chowing down.”
“Yes, sir, I already thought of that,” Payne said. “Of course, I have to be concerned about the guards filchin’ the cookies, too.”
Emma laughed. “Not to worry, sergeant. Each box contains one dozen cookies. With a hundred and fifty boxes, each Marine will get a box.”
“Mighty smart of you, ma’am,” Buck said. “I just can’t let word get out about these cookies.”
Everyone agreed with laughter.
Megan saw Emma studying Luke and then her from across the table. There was curiosity in her eyes. Megan desperately wanted to talk to her about her feelings for Luke. Maybe she would have some words of wisdom on how to handle this attraction that was eating through her.
* * *
“What’s going on between you and Luke?” Emma asked as they walked slowly around the compound after the meeting.
“God, am
I that obvious?” Megan groaned.
Emma smiled gently at her. She raised her hand and touched Megan’s shoulder. “No, it’s nothing obvious, but, hey, you’re my cousin. And we’ve got the same blood running through our veins.”
“I’m trying hard to not let anyone know I like Luke.”
“You’re doing a better job of it than he is.” Emma laughed as she released Megan’s shoulder and they continued their slow walk.
“I don’t know what to do, Emma. I never came out here on this assignment to fall for a guy. I mean, I really believe in General Stevenson’s idea.”
“I know. I didn’t expect to be drawn to Khalid, either.” Shrugging, Emma said, “It just happens. It’s not like you or I were looking for a man.”
“No,” Megan said, frustrated. “But we’re in a 24/7 wartime situation. This relationship can’t escalate.”
“Right on. You have to just put it on hold.” Emma cast a quick glance over at Megan, who walked with her head hung, worry in her face. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Do you think your husband knows?”
“Doubtful.” Emma laughed. “You know how men are. He’s smart and I love him dearly, but guys just do not see the subtle signs and pick up on them like a woman does.”
“I hope you’re right,” Megan said, worried.
“But it has to be a special hell on you, cousin.”
Halting, Megan lifted her head and stared at the mountain to the east. She told Emma how Luke had risked his life to save three Marines. Her cousin’s freckled face reacted grimly as she finished the story. “I stood down here knowing there was a firefight going on. Luke was up in the thick of it. That’s what field medics do—we risk our lives to save the guys around us. It’s part of our job.” Opening her hands, Megan whispered, “But damn, Emma, I found myself wanting to cry. I could feel Luke. I swear, I still can. And I knew the danger he was in. For a while, I thought he was going to die.” She cocked her head and stared over at her cousin. “Am I crazy, Emma?” She touched her heart. “I’ve never felt for a man like I feel for Luke. And on top of it all, I could feel him, his emotions and the danger he was in. I stood there feeling so helpless....”
“You know, there’s a real psychic streak that runs through the Trayhern family. It’s alive and well in you, Megan. Your dad has always had strong psychic intuition. More so than Uncle Morgan. My mother has it real strong and so do I.”
“Do you feel Khalid when he’s in trouble?”
“Every time,” Emma deadpanned. “And you’re right—it’s a special hell to feel the man you love is in danger or trouble. And I’m sitting back at the villa in Kabul or I’m out at Camp Bravo when it happens. He’s an Apache pilot, Megan. He’s always in danger. The Taliban would love nothing more than to take down one of those combat helos.”
“I know,” Megan said sadly. She reached out and squeezed her cousin’s hand. “How do you handle your psychic premonitions?”
“Not well,” Emma said, squeezing her fingers. “I want to cry. I want to scream. If I’m at Camp Bravo, I run over to Ops and listen to the radio chatter, trying to find out where Khalid is flying and what’s going on. It’s worse when I’m at our home in Kabul. I have no way of knowing. I have to wait, and that’s a special hell for me.”
“It’s awful.” Megan glared at the mountain. “I’ve never experienced this before. Luke could have been killed.” She pushed her hands through her loose hair. “It’s hard enough liking the guy.”
“You ‘like’ Luke? Or you love him?”
Megan looked up at the blue sky. Her heart contracted with fear. “I can’t love him, Emma. You know about my history with relationships.”
“I do.” She turned and stared out across the valley. Megan joined her. Lifting her chin, Emma looked over at her cousin. “You just met, but you know, when I saw Khalid, I instantly fell in love with him. I fought it like a tiger, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t avoid it. Love just happens, Megan.”
“It can’t happen here,” she insisted, pointing to the red, dusty ground beneath their boots.
Emma snorted. “I don’t think you have any control over it. I tried to hate Khalid, but in the end, I surrendered to the fact I love him. I didn’t want to love anyone in a war zone. Who does? They can get killed in a heartbeat. I’d lost my first love to a war. I simply did not want to fall in love with Khalid because he could get killed, too.”
“He still can,” Megan reminded her sourly. “So how do you handle this, Emma? My emotions are all over the place. I can’t allow my feelings to interfere. It’s not fair to everyone else. I’m here to save lives, not lose them.”
“When we had to fly together, I focused my mind on my job. I know you do that, Megan. It’s just in the off-hours, the time when nothing is happening, that’s the hard part.”
“I have no one to talk to. I don’t dare.”
“No, you don’t dare.” Worried, Emma turned and looked at her cousin. “Listen, you have me. I’ll be out here at least once a month if the jirga approves the education for their kids. We can get together.” She placed her hand on Megan’s slumped shoulder. “Trayherns stick together. I’m here for you.”
“He kissed me this morning,” Megan said, giving her cousin an anxious glance. “It was driven by Luke nearly losing his life, I know that.”
“Listen to me,” Emma said in a stern undertone. “It’s going to happen. You are in a war zone. And because you love one another—”
“I don’t love him. I can’t.”
Emma shook her head. “Look, I played the same head game with Khalid. I told myself it was an infatuation. It would be here today, gone tomorrow. I avoided using the word love like the plague. But the truth was, I loved Khalid. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.”
Tears jammed into Megan’s eyes. She turned away so no one could see her. Emma’s hand was on her shoulder and she tried to choke back a sob. Frustrated that tears leaked out of her tightly shut eyes, Megan angrily swiped them away. She fought for control. “This is all wrong!”
Gently, Emma reassured her. “Love doesn’t realize you’re in a war zone. It just happens. You and Luke are aware you’re attracted to one another. And you’re doing the right thing by putting a lid on it.” Patting her shoulders, she added softly, “You’re both strong people. You’ll do the right things for the right reasons. And one day, this mission will be over and you’ll get shipped back stateside, where you can pursue how you feel toward one another. That’s as good as it gets.”
Sniffing, Megan lifted her head. She took one more swipe and brushed the rest of her tears off her cheeks. “You’re right,” she said, her voice rough with unshed tears. “I didn’t come out here to fall in love with Luke. And that’s what I feel for him if I stop lying to myself, Emma. I do love him. The feelings for him just double every day. We sleep together in the same hut. I see him all the time except when he’s out on a mission. I just feel so torn up inside...I wish the pain would stop, but it won’t.”
“It’s not going to be easy.” Emma placed her hands on her hips and looked around the busy compound. “Our helo will be coming back in about ten minutes and we’ve got to saddle up. “You got it under control?”
“Of course.” Megan lifted her head and took a deep, ragged breath. “I’m a Trayhern. We might be emotional saps, but when it comes to duty, we’ll be there toeing the line. Don’t worry, okay?”
“You’ll be okay,” Emma said, “because you are a Trayhern.”
Megan smiled. “Thanks for being here, Emma. I’m sure going to look forward to those monthly visits from you.”
“Me, too,” Emma said, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
Megan recalled the conversation with Mina and asked her cousin about the knitting and crochet teachers.
“We’re in flux on this
program,” Emma said. “We’re really strapped for finding women teachers who will fly around to different villages to teach the women who want to learn.”
“What if I taught the women of Lar Sholtan?”
“That would be helpful, but right now Khalid is having problems finding the needles and wool.”
“What if I could get Luke to scrounge them up? Would you bring the patterns with you the next time you fly in? Maybe together, we can jump-start the project here?”
Emma brightened. “That would be great. We’re shorthanded, too. I’m juggling so many balls up in the air right now. Our education charity has taken off and I’m always scrambling. Khalid is going to hire an assistant, but that hasn’t happened yet.”
“I hear you,” Megan said, nodding. “I’ll stay in touch with you on this, then. If Luke can find the supplies, I’ll call you.”
“Great, because it’s a terrific program, Megan. We just are suffering right now from lack of people to carry it forward.”
Hugging Emma, she said, “You’re amazing. Thank you.”
“It’s what we do for one another. Women stick together.” Emma heard the helicopter coming in and saw a black speck up in the sky. “Speaking of tough women, I want you to meet Captain Aylin Sahin. She’s from Istanbul, the first woman in the military to be taught how to fly an Apache combat helo. She’s a force to be reckoned with.” She grinned widely. “I thought I was hell on wheels as a combat pilot, but Aylin put all of us to shame.”
“She’s Turkish?”
“Yes. Her father is a general in the Air Force, and he got her into this program because she’s been flying since she was sixteen. Women there are leading the charge for being in the military even though it’s a Muslim country. I want you to meet her, if but for a moment.”
Beyond Valor Page 14