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Daniel drew to attention and snapped a sharp salute. “Captain Baker reporting as ordered, sir.”
Quade returned the salute, no invitation to sit on the sofa followed like with the past commander. This guy wouldn’t be pulling a secret stash of Little Debbie cakes out of his desk drawer to share either.
Yeah, he’d received a few “chats” from Dawson about how to better balance the secrets ops Daniel pulled with the commander’s need-to-know basis. Chats, not this standing-at-attention bull.
“Baker, I’m sure you realize why you’re in here.”
“Yes, sir.” He kept his eyes on the flag just behind Quade and consoled himself with the fact that a squadron commander usually only held the position for eighteen months to two years.
About how long it felt like this “chat” would last.
The commander jabbed a finger on the closed file with a red cover sheet declaring “Secret.” “You’re lucky you covered your butt planning this one.”
Daniel didn’t bother making excuses. Air Force Academy days had picked up where Mary Elise left off in drilling some caution into him.
Quade continued, “I don’t question the mission’s importance. And I know full well there are times you can’t be straight-up about where you’re going. But,Captain,that was my plane and those were my flyers. No matter how much paperwork you filed or how many strings you pulled, their safety is still on my shoulders. You should have placed a courtesy call to me.”
The past blended with the present, too many such confrontations with his father hammering his memory at a time when the last thing he wanted was to think of his old man currently dead in the ground.
Quade blinked slowly. “Answer me one question. Would you have given Dawson a courtesy call?”
Nailed. The question and its obvious affirmative yanked Daniel right back to the present, a not so comfortable place to be. He kept his eyes forward and mind centered on the shopping trip he and Mary Elise would make with the boys.
The Squadron Commander released him from answering by planting his hands on the edge of his desk and standing. “You didn’t call me because you didn’t want to risk my having a different take on your plan.”
Silence seemed the wisest course of action. Bunk beds. They would shop for those first and then pick out sheets. Austin said he wanted sailboats. Fine. Mary Elise would help Trey open up enough for the kid to choose what he wanted, too.
Quade pushed a paper across the desk. Daniel glanced down. The guy couldn’t actually intend to write him up without grounds? Daniel looked closer and found…leave papers. The commander was giving him two weeks of vacation time.
“Get your household in order.”
Confusion shifted the ground under his feet. He’d expected to have to beg for leave. “Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t thank me. This isn’t some kind of personal favor. You’re no good to my squadron if you’re distracted.” He clipped through the words, snagging a fresh file to open. “Dismissed, Baker.”
O-kay. Daniel spun on his heel to leave, the prospect of bunk-bed shopping suddenly not so daunting after all.
“Baker?”
Slowly Daniel turned.
Quade stood with his back to the door, shuffling pages in the file as if Daniel only warranted half of his attention. “Boundary pushing is necessary to expand the airframe’s capabilities. Confidence in the air is admirable.” He tucked another page to the back. “Intellectual arrogance, however, will put you face-to-face with an enemy missile someday.”
The words chaffed more than any right-side-out T-shirt.
Quade reached for the file cabinet. “Close the door behind you.”
Daniel stepped into the hall, shoulders tensed just as after countless confrontations with his father. So yeah, he had trouble with authority figures. Didn’t take a Sigmund Freud to figure that one out. Still, he managed. Pushed his boundaries, stayed alive and kept his career on track, accepting the occasional chewing out as the price to pay for freedom.
What baffled him, however, was how easily he’d fallen into the old habit of keeping his temper in check with the promise of seeing Mary Elise.
* * *
Much more “seeing Daniel” and she would lose her mind.
Mary Elise plastered herself against the truck door, the back now full of bunk beds, linens, enough food to feed an army, four bags of kids’ clothes and two bags for her. Never had he grown impatient, even when Austin had screamed himself purple with a temper tantrum in the Base Exchange. Not once had Daniel snapped or glanced at his watch, darker emotions apparently shunted away.
Playful Danny had reemerged with a charm and ease that simultaneously dazzled and tormented her. He slid into the family routine without a misstep, as if he lived to purchase new video games and supersize an order at the golden arches.
