Once Shana and Adam had decided on marriage, their wedding had happened fast, but not quite as fast as originally planned. Fortunately—for the convenience of the guests—it had taken place in Seattle, not Hawaii. No sooner had Ali returned to San Diego in December than she boarded a plane to Washington for the wedding. From everything she heard, in phone calls and e-mails, Shana and Adam were blissfully happy and enjoying life in Honolulu.
At the end of her tour, Alison had left the USS Woodrow Wilson and within a matter of weeks was released from her commitment to the Navy.
Because Shana had signed a lease on the rental house in Seattle, Ali was able to move there. Jazmine was back in the same school now and doing well. Ali liked Seattle and it was as good a place to settle as any.
The retired couple who’d purchased Shana’s ice-cream and pizza parlor had been accommodating and helpful when Ali arrived in Seattle. They loved her daughter and she loved them, too.
“Mom,” Jazmine repeated. “Do you remember what today is?”
As if anyone needed to remind her. “Yes, sweetheart, I remember.”
“It’s Dad’s birthday—and it’s the day you’re meeting Commander Dillon.” Apparently her daughter felt it was necessary to tell her, anyway. “What time?” she asked urgently.
“One o’clock in Pike Place Market.” Alison had arranged a half day off before she’d been hired at West Seattle Hospital. Her hand shook as she brushed her hair. Frank and Alison talked nearly every day and sent e-mail messages when it wasn’t possible to chat on the phone.
Because of Navy regulations, they’d controlled their growing attraction and their intense feelings for each other while they were aboard the carrier. But now that Alison had been officially discharged, they were free to explore those emotions, and to express them. Circumstances had made that challenging; Alison had moved to Seattle and Frank was stationed in San Diego with the USS Woodrow Wilson.
“He’s going to ask you to marry him.”
“Jazmine!” Overnight her daughter had turned into a romance expert. Given the success of her matchmaking efforts with Shana and Adam, the girl was convinced she had an aptitude for this.
“Mom, Commander Dillon would be a fool not to marry you.”
Frank and Jazmine routinely chatted via the Internet, too. Maybe her daughter knew something she didn’t, but Alison doubted it.
“You’re in love with him,” Jazmine said with all the confidence of one who had insider information, “and he’s crazy about you.”
“Jazmine!”
“Yup, that’s my name.”
Alison put down her brush and inhaled a calming breath. “I’m very fond of Frank…. He’s a wonderful man, but we barely know each other.”
“I like him,” her daughter said.
“I know and I like him, too.”
“Like?” Jazmine scoffed and shook her head. “Who are you kidding? I don’t understand adults. Every time I tell him he should marry you, Commander Dillon—”
“What?” Alison exploded, outraged that her daughter had this sort of conversation with Frank. Her face burned with mortification; she could only imagine what he must think.
“Don’t go ballistic on me, Mom. You know Commander Dillon and I e-mail each other.”
“Yes, but…”
“Okay, okay,” Jazmine asserted, shaking her head as if she were losing her patience. “Here’s the deal. You and Commander Dillon talk, and if you need me to sort anything out for you, just let me know. He’s coming to dinner tonight, isn’t he?”
“I invited him, but—”
“He’ll be here.” She kissed Alison on the cheek and added, “I’ve gotta go or I’ll be late for the bus. Have a great day.” With that Jazmine headed out of the bathroom. She grabbed her coat and backpack, and adjusted her hood against the January drizzle.
Alison followed her to the door and watched her daughter meet her friends and walk to the bus stop. Jazmine seemed utterly sure that this meeting with Frank would have a fairy-tale ending. Alison wished she shared her daughter’s positive attitude. She was nervous and didn’t mind admitting it.
In an effort to settle her nerves, Alison reached for the phone to call her sister. Remembering the time difference between the West Coast and Hawaii, she replaced it. Eight Seattle time was far too early to phone Shana and even if she reached her, Alison wouldn’t know what to say.
By noon when she left the hospital and drove into downtown Seattle her stomach was in a state of chaos. Jazmine knew her far too well. Alison did love Frank. She had for months, and now they were finally meeting at the time and place they’d arranged last summer. Because she was no longer in the Navy, there were no official barriers between them. As for other kinds of obstacles…She didn’t know.
After parking in a waterfront lot, Alison climbed the stairs up to Pike Place Market, coming in the back entrance. They’d agreed to meet at the figure of the bronze pig in front. Her heart pounded hard, but that had little to do with the flight of stairs she’d just climbed. A glance at her watch told her she was fifteen minutes early.
A part of her feared Frank wouldn’t show. Shades of that old movie, An Affair to Remember.
It had started to rain and the sky was dark gray. This was an ominous sign as far as Alison was concerned. The fishmongers were busily arranging seafood on beds of crushed ice as tourists and shoppers crowded the aisles. With extra time on her hands, Alison could do a bit of shopping. But her nerves were stretched so tight she didn’t think she was capable of doing anything more than standing next to the bronze pig.
To her surprise, Frank was already there, looking around anxiously. He seemed uncomfortable and unsure of himself, and almost immediately Ali’s unease left her.
“Did you think I wouldn’t come?” she asked softly, walking over to meet him.
From experience, Alison knew Frank wasn’t a man who smiled often. But when he saw her, his face underwent a transformation and he broke into a wide grin.
Alison wasn’t sure who moved first, but in the next moment, she was in his arms. They clung to each other for a long time. It would be completely out of character for him to kiss her in such a public place, and she accepted that.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked, as she reluctantly stepped out of his embrace.
“No, but there’s a great chowder bar on the waterfront,” she told him. As they held hands, she led him down the same path she’d recently taken from the parking area. She liked the feel of his hand in hers, and the way that simple action connected them.
They ordered fish and chips and ate outside under a large canopy on the wharf, protected from the elements. She felt too tense to be hungry. They talked very little.
“The ferry’s coming in,” Alison said and by unspoken agreement they walked to the end of the pier to watch it glide toward the dock.
Standing side by side, they gazed out over the choppy water of Puget Sound. After a few minutes, Frank placed an arm around her shoulders. Alison leaned against him, savoring this closeness to the man she loved.
Without warning, he turned her so that she faced him and then he kissed her. His mouth was gentle and she instinctively opened to him. Seconds later his hands were in her hair, bunching it as he slanted his lips over hers and his kiss grew more insistent.
With his arms around her, Frank rested his chin on her head. “I told myself I wouldn’t do that,” he said in a low voice. “Not here, not like this.”
“I think I would’ve died if you hadn’t,” she whispered back.
“I’m no bargain, Alison.”
“Stop.”
“No, I mean it, but God help me, I love you and I know I’ll love Jazmine, too.”
Alison smiled softly. “She’s eager to meet you in person.”
His arms relaxed as he brushed his lips against her temple. “I have a week’s leave, but then I have to head back to San Diego. It isn’t much time to make an important decision, but I’m hoping that by the end of the week you’ll know how you feel about me.”
Alison didn’t need any time; her decision was made.
“I know you loved Peter and that he’s Jazmine’s father,” Frank continued.
“I’ll always love Peter,” Alison said.
“I want you to. He was your husband and he died serving his country. I respect him and I have no intention of replacing him in your life or Jazmine’s.”
“Frank, what are you saying?”
He inhaled harshly. “I was hoping, praying actually, that by the end of this week you might know your feelings well enough…What I mean is that I’d like you to be my wife.”
“I don’t need a week—”
“You do,” he told her, “we both do.” And he kissed her again with such abandon and joy that when he released her, Alison was convinced she’d rather be in his arms than breathe.
A week later, just before Frank was scheduled to return to San Diego, the three of them planned dinner together. While Alison flitted about the kitchen checking on their meal, Jazmine set the table.
Before they sat down to eat, Frank pulled two small boxes out of his pocket and ceremonially placed them on the table.
Alison was carrying a large green salad and nearly dropped the bowl when she saw the velvet cases.
Frank glanced at her with a mildly guilty look. “If you’d rather wait until after dinner, that’s fine, but I know I’d enjoy the meal a lot more if I had your answer first.”
“Do I get to choose between two rings?” she asked, wondering why he’d brought two boxes.
“No,” he said. “There’s a necklace in one of them for Jazmine.”
Her daughter came out of the kitchen clutching three bottles of salad dressing. It didn’t take her long to assess the situation. “The answer is yes,” Jazmine stated matter-of-factly.
“Yes,” Alison echoed, nodding vigorously.
Frank opened the first of the two velvet boxes and slipped the small single-pearl necklace around Jazmine’s neck and fastened it. “I felt it was important that I make a promise to you, too,” he said to Ali’s daughter. “I wanted to assure you that I will love you. I plan to be a good stepfather and, most importantly, I vow to always love your mother.”
Jazmine blinked back tears and so did Alison. “I’ll wear it every day and I swear I’ll never lose it.” Frank hugged the child.
Then he opened the second box and took out a large solitaire diamond ring. While Alison tried not to weep, he slipped it onto her ring finger. He held her gaze, and in his eyes Alison saw his love and the promise he was making. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
The doorbell chimed, and before Jazmine could race toward it, the door opened and Shana hurried into the house, Adam directly behind her. “We aren’t too late, are we?” she asked, laughing and excited. “Frank’s still here, isn’t he?”
“Shana.” Alison ran across the room to her sister and they threw their arms around each other.
