First Class Hero (First Class Novels) (6 page)

Nic hadn’t been able to answer. She had wondered the same
thing.
But any human being would be concerned right?
she had told
herself. It wasn’t weird at all.

On Tuesday night, Nic packed her suitcase ready for the
early train departure the following morning. Evelyn had agreed to drop her off
at the station at 6:30am for her seven o’clock departure. Evelyn was not a
morning person and so Nic had been grateful she had even offered. She would
only be spending two nights in New York. She had booked a room at the cheapest
hotel she could find on the internet, and she didn’t consider it cheap at all! She
would be using a credit card for the trip. She wanted to keep her small savings
account intact for when she had to move.

After double and triple checking that she had everything she
needed, Nic slid under the blanket in her bed and tried to sleep, but sleep did
not come. Her mind wandered back to when she first met Paul on her Caribbean
cruise several weeks before. He had come with his entire family for his
parents’ wedding anniversary. She had been coerced into accompanying her former
friend April for a girls’ vacation. She had not enjoyed herself at all and she
had not been nice to Paul. She was embarrassed now by her conduct. He had done
nothing wrong. In fact, he had been a real gentleman every time she had seen
him. And he had looked her up when he had come to Virginia to see his friends
because he remembered her telling him she lived in Norfolk. Yes, he had been
nothing but kind and friendly and she had been a jerk. He didn’t deserve her
treatment of him. She was ashamed and he may be dead and she would never have
the opportunity to apologize for her behavior.

Finally Nic drifted off to sleep in the wee hours of the
morning, but it wasn’t a restful sleep as she dreamed of Paul. She could see
him in the distance and she walked in his direction, but the further she
walked, the further away he became. When her alarm woke her, she was sad, so
very sad.

“This is going to be a great trip,” she muttered to herself
as she quickly got herself ready for the ten-hour train ride.

Paul sat in his parent’s living room while his mother fawned
over him. She made him a sandwich and some lemonade. She fetched a blanket for
him in case he was cold. And then she sat next to him and held his hand while
he assured his parents for the umpteenth time that he was fine.

In reality, he had suffered a severe concussion in one of
the many explosions. He had protected the three hostages from the falling
concrete with his body and, had in fact, saved Carrie Lymon’s life. He was
black and blue over most of his body and had a couple of cracked ribs.
Fortunately the continual headache was finally starting to ease with the pain
meds he’d been given. But he‘d decided to keep all of that a secret. He was
alive and that’s all his parents needed to know.

In the early afternoon, his younger brother Tim arrived. He
hugged Paul and told him he was happy he was home. Tim had watched the news
reports and knew that Paul had been involved in the operation. It seemed
obvious to him that Paul would have been recalled for such a mission. He was
the best of the best.

Shortly after Tim had arrived, Paul’s older brother Andrew
stopped by on his way home from work. He wanted to make sure his mother was
okay. The older his parents got, the more Andrew worried about them and he
figured this event would have shaken up Maureen pretty brutally. He was pleased
to see she was fine and happy to see his brother all in one piece. He couldn’t
stay long as his nanny needed to leave early, so his visit was brief.

By dinner time, Paul had seen four brothers and Katy, his
sister-in-law. They all hugged him tightly and told him they were glad he was
okay. Paul just smiled and told them not to worry.

His oldest brother Matt and his family came for dinner.
Maureen found every excuse to see her grandchildren and this seemed like a
great one.

Janie handed baby Christopher off to his grandmother and he
snuggled into her bosom and went to sleep. Maureen immediately relaxed and
cradled her grandson all through dinner.

Ella sat by her Uncle Paul and chatted away about her
dolphin and how Paul had been in the water with her when she swam with the
“weal dawphwins”. He loved his sweet little niece and enjoyed her conversation.

As Janie cleaned up the dishes after dessert, Matt got Paul
alone out on the back patio and asked him about his career decision.

“I submitted my letter a couple of weeks ago, before I left
for Kandahar. As soon as my tour is up, I’m done. I’m going to be a civilian.”

“And how do you feel about it now that it’s done?” Matt
asked.

“Good,” Paul nodded. “I’m ready to move on. No second
guessing. But once I’m out I’ve gotta figure out what I’m going to do with my
life.”

“Anything you need,” Matt patted his brother on the back.

“I know,” Paul smiled. “Thanks.”

Matt took his family home and Maureen headed off to bed.
Peter sat in his favorite chair to watch Sports Center on ESPN and Paul flipped
open his laptop and sent an email to Ed. He wanted to make sure his friend was
home and see how he was dealing with the loss of one of his men. Paul couldn’t
imagine how hard that was and wanted to make sure that Ed knew he was there for
him, in any capacity he needed.

He shut his laptop after the email had been sent and went to
his old room. His mom had kept it exactly the way he’d left it. She hadn’t
changed a single thing. He wondered if he might stay there for a while after he
left the Navy while he decided what he would do. He had enough money in savings
that he had the luxury of taking his time and not rushing into anything he
wasn’t certain about. He was sure his parents wouldn’t mind.

*****

Nic had sat on a train all day and when she arrived at Penn
Station she was exhausted. She pulled her suitcase through the maze of
commuters and found a taxi to take her to the hotel. She sat back and watched
as the cab drove her through the city. She had been to New York once before.
She was in college and a group of her friends had wanted to come for a couple
of days over spring break. They’d had a great time but she hadn’t been back
since. Lack of time or money had been her obstacle for traveling
anywhere
,
not just back to New York.

The cab pulled in front of her hotel and she paid the driver.
She grabbed her suitcase and walked into the budget-friendly establishment. It
looked clean and the front desk employee was friendly. She produced her credit
card and in return received her room key and an area map of local attractions
and restaurants within walking distance. She rode the elevator up to the
eleventh floor and found her room. It was small but clean, small but adequate.
There were clean towels and fluffy pillows. She hoped to get a good night’s
sleep so she could be at her best for tomorrow’s interview.

*****

When Paul returned from his morning run on Thursday, his dad
was heading off to play golf with a buddy and his mom was going to play her
weekly bridge game. She offered to stay home with him, but Paul insisted she go
see her friends – he would be just fine. After he showered, he wandered around
the house. He checked his email and then picked up his phone. Before analyzing
it too much, he called Nic. She answered on the first ring.

“Paul? Are you alright?”

“Hi Nic. Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“I saw the news and…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Why
she was choking up she didn’t have a clue.

“No, I’m fine.”

“I’m glad,” she managed to say.

“I was calling cuz I feel like we didn’t have much time
before I had to leave. I don’t have time to come back to Norfolk. Sorry.”

“Oh, that’s fine. I’m not there anyway.”

“Oh? Where are you?”

“I actually have a job interview so I’m in New York for just
today.”

“You’re in New York? Right now?”

“Uh-huh. My interview is in an hour, so I actually need to
get going. But I’m really glad you called. And I’m
really
glad that
you’re okay.”

“So you’ll be done with your interview and then what are you
going to do? When do you leave?”

“I head back tomorrow morning. Quick trip. Um, this evening?
Nothing.”

“Please let me take you to dinner?”

There was silence as Nic gasped. “You’re in New York?”

“Yeah…staying at my parents’. Dinner?”

*****

Nic took a taxi to the address Paul gave her. He’d offered
to pick her up but she had graciously declined. She would meet him. As she
stepped onto the curb, Paul walked quickly to her, a big smile plastered to his
face.

“How did it go?” he asked.

Nic shrugged. “Not sure. The principal seemed nice and the
couple of Human Resources people I met were friendly. Guess I just wait and
see. They aren’t making a decision for another week or two until they’ve
interviewed all the selected applicants.”

“Well, let’s celebrate anyway,” Paul grinned.

They walked into an Italian restaurant that Paul would have
walked by without noticing had he not known what he was looking for. He’d
called Janie and asked her for a suggestion and this is the one she chose. She
said it was the first place Matt had taken her so it held a special place in
her heart. They still ate there regularly, now bringing their children with
them.

The hostess greeted them and showed them to their table. She
gave them each a menu and then disappeared.

“You look well,” Nic smiled. “I’m glad you weren’t hurt in
Afghanistan.”

“Me?” Paul scoffed. “I’m tough as nails,” he chuckled.

“But one of your men died?”

That sobered Paul right up. “It was one of Ed’s team.”

“What?” Nic gasped. “A man I met at the barbecue?”

Paul nodded, a somber air encircled them. “It was Cody. I
really didn’t know him that well, but it is sure hard. It doesn’t matter which
unit they’re with. When we lose one, we all mourn.”

“Was he the one with the twin boys?”

“Yeah, and his wife is pregnant. Ed’s having a hard time
dealing with it too.”

“Oh that’s terrible,” Nic whispered. “I don’t know how the
families do it.”

Nic’s words echoed through his mind as the waiter arrived
and filled their water glasses and placed a basket of breadsticks on the table.

Their attention turned to the menus and they placed their
order and the waiter turned and left.

“How’s your roommate?” Paul asked.

And the conversation turned to Evelyn and Nic’s job at the
bar and then she asked about Paul’s family so he told her all about baby
Isabelle, the newest Lathem, and the plans his mother now had for making an
annual family cruise.

The waiter brought their salads out and they ate in
comfortable silence. Once their entrees had been delivered, Paul decided to ask
Nic the question that had been on his mind most of the day.

“I’ve decided to leave the Navy.”

Nic looked up at him, her mouth open, her fork ready to go
inside. “Why?”

“I would like to have a life. I want to be home at night and
have a family. And like you said, it’s really hard on the families.”

Nic nodded. She could see how that would be the case. “So
are you…just done?”

“No,” Paul replied. “I have to finish my tour. It ends at
the beginning of August.”

“That’s just a few months away.”

“Yep. And most of that time will be spent off doing training,
so I won’t be in San Diego much.”

“Well, maybe that will help to make the time go by faster,”
Nic smiled.

“I was wondering if I could email you, you know, keep in
touch.”

Nic’s breath hitched in her throat. Her heart stopped
beating for just a second or two as she looked at Paul’s face. His blue eyes
seemed to be searching her face for an answer.
What do I say?
 

He smiled and her heart began beating again; she could feel
it smashing into her ribs. His eyes sparkled and she felt a little lost.

“Nic?”

“I think I’d like that,” she said softly. “I’d like that,”
she nodded.

*****

As she stepped out of the taxi, Nic took Paul’s offered hand
and he escorted her to the front door of the hotel. He’d insisted that he take
her back to her hotel, as he could not, in good conscience, let her go alone.
She’d smiled at his gallantry.

“Thank you for joining me for dinner. I had a really good
time,” he smiled.

“Thank you for asking. I can’t believe we’re both here, in
New York, at the same time. Wild!” she said.

Fate? Or just coincidence?
 he asked himself.

“Have a safe trip home tomorrow, and, I really hope that you
get the job you want.”

“Thank you. Me too,” Nic smiled.

There was a moment of…of something. Paul couldn’t decide
what. Was she waiting for him to kiss her? Was she hoping he would just leave?
Was he looking for a sign? A sign to tell him what she wanted him to do? He
leaned in and softly kissed her cheek.

“Goodnight,” he whispered, and turned back to the taxi that
was waiting for him.

Nic watched him drive away, a hint of red in her cheeks. She
smiled ever so slightly and headed up to her room.

Is this the right email
address?

From: Lathem, Paul R.
LCDR (lathempr@nav...

Date: Friday, April 11
11:01 AM

To: Nic
Stewart (nicas821@ou...

Hi,

Just wanted to see if you
gave me the right email address. If this is you, please reply.
J

Paul

RE:
Is this the
right email address?

From: Nicole Stewart
(nicas821@outloo...

Date: Saturday, April 12
08:17 AM

To: Paul
Lathem ([email protected]...