Page 61 of Soaring and Saucy

Mayport, Florida

Traveling with Lance was better than anything she had ever experienced in the past. She loved going places with Lila and Natalie, but this was so different. They talked together for hours on end, sang songs with the radio, laughed, and teased each other while pulling over to investigate and check out new places. She saw Olympic Park in Atlanta and the torch from years ago, the sweeping hills as they drove through Chattanooga, and stopped at the border to the state of Florida to get their ‘free orange juice’ just like a couple of tourists. It was fun, freeing, and so wonderful to share these little moments with him.

“There’s been a lot of changes here since I arrived a few years ago,” Lance admitted, focusing on the road signs and changing lanes. The sun was setting in the distance behind them, casting a warm glow over the road before them as she gazed at this world around her. This was going to be her new home. Gone were the pines and tall, flowering tulip trees – replaced with palms and other plants. It was so strange to see sandy spots on the side of the road where construction was happening because back home, it was reddish, black clay and dirt.

“It’s different, huh?” Lance said quietly, exiting off the highway and glancing at her before speaking. “I remember when I first got to Mayport from Damneck, Virginia. This is my second duty station. I went from the Deep South to dealing with snow and ice, back to the South – but different. Everything here is… beachy, if that makes sense?”

“It does make sense,” she admitted. “I keep looking around, thinking, ‘wow, look at that,’ but I don’t want to sound stupid. I mean, I’ve traveled but I’ve only lived in Louisville my whole life.”

“Princess, it’s not stupid in the slightest. This is a different part of the country, and I want you to like it here,” he encouraged, and his voice hesitated. “I want you to be happy here… with me.”

“Oh, Lance,” she whispered, looking away from the window and taking his hand, almost as if she understood that he needed the reassurance that she wasn’t going to back out or blame him. “I’m very excited to be here with you and can’t wait to get settled in. Fair warning, you’ll have to do most of the driving for a while until I get my bearings…”

“Done,” he smiled – and then pointed. “That’s our complex. We’re in the back away from the main road, and not far from a very nice beachfront community. Ponte Vedra has a lot of golf tournaments and sandy dunes, but if you drive straight up this road in the other direction and keep going – you’ll run into the Navy base. I’ll have to show you around tomorrow, but for tonight, let’s get our things in, and the bed set up so you can get some rest.”

“Tomorrow, we can tackle the boxes,” she agreed and hesitated. As they pulled up to the building, she saw several cars running in the parking lot and a few men standing around talking in the evening shadows and swallowed. It seemed like there was quite a bit of loitering going on.

Was this place actually going to be safe?

And gasped. She recognized the face of the man who had married them at the same time that Lance rolled down the driver’s side window, yelling at the group in an animated fashion.

“Hey! You big dorks, I texted you and said, ‘Come with food’ cause I’m starving, and my baby’s gotta eat – both of them! Where’s the pizza?” he laughed, putting the truck into park and turning to wink at her, before jumping out.

“Heyyyy Mrs. Trophy!”

“’Sup, Mrs. Cavanaugh…”

“You… a dad… I can’t see it…”

“Welcome to Florida, Mrs. Trophy…”

Several voices called out happily, slapping Lance on the shoulders and waving at her through the open door. She watched them with open affection, admiring the relationship that Lance had with his teammates, and envied him at that moment – only to hear a knock on her window. Stunned, she turned slightly and saw a woman standing there, smiling.

“Hello?” Stephanie began, rolling down the window in confusion.

“Hey, let’s get the front door so they can get started, or they will run their mouths all night long and not get anything unpacked. I’m Madeline, Memphis’s wife – and I’ve got dinner in my car.”

“Hi,” Stephanie said nervously as Madeline opened the door and gave a sharp whistle to her husband in the distance. One tall man took the key from Lance and tossed it to his wife with a quick ‘Love you’ said easily before the others started mocking him.

Madeline met her eyes, smiled, and rolled them effortlessly. While rolling the eyes might irk Stephanie or strike someone as being rude, there was a kindness in that simple movement that told her it was meant with affection for the comical interaction between the men who were teasing both of their husbands loudly in the parking lot. She tugged on Stephanie’s arm, pulling her from the truck like the Pied Piper leading a parade.

“Shall we check out your new place?” Madeline smiled, linking an arm with her and making their way to the apartment. Stephanie’s eyes took in everything around her. There were four doorways to this open breezeway and she could see the pond in the distance that Lance had told her about. The chain-link fence looked like it was six feet tall and would keep out anything. As they climbed the stairs, she saw the straw mat before her doorway and hesitated.

“My husband put that there. He’s sentimental and is always doing little things like that. If you don’t like the welcome mat – just get another one. I promise, no hard feelings,” Madeline smiled, hugging her arm once more like they were the best of friends. Her husband had put down a welcome mat to greet her? That was awfully sweet, she thought quietly and heard the men in the distance along with the loud sounds of the rollup door on the moving truck being opened. “They’ll be up here soon like a small herd of elephants.”

“They sound like it now,” Stephanie chuckled, relaxing into this moment as Madeline opened the doorway – only to hear wild stomping up the stairwell along with Lance’s panicked, ‘WAAAAAIT!’ He got to the top of the stairs, looked at them both, and frowned, sucking in a few deep breaths.

“Oh, sorry!” Madeline winced. “I forgot.”

“Uh-huh,” Lance retorted abruptly – and scooped up Stephanie before she could tell him he was being rude. As she looked at him, opening her mouth to tell him that very thing, he gave her a lazy, tender smile, whispering one single word that made her heart skip a beat. “Threshold…”

“Ohhh…”

“Nobody takes my moment,” he murmured tenderly, leaning forward to kiss her before setting her down on her feet. “You can do whatever, put things wherever, and bark out orders… but nothing happens until I get to carry my bride over the threshold.”

“I love you,” she whispered up at him, treasuring the affection in his eyes as he gazed at her, touching her cheek.

“I love you too,” he breathed before hesitating and angling his head with a slight frown. “I better go back down. Y’all have fun,” he said simply and gave a mocking salute to the other woman. “Mrs. Memphis.”

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