Page 6 of Alistair

While waiting to return from D.C., he was thrilled to realize that Clark would be their pilot again.

“Now’s your time, brother,” smiled Brix. He looked at his friend and nodded. As he started to move forward, Brix and Major held the others back. “Give him a minute.”

“Hi there,” she smiled, looking up at him. “You guys have had quite an interesting few days.”

“Yeah. It’s been – strange.”

“Strange can be hard,” she said quietly. “Are you okay?”

“I am. Thank you for asking. Are you alright? Are you settling in okay?” he asked.

“I think I am. It’s a lot all at once. The place is huge, and I’ve gotten lost a dozen times,” she laughed. “In the air, I’m good. On the ground, I’m a lost goose.”

“Well, lost geese are my specialty,” he smiled. “Would you like to have dinner with me when we get back? It can be at the cafeteria or anywhere. I’d just like to get to know you.”

She swallowed hard, staring up at him, then nodded.

“I think I’d like the cafeteria if that’s okay. The food is so great there.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I just need to drop my gear when we get back and shower. Six-thirty okay?”

“I’ll be waiting on my front porch.” They stood, just smiling at one another for a few moments when Major finally cleared his throat.

“Hey, uh, can we go home now?” Alistair laughed, shaking his head.

“Yeah. Let’s go home.”

Alistair had never showered and changed so fast in all his life. All he could think about was getting to the petite blonde with the big green eyes. There was something so different, so unique about her, and yet he couldn’t put his finger on it. He didn’t want to.

“Hi,” she said, smiling as he approached her cottage.

“Hi,” he grinned. “You look beautiful. I like the dress.”

“Well, it is my first date in about six years, so I thought it was dress-worthy,” she grinned.

“Six years? Damn. How do I rate?” He took her hand, leading her down the steps and toward the path. He felt her tug to the path on the left and chuckled. “That will take you to the kennels.”

“See. Lost goose. You rate because I wanted to make a good impression. I teased you before, but I really like your family. Your great-grandmother has been amazing with me. I’m not much of a cook, fair warning,” she smirked, “but she and Mama Irene have been helping me with a few things.”

“Well, the good news is that no one has to cook around here unless they want to. We have enough amazing chefs and cooks. There’s enough of a difference and variety of styles to be fat and happy forever.” He pointed to the small white markers along the path. “If you get lost, just look for the numbered markers. They’ll point toward your grouping of cottages.”

“Damn. I wish I’d known that three nights ago,” she laughed.

“Tell me about you. Are your parents still living?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. Jovan and Mabel are still alive.”

“Jovan? Mabel?” he grinned.

“And now you know why they gave me such an awful name. Revenge,” she smiled. “I’m just kidding. They wanted me to be strong.”

“And you are. And for the record, I like Jovan and Mabel. They’re unique. Besides, Alistair isn’t exactly in the top twenty-five for babies’ names this year. My parents have unusual names, or at least my mom. Even great-grandma has an old-fashioned name. I think it’s cool.”

Clark smiled up at him, her dazzling white teeth blinding him. She was so pretty he could hardly catch his breath.

“You’re very tall,” she said quietly.

“In this group, I don’t think I’m tall at all. I’m average at six-feet-two. You’re just very small,” he smiled.

---