At first, Junior said nothing. Then, he cursed expansively beneath his breath. He sipped his coffee, started to say something he thought better of, and finally, shook his head in apparent disgust. “What the hell’s wrong with him? Why’d he tell you about that?”
“So, it’s true?”
He lowered his head and stared into his coffee. “She was only seventeen, Alex, and pregnant by a guy she didn’t even love, a guy on his way to Saigon. She was scared. She—”
“I know the pertinent facts, Junior,” she interrupted impatiently. “Why do you always defend her?”
“Habit, I guess.”
Alex, ashamed of her outburst, took a moment to compose herself. “I know why she did it. It’s just incomprehensible to me that she could.”
“To us, too,” he admitted reluctantly.
“Us?”
“To Reede and me. He gave her only two days to recover before he and I flew her back to El Paso to take care of it.” He sipped his coffee. “We met out at the airstrip, right after sunset.”
Alex had asked Reede if he’d ever taken Celina flying at night. “Once,” he had told her. Celina had been scared, he’d said. “He stole a plane?”
“Borrowed is what he called it. I think Moe knew what Reede was up to, but he looked the other way. We landed in El Paso, rented a car, and drove to the army base. Reede bribed the guards into telling Al Gaither that he had relatives waiting to see him. He was off duty, I guess. Anyway, he came to the gate and we, uh, talked him into getting in the car with us.”
“What happened?”
He looked at her, shamefaced. “We took him to a deserted spot and beat the shit out of him. I was afraid Reede was going to kill him. He probably would have, if Celina hadn’t been there. She was practically hysterical.”
“You coerced him into marrying her?”
“That sam
e night. We drove across the border into Mexico.” He shook his head wryly at the memory of it. “Gaither was barely conscious enough to recite his vows. Reede and I supported him between us through the ceremony, then dumped him back at the gate of Fort Bliss.”
“One thing puzzles me. Why did Reede insist on Celina getting married?”
“He kept saying he wouldn’t let her baby be born a bastard.”
Alex looked at him intently from behind her shaded glasses.
“Then, why didn’t he marry her himself?”
“He asked her.”
“So, what was the problem?”
“Me. I asked her, too.” Seeing her confusion, he blew out his breath. “This all happened the morning following the, uh—”
“I understand. Go on.”
“Celina was still real shaken up and said she couldn’t think clearly. She begged us to stop badgering her. But Reede said she had to get married in a hurry, or everybody would find out what had happened.”
“Everybody found out anyway,” she said.
“He wanted to protect her from the gossip as long as possible.”
“I must be dense, but I still can’t figure it. Celina has two men who love her begging her to get married. Why didn’t she?”
“She refused to choose between us.” A furrow of concentration formed between his brows. “You know, Alex, that’s the first smart, adult decision Celina ever made. We were seniors in high school. God knows Reede didn’t have any money. I did, but my folks would have gone ape shit if I’d’ve gotten married before I even graduated, especially with Celina carrying another man’s baby.
“She had another reason, though, more important than finances or parental approval. She knew that if she chose one of us over the other, it would alter the friendship forever. There would be an odd man out. When it came right down to it, she wouldn’t break up the triangle. Funny, isn’t it? That happened anyway.”