He barely got the lavatory door shut before he vomited painfully in the commode at the thought of himself having to do the same thing if something had happened.
He wasn’t nearly as strong as Handsy, Reaper, Caboose, or Hot Cakes. No, it would destroy him to think of his beautiful, soft, sweet Mary having to suffer alone… and he couldn’t do it.
He was done.
Jax’s career in the Air Force was not something he would retire from like he’d imagined someday. No, he wanted to go home to Mary, to live a life, to bounce babies on his knees, and sleep with his wife in their bed every night. He would give up everything just to be able to have a chance at a future with her… and that didn’t happen out here in the middle of nowhere.
“I’ve got to see how much time I have left,” Jax whispered aloud, washing his face and rinsing his mouth in the sink of the lavatory. His hands were shaking as he stared at his reflection, his mind swirling and bombarded with thoughts as he tried to find his direction once more.
He needed to think, to plan, and focus… because he wasn’t just a wild, reckless boy looking for adventure in the wild, blue yonder anymore.
That single word made him smile.
Oh yes, he’d been looking for ‘yonder’ for years… just never Yonder, Texas.
The idea that he’d found his soulmate literally in the wild, blue yonder would forever be thought of, and known as Divine Intervention in his mind. You couldn’t convince him differently.
No, he was meant to meet her – and just late to the game. How different their lives would have been if he’d appeared in Yonder, Texas all those years ago, as an eighteen-year-old kid instead of a thirty-year-old man.
Jax laughed softly, hanging his head over the sink and flushing the commode where he’d vomited.
Yeah, things would have been so much different for both of them. The memories of who he was when he was entering the Academy would never be forgotten, nor how it had matured him. That young kid had been terrified, and so very green.
If he didn’t attend the Academy, he probably would have a job stocking shelves somewhere, and might never have gotten into flying at all.
Mary might not have married her ex-husband… and maybe he would have dated her, if she could look past the scrawny young boy who wore his heart on his sleeve.
Yeah, life would have been very different – and maybe the changes they both went through created an appreciation for what they had now.Perhaps it was all ‘meant to be’,he mused.
Drying his face, he realized that until he knew how much longer he had left in the Air Force, he would make the best of it. This would give him a chance to woo his wife, solidify what they had growing between them, and create a slow burn romance until he returned to her arms.
He was going to date his bride… long distance.
The moment they landed in Madrid, he was going to find her something special and mail it home as a surprise.
There was a bazaar in Ghazni, and he knew that they purchased quite a few items for the exchange in order to ‘harbor good relations with their neighbors’… and sometimes they were fantastic treasures – other times not so much. He would keep an eye on the shop to see what else he could find.
Feeling better, like there was a plan forming in his mind slowly, Jax rinsed his mouth one more time, and returned to his seat.
He really liked the idea of spoiling his bride, keeping her interested, and showing her just how much he loved her… even if it was from the other side of the world.
* * *
It was nearlyfour in the morning when he arrived back on base, collapsing in his bunk, utterly exhausted. He heard Sparky and Maestro grumbling in the distance, telling him to shut up and quit making noise… and grinned.
Yeah, there was nothing like being back among his friends – but it would never fill that hole in his heart like his beloved Mary had.
He couldn’t wait for them to notice his wedding band.
Jax closed his eyes, knowing he had about ninety minutes before it was time to get up.
CHAPTER19
MARY
“You got married?!”
Mary smiled at Eva shyly as the other woman gaped at her in shock as she slid a pair of clear plastic foodservice gloves over her hands where her simple wedding band gleamed against her skin, and went about setting up for the day.