Chapter Eight #2
Airman Peck tapped away at his tablet, still walking toward the bus. “No, ma’am. No departures today. But there is a C-17 arriving. And Major McNally—I assure you—is on it.” He stopped and turned around to give Clara an arrogant smile.
She let out a sigh. This guy obviously didn’t know what was going on.
If he was going to be difficult, there was nothing she could do about it.
She was not about to argue with him here at the security office.
Clara could just imagine having to tell Brent she’d been kicked off the base for insubordination.
She supposed she’d have to wait to get out to this flight line—whatever that was.
She’d get things straightened out there.
Once Brent arrived, surely everything would be cleared up.
She followed Airman Peck onto the small shuttle bus.
It reminded her of going to the airport, where every trip started with an overcrowded bus from the parking lot to the terminal.
This one was also packed with people, all in their seats, waiting to depart.
All eyes shifted to her—the one holding things up.
Clara looked from row to row at all the other passengers.
It was mostly women and children. There were a few men.
Several other airmen in uniform were scattered throughout.
She supposed these were the other friends and family who came to see their loved ones off.
She let out a quick breath. She was in the right place, after all.
She would just have to wait and see Brent once she got out to wherever they were going.
She walked down the bus aisle, feeling like the new kid on their first day of school.
Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, oddly enough.
How happy could they really be when their Christmas would be so lonely and sad?
These women were all about to lose their husbands for a year. The whole situation was depressing.
Clara managed to find an empty seat in the back of the bus. She wasn’t in the mood for small talk, and she wasn’t a military spouse. She had no idea what she would even talk about with these ladies. Just being around them made her uneasy—in a way she couldn’t explain, even to herself.
As the bus began to move, she closed her eyes for a moment to think. No, she wasn’t a military spouse, and thank goodness for that. She let out a long exhale. So how, exactly, did she get herself into this situation?
When the bus slowed, she looked up to see a gray jet making a slow taxi down the runway.
Clara tried to spot Brent. He was nowhere to be found.
She tugged on her necklace and fiddled with the tiny charm.
What would happen if she didn’t find him?
What if she was in the wrong place? What if he left for his deployment thinking she never showed up at all?
The thought of that alone broke her heart—for both of them.
She disembarked the bus with the others. Even more families were standing around, already waiting. They were holding signs, balloons, and American flags. Nobody else seemed to be confused. In fact, they all seemed rather excited about something.
She looked over at a young woman standing nearby.
She was dressed in a fitted black coat with a pair of high-heeled boots.
Her shiny brunette hair had obviously been professionally blown out, and she had a full face of makeup on.
Clara glanced down at her own sensible shoes and tightened up her ponytail. She suddenly felt underdressed.
“Excuse me,” she said to the woman. “I think I’m in the wrong place. Where can I find Major Brent McNally?”
The woman’s face lit up, and a perky southern accent came pouring out. “Oh, you must be Clara!” She was holding a little girl on her hip, and two others stood beside her. All three girls had bouncing blonde curls. They wore matching red peacoats and huge white bows in their hair.
The woman shifted her toddler to the other hip as she held out her hand. “I’m Janie, and I’ve heard so much about you,” she drawled.
Clara looked at her, trying to place the unfamiliar name.
“Don’t worry.” Janie laughed. “You’re in the right place.”
“I don’t understand. You’ve heard about me?”
“Of course I have. My husband is Will.”
“Who?”
“Will! He said Brent talked about you the entire deployment. I bet you can’t wait to see him after all this time.” Janie bounced her daughter happily. “I know we’re excited to see Daddy. Right, LuLu?”
Clara shook her head. “After all this time?”
Janie gave her a tight smile.
Clara cleared her throat, trying again for some information. “I’m supposed to meet Brent McNally. Here.”
“Of course.”
“To see him off before he leaves for his deployment.”
“Mm-hm.” Janie wiped some crumbs from her daughter’s mouth.
“Isn’t that what you’re doing here?” Clara pressed.
Janie immediately dropped the smile and turned to Clara, looking at her through narrowed eyes. She shook her head at her. “Honey, we did that last year.”
“What do you mean?” Clara’s eyes widened.
Janie laughed. “Look, I know you’re excited, but he’ll be coming off that plane real soon. You need to calm down, girl.”
“What do you mean, coming off the plane? You mean, he’s already back?” She gave a fake chuckle at the ridiculous idea.
Janie let out a ladylike snort. “Already? Well, I’m glad to hear the time flew by for you.” She leaned over the older girls and made a quick fix to each of their bows with her free hand. “Lizzie and Gracie, I want you two to go hug your daddy as soon as he gets off, okay?”
The girls nodded with perfect sweetness. The adorable all-American family looked as if they were cut straight from a catalog page of expensive dolls.
Clara couldn’t be sure what was happening. Was this some prank Janie was playing on her? Perhaps this was a kind of weird hazing ritual for new Air Force girlfriends. She continued to stare at her.
Janie looked back at her underneath a judgmental brow. Something in her expression told Clara she wasn’t joking.
“You mean, he’s coming back—today?” Clara asked, her tone serious.
Janie’s face softened. “Look, I understand you’re nervous, and you’re new to all this. But just try to relax a little. You’re getting yourself all spun up.” She pointed a perfectly manicured nail at something in front of them.
Clara looked over to see the taxiing plane coming closer. She couldn’t blink. She took in a shaky breath and held it, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Everything will be okay once you see him get off that plane,” Janie whispered.
Clara wasn’t sure if she was talking to her or to herself. All she knew about Janie at this point was that she wasn’t making any sense.
Clara grabbed her phone from her purse to make sure she had the time right. Yes, it was 10:15 a.m. on December 5—as it should be.
Suddenly, the memory of the night before at her grandmother’s house barreled into her mind. The wish she had made on that ornament! Clara stood motionless, her body completely paralyzed with fear. She stared at the people around her, having no idea where to set her gaze.
“No . . .” She said it out loud to nobody in particular. It couldn’t be—could it? She couldn’t possibly have skipped a whole year. That would be impossible. Right?
She quickly opened the calendar app on her phone and saw December staring back at her. December of next year.
Clara put a hand to her cheek. That didn’t mean anything. She’d been looking at next year’s calendar last night when she’d been thinking about Brent. She probably never closed it properly.
She needed to know. She could ask Janie point-blank, but she’d displayed enough of her cluelessness in front of this woman already. The last thing she needed was for her to think she was completely nuts.
Clara noticed Airman Peck standing off to the side. He was reading something on his tablet. As much as he intimidated her, she felt she could trust him. Someone like him wouldn’t go blabbing about the crazy lady who didn’t know what year it was, would he?
Her heart hammered in her chest as she approached him. “Excuse me, sir.” She cleared her throat. “I know this is a strange question, but . . .” She bit her lip. “What year is it?”
He looked up from his reading, a deep frown under that thicket of mustache. He simply shook his head to indicate he didn’t have time for her silliness. He pulled a piece of paper from a folder beneath his tablet and handed it to her, then walked off without answering the question.
Clara studied the paper. Her hands were shaking so violently it took a moment for her to realize what exactly she was looking at.
52nd Air Squadron Homecoming Schedule
Below it was the date in small bold letters. It was today’s date, except—NO! The year was wrong. Her jaw dropped. She felt dizzy and fluid as she entered some weird state of shock, as if her feet couldn’t quite sense the ground. She was practically spinning in complete and utter disbelief.
It was next year’s date.
“It actually worked,” Clara whispered, her eyes unblinking. She took in a long breath and then let out a bark of laughter, before quickly covering her mouth with her hand.
She couldn’t believe it. Her wish had come true.
She had skipped over the entire year.