Forget Me Not (Love in the Fleet) (19 page)

“Good! No, really, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid. You can’t go anywhere. I’ve got the keys.” He shook a set of keys that Daisy recognized as the keys to his truck.

“Go!”

The children scrambled to get into line, Daisy and the other adults guiding them. Sky walked the newly formed line over to the helo and organized them so everyone could hear about the basics. The adults and high school students who brought up the rear appeared as excited as the children.

“Now I’m going to turn this show over to Lieutenant Mike and he’ll tell you all about my Little Girl here. That’s what I call her.” He leaned over and kissed the helicopter, to the children’s delight. “I only call things I truly love ‘Little Girl,’ like my cat and my helicopter.” He kissed the Romeo one more time, patted it, and cried, “I love you, Little Girl!” The children squealed over this.

Daisy felt her face grow warm. She’d heard him call Daisy Mae “Little girl,” but he called his helicopter that too?
Only things I truly love.
Wasn’t that what he’d called her that day on the tumbling mats? She’d assumed it was a sexist remark, but had it meant that he cared for her?

“Okay, Lieutenant Mike, she’s all yours.”

“Hi, boys and girls. Ladies and gentlemen. This here is a Navy Seahawk MH-60R helicopter. We call her a ‘Romeo’ for short because of the ‘R’ in her name. She’s used for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare. Along with search and rescue and vertical replenishment. That’s when we carry cargo and deliver it to a ship or maybe to a place that’s had a natural disaster, like an earthquake or hurricane.”

Sky interrupted, “Did you have a question, Tanya?”

“Yeah. Is it a Romeo like Romeo and Juliet?” All the children giggled and the little girl at Tanya’s side made kissing faces.

Sky deferred to Mike. “No, Romeo is the word for the letter ‘R’ in the military alphabet, that’s all.” Mikey continued, “Now the Navy’s Seahawk is actually the same basic design as the Army’s Black Hawk helicopter, except it’s designed for shipboard landings and it’s gray to match the ocean.” Mike indicated the fifty-four-foot diameter rotors. “Believe it or not, these rotors can disconnect and fold back along the fuselage and the tail section can fold back so the length of the helo can be cut in half. This makes it easier to stow a Seahawk in a hangar aboard ship.”

One of the high school boys called out, “You mean you can fold up a helicopter?” Mike looked at Sky for help, but he raised his palms in surrender. Maybe he had already warned Mikey there would be all kinds of questions. Daisy was delighted by how flustered this giant of a man seemed to become around children. “Yes,” he answered simply.

Mike patted a large bump on the nose of the helicopter. “This is our FLIR system. FLIR stands for: Forward Looking Infrared Radar. It’s a thermal imaging camera that enables us to zoom in on targets. Even on the blackest of nights, we can identify people and fairly small details from distances you could never see otherwise, even while wearing night vision goggles. We aim the FLIR at whatever we want to see below and the video is displayed inside the cockpit and back to screens on our ship. This system also contains a laser for targeting laser-guided munitions, including Hellfire missiles we can carry.”

“He said a bad word!” cried Cory. The kids that weren’t laughing, were looking wide-eyed at the very thought. Sky whistled them quiet and Mike continued.

Daisy watched as Sky played Vanna White to Mike’s explanation. She knew Sky was the senior pilot—the HAC—so she was impressed he allowed Mike to be the center of attention. She didn’t think Sky often allowed someone else to take the glory. He continued to act silly around the kids, dramatically waving his arms to show them the features Mike described. Sky Crawford had been made for the stage.

“The Romeo has two jet engines, although it’s designed to be able to fly on one if something should happen to the other. The engines drive the transmission that turns the rotor head and that, in turn, spins the blades.

“And this,” he said as he and Sky walked to the tail end of the helo, “is the tail rotor. It’s actually larger than it appears. It may look small next to the main rotor, but it’s eleven feet across and turns at eleven hundred RPMs. It turns in the opposite direction of the main rotor and keeps us from spinning in circles.”

Sky opened the door to the cockpit. Daisy looked away.

“The two seats and their flight controls are identical.” Mike continued. “As well as the tactical displays and controls. That means both pilots can operate the mission equipment and fire weapons. But the one who actually fires the weapons is known as the Airborne Tactical Officer—or the ATO.” Mike reached outside and patted the weapons pylon. “If we were carrying torpedoes, and our sonobouys—which are underwater microphones—detected enemy submarines, the ATO could drop as many as three torpedoes on them. We also might be carrying up to eight Hellfire missiles, in which case the ATO could use our laser system to lock onto a target and take out a small boat or a tank. And now I’m going to turn this back to Lieutenant Sky to take your questions.”

Sky beamed at the kids as their hands shot into the air.

Mikey walked over to Daisy and introduced herself. “Mike Nikolopoulos. Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

She offered him her hand, “Daisy Schneider. Thank you, Mike. That was an excellent lesson. And thanks for bringing the helicopter here for the kids today. I know everyone is enjoying the experience.”

“Aw, that was all Sky, ma’am.” A slow smile tipped up a corner of his mouth. “I understand he needed to uphold his end of some kind of bargain.”

“That’s correct.” She nodded toward the helicopter. “So that’s his Little Girl? He really calls it that?”

Mikey chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. And more.”

“Let me guess. Sweetheart? Darlin’? Honey? Sunshine?”

“Well, I’ve never heard him call her sunshine, but that’s a good one. Yeah, he talks to it just like a woman.” He sobered. “Um, sorry, ma’am.”

Had this mammoth of a man actually blushed? “Don’t give it a thought, Mike. He talks to his cat like that too. I truly think he means it as an endearment. Especially if he calls this—what? Thirty-five million dollar…?”

“With the new Romeo technology, more like forty-five mil.”

“Well, apparently ‘Little Girl’ is some kind of badge of honor, but I’m not falling for it. Ask him sometime how I reacted when he called me that.” Daisy smiled at the memory of flipping him on the mat and moved on. “Nice to meet you Mike. Again, thanks for doing this.”

She walked around the helicopter, smoothing her hand across its gray skin and thinking deep thoughts. Except for the color, Sky’s Seahawk didn’t differ all that much from Jack’s Cobra. It was a helicopter. It had a blunt nose, a rotor head, rotor blades, and a smaller tail rotor. Probably the way Sky felt about a dog. “A dog’s a dog,”
he’d say. But upon closer inspection she realized they were radically different. Jack’s Cobra was much smaller and narrower. The pilots didn’t sit side by side as they did here. And there had been no cabin or room for aircrew in the back of Jack’s aircraft.

With a shudder, she realized the Cobra had been designed for one purpose: combat. This Seahawk had multi-mission capabilities. Besides defense, it was intended to help people. Maybe this thing with Sky could be just as different.

She walked past the open door and gave in to the urge to look inside. The sheepskin seat covers practically undid her. She’d given Jack a sheepskin cover for his co-pilot’s seat for Christmas right before he left for Iraq. She assumed it traveled to Afghanistan with him too. Never in a million years would she have guessed when he unwrapped the package that Christmas morning, his eyes shining with delight, that it would serve as his shroud. She turned away from the helo and walked back to the bleachers to sit down for a few minutes.

What was it Sky had said the other night? “Maybe you’re afraid if you fall in love with someone else and move on with your life, you’d be forgetting Jack, like he didn’t matter any more.”
Was that it? Was she clinging to the memories of Jack so he wouldn’t be forgotten? Of course she’d never forget him, but did the memories need to rule her life? Did she need to be tied to them? Or could she take another chance on love? Daisy shivered when George’s words came back to her: “How do you know Jack was The One? How do you know Sky isn’t?”

Daisy took a deep breath and pulled herself together. She glanced up at Sky, who was
laughing at something one of the kids had said. His white teeth, with that sexy gap in the middle, flashed her a smile that made his eyes crinkle up. His tired eyes, she noticed. He did seem tired a lot lately. Probably from them trying to sleep together without having sex. Poor guy. She knew how hard it was for him. And she could tell just
how
hard every time he spooned her in bed. She so wanted to arch her back and wiggle her butt into him. Get things started. But she had to admire why he was holding back. It had surprised her beyond belief, but apparently he was a man of honor. And she respected that.

And wasn’t he funny about having his cat in the bed with them? Daisy Mae had almost completed her medication regimen and could go home soon, but he definitely liked cuddling that cat along with Daisy. She was surprised Daisy Mae even let
her
sleep in the same bed with him, she was such a jealous cat. Oh, well. Daisy would be glad when the kitty went home. The dogs were not exactly crazy about having her there.

“Earth to Dr. Daisy. Hey, quit your skylarking over there, Doc.” She realized Sky was calling her, snapping her out of her reverie. “You got your camera ready? Wanna come get some shots of the kids in the cockpit?”

As she approached, Sky met her halfway and probably wasn’t even aware that he put his arm around her waist, giving her a squeeze as they walked to the helo. It was such a small gesture, but it felt good. It felt damn good. It felt natural.

As she snapped the kids’ photos, she watched Sky interact with the children. He lovingly lifted each child up into the pilot’s seat, then stepped back and grinned as she snapped the pictures. Suddenly she envisioned him lifting his own children up to sit in “Daddy’s Helo.” The unexpected image blew her away. She was still convinced he was a player at heart, but she knew he was going to be an awesome daddy to
somebody’s
kids someday.

Which was something she had no business thinking about.

“Shit, Sky, you got it bad,” Mikey said as they prepared Little Girl for takeoff from the soccer field of the Boys and Girls Club.

“Shut up, Studley.” But Sky smiled broadly as he addressed his crew. “Okay, guys, we’re going to do an Obstacle Clearance Takeoff to clear those lights around this ball field. Normally we wouldn’t care about how fast we climb, but with all these people around, we need to execute a no-hover takeoff, to minimize the rotorwash. Mikey, I want you to fly us out of here, while Quinn and I make damn sure you don’t hit anything.”

Aviation Anti-Submarine Warfare Operator First Class Billy Quinn clicked in from the cabin. “Aircrewman Takeoff Checklist complete. And I promise to scream like a teenage girl if you even come close to smacking a light pole, sir.”

“Oooh
,
you know I love it when you do that, Quinn.” Sky snickered into his mic. “Takeoff Checklist complete. Gauges and cautions good. Ready for takeoff, Studs?”

Mike glanced out his door window. “Clear right.”

Sky responded, “Clear left.”

“All clear in the back,” Quinn added.

“Pulling power.” Mike pulled in on the collective and pushed the nose over.

“Pull back on the nose, Mikey. We need to get Little Girl vertical before you nose her over. I thought you said you knew how to handle women.” Sky grinned at Mike, but the acting pilot was too focused on executing the climb-out maneuver to appreciate his humor. “Eighty feet. There you go, Studley. Now shove her over and keep us climbing while we get the hell out of Dodge. Three positive rates of climb, safe single engine speed, stabilator programming. Level off at five hundred feet. How are things in the back, Quinn?”

“Aircrewman After Takeoff Checklist complete, sir. Hey, let’s run up the beach on the way back. See if that pro volleyball tournament is still going on. I heard the eye candy is particularly fine.”

Mike whistled low into his mic. “Speaking of eye candy, Dr. Daisy is something else, Sky. Beautiful, professional, and
nice.
Got any more like her at home?”

“Nope. She’s one in a million.”

The aircrewman interrupted through their headsets. “Do I get a vote?”

“Not unless it’s good, Quinn,” Sky called back.

“Are you kidding? That lady is awesome. Definitely 4.0. Actually, I think she might be too good for you, sir. Better let me take her off your hands.”

“In your dreams, bucko.”

“I guess things are going really good with her, huh?” Mikey asked as he headed them east toward the beach.

“Yeah.” Sky’s face blossomed. “Things are
really
good.”

“About time. I can’t believe it took you this long to work your way into her bed.

“
That
is none of your business.” Sky was a little sharper than he’d intended.

“Hey, back off, lover boy. It was always my business before. You’ve only been too happy to share all the juicy details about every other woman.”

The uncontrollable grin of a man in love spread across Sky’s face as Mike tilted the cyclic and the aircraft banked to follow the beach north, back toward the base.
“Not this time, Studley.”

“Wow.
Sky’s in love. Oh, man. I never thought I would see this day.
‘
See you at home,
honey
,’”
Mikey imitated Sky in a singsong voice. “Wait ’til I tell the other Highwaymen. Skylark has met The One.”

“
Zip it, Mikey.”

Mike made a point of sealing his lips, then proceeded to hum the “Wedding March” into his mic.

“Bite me,” Sky replied, but laughed nonetheless.

As they followed the shoreline, Sky succumbed to the exhaustion at the end of the day. And then reality hit him. He realized how low he’d sunk. He’d just stretched the truth to Daisy, telling her he’d have to stay and finish paperwork for the fly-in, when in reality he planned to finish the paperwork, then catch forty winks in the Squadron Duty Officer’s bunkroom.

Besides attempting to sleep while fully aroused every night with Daisy, he slept with one eye open as well, so afraid of the dreams. What if he flipped out on her? Not only would he be embarrassed, but worse. She’d drop him like a hot potato if she thought he had
issues.
He kept reminding himself that Jack’s issues were major compared to his. To stop having sex with Daisy? Guy had to be nuts.

No, Sky would keep his alarm cat close by and maybe he’d go talk to somebody about the dreams. Yeah, he’d definitely think about doing that.

Maybe when he returned from looking for drug runners after Thanksgiving. Maybe in the New Year.

In the meantime, he’d continue to crash in the bunkroom at lunchtime and for an hour after work every day. Combat naps. And, he couldn’t believe he was saying this, but he treasured his duty nights when he had to stay all night at squadron headquarters and was in the rack by 1800 hours if there weren’t any night ops. He had to catch up because he’d never put his crew at risk by being over tired. Hell, a sleep-deprived pilot was as dangerous as a drunk one. Duty nights gave him a chance to catch up. So far the watchstander had only intervened once when Sky had a bad dream. He better watch it though. Somebody might report him.

And quite honestly? He liked duty nights because he couldn’t
sleep
with Daisy. He’d planned to hold out for a month before he’d feel comfortable having sex with her. But he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He was losing his mind.

The mornings had been difficult, too, especially when his hands went rogue in his sleep. He had awakened a few more times to find himself wrapped around her, his hand full of one of her luscious breasts. He’d apologize and turn away. He almost lost it at one point when she shifted in her sleep, causing her bedtime boxers to slip down. He saw the twin dimples in the small of her back. Oh, how he’d wanted to see if his thumbs fit. Oh, how he’d wanted to see if a
lot
of things fit, but he’d made himself roll to his other side and cuddle Daisy Mae to his chest instead.

Damn, he was tired of doing the honorable thing. It was getting harder and harder. And wasn’t that a fact.

So he’d catch a combat nap as soon as they landed. And then home to another romantic dinner with Daisy. He liked the warm and fuzzy sound of
home
. They’d started cooking real meals most nights and they ate in her grown-up dining room by candlelight. On real plates. That matched. With good wine. It was incredibly civilized, and he realized he could get used to this. Man, if this was what a relationship was like, he wished he’d tried one sooner.