Fatal Mistake--A Novel by Susan Sleeman (33)

Cal clutched the potato sack, one leg inside the rough burlap and pressed tight against Tara’s leg. She fit perfectly next to him, and he circled his arm securely around her waist, drawing her closer. She clasped her arm around his back, the gentle pressure and warmth from her touch nearly bursting his heart with happiness.

“Now don’t forget,” she said, shielding her eyes from the bright sunshine. “I’m the expert here, so match my stride, and we’ll leave your teammates in the dust.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled at her and winked. “I forgot how bossy you were.”

She laughed, her face filled with joy.

He didn’t care about the many neighbors or his team lined up at the starting line for the potato sack race but bent down to kiss her soundly. He thought she might pull away, but she curled a hand around his neck and tugged him closer. The slight chill in the fall air evaporated, and he felt cocooned in warmth.

“Ah, Cal,” Kaci called out. “You might want to pay attention, or we’re going to skunk the two of you.”

Cal lifted his head, his brain clearing, and he looked around. His teammates were paired in sacks of their own. Rick and Brynn. Kaci and Shane. All lined up at the starting line in the grassy area that had once held the pump house while Max watched them. Cal and the team had worked several backbreaking days to clear the debris and resod the area, but the work was well worth it when the ache that appeared on Tara’s face every time she’d looked at the ruins had been erased.

Shane peered at Kaci. “No need to warn him. Even without his distraction we can take them.”

Tara lifted her chin. “You may rescue people and free hostages, but potato sack races? That’s my wheelhouse, and you are going down today.”

Laughter burst from Cal’s chest. He was so proud of Tara. Of how she’d overcome her night terrors and moved on with her life. She’d lived with June the last few months while she looked for a job, and Cal had spent many days on the farm with them.

Having grown up in a city, he hadn’t been able to imagine farm life, but Tara had done her best to teach him, which even included a stint in the barn to milk the cows. Cal loved Tara, but he never wanted to experience that again.

“On your mark!” June, acting as the starting official, shouted through a megaphone.

“I love you, Tara,” Cal said. “And I’ll do my best in the race, but no matter the outcome, I hope you’ll still love me, too.”

“Of course I will, but where’s that SEAL resolve you’re so famous for?” Her face filled with grit and determination. “Come on, man. Remember, the only easy day was yesterday.”

Cal grinned at her. “Um, honey. This is just a race.”

She gaped at him. “It’s my reputation at stake.”

“Get set!” June shouted.

Tara faced the field ahead. “Here we go. Now focus. We’ve got this.”

Cal tightened his hold but also took a moment to pat his pockets, content to find the envelope and small box right where he’d put them.

“Go!”

Cal shot his free leg forward and paid attention to Tara’s rhythm as she hurled her body ahead with abandon. He wanted to glance down and see her fierce look of competition, but he had to focus to keep from falling on his face. He felt his teammates all around him, but he kept facing forward as they fell into a rhythm.

Free leg. Bagged leg. Free leg. Bagged leg. Over and over. Like an approach in one of his rescues if he’d ever had a woman attached to his side. The thought made him chuckle, but then he sobered. In a moment, he hoped to be attached to this woman for life.

They powered ahead, the finish line only three feet away.

“Ready,” Tara called out. “Now!”

She hurled her body forward, taking Cal with her. They crashed through the bright red finish ribbon and tumbled to the ground. Cal took the fall on his free arm and rolled to protect Tara from hitting hard.

“We did it,” she cried out.

“Yes, we did, honey.” He hugged her to his chest. “Our first test as a couple, and we passed.”

He’d said first, but they’d been mightily tested the last few months as they worked to get over their issues and come out the other side stronger and still together.

“I demand a rematch,” Rick called out as he and Brynn stumbled over the finish line.

“Yeah,” Brynn said. “You had a ringer.”

“I agree,” Shane added. “We’ll go with the best two out of three.”

“Um.” Tara sat up, sounding like she was considering it. “No!”

Cal laughed and sat up next to her. Consternation was written on his teammates’ faces. None of them liked to lose, Cal included, but today wasn’t about them. It was about Tara.

Cal got to his feet. “No can do on the rematch. June has our Thanksgiving meal waiting for us, right, June?”

She nodded and lifted her megaphone. “Can I have everyone’s attention?”

Her voice carried over the neighbors and friends gathered for her annual Thanksgiving celebration, and their conversations stilled as they turned to look at her.

“This year I’m very thankful for the brave men and women who saved my sweet Tara’s life.” She waved a hand over the Knights, surprising all of them. “There is no fiercer or braver team than the Knights, and I want to publicly thank them for their service to our country.”

Applause broke out, and Cal felt himself blush. He and the others didn’t like or need public acclaim. All they needed was the satisfaction of knowing they’d helped others.

“You’re blushing.” Tara gaped at him.

“I…we don’t need this.”

“But you deserve it. You’re the White Knights, and you ride in on your white horses to save people like me.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.

“Did I say something wrong?”

He shook his head. “We’re not special in the sense of being put on a pedestal. We’re men and women like the average Joe. Sure, we’re highly trained, but we just do our jobs, which happens to be helping people in crisis.”

“Take it from someone whose life has been saved several times by you. You’re not an average Joe. You really are special.”

He shook his head. “No more than anyone else. We’re gifted by God with special skills, but everyone is. They just don’t demonstrate them in such a dramatic fashion.”

“Now,” June said, ending the applause. “I want to thank them privately as well. We had scheduled a Thanksgiving Day meal earlier, but they were called out to an incident. So today, I’m going to disappear for a bit and sit down to my table with these amazing people. Please, carry on while we’re gone, and we’ll be back soon.”

She set down her megaphone and looked at them. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s move, people.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tara saluted and winked at Cal. “You’re about to find out that June is tougher than your drill sergeants or even Max.”

“I heard that.” June’s laughter trailed behind her.

“As did I,” Max grumbled good-naturedly.

Tara fired him an impish grin before heading for the house, and Max actually laughed.

“Oh, and I should mention.” Tara turned back to the group. “There’s always the egg toss after lunch if you need to prove something.”

“You’re on,” Rick replied. “No steadier hands than mine.”

They moved through groups of smiling people and passed the pole barn holding tables filled with potluck dishes brought by June’s neighbors and church friends. A big water trough sat at the entrance and held icy-cold drinks. In an empty cornfield, June had added a bouncy house, huge piles of sand where children could dig for prizes, and of course, the race area. The sense of community almost overwhelmed Cal, but in a good way.

“June sure knows how to throw a party,” Tara said.

“The closest I’ve ever come to this was my church picnics growing up.” Cal took Tara’s hand. “But then I was alone. Now I have you.”

“Your parents didn’t attend?”

“It was another Sunday to them, and they dropped me off at the door as usual.” He shook his head. “It’s strange to say this, but I didn’t mind. Church was my solitude. Time away from my parents arguing about money. Just peace and love.”

Tara frowned, and Cal didn’t know what he’d said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing now, but I should never have gotten so far away from all of this. I let the stresses of life separate me from it.”

“So strange, isn’t it?” He met her gaze. “We ignore the obvious thing right in front of our faces and try to fix our own problems.”

“Like fighting the attraction to the person meant for you when it’s the best thing for you.” She threaded her fingers in his. “But we’re done with that.”

He nodded and walked in contentment up the stairs to the porch.

Tara let go of his hand and held the screen door. “I’ll take coats, and there’s a bathroom down the hall where you can wash your hands before taking a seat in the dining room.”

She gathered the jackets, and Cal helped hang them in the foyer closet as he inhaled the wonderful scent of roasted turkey. He was looking forward to a traditional Thanksgiving meal without the bickering that had always been present at his family’s table.

He and Tara washed up in the old-fashioned farm sink in the country kitchen with gingham wallpaper and frilly curtains.

As he dried his hands, he turned to June, who’d settled a flowery apron over her clothes. “What can I do to help?”

“Carry, carry, carry,” she replied. “I have a ton of dishes that need to go to the table.” She turned to Tara. “You need to finish setting the silverware.”

“I told you she’s a drill sergeant.” Tara laughed and grabbed napkins with an autumn leaf pattern before opening a mahogany chest to remove gleaming silverware.

June went straight to the refrigerator.

“Start with these, Cal,” she said, and placed a spaghetti salad and another fluffy green salad with marshmallows on the island. “Then you can come back for the hot items.”

He picked up the bowls. “I appreciate all of your hard work.”

“I’m happy to do it anytime.” June rested a hand on his arm and smiled. “Now get going before my turkey gets cold.”

All told, he carried out salads, mashed and sweet potatoes, stuffing, two gravy boats, large fluffy rolls, and three bowls of vegetables that June had raised in her garden and preserved. On the final trip back to the kitchen, he retrieved the golden-brown turkey and placed the platter at the head of the table.

“You’ll sit here, Cal. I want you to carve.” June took off the apron and tossed it into the kitchen.

“I’ve never carved a turkey,” he protested as chairs were scraped against the wooden floor and his friends took their seats.

“I would think in all your SEAL training someone taught you how to use a knife,” June replied.

“They did, but this is—”

“Just a turkey.” She marched to the other end of the table to sit. “C’mon everyone. Take a seat wherever you’d like.”

Cal pulled out a chair for Tara and met her gaze. “Now I know where you get your bossiness.”

“Hey.” She gave him a playful punch. “I keep telling you, I’m not bossy.”

Cal opened his mouth to respond, but Kaci stepped up to them. “Before you say anything, Cal, ‘yes, dear’ is the right answer. It’s always the right answer and the sooner you get that, the sooner your life will be filled with bliss.”

Kaci and Tara shared a conspiratorial look as they sat, and Cal smiled over the way Tara fit in so well with his team. He took his seat at the head of the table and felt like a fraud with the big carving knife and fork in his hands. But if June wanted him to carve, and Tara hadn’t disagreed, he’d do his best not to mutilate the turkey.

Once everyone was seated, June clapped her hands to gain everyone’s attention. She bowed her head and the others followed suit.

“Thank you, Father, for this time together to share this meal. You brought these special people into our lives to save my precious Tara, and for that, I am so thankful. Bless all of them, keep them safe in their work and, Father, let them know how important they are in keeping our country safe. Amen.”

A chorus of amens came from the group, but no one moved.

“What’s everyone waiting for?” June asked. “Cal, start carving, and the rest of you, grab a bowl.”

While food was passed around, Cal stood to carve, and he didn’t actually mutilate the turkey, more like critically wounded it.

“Perfect job for your first time.” Tara took the plate of turkey and handed it down the table.

“Yeah, man,” Kaci said. “If we ever have a callout where turkeys attack, you can lead the charge against them.”

The group erupted in laughter, and Cal joined in.

“Hey, it’s not so far-fetched,” Shane said when they’d settled down. “Where I grew up in Florida, we had wild turkeys that roamed our neighborhood, and they didn’t like the mailman so they attacked him almost every day.”

“Seriously?” June asked.

Shane nodded.

June shook her head. “With all the hunters around here, those turkeys wouldn’t last long.”

When silverware clanked to empty plates, Cal patted his pocket again. For a moment he worried that he might botch this very special day, but then he let it go. He’d prayed about this decision, and he was confident that proposing to Tara was the right thing to do.

He reached into his pocket and palmed the ring box. Standing, he turned Tara’s chair to face him and got down on one knee. Her mouth fell open, and he heard June gasp, then clap at the end of the table. He waited a moment for his teammates to offer smart-aleck comments, but no one spoke.

“Tara.” He opened the ring box, revealing the diamond Brynn and Kaci had helped him pick out. “You’ve changed my world. Dramatically. I couldn’t be more thankful for having you in my life, and I couldn’t be any happier. Well, except if you agree to marry me. I love you. Will you be my wife?”

He expected her to take her time, to think about it, but she threw her arms around his neck. “Yes!”

He drew back and settled his lips on hers, putting every ounce of his love in the kiss. His teammates erupted in applause and congratulations, and he remembered the day when he’d stood on the porch watching June and Tara and wished for a family in his life. He didn’t have to wish any longer. This group was his family, and with them, June, and Tara, he’d come home at last.

Tara leaned back, her heart overflowing with love as she held out her hand for Cal to slide on the princess-cut solitaire. She twisted and turned her hand to admire the ring. Overhead light caught the diamond’s brilliance, sparkling in Tara’s vision.

“It’s beautiful, Cal,” she whispered, tears in her eyes.

“It’s nice to see happy tears in your eyes.” His voice was so choked with emotion that her tears started to flow in earnest.

She was happy for herself, yes, but even happier at seeing Cal’s joy. She started to swipe away her tears, but he gently erased them with his thumb.

She circled her arms around his neck again and stood on tiptoe to hug him. She wanted to forget that everyone else was with them, but movement at the end of the table caught her attention.

June stood and came to join them. “Congratulations, sweetheart.”

Tara extricated herself from Cal’s fierce hold and hugged her aunt, the sweet scent of honey and vanilla wrapping around Tara and reminding her of how thankful she was for her precious aunt.

“I’m so happy for you.” June released Tara and turned to Cal. “You’re a fine man, Cal, and I’m proud to have you as part of our family.”

June gave him a quick hug, but Max requested everyone’s attention and cut it short.

“A toast,” Max announced, holding up his iced tea glass. “To Cal and Tara and many years of happiness.”

They grabbed their glasses and clinked with the others while the group called out additional congratulations. Tara basked in the joy filling the room, knowing full well that days like this could always be interrupted by pagers going off and the team rushing into danger on another callout. A moment’s apprehension lit in her heart, but she forced it away as she’d learned to do the past few months and smiled up at Cal.

He set down his glass and met her gaze. “One more thing before we go out and trounce everyone in the egg toss.”

Amidst groans, he reached into his pocket and drew out an envelope. He pressed it in her free hand. “I wanted to give this to you ever since you told me about the scarf your mother bought for you. It wasn’t appropriate to do so at the time, but now I can think of nothing more fitting.”

So many questions in her mind, she set her glass on the table and opened the envelope. Inside, she found two first-class tickets to Paris for next spring.

“Oh, Cal. How amazing. It’s perfect.”

His smile widened, and he pulled her into his arms.

“Springtime in Paris with you,” she whispered for his ears only. “I’d be happy going anywhere with you, even the barn, but once again, you’ve made my dreams come true.”

“Let’s stick to Paris,” he said, and chuckled. “And never talk of visiting the barn again.”

“I suppose now that you two got engaged it means you’ll be too busy making googly eyes all day and will change your mind about participating in the egg toss,” Rick said, a note of humor in his tone.

“Nothing is out of the picture for us,” Tara replied as she squeezed Cal’s hand and smiled at him. “Nothing ever again.”