Thrilled
“Come on in, Jared.”
He pushed away from the doorframe he’d just knocked on and walked into the admiral’s office. “Is it a good time?”
“Perfect. I just finished up something and figured you’d be by before your class this morning. Just the one for this block, right?”
He nodded. “Since it’s condensed, it’s a longer class time, but still the same amount of work.”
“You’ll do fine. How are your parents doing?”
“They’re good. I talked to my mother last night. My father was out grilling dinner for her.”
Kevin and his father met in college and had been friends ever since, but neither of them ever shared that information with anyone. No one needed to know how close the admiral and Jared really were. He didn’t want anyone to think there was favoritism.
“Do you wish you went home for the weekend to be with your family?”
His siblings were there for Mother’s Day, but it would have been too much travel for a short period of time. Besides, he wasn’t about to give up the plans he had with Shelby.
“It worked out. They knew I was starting classes today and just finished up last week. They plan on coming to visit sometime this summer.”
“Your father told me.”
“When did you talk to him?” Jared asked, frowning.
“A few weeks ago. Just an email. No, he wasn’t checking in on you. It had to do with something completely different.”
Jared wanted to call the admiral a liar, but never would. He hated the worry his parents had when he entered the Navy, and how it magnified after the explosion. They were hoping he’d leave and get a job in the private sector. It wasn’t what he wanted. He liked where he was. Or he thought he did.
Now he just needed to find another place to like here. He wasn’t sure teaching was it, but agreed to give it one full year.
“So what’s this project you wanted to talk to me about?”
Kevin pulled a folder out of his desk and slid it over. “It’s highly confidential. The Navy is looking into a different assault rifle to take in the field. They’re looking to test them, but before we get to that stage we want all the specs and want them broken down from every angle.”
Jared opened the file to see simple basic designs and dimensions for the nasty-looking weapon with more power behind it than anything he’d handled before; he could tell right away. “You want me to look these over? There’s not much here right yet.”
“That’s part of it; when we get everything else. That’s all they’re willing to release at the moment for obvious reasons. It’d have to be done in DC. We don’t want that file off-site. We’re getting a team together to go test them out and are waiting for clearance. Everything should be set by the time your class block is done in a few weeks. If you decide you want to do this, you’ll need to travel with the team to the vendor site, then DC for the rest. Once there, they will release more specs, but not everything. That’s where you’ll come in and break it down and test it before they get a full commitment.”
“What about my classes for the second block?” he asked, feeling some excitement.
If he’d learned one thing in the time he’d known Shelby, it was to change and alter course when needed, but not to let it bring you down. He’d let too much bring him down already and he was ready to be done with it. This might be a step in the right direction.
“If you agree, they’ll fill that class with another professor.”
“How long would I be gone?”
“Just a week or two. Not long.”
“Why me?” he asked, sitting back. “Am I the only engineer on this?”
“You won’t be the only one. One other out of DC and both of you were hand selected. And why you? Because you’re the best there is here. I know it and so do others.”
“You suggested me?” he asked, wondering if he should be annoyed or thrilled over it.
“Actually, I didn’t.” When Jared frowned, Kevin just laughed at him. “I know how you feel about anyone knowing our connection. Your name has come up a few times in different circles. The minute it was for this, I felt like it was a good time to jump in and give my opinion.”
Jared knew that was all it would take. Anyone the admiral endorsed was normally signed on.
“When do you want me to start?”
“So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah. I think I need to. I like the teaching more than I thought, but I need to know if there is something more out there for me. Something else. I don’t want to settle.”
“You’ve never been someone to settle for anything in your life, Jared. Why do you think you are now?”
He shrugged, not wanting to go into it right now. His internal struggles were solely his and probably trivial to some. “I just want to look at all avenues.”
“That sounds like you.”
Jared hesitated for a minute and finally said, “Can I ask you a favor?” He hated asking anyone for anything, but Kevin was the only one he felt he could go to for this.
“Anything.”
“I’ve been seeing someone.” Kevin grinned, forcing Jared to too. “She’s a widow. Her husband was in the Navy. Died about two years ago or so. I just wanted to know if you could tell me something about him or what happened. What he was even doing here in Annapolis.”
“You haven’t asked her?”
“I haven’t wanted to. She’s brought him up. Talks about him openly, but I get this underlying feeling that asking too many specifics might make her question my reasoning.”
Kevin pushed back. “What is your reasoning?”
“I’m not sure. She’s really strong. Very independent—almost annoyingly so—but I have a feeling she hasn’t always been. She’d said she was looking for an escape from her family. I don’t even know why. It seems like they had a good relationship, but maybe not a strong one. That maybe her independence came after actually meeting him.”
“And that bothers you?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m confused. I just wanted to know about him.”
Kevin inched closer to his computer. “What’s his name?”
“Ethan McDonald.”
Jared was quiet while Kevin hit a few keys and then seemed to be reading stuff over. “Nothing major here. Looks like he was a seaman. Maintenance work really. That’s what he was transferred here for. Maintenance of the grounds. He was at sea and there was an accident below deck.”
“What kind of accident?”
“It says that a pipe burst and when he was cleaning up, he slipped and fell, hit his head. There were witnesses and it was ruled an accident. Do you think it was something else?”
“Not at all. I just wasn’t sure.” He got the feeling Ethan was just a body. Not one that wanted to fight. Not one that wanted to serve his country. Just one looking for a way out of the life he had.
There was nothing wrong with that. Everyone had their own reasons for enlisting, but it surprised him that Shelby ended up with someone like Ethan. Someone that didn’t seem to strive for much. Someone so different than him. Was that the appeal for Shelby now? Or was he just over analyzing it?
“Was he ever deployed?”
“He’d never been to war. Just out to sea. He was assigned here doing work on the grounds when he wasn’t out to sea, like I said.”
“So he wasn’t here long?”
“No. A few months before the accident. Why all the questions? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to know more about him.” Hoping to maybe figure out more about Shelby, but now he realized it was stupid on his part. Shelby was her own woman. Just because she hadn’t been married to Ethan long, and they didn’t see much of each other didn’t mean there was anything to look for.
He guessed if he was honest with himself, he was hunting for ghosts. For what he needed to fight for or was up against in winning Shelby over. And admitting that to himself was downright scary.
Truth was, after this weekend, he found out he was falling in love with her and needed to know if there was anything standing in his way.