Trust

"See you tomorrow, I'll be here at nine-thirty. Wish me luck."

I entered the bar and was greeted by five men, including John Clayton.

"What'ya have Mark?"

I quickly looked at the taps, "A Stone would be nice."

"Rodriguez, one Stone for our friend."

The bartender poured my pint and the six of us grabbed a table.

John was obviously the leader here, so he started it rolling. "Mark, we're not trying to give you a hard time, but you have to understand, three of us at this table, including me, and Roddy, the bartender, all owe our lives to Chuck Turner. Did Ginny tell you anything about that?"

"No, I saw the Navy Cross, so I knew it had to be something special, but I didn't want to intrude so I kept quiet."

"Good for you, shows respect. I'll tell you though. We were on patrol in the mountains near Pakistan when we were ambushed by forty or so Taliban. We couldn't call in an airstrike because it would have caused an avalanche. We couldn't retreat because they would have held the high ground and picked us off. Chuck ordered us to flank them while he and Rodriguez stayed in position to draw them closer. It took us three hours in that rugged terrain to move behind the Taliban. For three hours Chuck and Roddy kept them occupied.

"We succeeded in the flanking and with the high ground we were able to wipe them out. But, by the time we reached Chuck and Roddy, both had been hit. Chuck had four wounds and he was still fighting. He died in my arms. Roddy was unconscious with head and leg wounds. Roddy has a prosthetic leg and that's why he's a bartender instead of on active duty.

"So that's why Ginny is our responsibility. At least until someone comes along and removes the responsibility from us. Someone worthy."

"I understand John. Let me answer you this way. Ask Ginny if I ever did anything during the three years we were together that was disrespectful. My worse sin was ever letting her go, but I think that worked out better for her because she met Chuck and had their son. I didn't have the maturity back then to be a good husband or father.

"I've never touched a woman in anger, even when I caught my first wife with another man. I may not have what you have, the guts to charge men shooting back at you, but I'm not a coward either. I wouldn't back down if it meant protecting the person I love from harm.

"I recently figured out I'm a bit self-centered, but I'll be working on that. So, now that I know how things stand, let me ask you all." I stopped to look around the table. "Do I have your permission to continue seeing Ginny?"

People may think this was a little overboard, asking permission to date an adult, but I saw it as a way to show respect for their obvious caretaking of a comrade's widow. I wasn't being a phony, but I am a good salesman because I know how to read people pretty well. And it was the right thing to ask because the answer was a broad smile from John and the others.

"Roddy, can you bring us a round of the good stuff? Make it the Knob Creek."

Rodriguez brought seven shot glasses half filled with the amber liquid. John held up his glass for a toast. "To Captain Chuck Turner" Rodriguez joined us and we all touched glasses and drank.

We stayed for another couple hours, drank slow to avoid a DUI, but covered a variety of topics. At one point I was told why Ginny wasn't currently dating anyone. John gave me the lowdown.

"Ginny and another Marine were starting to get serious last year. The trouble was, Ginny couldn't get serious with another Marine, not after losing her first husband. And Tom lived his whole life wanting to be a Marine. Tom told Ginny that he would quit the Marines and Ginny told Tom that if he did she would never talk to him again. Tom transferred to Lejeune right after that, Ginny hasn't been serious since then until she received your email. Doreen said she called that day fairly excited about your visit. Don't tell I said anything."

"Won't say a thing, but thanks for sharing."

The next day began my romancing of Ginny. I racked up serious Alaska Air frequent flier miles flying between Portland and San Diego; every other weekend spent with Ginny and Kevin. The hotel rooms were getting expensive on top of the airfare and Ginny wasn't ready for us to consummate the relationship, John and Doreen were kind enough to put me up in their guest room.

At home I did my best to work on my interpersonal skills; even my boss noticed a difference in my behavior. I joined the company softball team, in San Diego I played doubles tennis at the base courts, Ginny was my partner and we did pretty good for new partners.

It was my fifth trip down to San Diego, three months since my first visit, I stepped out of the terminal and into Ginny's car; when I looked back, Kevin's car seat was empty. "Where's Kevin?"

"Doreen and John have him this weekend. I have a surprise for you; I hope you like it." was Ginny's reply as she pulled from the curb, left the airport and drove north on I-5.

Ginny wouldn't tell me any more regarding our destination so we caught up on other things. She told me Kevin was disappointed he wouldn't see me until Sunday; he was really growing attached to me. I could tell that pleased Ginny just by the tone of her voice. As we drove I took the time to notice Ginny was wearing the same blue sundress she wore for our first lunch, but this time she didn't have a bra under the dress.

We pulled into the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Resort. She gave me a big smile. "I think it's time, don't you?" My answer to her question was a broad shit-eating grin. As soon as she parked the car I grabbed her and gave her a kiss.

"You know I've fallen in love with you again, don't you Mark?"

"Well thank god, because I was hoping you would ever since that first weekend. I love you Ginny."

What a weekend! Ginny and I ordered room service and made love all Friday night. It's funny, we had sex two of the three years when we were dating in high school, so you have some expectations of what's it's going to be like. But the intervening years taught both of us some things - thank goodness - because what we did that night was nothing like the fumbling awkwardness of those two teenagers over twelve years ago. Let me just say that by the time I passed out after 2:00 am that there was a giant smile on my face.

We played tennis Saturday afternoon and made love Saturday night. Sunday morning she surprised the hell out of me by taking us to the nude beach below the cliffs at Torrey Pines. Ginny kept her bikini bottoms on, but did remove her top. I got brave and removed my trunks for a half hour before worrying about sun burn and putting them back on.

"How did you know about this beach? Don't tell me you've done this before."

"Don't say anything, but Doreen and John come down here once and a while. Doreen told me and swore me to secrecy. Now you're sworn in, too."

We people-watched for a bit and even thought about joining the volleyball game, but decided maybe next time. I thought playing volleyball with a group of naked co-eds would be an excellent way to improve my interpersonal, team-building skills.

It was early afternoon and time to pick up Kevin, so we headed back up the cliffs and over to the Clayton's home. John greeted me with a big handshake and a bottle of beer, Doreen gave me a hug and a big smile, Kevin wrapped his arms around my legs. We had dinner with the Claytons, the entire evening Kevin spent by my side. He seemed sad when Ginny dropped me off at the airport. On the flight home I made a decision.

Two weeks later we were back at the Clayton's for Friday evening drinks. When John and I were alone I filled him in. "I'm going to ask Ginny to marry me; unless you have a reason I shouldn't."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't. She madly in love with you and I can't think of a nicer guy or anything that could make her any happier. Does this mean she'll be moving to Portland?"

If she says 'yes' and if she agrees I'm working on getting us back to the Chicagoland area. She misses her folks and siblings."

"That's great Mark. I know she's talked about her family with Doreen. How are you going to handle this with Kevin?"

"I'm going to take him to lunch tomorrow and have a chat. Keep your fingers crossed for me."

"You may be surprised by his response; that kid likes you."

The next day Ginny looked at me funny when I told her Kevin and I had to run some errands together, but I got away with it by excusing it as guy bonding time. We headed straight to Red Robin and grabbed a table. Over two milkshakes I popped the question.

"Kevin, what would you say if I asked your mother to marry me, would that be OK?" I held my breath waiting for his answer.

"That would be nice Mr. Miller. My mom really likes you."

"And you Kevin; do you like me enough for me to live with your mom and you?"

"Yea. Does this make you my dad?"

"Kinda. Nobody could take the place of your real dad. What did you call him?"

"I called him 'dad'."

"Then how about if your mom and I get married that you call me 'pop'? Would that be OK?"

Kevin had a nice sweet smile on his face and answered with a short, "Sure." We headed back to his house. Two down, one to go.

I figured Kevin would have a hard time keeping our conversation a secret; as soon as we walked in the door I had the ring in my hand, Kevin carried a bouquet of red roses. Ginny smiled when she saw the roses, then looked confused when I dropped to my knees.

"Ginny, will you marry me?" Not very original, but straight to the point.

Ginny dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around me.

"Yes, I love you Mark." That's all I needed to hear. Kevin wrapped his arms around us. Unfortunately, he forgot to drop the roses first and the thorns scratched my neck. Fortunately, that was probably the worst thing that happened in our years together.

Epilogue

I won't draw it out. My life with Ginny is blessed in so many ways. We married three months after I proposed. By then I found a great sales job for a start-up north of Chicago; close enough to our families and our old friends. Kevin now has a brother and a sister; they all call me 'pop' since that's what Kevin calls me. Ginny still looks amazing after three kids, we still play doubles tennis and please don't tell anyone, but we learned to play volleyball and get a game in down at Black's Beach whenever we visit the Claytons.

Last May our family met the Clayton clan in Washington DC. We did the usual tours and on Memorial Day we visited Chuck's gravesite at Arlington to pay our respects. It was ten years since Captain Turner was taken from his wife and son; it was a sad, somber and proud day. I was glad John and Doreen were there to help me comfort Kevin and Ginny. It took a full day for any smiles to return and for days afterwards you could see the hurt from time to time. But it was the right thing to do; to pay our respects to any person - whether in the military, police or fire department - that voluntarily lives his or her life knowing someday they may be required to sacrifice everything in performance of their duties. We returned from our trip and it took a few weeks, but things returned to normal; even with Captain Charles Turner's flag, medals and photo on the bookcase. It's humbling for me that Ginny and Kevin allowed me in their lives after having such a brave man as their husband and father.

As for me, well I'm glad I opened my eyes and ears to learn what trust is really all about. Even Hank stopped threatening to kick my sorry butt. Although he still gets mad at me any time I miss the cut off man during our softball league games. My excuse is I'm distracted by the beautiful blonde with the three cheering kids in the stands. My life is good.