6Ships That Pass
Half a world away. That had been their story once he'd accepted another posting. And now he was even farther away from her, and the world might be coming to an end. Literally, an end to all things.
And there she was. If he tried, he could imagine that was a window between rooms, and she was here on this ship, looking just as beautiful as always. How had she managed it? He had years of wear and tear on him. She shouldn't look as good as she did.
How long had it been? Eight years, since they'd agreed the long-distance life wasn't for them? Ten? He knew nine years had passed since they'd been together in the same room.
They'd called it quits. Now he wished they'd been more tenacious, more willing to bend. Much more realistic from the very start. Did they really decide to shape the rest of their lives through the flip of a coin? Did he honestly believe either one of them would be capable of giving up their service career so easily?
He never expected it to be him. He'd honestly believed the coin flip would have gone his way; she'd be the one to give up hers, to be at his side in London. Captain Harmon Rabb, Jr. never expected he would be the one sticking that "retired" after his name.
He must have been crazy. They both must have been crazy, to think they could be happy if either of them had actually given it all up forever.
But he'd stuck it out for over a year, the supportive soon-to-be spouse, until he couldn't stand it anymore. She'd said she understood. Their emotional bond had stretched when he first picked up his career again, and they'd stayed together despite the distances between them. If he'd taken a shore position near San Diego, maybe it would have worked out; but he'd been offered assignment to a ship and jumped on it. Over time he was away on cruises so much, they fell apart.
And yet - he must have been crazy to give her up. She knew him better, sometimes, than he knew himself. From the moment Major Sarah MacKenzie burst onto the scene at JAG, she'd bewitched him. He accepted that. He thought he'd be able to handle keeping her at arms' length. Colleagues. They always kept it professional - until they couldn't anymore.
And despite the heartbreak, he never regretted a moment he'd spent with Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie. He'd go back to her in a heartbeat, if he could. If the time were right.
Naturally, as always, this wasn't the right time.
All hell was breaking loose on his ship. A trio of ISIS supporters had just taken over their Damage Control Center. The traitors could cut off all communications from the ship to the outside world and cause general havoc on his ship. He'd just watched terrorists launch four missiles, hoping to bring on a war that would destroy Israel, Saudi Arabia, and, possibly, the United States of America. Was the world about to end while they were helpless to do anything about it? Or would their own world end first, by terrorists blowing up his ship, the USS Allegiance, and killing his people, the thousands of Navy personnel who live inside this floating naval air station?
If the world didn't end tomorrow . . . if ever there was a right time . . . he'd go to her.
Love's funny that way. And this time, he vowed, they'd find a way to make it work.