style="font-size:15px;"> “Ma’am? Pshaw!” Rose wagged her finger in Annie’s face. “Young lady, you call me Rose or nothing at all! I don’t want any of that military jargon used on me! I’m a civilian, remember?”
With a laugh, Annie agreed, feeling welcomed, if only by the lone civilian in the office, to her new home for the next three years. The single fly in the ointment—and it was a considerable one—was the scowling Joe Donnally, who made it more than obvious that she wasn’t welcome at all on his turf.
Chapter Two
EM Clubs traditionally were noisy and crowded at noontime, and Annie was grateful when Rose decided to drive over to the base cafeteria instead. Once they’d selected their lunches, she found them a quiet corner.
“I think it’s wonderful that Captain Ramsey got you transferred here,” Rose said again as she sat down.
Annie smiled briefly and sipped her iced tea. “It’s sure a change from North Carolina.”
Rose waved her hand, then took a bite of her tuna sandwich. “Isn’t it, though? Camp Reed has three temperatures—hot, hotter and hottest.”
Laughing, Annie relaxed more. She liked Rose’s easygoing nature. “I think I’ll adjust. I was born in the New Mexico desert.”
Her eyes twinkling, Rose said, “That’s right—the captain mentioned that you were Navajo. I haven’t met too many Native American marines. What prompted you to enlist?”
“My grandfather was a code talker in World War II. He saw that I was restless, that I wanted to see more of the world than the reservation I grew up on.”
“So he figured a hitch in the corps would cure you?”
With a grin, Annie nodded. “Yes.”
“And it didn’t?”
“No. I signed up for a second one. I’ve been in six years.”
“Do you plan to get your twenty in and retire?”
“I hope to,” Annie agreed.
“Did you have to leave someone special behind at Camp Lejeune?”
For a moment, pain flitted across Annie’s heart, but she knew Rose was being kindly, not nosy. “Well…there was someone…but he died in Desert Storm.”
“Oh, dear,” Rose murmured, and reached out to touch Annie’s arm. “I’m so very sorry. Were you in Desert Storm, too?”
“Yes. We need provost-marshal and brig people in a wartime situation, too, I’m afraid.”
Frowning, Rose took a few stabs at her salad with her fork. “Were you married?”
“No, engaged. Jeff and I decided to wait until Storm was over to get married.” Annie shrugged, feeling the residual loss and pain filtering through her. “I guess it was the best decision. I don’t know….”
“My grandma always told me it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved.”
“Your grandmother was a wise woman.”
Rose smiled a little. “Well, who knows? Maybe you’ll meet someone here at Camp Reed.”
“No,” Annie murmured. “I made myself a promise never to get involved with another marine. I think a civilian man will be safer in the long run.”
“Now you sound like Libby Tyler—she’s a riding instructor here on the base. You know, I think Captain Ramsey really likes her. Joe is doing some preliminary investigating for Libby right now, as a matter of fact. She’s noticed that someone’s been riding five of the stable-owned horses nearly to death about once a month. She feels something fishy is going on, so Captain Ramsey sent Joe to check it out.” She paused in her monologue to take a sip of cola. “Libby was married to a marine helicopter pilot,” she explained, grimacing momentarily. “He died three years ago in a crash here at Reed, and since then she’s sworn off marines as potential mates.”
“I don’t blame her,” Annie said softly, feeling sympathetic pain for the unknown woman. “People in our line of work face more dangers than most.”
“I don’t agree,” Rose countered matter-of-factly. “I mean, I could be killed in a car crash on the way to work at this base on any given day. If marines follow the proper safety procedures, they don’t get hurt any more than your average human.”
“Except in case of war,” Annie amended wryly.
“Yes, but that’s the only exception.”
Annie finished her salad and started on her french fries. “Do you think our boss is serious about Ms. Tyler?” she asked, intrigued.
Rose grinned. “I think so.”
“Captain Ramsey was at Camp Lejeune when I first enlisted. I liked him a lot. He was a fair man who cared for the people who worked under his command.”
“Nothing’s changed that I can see,” Rose murmured. “But I have to tell you, the last commanding officer, Captain Jacobs, was a stinker. I felt sorry for the enlisted people who worked under him. He was a terrible manager and the entire brig section more or less collapsed under the weight of his mismanagement. If it hadn’t been for Joe Donnally, I think a lot worse could have happened.”
Annie’s heart raced momentarily. “Sergeant Donnally…”
“He’s quite a man, isn’t he?” Rose gushed.
Not sure how to answer that, Annie kept her own counsel. After a moment, she offered, “He made quite an impression on me.” At least that was the truth.
“Joe’s special. He’s a tough sergeant and he’s a fighter from the word go. I don’t know how many times he squared off with Captain Jacobs. They had awful shouting matches behind Jacobs’s office door. I mean, you could hear their voices clear down the passageway sometimes. Jacobs tried to get Joe transferred, but he fought that, too, and won.” Rose wagged her finger at Annie. “I’m telling you, Joe Donnally single-handedly supported the brig personnel during those two years. He was more the officer than Jacobs. He got things done right and on time—and then Jacobs took all the credit. Jacobs got even by not allowing Joe to get his next sergeant’s stripe. He gave him bad ratings in his personnel record. But Joe didn’t care. He knew he stood between Jacobs and the welfare of his people.”
“So Joe should be an E-6 instead of an E-5?” Annie asked slowly, thinking of her stupid remark to him about passing her E-5 test to become a sergeant. Perhaps that’s why he had rounded on her so angrily—she’d struck an old wound.
“Yes, he should have made E-6 at least a year and a half ago. I’m sure Captain Ramsey will right the wrong as soon as he can, but the poor man’s snowed under with work. Jacobs left our office in a disaster, moralewise and every other way.”
No wonder Joe Donnally had been short with her, Annie ruminated, folding her hands and resting her chin against them. “Is Captain Ramsey working to create better conditions for the brig chasers?”
Chuckling,
