She shook her head, sliding a strand of her dark hair behind one ear before saying, “I think it would be better if you found someone else for the job.”
“Did Sergeant Wilder tell you to come talk to me on his behalf?” her father asked suspiciously.
“No.” The question surprised her. “What makes you say that?”
“The fact that he’s no more pleased about being given this assignment than you are about having him along.”
“There you go then,” Prudence said. “All the more reason to get someone else. You’ve got thousands of Marines here.”
“I’m not the base commander here, princess. I was lucky to get Sergeant Wilder for this assignment on such short notice. I’m afraid you’ll have to cancel the field trip if you don’t take him.” Pausing, he looked over her shoulder to the open doorway. “Ah, here he is now. Come on in, Sergeant.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, sir,” Joe said, noting the cozy father-daughter setup.
“You’re not interrupting. My daughter was just talking about you. She’s not happy at having you assigned to accompany her.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, sir.” What a lie! The truth was that Joe was filled with relief. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else.…”
“Nonsense,” his commanding officer said. “As I was just telling my daughter, it’s you or no one.”
Joe’s heart fell.
Prudence looked equally disappointed with the news. “We’re not canceling this trip,” she said. “These kids have been looking forward to this for weeks.”
“Twenty-five kids in the Blue Ridge mountains is a bit much for two adults to supervise, don’t you think?” Joe said, still holding out a slim chance of escaping.
“Absolutely,” Prudence agreed, the first time she’d agreed with anything he’d said all day. “Which is why there will only be five students coming on the field trip. The entire class got to come on the tour of the base, but participation in the field trip to the mountains was limited to the top five finalists in our Class Knowledge Fair.” Hopping off her father’s desk, she kissed her dad on the cheek before turning to face Joe. “I guess it looks like we’re stuck with each other.”
Chapter Three
“I can’t believe you’re actually calling me for help,” Curt Blackwell noted, his amusement apparent over the phone line.
A year ago Joe had stood up at Curt’s wedding as his best man. Funny how things changed. In the past, Curt had always been the loner and Joe the life of the party. Now Curt was happily married and had a young daughter named Blue. And it was Joe who was struggling.
“This has got to be a first,” Curt was saying. “Usually it’s the other way around, me calling you.”
“Yeah, well, enjoy it while you can, buddy, because it’s not going to happen very often. Not if you gloat like this every time I call you looking for some help.”
“I won’t gloat every time,” Curt replied. “Just this time.”
“There’s no time for gloating. Just think of some way I can get out of this stupid mess.”
“A Marine never avoids an assignment.”
“He does if it involves escorting his commanding officer’s daughter into the mountains of North Carolina for the weekend.”
“How old is she?” Curt asked.
“I don’t know. Late twenties, I’d guess.”
“Sounds like a plum assignment for a ladies’ man like you. What’s the problem?”
“She’s bringing some of her sixth-grade class with her. She’s a teacher. And we didn’t exactly hit it off.”
“What?” Curt sounded mockingly incredulous. “Another first! A woman who doesn’t fall at your feet? Wait till I tell Jessie.”
“This is privileged material,” Joe said emphatically. “So don’t go blabbing anything to that cute wife of yours.”
“Since when are the details of your sex life a matter of national security?” Curt retorted.
“Since they involved the daughter of my C.O.” Joe used the abbreviation for commanding officer.
“I guess you do have a point there. Okay, this will remain between the two of us.”
“Fine. Now give me an idea of how to get out of this.”
“If the order is an illegal one…”
“Don’t I wish,” Joe muttered. “But last time I checked there was no law against getting stuck with a spoiled, sexy teacher who has it in for me. Nor is it illegal to be called on to fill-in for a public affairs officer who needed emergency surgery and couldn’t lead this weekend excursion himself. The order isn’t illegal, just a pain in the butt.”
“Did you mention that you haven’t been posted down there in North Carolina very long—”
“Affirmative,” Joe interrupted him to confirm. “Tried that approach. Unsuccessful.”
“You said the daughter wasn’t fond of you. Did you—?”
“Point that out? Affirmative,” Joe again interrupted. “Deemed irrelevant by the C.O.”
“Then I guess you’re stuck.”
“Gee, thanks, that was real helpful, Blackwell,” Joe said sarcastically. “I’m so glad I called you.”
Curt laughed. “Hey, anytime I can help, I’m just a phone call away.”
Joe’s growl didn’t need translating.
“You’re stuck, Wilder,” Curt said. “Make the most of it is my advice to you. Semper Gumby, buddy. Be flexible.”
“Yeah, right.” Frustrated, Joe flipped the cover on his cellular phone and stared at the bag he had packed while talking to Curt. A Marine was always ready to leave, never knowing when some situation might require him to defend his country.
What about defending his sanity? Joe wondered caustically, furious with himself for feeling the way he did. What was the procedure for that?
He was a Marine, by God. There were no foxholes in the Marines. Foxholes are for those who want to hide. In the Marines they had fighting holes. There was no hiding in the Marines. He’d been trained to fight.
His father and his grandfather had been Marines. He was part of a proud tradition—the few, the proud, the Marines.
Joe glanced down at his watch. His allotted hour was almost up. Falling back on years of conditioning and training,
