Chapter 17

Exercise and fitness rated high on Egan Fletcher’s list of priorities. He tried to keep a regular workout schedule aboard ship, but his duties often took precedence. He would squeeze in a workout before his departure to South Korea. The Lord only knew when he would see a free weight room or treadmill again.

As he walked toward the locker rooms at the back of the fitness center, he was surprised to see Petty Officer Pearce sitting on a nearby mat, stretching. He made a slight course correction, pointed himself in her direction, and waved as he passed by. “Good evening, Miss Pearce,” he called cheerfully.

She smiled and waved. Pointing over her shoulder with her thumb to the locker rooms, she said, “Fay is in the locker room, sir. She’ll be out in a minute.”

Egan grinned. “I wasn’t looking for Faydra. I just stopped by to say hello to you. Have you been here long?”

She glanced at her watch. “Ten minutes, sir.”

Egan smiled. “This is a gym. We’re off duty. My name is Egan.”

She nodded, blushed, and smiled again. Besides thanking Egan for the flowers, she did not seem to have much to say to him.

He recalled a conversation with Faydra regarding Pearce and her shyness around men. “I’m going to change. I’ll see you in a few minutes,” he said. He continued toward the locker rooms. Several minutes later, Egan emerged from the locker room and noticed Fay had joined Pearce. He again approached the women. “Would you two lovely ladies mind if a tired old man joined you?”

“Please do, sir,” Fay replied coyly.

Egan smiled and surveyed the gym. “I’m ready to go,” he announced as he turned his attention back to the women. Fay joined Egan for a workout while Pearce worked out alone.

“How old is your son?” Fay inquired.

“Kristian is twenty-one.”

“You are very proud of him.”

“He’s a fine young man.” He beamed. “There’s a lot of his mother in him.”

“You miss her. Eight years is a long time.”

“Kristin died eight years ago next month.”

“Kristian is named for his mother?”

“It was her idea,” Egan explained. “Kristian was one of the H.M.S. Bounty’s crew, Fletcher Christian. She reversed the name.”

“I like it.”

“She’d be proud of him if she could see him today,” he said. “With him at the university and me at sea, I don’t see my son as often as I’d like.”

“Will he follow his father’s footsteps into the Navy?” Fay wondered.

“He doesn’t seem to have an interest in the Navy. He’s got his feet firmly planted on terra firma.”

“How so?”

Egan chuckled and shook his head. “When he was twelve or thirteen years old, I was talking with him about career opportunities. We were at the airport at the time, and a jet was taking off. You know the racket they make. I said, ‘Hey Kris, how about a career as an airline pilot?’ He replied, ‘No way, Dad. Those things aren’t safe.’ I started my Navy career as an aviator; I suspect his mother had a hand developing his thinking along those lines. She was deathly afraid I’d go flying one day and never return. So, I gave up flying and went to sea.”

“And you told your son air travel is safer than driving a car?”

“I told him, but it didn’t seem to matter to him.”

“How did he take his mother’s death? I ask because I lost my mother at a young age as well,” Fay continued.

“Naturally, it was very hard on him. I took a two-month leave. He finally did adjust.” Egan looked away from Fay, searching the floor for nothing of consequence. He grew solemn. “There was a time when he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. I suppose he was afraid I’d leave him too.” He saw the sympathy in her eyes when he turned his gaze back toward her. “Oh, don’t feel sorry for me,” he said. “As I said, I have a great life. It can get lonely from time to time. But I have a woman in my life. She is wonderful and gives me great peace of mind.”

“Who is the lucky gal?”

“Pacific, Atlantic, there are so many,” he said, smiling again. “I learned some years ago the female human is a jealous creature. The sea can show her rage, but never jealousy. If I have to choose, I choose the sea.”

“I have known that about sailors. It is easy to understand. There are not many women who are willing to share their man with another woman.” Fay was silent for a moment and then asked, “Do you miss flying?”

“Very much. It was my second love, next to my family. Tell me about you, Faydra.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Where are you from?”

“Pensacola, until I attended Brigham Young University. I received my Juris Doctor from Texas. I was married to a sailor for a short time. A Navy lawyer like myself—but as I said before, it did not work out. No kids. But I love children. Pets, not so much. Like Kristian, my mother died—I was twenty at the time.”

“At any age, it’s horrible to lose a parent.”

A single tear raced down her cheek. Fay stopped its progress with a swipe of the back of her hand. “Dad was driving. He lost control of the car; the car veered off the interstate and struck a tree. The crash killed my mother; my sister was badly injured. Dad, to this day, has not forgiven himself.”

“I’m sorry.”

“About six years ago, the guilt and the loneliness got to Dad, and he started drinking.” It was Fay’s turn to turn away. “I told him if he did not stop drinking, I would not speak to him until he did.”

“Did he stop?”

She cleared her throat. “I have not spoken to Dad since, and I have not forgiven him for what he did to our family.”

“Then he’s lost a daughter as well.”

“He did, but he made his choice. It’s a shame, however. I think it’s a pretty crummy trade. I miss him very much. He is one of the most important people in my life. I think about him every day.” Fay looked at Egan. “I love the great man he was, not the drunk he has become. Well! What a happy conversation we are having,” Fay said. “Forgive me. I’ve been rambling. Do you feel like running?”

He agreed. They moved to two vacant treadmills.

“So, who are the other important people in your life?” Egan asked.

“My bubba and sissy. My brother is a nurse; he lives in Florida.”

“Is there a special man in your life?”

“For a while, I was serious about an attorney in Seattle. The relationship is cooling off, however. His name is Ford.”

Egan turned his gaze toward Pearce. “How about Miss Pearce? You seem very close to her.”

Fay responded with a puzzled look on her face. “I love her more than anything in this world. By the way,” she said, lightly touching his arm, “the flowers were wonderful. You made her entire week. Thank you so very much.”

“That’s nice to hear. It seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. I’ve been watching Pearce lift weights. She’s a powerful woman.”

“Yes, she is strong,” Fay agreed. “With her weight training and martial arts skills, she seems almost superhuman to me. She was at one time a Florida State amateur kickboxing champion. Those abnormally long legs were registered with the Department of Revenue and Taxation as a lethal weapon. Now she is military, she no longer needs to register.”

“Now, wait a minute. I recall reading somewhere your sister was a kickboxing champion?”

Fay laughed. “Okay, now I know why you had a puzzled look on your face a few minutes ago. JP is my sister, Egan! My sissy. I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t realize until just now. That little kid I would see on television? Your sister? No kidding!”

“I would have mentioned it if I thought you didn’t know. I guess I assume everyone knows JP and I are sisters.”

“How did you manage to have your sister work under you?”

“Sometimes, being the daughters of a former Commander-in-Chief has its privileges. To make it simple, JP reports to Admiral Wallace. I report to Vern Towsley,” Fay explained.

“I’ve been a bit dense these past few days. I didn’t make the connection, that’s all. How is it JP’s last name is Pearce and not Green?”

“You may recall my parents adopted a baby girl near the end of my dad’s first term in office,” Fay replied.

“I recall that.”

“The official story was the President and the First Lady wanted more children. For my mother, childbirth was out of the question. My parents adopted JP into the first family. She was two years old at the time. To honor her natural mother, she recently changed her name to her mother’s family name.”

“I remember reading about it in the news,” he said.

“The media bought the story about the adoption. The truth was,” Fay divulged, “my dad had fathered an illegitimate child. The administration knew if my dad hoped to see a second term in the White House, the American public—and the Democrats for that matter—could never know the truth. So, to avoid a scandal, they concocted the adoption story. And to this day, the ploy has worked. I felt and still do feel very bad for my mom. To her credit, she accepted JP into our home and our family as if she were her daughter. Even more amazing, Mom forgave my father for his indiscretion. I wouldn’t have.”

“I had no idea,” Egan said.

“Her biological mother, Candice Pearce, died when JP was two, hence the adoption. At least my dad did the right thing. Later, Dad told JP the true story. For a time, she was known as J. Green-Pearce. Soon, it dawned on her that her new name sounded like an environmental group, and she dropped the Green.”

“Green-Pearce,” Egan thoughtfully repeated, then chuckled.

The workout ended, and none too soon, as far as Egan was concerned.

Fay patted a small amount of perspiration from her brow with a towel. “We had a good workout,” she huffed. “Let’s do this again!”

“I don’t know, Faydra,” he puffed. “I must admit I find it difficult to keep up with you. For many different reasons.”

She laughed. “Do you have time for a bite to eat? My treat.”

“I’m sorry. Forgive me; I have a long drive home ahead of me. And I have to pack.”

“Packing?”

“I’m flying tomorrow afternoon. Can I have a rain check?”

“Sure. Some other time.”

Egan said goodbye to Fay. As he walked toward the locker room, he stopped to chat with Pearce for a moment. Several times, she laughed at his humor. Several times, he laughed at her humor. He then wished her well, patted her on the shoulder, and disappeared into the locker room.