Winter Soldier

“Maybe I am, but I’ll never know if I don’t give it a try. That’s all I’m asking. The chance to make my own mistakes. I can live with the consequences.” His dad had been a Marine in Vietnam when he was nineteen. All Brian wanted to do was figure out his own path in life. Surely he had a right to do that.

“Okay. Call your mother and break the news to her. I’ll back you up.”

Brian pushed away from the credenza, his heart beating madly in his chest. He wanted to give his dad a hug, but the desk was still between them, so he held out his hand, instead. “Thanks, Dad.”

Adam didn’t take his hand right away. Brian held his breath. Then his dad leaned forward and clasped Brian’s hand in both of his. “I’m not giving you a free ride. You’ll have to get a job, and you’ll have to promise me you’ll consider going back to school next year.”

“I’ll start looking for a job first thing tomorrow.” He couldn’t stop the grin spreading over his face. “Thanks, Dad. I knew I could count on you to see my side of this.”

“I’m not looking forward to talking to your mother.”

“Neither am I, but I might as well get it over with. Can I use your phone?”

“Dr. Sauder?” His dad’s secretary opened the door between their offices and stuck her head inside.

“Yes, Camilla?”

“There’s a young woman here to see you.”

“I don’t have any patient appointments scheduled for this afternoon.”

That was odd, Brian thought. His dad always had patients scheduled on Wednesdays. He operated on Tuesday and Thursday, and saw patients on Monday and Wednesday. At least he always had.

“She’s not a patient,” Camilla said. “She says she’s a friend. Her name is Leah Gentry.”

“Leah?” The way his dad said the name caught Brian’s attention.

“Leah Gentry,” Camilla repeated. “Should I tell her you’re busy?”

“No.” Adam ran a hand through his hair. His expression didn’t give much away, but Brian could have sworn he saw his hand shaking. “Send her in.”

“You have a meeting with Dr. Fenimore at twothirty, don’t forget.”

“I won’t.”

Camilla opened the door wider. His dad was staring at it like he expected a ghost to walk through it. Instead, a very ordinary young woman with dark brown hair in a French braid entered the room. She was wearing a military-issue parka, and she had a lime-green backpack slung over one shoulder. The backpack had a picture of Minnie Mouse on it, just like the one his little sister had. Her nose was red from the cold, and there were pale blue shadows under her eyes, as though she’d been awake for a lot of hours in a row.

“Hello, Adam,” she said stopping just inside the door.

“Hello.” His dad came out from behind his desk and took a couple of steps toward her.

“It’s good to see you again.” She held out her hand.

“It’s good to see you, too. Welcome home, Leah.” His dad came just close enough to take her hand. He held it for a long moment, and they stared at each other like they’d thought until that very moment they’d never see each other again.

Brian cleared his throat. The woman turned her head in his direction. Her eyes widened momentarily. She had very pretty eyes, all kind of green and gold mixed together.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Adam dropped her hand and retreated behind his desk. “This is my son, Brian.”

She smiled, and he smiled back. He couldn’t help himself. “Hi,” he said.

She held out her hand again. “Hello, Brian. Your father told me a lot about you.”

“Leah was my anesthetist in Dalat,” Adam explained.

“Nice to meet you,” Brian said.

“I...I just got back to the States. B.J. and I were the last to leave. I have a four-hour layover.” She turned back to Brian. “So I thought I’d look up your father and make sure he’s okay. He left the mission so hurriedly I...I didn’t get to say goodbye.” A tinge of color stained her cheeks.

“I’m fine,” Adam said, and his voice was suddenly cold and hard.

“I can see. I’m sorry I barged in on you this way. I...I should have called, I guess.”

She looked uncomfortable. So did his dad. There was something going on here, undercurrents he couldn’t understand. This might be a good time for him to make an exit. “I have a phone call to make. It was nice meeting you,” he said again, smiling at her once more, hoping she’d smile back. She did.

“It was nice meeting you, too, Brian, but please, don’t hurry off on my account. I truly did only stop in to see if your father was all right, and to thank him.”

“For what?” Brian asked. He wasn’t flirting with her, not really—she was too old for him. But it was hard not to want to coax her to smile again.

“For seeing that Vo and My Lei found sponsors here in the States.”

“Vo and My Lei?”

“Yes, a Vietnamese man and his daughter. Your father operated on the little girl—”

“I’ll tell you about them later, Brian,” Adam broke in. “Don’t you want to make your call?”

“Yeah, sure I do.” He tried one more smile, but this time she didn’t smile back, only nodded a little distractedly. “I’ll use Camilla’s phone to call Mom.” Brian left the room wondering just what had gone on between his dad and this woman in Vietnam. Maybe if he worked it just right, he’d find out, but he doubted it. His dad never talked about his love life—if he had one, and besides, right now Brian had more important things on his mind—like changing the entire course of his life.

THE DOOR CLOSED behind Adam’s son, and Leah wished she’d left the office with him. Why had she .given in to the impulse to come here and see for herself that Adam was all right? He obviously was. And he obviously wasn’t happy to see her. She said the first thing that popped into her mind. “Your son is a very good-looking young man. Very nice, too.”

“Yes, he is.”

“I’m sorry I interrupted your visit.”

“It’s okay,” Adam said. “Can I get you something. A cup of coffee?”

“Yes, thanks.” She wanted to refuse, but he might think it odd—their love of coffee was one thing they had in common. But she wouldn’t have more than a swallow, not now. Because now she was pregnant

She’d bought a pregnancy-test kit as soon as they landed in Frankfurt and confirmed what she’d suspected almost from the moment she’d awakened alone in her bed that morning. She should never have made love to him without protection when she knew she might be ovulating, but she hadn’t been thinking with her head that night, only with her heart.