Page 66 of The Library of Borrowed Hearts

1960

Jasper found William McBride waiting for him the next day.

He would never know if Catherine had warned the other man about his imminent arrival—told him about the scene at the cabin so he could arm himself appropriately—or if William was simply wiser than Jasper had given him credit for, but when he hunted the other man down at the radar base, there was no surprise in his expression.

“Ah,” William said, turning smartly to face him. “And so we meet again.”

William was dressed in full Air Force regalia, and even though Jasper loathed the very sight of him, he couldn’t help but be impressed by the figure he cut. In another lifetime, with another family and different burdens to bear, Jasper liked to think he might have followed a similar path. His own father had served in WWII, though he’d done it as an enlisted man rather than an officer.

That, more than anything else, proved the differences between them. Jasper was and always would be what he appeared on the outside: a low-level nobody, a man for whom bodily strength was more lucrative than anything else he had to offer. William McBride, on the other hand, was a shining, gleaming ball of potential.

For the past twenty-four hours, Jasper had rehearsed in detail what he planned to say. In his head, he was a master of articulate superiority, reducing the other man to shreds with his razor-sharp wit.

You’re offering Catherine the only thing of value you have—your money and your position—because you know you have nothing else to give her, he’d spit out.

Catherine and the baby might be yours in name, but they’ll always belong to me first and foremost,he’d say.

Don’t hurt them, he’d beg.Whatever you do, whatever happens, please just make sure they’re happy.

In the end, he said none of those things. Not only was it impossible to reduce a man to shreds in the bustle and camaraderie of soldiers going about their business, but his tongue was cleaved to the roof of his mouth.

“I suppose I have to thank you,” William said when all Jasper did was open and close his mouth, unable to force his tongue to start moving. “That Edgar Allen Poe trick worked like a charm. ‘We loved with a love that was more than love.’ A little over-the-top, if you ask me, but she seemed to like it.”

“Don’t you dare quote Poe at me,” Jasper said, surprised to find that his hands were balled into fists at his sides. He’d never been a man given to violence, even though some of the guys on the logging crew seemed only to respond to brute force. “It’s not a game you’ll win. ‘Leave my loneliness unbroken.’”

“Oh, I’m no match for you, and I know it,” William confessed with a flash of a smile that grated down Jasper’s spine. “That’s the only line I memorized. Well, that and ‘Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore”’ but that one didn’t seem to fit the moment. Girls like Catherine need a touch of romance, even when they don’t have any other choice.”

That was when Jasper struck. He’d have been hard-pressed to say whether it was the smugness of the man that drove him to it, or if it was the condescending way he spoke of a woman who was so superior to himthat they shouldn’t be expected to share the same planet, let alone the same home. Either way, his fist shot up and cracked against William’s jaw so fast that neither one of them saw it coming.

“Gunnhh!” William staggered back with a grunt, his whole body reeling with the sudden force of the blow. Even though Jasper was horror-struck at his own actions, he lunged again, this time to tackle William the rest of the way to the dirt. He might have done it, too, if not for the half-dozen young men who came running up to hold him back.

“Whoa, there. Take a beat, man.”

“He just hit Lieutenant McBride! Did you see that?”

“I don’t think he’s one of us, is he?”

“Someone had better get the Major.”

Of all the sudden babel of voices, it was that last one that caused Jasper to stiffen.The Majormeant Catherine’s father—a man he’d only seen a handful of times, and then with a wary circumspection to be expected of a nineteen-year-old facing the father of a woman he’d recently taken to bed.

“You hit me,” William slurred, his hand clutched to his already swelling jaw. “You fuckinghitme.”

“Come a little closer, and I’ll do it again,” Jasper warned.

All of a sudden, the arms that had been holding him let go. He surged forward and just managed to avoid falling flat on his face. As he regained his bearings and glanced around, he found that all the young men were standing ramrod straight, their eyes trained ahead and their expressions tamped down to give nothing away.

“Someone had better tell me what’s going on,” a cold authoritative voice announced. Jasper turned slowly, already aware of what—or rather, who—stood behind him.

Major Gene Martin looked exactly like the type of man to have Catherine for a daughter. His stature was small but determined, his expression one that challenged every living entity to eventrymessingwith him. His clothes were neat and fit his body like he’d been born wearing them, but more than that, he crackled with the same vitality that characterized everything Catherine said and did. It was as if there was too much life to be contained within them; they were filled with something more than energy.

Catherine found her outlet in sneaking around and breaking the rules, but the Major had obviously chosen rigid discipline instead. Jasper wasn’t sure yet whether that made him more or less dangerous than Catherine, but he felt fairly certain he was about to find out.

“Lieutenant McBride, you’re making a mess of your uniform. Please go at once to the treatment facility and get yourself attended to. Unless there’s a war going on, there’s no reason to sully your uniform with blood.” The Major cast a careful look around. “As far as the rest of you go, I believe I’ve made myself clear on the rules and regulations regarding recreational fighting. Do I need to repeat these for your edification?”

The chorus ofNo, sirs that this question elicited might have made Jasper laugh, if he wasn’t the next to fall under that eagle-eyed stare.

“And as for you, young man, I can see that you’re not one of mine. Do you have clearance to be on the radar base?”