Chapter 19: The Board Dinner

The Captain lived in an old Coronado house with a wide porch and a flag that never came down.

I arrived on Saturday in a green dress Jo had zipped me into, with my hair pinned up and no ring on my hand.

Nolan had offered to drive me.

I said no, and took a cab, because I wanted to walk in alone.

The dining room held one long table under a brass chandelier.

Candidates and their wives sat along both sides, with department heads at the ends and silver everywhere.

The Captain's wife met me in the hall.

She took both my hands and looked at my bare fingers.

"Good," she said. "You're beside me."

She seated me to her left, two chairs from the Captain himself.

From there I could see the whole table.

Broderick sat on the far side in dress blues, handsome and calm, his hair combed like a boy's.

Shelby sat three places down from him, in uniform, with a leather folder in her lap.

She did not look at me.

Nolan sat at the very end, opposite a pillar, in his own dress blues.

He caught my eye once, across all that silver, and gave me the smallest nod.

I ate what was put in front of me.

I could not tell you what it was.

Over the soup, the Captain talked about the squadron's year, the deployments, the hours flown, and the tradition of the board dinner.

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