Disclaimer: I do not own JAG, Harm, Mac, Bud, Harriet, et al. I have earned nothing from this endeavor but the joy that comes from the writing and the possibility of some feedback.
~*~*~
Chapter Four
"Hi, Abigail. Come on in." Mac greeted her first guest. She had suggested that the fellowship group meet at her apartment for a change, and everyone had agreed.
"Hello, Sarah," Abigail replied, handing a plate of iced sugar cookies to Mac.
After setting them on the dining room table, Mac reached for Abigail's coat. "Here, let me take that." She disappeared into her bedroom for a moment.
"I'm sorry I'm so early, I didn't realize the time," Abigail said.
"No problem. Let's sit," Mac suggested. "So, did you and Aaron have a good Christmas?"
"It was lovely. We went home to see our parents over in Morgantown."
"Do you have any other siblings?" Mac asked.
Abigail was silent for a moment. "Um, we did. Our little brother, Mark, was hit by a drunk driver on his way home from school one day. He was only fourteen years old. Aaron and I were juniors in high school."
Mac reached out and placed a hand on her new friend's arm. "Oh, Abigail, I'm so sorry."
Abigail blinked away the tears and shook her head. "What about you?" she asked, her voice still a little rough.
"I'm an only child."
"That's too bad. I'm so glad I had Aaron. He's a great brother. We're twins, you know."
"No, I didn't realize," she said as the doorbell rang.
"Hello, Sarah," Aaron said with a delighted smile. "My ears were just ringing—oh, hello Abby—you two must have been talking about me."
"I was telling Sarah that we're twins."
"That's right; I'm the big brother by six minutes." Aaron shrugged out of his leather coat. "Mother dressed us alike until the third grade. Abby finally got tired of being dressed like a boy!"
The three of them laughed as the rest of the group arrived.
Once everyone was seated, Aaron began. "Since we haven't seen one another for a few weeks, why don't we just visit for awhile and catch up with one another." He looked around and everyone was nodding. "Did everyone have a good holiday?"
"I met someone," replied Ben. "I went to visit my sister and her husband down at Norfolk—my brother-in-law is in the Navy—and they had invited over a woman from his squadron to have Christmas dinner. Anyhow, she and I hit it off. We went out on New Year's Eve, too, and we are getting together next weekend."
"That's really great, Ben," offered Penny with a smile.
"What's her name, Ben?" asked Abigail.
"What's she look like?" asked Emma.
"Her name is Bethany Sanders and she has long straight brown hair and brown eyes. I think she's a petty officer."
"That's really great, Ben," added Aaron. "Is she a Christian?"
Ben hung his head a bit and Mac looked, first at Aaron, and then at Ben.
"I don't know. I'm afraid to ask—she's really nice."
"Ben..."
"I know, Aaron, I know," Ben replied.
"Why did you ask that?" Mac asked Aaron.
"Second Corinthians 6, verse 14: 'Do not be bound together with unbelievers for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?" quoted Aaron.
"All they did was go out," Mac argued.
"That's true," Abigail said. "But, you see, he already likes her a lot. If they continue to go out and get to know one another, what could happen?"
"I guess they could fall in love and want to get married," Mac answered. "But that passage sounded as if it were talking about business, not marriage."
"Marriage is a type of partnership, is it not?" asked George.
"Well, I guess so," Mac said. "So you're saying that, as a Christian, a person should not marry a non-Christian."
"That's right, Sarah," said Aaron.
"But why? I don't really get it."
"Well, in order to be saved, you had to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, right?"
Mac nodded.
"Where Jesus is, the devil can't be and vice-versa. If a saved person marries an unsaved person, there will be a lot of problems."
"But if they love each other?" Mac asked, thinking of Harm's declaration on Christmas Eve.
"Eventually there would be problems, Sarah," Aaron said, "And even if they didn't get divorced, one or the other would be unhappy. God doesn't want us to be unhappy, especially in marriage. You see?"
Mac nodded slowly. "I think so," she said dully. Now what was she supposed to do?
They moved onto the lesson, but Mac's mind was preoccupied with the fact that unless Harm accepted Christ, the Bible warned her against marrying him. He finally tells her that he returns her feelings and now this.
"Amen." Aaron ended his prayer. "All right, let's eat!"
Mac rose and headed for the kitchen to get the drinks.
"Are you okay, Sarah?" Abigail asked, following to help and noticing Mac's pensive face.
"I don't know, Abigail," she said. "Harm took me to the Wall on Christmas Eve and he told me he loved me."
"And Harm is...?"
"Harm is everything. My partner, my best friend, my anchor..."
"The man you think you're in love with?"
Mac nodded. "I've been in love with Harm for over three years now."
"And he's not saved?"
"No."
"Could it just be that you love him, but are not in love with him?"
"Of course I'm in love with him," Mac said. "So what do I do?"
"Well, all I can suggest is that you pray and you witness to Harm. If it is meant to be, God will work it out."
"What do I do if it's not?"
~*~
The following Sunday, it was Aaron who followed Mac to the kitchen to help. "Sarah, I appreciate you having our fellowship group here at your place this month. Abby tends to overdo; plus, she ended up working the graveyard shift."
"It's been my pleasure," Mac replied, smiling.
"So how did you end up joining the Marine Corps?"
"I was a teenage alcoholic," she admitted. "My friend Eddie and I were out drinking and driving the night of our high school graduation. We got into an accident and Eddie died." Mac caught the look of pain that flashed across Aaron's face and hung her head. "Anyway, my Uncle Matt came and got me. He took me to Red Rock Mesa and spent a couple of weeks helping me dry out. After that all I wanted to do was get out of Arizona. I figured joining the Marine Corps was the fastest way."
Aaron was silent.
"I'm sorry about your brother, Aaron." At his quizzical look she added, "I had asked Abigail if you had any other siblings and she told me about Mark."
"Mark was not your fault."
"I know, but sometimes as a recovering alcoholic, I feel a little guilty when other people die because of alcohol."
Mac and Aaron shared a long look.
"So what's the holdup in here?" George asked, coming into the kitchen. He felt the tension and caught the look. "Oh, I'm sorry..."
Aaron dragged his eyes from Mac's to look at George. "No, It's fine, George. Sarah was just offering condolences for my brother's death."
"Uh huh," he said, not really accepting that as the reason for the underlying tension in the room.
~*~
That night, Aaron pondered the most recent turn of events. Sarah was a recovering alcoholic. God, help me here... Are you sure she's the one for me?
~*~
"Good morning, people." Admiral Chegwidden strode to the front of the conference table. "Before we get started, I have an announcement. As most of you remember, the US hosted the NATO Ball six years ago..."
Many heads nodded.
"...well, our turn has come again. We have a table for ten reserved."
Harriet and Bud exchanged a soft look. It was at that NATO Ball six years ago that they made their relationship exclusive and official.
"Lieutenants?" the admiral asked, looking from one to the other. They both nodded.
"Lieutenant Singer?"
Loren nodded, as well. "Yes, Sir."
"Commander, can you find a date?" Chegwidden looked at Sturgis.
"No problem, Sir."
"And you, Colonel?"
"Um, yes, Sir," she replied uncertainly, wondering about Harm.
"What about me, Sir?" Harm asked, also curious.
"Well, Commander, it seems you made quite the impression on Princess Alexandra last time. She's requested your services as her escort again."
Harm broke into a smile.
"I take it that's not a problem."
"I'd be honored, Sir."
Mac heart sank. She realized Harm wouldn't really have a choice, but he didn't have to look so pleased. She schooled her features to hide her anger and hurt.
"Good," continued Chegwidden. "A limo will pick you up, Commander, before picking up the princess. The rest of you are on your own."
Mac headed to her office trying to decide whether or not she should call and invite Aaron. As she wrestled with her decision, Harm caught up with her.
"Hey, Mac, I'm sorry."
"Yeah. I guess you can't say no to the princess."
Something in her tone betrayed her feelings. Harm reached out and touched her arm. "Hey... I said I was sorry."
She looked from his hand to his face. He looked sincere enough, but his eager smile when the admiral mentioned the princess flashed through her mind. "I know you did," she said and turned into her office.
"Mac—"
The door closed in his face. Before she could lose her nerve or second-guess her decision, Mac dialed the church's number. "May I speak with Pastor Aaron, please?"
"May I tell him who's calling?"
"This is Sarah MacKenzie."
"Just one moment, please."
One moment turned into several minutes and just as she considered hanging up, Aaron came on the line.
"Hello, Sarah. What can I do for you today?"
"Do you have a tux?" she blurted.
"Well, sure. Why?"
"The US is hosting this year's NATO Ball and I'm on the guest list. I was wondering if you'd be interested in going... as my date."
"Oh... When is it?"
"Friday after next." She heard him turn some pages and assumed he was checking his appointment book.
"What about your friend? The one you brought on Christmas Eve."
"Harm. He has to work that night."
He, too, caught the hurt in her voice. "Can I ask you something?"
"Uh, sure."
"Would you rather go with Harm?"
Mac bit her lip, but remained silent.
"Sarah, it's all right if you do. You can admit it; even to me. We're friends right?"
She sighed. "I'm sorry."
"No need. Is there any way Harm could get someone to cover for him?"
"Oh, it's not that he's not going to the ball, Aaron. It's that the princess of Romania has requested that he be her escort, and he practically burst the buttons on his coat when the admiral told him."
"Oh, I see. So you're angry and jealous?"
Again, she was silent.
"Sarah, I understand. Really. But anger and jealousy are, number one, going to get you nowhere, and number two, both are sins."
"Really?"
"Really. I'd love to be your escort," he said, opting not to call it a date. "Let's just have a nice evening getting to know one another better, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed, feeling a whole lot better about the situation without really knowing why.
~*~
The next week and half passed quickly. There was an overflow of cases to be handled and everyone was pretty busy. There wasn't much time to socialize and barely enough time to worry about it.
The day of the ball arrived and the admiral allowed Loren, Harriet, and Mac to leave at 1500 in order to get ready. Bud, Sturgis, Harm, and the admiral left at 1630.
The scent of white gardenias wafted up from the mounds of bubbles in the tub. Mac slipped off her robe and into the silky perfumed water. Twenty minutes later, the water had cooled, and somewhat regretfully, she rose from the water. It had been ages since she'd last enjoyed a long hot soak, and she promised herself to indulge more often.
During the last couple of weeks she'd thought over what Aaron had said. And as the night of the ball had drawn nearer, she'd begun looking forward more and more to spending the evening with him.
She'd even splurged and bought herself a new dress. Not that she had much choice, since her figure was a little rounder than it used to be. She smoothed on her white gardenia body lotion and speculated on what it would be like to be out with someone other than Harm.
With a shiver of anticipation, Mac slid into her silky hose and pulled her dress out of its protective plastic bag. The strapless silk sheath had fit her like a dream in the boutique; the deep eggplant color darkened her brown eyes. The split on the right side ended just above her knee and the strappy sandals would put her eye to eye with Aaron. She carefully applied her makeup and used a curling iron to add a few attractive waves to her hair, wondering about Aaron's reaction.
She didn't have long to wait. The doorbell rang as she sprayed on her white gardenia cologne. She smoothed her dress and took one last look in the chevalier mirror. With a deep breath, she went and opened the door.
Her heart raced at the sight of the man before her. His tux fit his physique to perfection and any thoughts of dress whites and gold wings went flying out the window.
"Wow," they both said at the same time and then laughed.
Aaron pulled a dozen long-stemmed roses from behind his back.
Mac's eyes widened. "Th-they're lovely. Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said and watched a blissful look cross her face as she buried her face in the creamy blooms. "You look exquisite."
She flushed with pleasure. "Thanks. You look fantastic yourself. Let me get my wrap."
Aaron nodded and she disappeared for a moment. After taking the black mohair cape from her and draping it around her shoulders, they made their way down to the street.
"You didn't!" she gasped at the sight of the gleaming white limo at the curb.
"Well, I can't promise such transportation every time I might escort you somewhere, but my grandmother always taught me that, along with your attire, your transportation should be equal to the event you're attending."
The driver opened the door for them.
"Your grandmother sounds very wise."
"She was quite the card, actually."
"Was?"
"Sadly, she died almost five years ago."
"Oh, I'm truly sorry. You must miss her very much."
"Thank you, and, yes, I do. Shall we?"
She nodded and slid into the limo, Aaron right behind her. He kept a respectable distance from her; almost as if he were afraid to get too close.
"You didn't have to go to all this trouble," Mac said.
"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to, so please, just enjoy it."
"All right." She smiled and nodded in the dim light.
To be continued…