CHAPTER 1
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JAG OFFICES
"Welcome back Colonel. How was your vacation?" Harriet asked as Mac walked into the bullpen.
"Absolutely fantastic." Mac said with a big smile.
"Hey Mac, welcome back." Harm said with a smile. "How was Bermuda?"
"Wonderful, the sun the beaches everything was great." Mac said with a smile.
"The sun agrees with you, you're glowing." Harm said.
"Thanks, so what have I missed?" Mac asked.
"Commander, phone call." Tiner said. "Welcome back ma'am"
"Mac let's catch up at lunch?" Harm asked and went to get the phone.
"Ok." Mac called after him and walked to her office. Harriet was right behind her.
"Mac, he's right. You are glowing." Harriet said closing the office door. "But it's not the sun."
"What?" Mac asked.
"You met someone." Harriet said.
"Harriet what are you talking about?" Mac asked with a coy smile.
"You did. Don't lie to me. You met someone in Bermuda." Harriet said flatly, not sure if she wanted to be excited for her friend.
"Ok, I did meet someone." Mac said. "His name is Cole. Harriet he's great."
"Oh I'm happy for you." Harriet said smiling weakly. "Come by for dinner tonight and you can fill me in."
"Harriet how is Bud?" Mac asked.
"He's fine. He'll be back tomorrow morning sometime." Harriet replied.
"And my Godson?" Mac smiled.
"Looking for his Aunty Mac." Harriet laughed. "Oh before I forget, the Admiral wants to meet with you at 10."
"Thanks Harriet." Mac said. "What time tonight?"
"Come right after work." Harriet said and left the office.
HARRIET'S DESK
Harriet was sitting at her desk mumbling. She was typing furiously and shaking her head.
Harriet: "Bud, are you there?"
Bud: "I'm here Harriet. How are you? Is everything ok?"
Harriet: "No it's not. Mac met someone."
Bud "Good for her."
Harriet "Bud Roberts has being in Norfolk affected your brain?"
Bud "No but I don't think this is something we should be involved in".
Harriet "I know, I just don't know how she is going to tell the Commander."
Bud "Harriet, you have a big heart and I love you. See you tomorrow and stay out of it."
Harriet stared at the screen, she knew Bud was right, they may be friends but this really wasn't her business. On the other hand Mac having a man in her life was her business, regardless, she couldn't wait until dinner tonight to hear all the details.
ADMIRAL'S OFFICE
"Welcome back Colonel, I trust the time off did you some good." The Admiral said.
"Yes Sir completely refreshed and ready to jump right in." Mac said.
"So the R&R was good. Glad to hear it. You had me a bit worried Mac." The Admiral said.
"Worried Sir?" Mac asked.
"Relax Mac. Yes worried, that last case seemed to take something out of you." The Admiral began. "Had I known then what we known now a about the Sergeant I would have probably assigned the cases differently."
"Permission to speak freely Sir?" Mac asked.
"Granted."
"Sir my last case stirred up a lot of the past. Defending an alcoholic marine who was abusive made me take a look at myself. Actually it helped me put things in perspective. None of us had any way of knowing he abused his children as well. I was just as surprised as everyone else when that came out in court. I'm fine, I thought everything was in the past before, now I know it is." Mac said with confidence.
"Good to hear, now if you will take a look at these. The Commander has been filing the case logs while you were gone. They need to be fixed. After that we'll get you back in court. Dismissed." The Admiral said.
"Aye Sir, you'll have these before the end of the day." Mac said and left.
LUNCHTIME
"Mac you ready?" Harm asked.
"In a minute I have this case log to finish up." Mac replied not looking up.
"What logs? It's only Monday, there aren't any yet?" Harm asked.
"Wanna bet? I have to redo the ones from the last two weeks." Mac said.
"Why? I did them while you were gone." Harm protested.
"So I was told. Next time don't help me flyboy." Mac teased. "Ok, I'm ready."
"What are you in the mood for?" Harm asked.
"Anything is fine, but I want to stop by CVS to drop my film off." Mac said.
"Vacation pictures?" Harm asked.
"Yep, just a few rolls." Mac smiled. They walked to the nearby deli and stopped at CVS along the way.
"You know I can't place my finger on it but there is something different about you." Harm said.
"I'm tanned, rested, relaxed…" Mac said trailing off.
"And?" Harm asked.
"And nothing, it was a good two weeks." Mac said taking a bit of her sandwich.
"Oh it seemed like you were going to say something." Harm shrugged.
"Nope. Hey you almost done? We need to get back." Mac commented.
"All done, let's go." Harm said picking up the garbage and taking it to the trash. "Hey, I'm really glad your back; I missed you."
"Thanks Harm." Mac replied.
"Didn't you miss me?" Harm teased.
"Yes." Mac said softly.
"Well you could have said so." Harm laughed.
Mac didn't reply. She suddenly realized how hard it was going to be to tell Harm about the new man in her life. Quietly they walked back into the office. The day finished and Mac went to Harriet's for dinner, but first she stopped and picked up her pictures.
THE ROBERTS HOME
"Aunty Mac!" Little AJ yelled running off the porch.
"Hey baby how are you?" Mac said hugging him.
"Fine, I have a new plane, from Uncle Harm." Little AJ said showing his new toy.
"Wow that's neat kiddo." Mac smiled.
"What's in the bag?" Little AJ asked.
"Oh just some things for a little boy." Mac said. "Do you know any little boys I can give them to?"
"Me Me." Little AJ said jumping up and down.
"What do you say?" Harriet said walking over.
"Please." Little AJ said kicking the dirt and Mac handed him the bag.
"What else?" Harriet admonished.
"Thank you Aunty Mac." Little AJ replied reaching up to give Mac a hug.
"You're welcome." Mac laughed.
"I thought we could eat while you fill me in." Harriet said.
"Ok, um Harriet, Cole is in town and I told him to meet me here so he could meet you." Mac said.
"Meet him?" Harriet said startled. "Sure when is he coming?"
"I told him around 7ish, he is terrible with time." Mac laughed.
"So his name is Cole?" Harriet said as she filled Mac's plate.
"Mommy we didn't say Amen." Little AJ reminded her.
"Oops. You're right. Go ahead." Harriet said.
"Open shut them, open shut them give a little clap. Open shut them open shut them put them in your lap. Thank you for the birds that sing, thank you for the food we eat, thank you for the world so sweet thank you for everything. AHHHMEN!" Little AJ proudly said.
"That was very good where did you learn that?" Mac asked.
"From school." Little AJ said.
"Honey that was good, but right now mommy and Aunty Mac need to talk." Harriet said. "Now who is this guy?"
"His name is Cole Romaine. We met at the hotel; we ended up being given the same room. "
"Well I hope one of you got another room!" Harriet said.
"Harriet, of course." Mac laughed.
"Romaine? What kind of name is that?" Harriet asked.
"It was Italian, it got messed up when his grandfather came over." Mac replied.
"Oh, so he's Italian. What does he look like? What does he do? What did you mean when you said he was in town?" Harriet asked.
"Well you can see what he looks like when he gets here. He is a pilot for American Airlines and he does the Newark/Dulles runs. He was supposed to fly back to New Jersey tonight but the fight was cancelled." Mac said.
"Oh he's a pilot." Harriet commented.
"Yes, commercial." Mac replied.
"What else?" Harriet said leaning her chin on her hand.
"He's a nice guy. I think you will like him." Mac smiled.
"Details Mac. Give me details." Harriet begged.
"Well, he likes to run. We went jogging every morning. He's health conscious and is careful about his diet." Mac said.
"Really?" Harriet mused. "What else."
"Oh he is a fanatic about his car, even had a picture of it in his wallet." Mac said.
"Hmm interesting." Harriet said.
"What?" Mac asked.
"Doesn't he remind you of anyone?" Harriet shot back.
"Not really." Mac shrugged.
"Whatever." Harriet said.
The rest of the meal they talked about what Mac missed at JAG during her vacation. When they were done they cleared the table and Harriet put on some coffee. Mac offered to put Little AJ to bed and when she returned Harriet was sitting on the front porch.
"Isn't it a bit chilly?" Mac asked.
"Not with a sweater. I thought we could sit outside and wait for Cole." Harriet replied looking at her watch.
"Harriet, it's only 3 minutes after, I told him 7ish." Mac said.
About 10 minutes later a red 65 Mustang pulled up. A tall slender but well built man stepped out of the car. As he walked towards them Harriet noticed he had dark brown hair. As he got closer she spied a set of beautiful blue eyes and a killer smile.
"Nice timing Pilot man." Mac called out.
"Are you sure he doesn't remind you of anyone?" Harriet whispered.
"No." Mac whispered back.
"Sorry I'm late." Cole said walking over. When he got to Mac he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I'm used to it." Mac laughed. "Cole this is Harriet Roberts. Harriet this is Cole Romaine."
"A pleasure to meet you." Cole said. "Mac talked a lot about you."
"Nice to meet you Cole. Would you care for some coffee?" Harriet replied.
"Thanks that would be great." Cole said.
They went inside and Harriet brought out the coffee.
"So Cole, Mac tells me you're a pilot." Harriet began.
"Yeah, loved planes my whole life. I have a single-engine Cessna in Caldwell, New Jersey. I don't get to take her up as much as I like. But hopefully Mac will let me take her for a ride sometime." Cole replied.
"Hmm Mac in a small plane?" Harriet laughed.
"What?" Cole asked.
"Nothing sometimes I get a bit dizzy." Mac replied shooting a look at Harriet. "Anyway. I got the pictures back."
"Oh let's take a look." Harriet said.
Mac pulled out the pictures and they all looked at them. Mac and Cole in the lobby, Mac and Cole on the beach, Mac and Cole at dinner, Mac and Cole sightseeing.
"Looks like you spent a lot of time together." Harriet commented.
"Yes we did." Cole said reaching for Mac's hand. "It was a wonderful surprise meeting Mac and we owe it all to a desk clerk error."
"That's sweet." Harriet said with a forced smile.
"So Harriet how's Bud?" Mac asked giving her a look.
"He's good. He'll be home tomorrow morning." Harriet replied. "So Cole, ever been married?"
"No, not yet." Cole said smiling.
"Really, I would think a good looking man such as yourself would have a string of women trying to catch you." Harriet said.
"Harriet." Mac half laughed.
"I've been waiting for that perfect person." Cole replied.
"Oh I see." Harriet mused.
They chatted for a bit longer and then Cole stood up.
"Harriet thank you for the hospitality, but I have a 7am flight tomorrow and I should be going." Cole stated.
"I should be going too." Mac said and stood up.
"It was a pleasure meeting you Cole." Harriet smiled. "Mac I'll see you in the morning."
They walked to the door and out to their cars.
"Well how did it go?" Cole asked.
"It went just fine." Mac smiled.
"Ok if you say so. Hey how about lunch tomorrow? I am your boyfriend shouldn't I take you to lunch?" Cole suggested.
"Lunch, tomorrow? I guess that would be good." Mac replied.
"Well if you aren't sure." Cole laughed.
"No I am. It's just that if you come to Jag you are going to end up meeting everyone." Mac said.
"Well, unless you have a problem with that." Cole replied.
"No problem, see you tomorrow." Mac said.
"Great, I should be there by noon." Cole said and hopped into his car.
As Mac drove home she thought about Cole meeting everyone. This would be very interesting.