Chapter 31: Apology Given and Accepted
.Sunday, Nancy and Murdock went to the airfield and took Aunt Bea up for a few hours. They enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch at a small crop landing strip, in a grassy field before heading back to the field mid-afternoon.
When they arrived at the airfield, Doc caught Murdock in the hangar and pulled him into the office to discuss the financial information that Murdock had been working on for the past week. Murdock had spent the better part of the previous week, when he wasn't at the compound, working on getting the computer installed, and entering the last few years worth of financial data into the accounting program. He had been playing with some of the standard reports, and had left several for Doc to review and compare against his historic paper records.
Left at loose ends, Nancy stood in the open hangar door staring out at her Uncle's jet. She knew he had been in and out of DC for the past week, not venturing very far away while the CIA inquiries were occurring. She hadn't actually spoken with him since the last Friday evening, though she had seen him in passing at the Agency headquarters. She wondered idly if he was in the jet, and if he was busy.
"Hey, Short Cake, whatya doin'?" Murdock startled her out of her contemplations. He glanced out at the jet, smiling knowingly, "You should go out and talk to him."
Nancy shrugged, "I hate to bother him . . ."
Murdock sighed, "Nancy, it's Sunday - whatever he's doing can be put aside. You two need to sort out what happened."
She looked out at the jet uncertainly, her arms crossed, "I don't know what to say to him, HM," she said frankly.
Murdock rubbed her neck comfortingly, "It'll be alright, just go and talk to him. I think he's just as unsure about the whole thing as you are."
Nancy chuckled, "I find that hard to believe, Hunt Stockwell always knows what to say and what to do. I don't think he's had an uncertain moment in his life."
"Everybody has doubts sometime, Short Cake," Murdock disagreed gently, "Given that your Uncle has them so seldom – well, this is definitely foreign ground for him."
She still made no move to go out to the jet. Murdock put his arms around her and kissed her cheek, "C'mon, do yourself a favor and go out there and talk to him. Stop stewing about it."
Nancy nodded in agreement, and patted his hand before heading across the tarmac to the jet.
On the jet, a muffled 'enter' greeted her knock at the door into her Uncle's private office, signaling that he was in.
She opened the door, "Hello, Uncle," she said, stopping just inside the door, smiling tentatively, "I was in the neighborhood, and thought I'd stop by . . ."
He sat back and smiled warmly, "Nancy, come in and have a seat. I was hoping to get a chance to see you before I left. Unfortunately, between meetings and trying to keep up with the administrative items that needed attention, I've been rather tied up . . ."
Nancy sat down uncertainly, feeling somewhat like an errant child, "I don't want to waste your time . . ."
He sat forward, looking at her intently, "It is impossible for you to waste my time, Nancy," he said quietly, catching her off guard.
"I've always felt like I was wasting your time," she said with a self-conscious laugh, "You've always had important things to do, important people to see, important places to go. Honestly, I've never been too certain where I fit in . . ." she stumbled to a stop, and looked at him apologetically, "Sorry, I guess I don't know when to shut up lately."
Her Uncle leaned forward and looked at her intently, "You are not the one that should be apologizing," he said carefully, "I know I have always been very hard on you. That's because I knew that you had an incredible potential, just like your mother. I truly thought you had been wasting that potential in the career path that you'd chosen."
He held up a restraining hand when Nancy started to protest, "I know now that that was not correct. You have . . . surprised me over the last two weeks, on more than one occasion. I'm afraid I've allowed my own biases to affect my judgment where you are concerned. You've built a prominent reputation, an admirable career, and I've never acknowledged it. For that, I am truly sorry, Nancy."
Nancy sat dumbfounded. It was the first time she could ever recall her Uncle apologizing for anything.
He sat back, "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't accept my apology. I've been belittling your career for years, and I don't expect one simple apology to correct that injustice, but I hope that you'll at least accept it as a start."
Nancy finally found her tongue, "I accept your apology, Uncle," she said simply, "It means more than you can know to hear you acknowledge my accomplishments."
Her Uncle nodded, "One more thing, I'd like to thank you. You did an excellent job on the LaSalle case, despite my trying to bias you. I am also very grateful that you stood by me through the CIA inquiry. It was short-lived, primarily because they couldn't get you to turn against me."
Nancy smiled, and stood, "Thank you, Uncle, but honestly I only did what I thought was right. It had less to do with loyalty, and more to do with justice."
He looked at her quizzically, "Are you leaving?"
Nancy smiled, "Yes, I thought I should go while I was ahead - before you got a chance to screw it up and tick me off again. Do me a favor and let me bask in the glow for a while." She turned and left her Uncle looking after her in bemusement.
In the hangar, Murdock looked up as Nancy came in, "How did it go?"
She shrugged, "Pretty good - Uncle apologized for belittling my career, and thanked me for the work on the LaSalle case. On balance, I definitely ended up on the plus side this time."
"Is that all?" Murdock asked, surprise evident in his voice.
She looked at him through narrowed eyes, "I thought that was pretty good considering the source. What were you expecting?"
Murdock pursed his lips together, "Well, nothing, really . . ."
"Alright, then," Nancy put an arm around his waist, "Are you ready to go home?"
He grinned, "Sounds good to me!"