Chapter 51

"Miranda you did everything you could! You even broke the law by calling in that bomb threat. What more could you have done?"

"I don't know, but there had to have been something!"

"You kept some of them from getting on, you should be proud of that."

"I would have saved them all if I could, but I'm so glad that you trusted me!"

"So am I, my dear. I'm also glad that I already called Francesca so once this becomes public knowledge she isn't frantic about me being on that flight."

"We should also call Tom so he knows that I was able to keep you from getting on the plane."

"Good thought," he told her.

She got up from his lap and looked around as if realizing for the first time that they had moved from the kitchen. "You had other things on your mind," he grinned at her.

"I guess so," she smiled sadly. Picking up the phone she dialed the number to Tom's hotel and when there was no answer she left a message for him to call her as soon as he got in.

As Miranda hung up the phone her tummy growled reminding her that all she'd had since lunch the day before had been coffee, coffee, and more coffee. With a rueful smile at AJ she asked if he'd like some lunch too since she had to have something to eat. After he admitted that he was hungry, she went to the fridge to see what she could throw together.

She asked if grilled ham and cheese met with his approval and after getting a resounding 'yes' added that she had a batch of homemade potato salad too. "You are a woman after my own heart," he sighed.

"Yes I am!" she giggled.

He liked that sound, he hadn't heard it in a while since they had been dealing with such serious subjects recently, but he found that the sound of her happiness lifted his spirits even more than he would have thought. Giving a secret smile he reminded himself that that was love was all about.

They ate and chatted about family, he told her about Francesca's younger days and their reunion after many long years apart, and she told him how it was raising Nora alone after her husband had died. She was in the middle of a sentence when she stopped and got up, going over to the small TV on the counter there in the kitchen she turned it on and they sat and watched as the first news reports of the crashed plane came on the air.

Almost before the report had finished, Miranda's phone was ringing; she picked it up and handed it to AJ without answering it herself. At his odd look, she smiled sadly and said, "It's Tom calling to find out if you were on that plane."

"Tom?" AJ questioned into the receiver rather than saying 'hello'.

"AJ?! How the hell did you know….Oh never mind! Randi told you! I saw the news and knew that was the flight you were going to Italy on…don't scare the shit out of me like that again!" Tom Boone growled.

"That's why Miranda left word for you to call her as soon as you got back to your hotel," AJ told his old SEAL buddy.

"I caught the news while I was out. I haven't been back to the hotel yet," Tom informed him. "Does your daughter know you weren't on that flight?"

"Yes, I called her as soon as we got to Miranda's from the airport. Now since I have you on the phone anyway, I had a question I wanted to ask you…."

Tom interrupted him to ask one of his own, "Does it involve having my Mess Dress uniform cleaned?"

AJ looked at Miranda and wondered if she had already talked to Tom about their relationship, "Not yet, but hold that thought, I might be working around to it. The idea I wanted to run by you involved Miranda…."

Once again Tom jumped in, "Well, I figured it was her you would be marrying!" he laughed.

"Tom has Miranda said something to you about that?" AJ asked staring right into the eyes of the woman they were talking about. At her blush he had his answer before Tom replied.

To Be Continued….