Royce appeared at the top of the stairs a few moments later, a sleeping Kelly draped over his shoulder. The youngster had on her robe, one patterned with the faces of her favorite rock group, and her feet were dangling with hastily donned fuzzy slippers.
“Kelly?” Catherine coaxed softly. “Your father and I have something important to tell you.”
Yawning, the sleepy-eyed girl slowly lifted her head from her father’s shoulder. “Catherine?”
“I told you she was here,” Royce reminded his daughter.
Rubbing her eyes with small fists, Kelly straightened. “But you said Catherine couldn’t come over anymore. I’m not supposed to phone her or even say her name unless you tell me it’s all right first.”
Royce looked downright chagrined. He cast an apologetic glance to Catherine, cleared his throat and explained, “Your name came up far too often.”
“No, it didn’t,” Kelly denied, placing her head back down on Royce’s shoulder as he carried her down the stairs.
“That’s all going to change,” Catherine told the youngster. “Real soon.”
“I asked Catherine if she’d marry me, and she’s agreed,” Royce said. A brilliant smile sat contentedly at the edges of his mouth.
Kelly’s head came off Royce’s shoulder so fast it was downright comical. “You’re going to marry Catherine?” she cried, then squeezed her dad around the neck. Royce’s shining eyes met Catherine’s, and he stuck out his tongue as though he were in danger of being strangled.
“Oh, Catherine, I’m so happy.” Kelly broke away from her father, twisted around and reached for Catherine, squeezing her equally hard. “I can’t believe it! This is the happiest day of my whole, entire life. I’m not dreaming, am I?”
“No, sweetheart,” Royce said, sharing an intimate look with Catherine, “this is very real.” He set a squirming Kelly down on the carpet.
“This is great. This is really great.” Kelly slapped her hands hard against the sides of her legs. “What I want to know is what took you guys so long?”
“Ah…” Catherine hesitated.
“I realize there were a few minor problems, but as far as I could see you both stretched everything way out of proportion. Heaven knows how long it would have taken you to come to your senses if it hadn’t been for me.”
“That’s true,” Royce agreed, looking to Catherine and poignantly rolling his eyes. He moved to her side and slipped his arm around her shoulder with a casual easiness that suggested he’d been doing so for a good long while. “The thing is, sweetheart,” Royce said, his eyes dark and serious, “we’re going to have to keep this a secret. Understand?” The entire wedding would need to be handled discreetly.
Kelly nodded, then pretended to zip her lip closed.
“When?” Kelly demanded.
Royce’s gaze caught Catherine’s. “Soon, I hope.”
“Great. No, listen, we don’t have a whole lot of time to waste with this.” The ten-year-old stalked into the living room, sat down and crossed her legs. “Well, come here,” she said, gesturing for them to follow her.
Catherine and Royce stared blankly at each other.
“Come here,” Kelly repeated when they hesitated. “We don’t have all night, you know.”
“Exactly what is it you want to talk to us about?” Royce demanded.
“What else is there to discuss?” Kelly cried. “My baby sister!”
“Ah…” Catherine’s gaze darted to Royce, who did a good job of looking as stumped as she. Children. Kelly wanted to discuss enlarging their family when they hadn’t decided on a wedding date. Good heavens, Catherine had yet to figure out how they were going to pull this whole shenanigan off without anyone from the base finding out, and Kelly wanted to discuss a baby sister.
Royce’s arm circled Catherine’s waist as they moved into the formal living room. “What’s the matter, darling, has the cat got your tongue?”
“A baby sister,” Catherine repeated slowly, thoughtfully. She didn’t want to burst Kelly’s bubble, but at the same time the ten-year-old needed to be aware that there were several things to consider before they discussed a pregnancy.
Catherine sat down on the bronze velvet sofa. Royce sat slightly behind her, his arms circling her waist. “I was hoping we could talk about other matters,” Catherine suggested, thinking of a tactful way of changing the subject.
“We could.” Kelly was willing to concede that much. “I can be the flower girl, can’t I?”
“Anything you want.” Catherine hadn’t gotten around to thinking that far ahead, but she certainly didn’t have any objections if that was what Kelly wanted.
“I was thinking pink.”
“Pink?” Royce repeated as though he’d never heard the word before. “Pink what?”
“For the wedding colors, of course.” Kelly tossed him a look that suggested his presence wasn’t at all necessary, at least not right then. “You look real pretty in pink, Catherine, and it’s a nice omen.”
“Omen?” This time it was Catherine who couldn’t find her way around Royce’s fast-talking daughter.
“For my baby sister.”
“Of course, how silly of me.” Catherine was beginning to feel that Kelly wasn’t so much interested in gaining a mother as she was looking for a vehicle to deliver her long-awaited sibling.
“What if we have a son first?” Catherine wanted to know. She should find out these things just in case Kelly intended to boot her out of the family for having delivered something other than the specified request.
Kelly wrinkled her nose as if she found the mere suggestion distasteful. “I suppose a boy would be all right. I’ve heard lots of talk from the girls at school about how dads really like having sons. Personally, I’d much prefer a sister, but I guess this is just one of those things that we’ll leave up to God.”
“I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff,” Royce whispered for Catherine’s benefit.
“Does this mean we’re moving?” Kelly wanted to know next, her look pensive.
Royce went tense behind Catherine. She realized this was the part Royce dreaded most. Bangor was the only Navy base Kelly had ever known, although Royce had been stationed in other Puget Sound bases. Uprooting his daughter had been Royce’s primary concern about the two of them marrying. “More than likely we’ll be moving.”
After having a good deal to say about everything else, Kelly simply nodded.
“Does that bother you?” Catherine asked.
“Not really. Lots of other kids in my school have lived all over the world. Everyone says that if you join the Navy you get shipped everywhere. I think it’s our turn. Actually, when you think about it, it’s time we left Bangor.”
“I don’t know where we’re going yet.”
“But where do you think?” Kelly pressed.
“I’m hoping to be assigned to the Navy station in Bremerton, but we can’t count on that.”
“Really!” Kelly jumped off the couch and clapped her hands. “That’d be great. We could move to Catherine’s apartment and Sambo could sleep with me and it’d hardly be moving at all.”
“But we can’t count on that. Admiral Duffy’s promised to see what he can do.”
“Where else?”
“There’s always a chance I’ll go to Pensacola, Florida.”
Once again Kelly was on her feet clapping wildly. “All right, Disney World here I come.”
“Sweetheart,” Royce said, looking more than a little surprised by his daughter’s reaction to the possibility of moving across the country. “Just remember, I haven’t a clue where we’re headed. So we should be prepared for anything.”
“Does it matter where we move?” Kelly asked with a sanguine smile. “Catherine will be with us.”
“Maybe,” Royce corrected.
Kelly’s bright blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. She set her fists against her hipbones and glared across the room. “Exactly what do you mean by that?”
“
First we have to find out where your father’s going to be stationed,” Catherine explained, loving the expressive way Kelly had of letting her feelings be known. “Then I need to request a transfer there myself, or at least to a base close to where your dad’s stationed. We still won’t be able to be in the same command, but—”
“What happens if the Navy decides to send Dad one place and you another?”
It was a distinct possibility, and one Catherine prayed they’d never have to consider.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Royce assured the three of them.
Kelly’s nod was profound. “Good thinking.” She crossed her arms and leaned back against the sofa. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, there are a couple of other things we need to discuss.”
“Is that a fact?” Royce said, but the look he shared with Catherine suggested that he was as much at a loss as she.
Kelly cleared her throat, and her face grew dark and serious. “No hanky-panky.”
“I beg your pardon.” Royce was indignant.
“You heard me.” Kelly’s index finger shot out in a way that would have made teachers across America proud. “Not until you’re married at least. I’m not a little kid anymore,” Kelly informed them with a righteous tilt to her chin. “I know what kind of stuff goes on between men and women. I watch MTV.”
“I don’t believe this is any of your concern, young lady.” Royce was frowning, but Catherine wasn’t entirely sure what was bothering him; the fact Kelly watched racy music videos, or that she was insisting on curtailing their romantic involvement.
“You wouldn’t want to taint my young mind, would you?”
“If I’m going to taint anything, it’ll be your backside,” Royce announced loudly.
The threat was real enough for Kelly to sit on her hands to protect her posterior.
“This is the same kid who was afraid in a power outage,” Catherine whispered to Royce.
“That was a trick.”
“She turned off all the lights herself?”
“No,” Royce said, and shook his head for emphasis. “She called you over knowing I’d be back any minute, thereby forcing the two of us to deal with each other.”
“You always told me it’s impolite to whisper,” Kelly said indignantly from across the room. She stood, yawned once and headed for the stairs. “I’ll be back in just a moment.”
“You’ll be back?” Royce repeated.
“Of course. I’ll need to go with you when you take Catherine home. You don’t honestly expect me to stay here alone, do you?”
“Ah…”
“What’s the matter, love?” Catherine murmured, flexing her long nails against Royce’s arms, which were wrapped securely around her waist. “Has the cat got your tongue?”
“I’ll only be a minute,” Kelly said, rushing up the stairs.
“Which means…” Royce said, drawing Catherine back on to the thick sofa cushions. He felt solid and strong, and just the feel of him was enough to ease the terrible loneliness that had haunted her for nights on end.
Catherine raised her arms to link them around his neck. His eyes were on her. “So much for us being bad.” He lowered his mouth and feasted.
“Ho hum.” Kelly coughed loudly, disrupting them a few minutes later. “Not a good idea,” she announced. “There’s plenty of time for that sort of thing later. Right now we’ve got a wedding to think about.”
“A flower girl,” Royce murmured, slowly untangling his arms from around Catherine. “I have a feeling that by the time this wedding takes place, Kelly may be in a boarding school in Switzerland.”
* * *
The following week was impossible. That was the only way Catherine could think to define it. Knowing Royce was being transferred, but not knowing where made any planning impossible. They couldn’t arrange for a wedding until several factors were figured into the equation. First and foremost they needed to know when Royce would be dispatched. The news of his new duty assignment could come at any moment, and Royce could be ordered to ship out with as little as twenty-four-hours notice and as much as six months.
The restrictions upon them were just as stringent as before. As Kelly had so eloquently put it, no hanky-panky. Catherine would have paid anything just for the opportunity to “be bad” with Royce, but that, too, was prohibited. They’d come too far to risk everything now.
Catherine was sitting at her desk when Royce strolled into the office. “Lieutenant Commander, could I see you in my office, right away?”
“Yes, sir.”
Elaine Perkins scooted back to her chair as Catherine left her office, her secretary’s gaze following Royce. “Ol’ stoneface seems to be in a pleasant enough mood lately, don’t you think?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Catherine said before she let something slip that she’d soon regret. She’d long suspected that her observant secretary was aware of her feelings for Royce, but it was a subject neither dared broach.
“How can you not have noticed?” Elaine demanded. “I actually saw Commander Nyland smiling the other day. Smiling. Not that I could see there was anything to smile about, but that’s not my concern. Up until recently I assumed it would take an act of Congress to get that man to so much as grin. Lately that’s all changed.”
Catherine didn’t comment. “Do you want me to ask him what he found so amusing? I’ll tell him you’re curious to find out.”
“Funny, Catherine, very funny.”
Amused herself, Catherine walked into Royce’s office and closed the door. “You wanted to see me?”
“How do you feel about living in Virginia?” he asked without warning. “I’ve been assigned to Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk.”
“Virginia,” she repeated slowly. Her heart was pounding hard. “I’d love Antarctica if I could be there with you.”
Royce grinned, and their eyes held each other. “I feel the same way.”
“How much time do I have?” She arched her brows expectantly, waiting for him to respond.
“Two weeks.”
“Two weeks.” Catherine’s heart sank as she lowered herself into a chair and closed her eyes. Her mind started buzzing. It wasn’t possible. It simply wasn’t possible.
But it had to be! She’d do whatever she must to arrange it so they could be married before he was deployed.
“Catherine?”
She was on her feet again and not quite sure how she got there. She blinked once, then smiled over to Royce, confident her smile covered her entire face. “Two weeks,” she repeated, and nodded once, willing to accept the challenge. “I’ve got a whole lot of planning to do.”
Royce looked concerned. “I don’t want to postpone the wedding.” It went without saying that the ceremony would have to be discreet. For the two of them to marry so quickly after Royce was detached from the command would be a problem. They’d discussed it at length and had agreed to fly to San Francisco for the ceremony.
Catherine cast him a look that assured him otherwise. “I don’t want to wait, either.” They were both well aware that it would be better for them to let several months pass. But neither found that acceptable. “I’ll contact my mother right away. She’ll help with the arrangements. Personally, I doubt that I’d be able to pull this off without her.”
“You can contact the whole state of California if that’s what you want. Just as long as you’re at the church on time.”
“I’ll be there, don’t you worry.”
* * *
“Mom, it’s Catherine.”
“Sweetheart.” Her mother’s voice was elevated with pleasure. “It’s so good to hear from you.”
“How’s work…I mean, you’re not into anything heavy, are you?”
“No more than usual.”
“Good.” Catherine hesitated. She really would be asking a good deal of her mother, who was a newlywed herself, but there was no help for it.
“Good? Why’s that?” Once again her mother?
??s voice was raised with curiosity.
“Because I need you to do something for me…”
“Of course, whatever you need.”
“I need your expertise—” She wasn’t allowed to finish.
“Catherine, you’re a fine lawyer, I’m sure you don’t need my opinion, and furthermore I don’t think the Navy would take kindly to my interfering in something that has to do with the military.”
“Not in the courts, Mom.” Catherine couldn’t keep from grinning. The happiness was oozing out of her. “Royce asked me to marry him.”
“I thought he’d already done that.”
“He wasn’t serious then, only jealous.”
“I take it he’s serious this time?”
“Very serious. He arranged for a transfer before he proposed. He’s been assigned to the submarine base in Virginia. I’ve put in for a transfer there myself.”
“And?” The question came after a noticeable pause.
“And I haven’t heard yet. But we want to be married as soon as possible. We can’t let anyone know, at least not right away. The whole thing has to be handled delicately.”
“Of course. But once you’re married, the Navy wouldn’t separate a husband and wife, will it?”
“You’re joking, Mom?” Catherine asked with a light laugh. “I thought you knew the military better than that. The Navy does what’s most convenient for the Navy. Royce and I have no right falling in love in the first place.”
“But he’ll be in Virginia, and you might well end up stationed in Washington.”
“We don’t know that yet. Royce is pulling every string he can to make sure that doesn’t happen. Even if worse comes to worse and I do have to stay here, it won’t be forever. Eventually we’ll be together.”
“I don’t like the sound of this, Catherine,” her mother said in low, concerned tones.
“Trust me, it’s essential for right now.”
“Not necessarily. Sweetheart, don’t you think you should consider resigning from the Navy?”
It was an argument Catherine had been having with herself for several days. She’d talked it over with Royce, and they’d batted the idea back and forth several times, but she’d been adamant and he hadn’t pressured her. “I’m not leaving the Navy,” she argued forcibly with her mother. “I’m not giving up my career just because I happened to fall in love.”