Headed for Trouble - By Suzanne Brockmann Page 0,31

He made a face that was nowhere near scary and the baby chortled with laughter. “I think that’s a solid no.”

“He can be very scary,” Kelly told me, laughing too. “Don’t let him fool you. Anyway, the point is that he finally called to tell me he was coming home, which was wonderful news. He’d been gone for nearly three weeks. That’s the longest he’s been away since Charlie was born.”

“Yeah, I missed you pretty badly,” Tom said to Charlie. “And I missed your mommy, too.” He looked at me. “But everything fell perfectly into place. Like someone waved a magic wand and made it all easy.”

So okay, I was wrong. Tom clearly knew he was a character and that I was his writer.

Still, I shook my head at his unspoken question. It wasn’t me who’d made things easy for him. I like to challenge my characters, throw them into situations that are difficult—just to see what they’ll do, how they’ll react.

“That seat on the plane—there was only one left, but it was mine,” Tom continued. He obviously didn’t believe me. “I was flying into Germany, where I’d catch a connecting flight to New York, and on to San Diego. Again, I got the last seat on that flight, too. Then when I was packing, the zipper on my bag broke. I was ready to leave everything behind, just take my laptop, but I got a new bag at a store that was right in the hotel lobby. Of course, it was pink, with a picture of Minnie Mouse on it. Thanks so much for that.”

Again, I shook my head. It really wasn’t me. I’d spent the past few months writing Into the Storm, Navy SEAL Mark Jenkins’s story.

“And then there was the taxi,” Kelly prompted him.

“Yeah,” Tom said. “The entire three weeks I’m in Kazabek, it’s impossible to get a cab, but suddenly one’s available. I just opened the door and got in. Traffic was usually terrible, but we made it to the airport early. I checked in, everything was great. I got on the plane, and they were actually giving out free drinks and real sandwiches—when does that ever happen? We had a delay before takeoff, but even that was okay. We managed to make up the time while we were in the air. We landed in Germany, and I had just enough time to make it to the gate and …” He shook his head ruefully. “I didn’t get on the plane.”

“What happened?” I asked, looking to Kelly. But she was watching Tom holding Charlie, her eyes soft. No doubt about it, she loved her two men.

“There was this kid,” Tom said, but then he corrected himself. “A young man. In an Army uniform. Corporal Tyrell Richards. He was standing near the gate, clearly anxious. And he’s looking at me like I’m the grim reaper as I approach. I’m a little late, but I can still make the flight. And as I hand my boarding pass to the man behind the counter, he turns to Richards and says, That’s it, we’re full. No standbys. The look on that kid’s face was …” He shook his head.

“So Tom asked him where he’s from,” Kelly told me. “He says Hartford, Connecticut. He’s only got a few more days of leave. He was trying to get home to see his wife, meet his daughter. Meet. She was Charlie’s age. Can you imagine? He hadn’t been home in a year.”

I shook my head. No, I couldn’t imagine.

“So Tom gave him his seat,” Kelly continued.

I turned to look at him.

“It really wasn’t that big a deal.” Tom was embarrassed.

“It probably was to Tyrell Richards,” I pointed out.

“And it definitely was to Tyrell’s wife,” Kelly agreed.

Again, Tom shrugged. “It was the least I could do. Hey, champ, you tired?”

In his arms, the baby was starting to fuss. He rubbed his eyes.

Kelly scooped him up. “Nap time,” she announced. “It was nice to see you, Suz,” she said to me as she and Charlie left the room.

Tom and I sat in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

“So it took me three days to get home,” he told me. “All that good luck? Instantly gone. I missed my connecting flight to California out of New York, ended up in Dallas for twenty-three hours, two of ’em spent sitting on the runway. Wasn’t that fun? Still, it was worth it. We got the nicest note from Tyrell’s wife.” Tom’s smile widened. “I also