Settling Old Scores: BWWM Second Chance Romance Read Online Free Page B

would be if they burst open. They
were always under a minimum manning situation when in Vietnamese
waters. That meant that there was just the fireman and him down
there. In a case like that, each was responsible for the other. They
would look at each other full in the eyes. The unspoken belief was,
"We ain't leaving this engine room unless we leave it together."
The foxhole issue all over again.

    7.
A Chance Encounter
    Kevin
had woken up that morning in August 1977 to hear that Elvis Presley
had just died. He thought about all the good music Elvis created, and
bad movies. He rolled over and went back to sleep. It all just seemed
to be part of a long descent that just would not stop. He thought of
the saying summing up the history of the world. Something to the
effect that things started out bad and kept getting worse. Finally,
he dragged his butt out of bed and got moving. He had spent the last
several years sailing half the year and going to graduate school
during the other half. He had just about finished his MBA.
    Kevin
had to see his graduate adviser and round up a book he needed. There
he was at a campus bookstore picking up the textbook he needed; when
he looked up, he saw Pat Washington standing in front of him. He
hadn’t seen her in years. She was tall, about 5-10, and had
filled out a little more since he had last seen her; she looked
fabulous. She had big blue eyes, dark brown long hair, a slight olive
complexion, and a great shape in her snug jeans and sweater.
    "Pat,
you look terrific," was all Kevin could stammer out. He was so
mesmerized by those big eyes of hers; he just stood there staring.
She was taken aback by the encounter, too. Slowly, she smiled and her
eyes lit up. One thing that Kevin always loved about her was the
light that came from behind those eyes. It was radiant light; Kevin
could literally see the mind behind it, and the high wattage it
contained was blatantly obvious.
    "Kevin,
you look terrific too," she said. Finally, in a delayed
reaction, they awkwardly embraced each other. It seemed to erase some
of the tension. They rapidly settled into a friendly, catch-up
conversation, and agreed to meet for coffee later that day. It was
just as though nothing had happened between them four years earlier.
    At
some point, Kevin just accepted that there was no future in the two
of them. He simply stopped writing, and stopped dropping by her house
when he was home. He just couldn't go on with the relationship as it
was. They had been in a static limbo for years before the breakup.
That was enough for Kevin; it was time to move on.
    It
turned out she was just finishing up her doctoral degree in music.
She planned to audition violin for several orchestras. She knew just
about everything there was to know about classical music, rock 'n
roll, jazz, and blues. Kevin knew she could talk about her musical
interests for hours. He wasn't surprised by this update. She had
always retreated into her music for as long as he had known her. He
knew she spent hours cloistered in her room listening to music and
practicing violin. Kevin used to hang out with her there. He too, was
seeking refuge from his own self.
    Kevin
had mixed feelings when he asked her to coffee. He thought idly about
the scene in the movie Casablanca where Bogart
and Bergman meet again. He thought it ironic that music was involved
in that meet up too. As he thought about meeting her, he got
increasingly nervous. They were safe if they kept it light. But deep
down, Kevin knew he couldn't let it go like that. Like Bogart and
Bergman, they had unfinished business.
    "I
could use a shot of Bourbon about the size of the bottle Bogart was
working on when Bergman appeared after hours in Rick's place to see
him," he mumbled to himself as he went to see his adviser.
    Pat
and Kevin met for coffee at a little outdoor cafe on campus. It was a
sunny August late morning with mild temps, low humidity, and very
faint touch of fall in the air. As she sat there with