An Honest Kiss

Chapter 10

The restaurant was nothing fancy it was a bar with a long table in the middle, and they were the only ones there. It was owned by a man from France and the food was said to be the best in the area.

Ava kept monopolizing Paul during dinner, and Dr. Lancaster kept trying to be included in their conversation. Diana looked bored as she watched the rest of the patrons in the restaurant.  She really was an odd one and Rachel wondered for a moment what she was all about before she was pulled into the conversation that Jack and Bob were having about WAMM.

"I've only been with the organization for a month," Rachel supplied when he asked her a question she couldn't answer.

"A month only!" Ava stopped mid conversation. As usual she was listening to all of the others around her as well as carrying on her own conversation. This was something that Rachel, Jack, and Bob were used to, but the others were not.

"Where have you been for the past five years?" Ava asked without thinking.

"We'll it took a while to get father's things settled, then I went to work at a hospital in the D.C. area."

Ava looked at her astounded, then she turned towards Jack. "How long have you been here Jack?" Her eyes narrowed.

"I've been here for almost five years Ava." Jack's expression was guarded.

There was silence at the table while the others tried to figure out the importance of Ava's question.

"Jack." Ava shook her head in maternal disappointment. Rachel had started to get uncomfortable with the silence as Ava and Jack stared at each other, neither one conceding their point to the other.

"Well I'm ready for a dance, Rachel?" Bob asked as he held out his hand. There was a Jukebox in the corner that had old standards on it left over from bygone days and she and Bob walked over to it together and looked down at the options.

"She loves you both, and she worries.  All of these years we were under the assumption that you were both over here together. If we had known otherwise you can bet you would have been living with us, not all alone." Bob put his arm around her waist.

Rachel smiled up at him through the gathering tears. "Maybe it's a good thing that you all didn't know, Aunt is one thing but Mother Ava," she shook her head, "that would have been overwhelming."

"Well one thing is for sure, she would have set Jack straight."

The Jukebox was free and after a moment Bob picked a slow song and moved her out to the middle of the empty floor. "This is something I never imagined myself doing." He chuckled softly.

"What's that?"

"Dancing in a bar in the middle of West Africa with such a beautiful lady." He looked over at Ava. "I would suggest that we try to make my beautiful wife jealous, but she knows you only have eyes for Jack." He twirled her around and she laughed. It felt good to laugh she hadn't done so for a very long time.

"Everyone knows that." Rachel smiled sadly.

"I don't think Jack does.  Maybe you should tell him one day."

"No, it would be emotional suicide." She shook her head and looked over at Jack who had his head bent talking to Dr. Lancaster. If he truly didn't know, which she doubted, then she was not about to show him all her cards. There was too much at stake.

"You know men can be unsure and intimidated too," Bob said as he twirled her around.

Rachel looked back at him with a sad smile.  "Not Jack."

"Yes Jack, you're so young, beautiful, and innocent." He was silent as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Jack is a man who has been to hell and back more than a few times.  Having been through war myself, I can tell you that it can make you feel less than human. You feel as if you don't deserve anything good in this life, and that if anything good does come your way you will ruin it just by association."