glanced at Jamie in the rearview mirror, and saw her daughter looking out the side window in wonder. Emily smiled, remembering that Tom had almost the same look on his face when he held Jamie for the first time in the delivery room. He was the greatest husband and father ever, and her love for him grew steadily every day.
A little while later, Emily pulled into the semi-circular driveway in front of Tom’s parents’ house. The tips of the leaves on the trees around the house were just beginning to show a little color. It was early autumn, and the air was beginning to get crisp in the mornings. Her father-in-law, wearing a deep burgundy cardigan sweater, came out of the house to help get Jamie and her things.
“Hi, Dad,” Emily said as she got out of the car.
“Hi, Emily,” Tom’s father answered back. Emily thought that retirement suited her father-in-law. James Kirkland Anderson may have added more grey hair and a few lines across his forehead since she first met him and discovered that he was the Grand Master of the Order of the Saltire, but he looked more calm and content every day.
Emily came around the car and gave him a kiss on the cheek as he extracted Jamie from her car seat and lifted her out of the car. “How’s my big girl today?” he asked Jamie as she hugged him tightly around the neck.
Emily reached into the car to grab Jamie’s bag, “Where’s Mom?” Emily asked as she followed James and Jamie into the house. Theresa Katherine Anderson, or “Tracy” as she liked to be called, was Emily’s mother-in-law and usually came out to help Emily get Jamie’s things out of the car.
“She had to drop off something at the cleaners,” James replied. “She’ll be back in a minute or two. Can you wait for her, or do you need to run?”
“I need to run. Can you give her my love and tell her I’ll see her tonight?”
“I’ll be happy to.”
“You’ll be at the meeting tonight?”
“Count on it,” Tom’s father replied with a wink. “Sophie’s coming over for dinner, and the three girls will have the house to themselves until we get back. The boys have football practice tonight, so Liam will stop and pick them up after the meeting.”
“OK,” Emily said, giving Jamie and James a kiss good-bye. “I’ll see you tonight.” She left the house, got back in her car, and drove to her meeting at SignalCorps.
“Come on, my big girl,” James said to his only granddaughter. “Let’s see what Grandmom left for us in the kitchen!”
Jamie clapped her hands excitedly, and when her Granddad set her down, she raced to the kitchen to see what goodies there were to eat. Her Granddad had to move quickly to follow her toward the back of the house, making sure that she didn’t bump into anything.
7
Ralph Gardner, Tom’s friend and the Director who managed one of Tom’s territories at work, was waiting for Tom when he arrived at the office. The two men had a tradition of getting to the office before most of the rest of the staff arrived so they could discuss work – both for their company and the Order. Ralph had earned the rank of Knight Grand Cross for his excellent work with the Order and outstanding leadership skills, and Tom valued his skills and his friendship.
A number of times, Tom had tried to convince Ralph to come onto the Grand Magistry, the council that supported the Grand Master in running the affairs of the Order, but Ralph respectfully declined each time. He enjoyed fieldwork and didn’t want to give it up. However, when Tom proposed that Ralph be named the Order’s Chief Training Officer for interventions, the Grand Magistry approved the idea, and Ralph accepted his new role. It allowed him to continue doing fieldwork while also providing valuable training to Knights and Dames of the Order worldwide to ensure consistency in how the Order conducted its operations. Ralph held a number of training seminars at the Headquarters Commandery each year, and he also travelled around the world training Commanderies who couldn’t afford to send their newer members to Headquarters.
“How are you this morning, boss?” Ralph asked as Tom walked up to his office door.
“Doing well, Ralph. How about you?”
“Great, boss. Got a minute?”
“Sure,” Tom said, unlocking his door and motioning for Ralph to enter. “Come on in.” Tom turned on the lights. Ralph closed the door as Tom sat down and turned on his computer.
“How long?” Ralph asked as he sat down.
“Almost two minutes this morning.”
“You were predicting just one, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but she surprised us. I was able to sit down and take a drink of my tea before the bowl went flying.”
Ralph chuckled. He liked hearing about how his goddaughter was doing. Ralph’s children were grown and had moved away to pursue their careers. He didn’t see them as much as he’d like, so he often thought of Jamie as part of his own family – especially since he had introduced her parents to each other.
“Are you going to talk to her today?” Ralph asked, changing the subject.
“Yes, we’re having lunch together, and I’ll bring it up then.”
“I really think it’s the best thing for her and for the Order.”
“I do too. I’ve been thinking about it for months, and it’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”
“Do you think she’ll be upset at the suggestion?”
“I hope not,” Tom replied. “I’ve been struggling with what to do ever since we first found that out she was pregnant. We made a deal about keeping our personal lives and our responsibilities in the Order separate, but Jamie’s a different matter altogether. Emily wants to be a valuable part of the Order, but I don’t think she’ll want to do field work again for a long time. I hope that she’ll look at this suggestion as a great way to balance her love for the Order with her love for being a mom. I guess I’ll find out at lunch.”
Ralph nodded. He opened his notebook to begin discussing the other items of business for the morning.
A few hours later, Tom heard a knock on his door. When he looked up, he was surprised to see the President of his company standing there. Tom immediately stood up and walked around his desk to shake the man’s hand. “Good morning, sir,” he said as his boss entered his office. “I didn’t know you were in town.”
“I had a layover at the airport for a few hours, and I thought I’d stop in and have a quick chat. I’m not disturbing you, am I?”
“No sir,” Tom said, gesturing toward the sitting area in the far side of his office. He was starting to get used to his boss’ unannounced visits. Tom’s boss wanted to see operations as they really were, not as someone thought he’d want to see them. So, more often than not, his personal visits were a complete surprise to everyone in the office. “What can I do for you?”
“Tom, my time is short, so I’ll get right to the point. I need a favor.”
“What is it?” Tom asked.
“Well, as you know, Cabot, who heads up the European operations, just had surgery. Evidently, there were some complications, and the recovery time will take longer than expected. There are sales meetings and presentations to some of the European militaries that he was supposed to conduct, but now he won’t be able to participate in them at all. It’s a busy time over there these days. I can’t go, and I don’t have anyone else who can step in and conduct these meetings. Can I talk you into helping out and standing in for Cabot over there?”
Tom was flattered that he was being asked to help one of his peers like this. He knew Cabot well and knew that he was a much better salesman than Tom was. “I’ll help out in any way, you know that, sir,” Tom said after a moment. “But why me?”
“That