Chapter 14 - A Visit from Colonel Vance
The following Tuesday evening, as the autumn sun dipped below the horizon and painted the North Carolina sky in shades of bruised purple and amber, a familiar knock sounded at my office door.
“Come in,” I called out, not looking up from the flight rotation charts spread across my desk.
The door swung open, and Colonel Richard Vance stepped into the room. He was out of his dress uniform, wearing a simple civilian sport coat over an open-collared shirt, holding two steaming paper cups of coffee from the base commissary.
“Working late, Major?” Vance asked, offering a friendly, weathered smile as he set one of the cups on the corner of my desk.
“Just finalizing the logistics handoff for the Pacific deployment wing,” I replied, leaning back and accepting the coffee with a grateful nod. “Thanks, Richard. Exactly what I needed.”
Vance pulled up a folding chair, sitting down opposite my desk. He looked around the organized, Spartan office with quiet approval. “It suits you. This command post has run smoother in two weeks than it did in six months under the previous leadership. The garrison commander is already talking about your next promotion recommendation.”
“I’m not looking for a promotion just yet,” I said, taking a sip of the dark, rich coffee. “I’m enjoying the work. Getting things running right from the ground up.”
“Well, you certainly cleared the decks back in Oakidge to make room for it,” Vance chuckled softly. “Though I assume you know the ripples from that little weekend gala are still echoing through the state's commercial circles.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Did Dale try to stage a comeback?”
“A comeback requires capital and credibility, neither of which he currently possesses,” Vance said, shaking his head. “Arthur Pendelton and the rest of his former associates have completely distanced themselves. The real estate portfolio is locked tight under the federal trust framework you helped design. Dale had to sell his luxury sedan just to cover his legal retainers, and Mark has taken a modest job down in Atlanta working for a mid-tier architectural firm.”
I listened quietly. The news didn't bring me joy, nor did it bring sorrow. It was simply the logical conclusion of an equation where every variable had been accounted for. Mark was finally working for a living instead of coasting on his father's coattails, and Dale was learning what it actually meant to be ordinary.
“And what about you, Richard?” I asked, shifting the focus. “Rumor has it you’re up for a brigade command assignment out at Fort Hood.”
Vance smiled, leaning forward resting his arms on his knees. “The paperwork is moving through the Pentagon as we speak. If it goes through, I’ll be heading west by the end of next month. But I wanted to make sure things were entirely stable here before I shipped out. You didn't need any more distractions from the civilian sector.”
“I haven't had a single distraction since I walked out of that country club,” I assured him, meeting his steady, respectful gaze. “You made sure of that with your timing at the podium.”
“I simply stated the facts, Catherine,” Vance said simply. “In the military, we have a saying: you salute the rank, and you respect the person wearing it. Dale forgot both rules. He paid the price.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, sipping our coffee while the hum of the command post provided a steady, reassuring backdrop. It was a strange and wonderful feeling to realize that my life was entirely my own—no secret resentments, no stifled ambitions, and no compromises made to keep the peace for people who didn't respect me.
“Well,” Vance said, standing up and straightening his jacket. “I won't keep you from your flight rotations, Major. But if you’re ever out in Texas after my transfer, the first round of coffee—or bourbon—is on me.”
“It’s a deal, Richard,” I said, standing to shake his hand.
May you like
He gave a crisp, respectful nod, turned on his heel, and walked out of the office, closing the door softly behind him. I turned back to my desk, picked up my pen, and signed off on the final deployment manifest. The horizon was wide, clear, and entirely under my command.
***
