Chapter Seven - part six

   The remainder of the weekend was filled with things to do. James and Sarah actually didn't get to see a lot of each other and yet they were still spending time together each day. There was also at least one meeting a day between their parents. Mostly that was because Sarah had insisted on including everyone in the events leading up to her graduation. Graduation week itself was at best, controlled chaos. The only really good thing about it, as far as James was concerned, was it was a dry run for his own future graduation. His dad and mom seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. They also seemed to be making a good connection with Sarah's parents. They even went out a few times without anybody else along. James wasn't sure who that had worried the most, him or Sarah. Still, all in all, it had gone smoother than he had expected. Then the day before graduation James had gone for his morning run and found Sarah's dad waiting at the track.

   There was no doubt that he was waiting for James or why he was waiting. James had just greeted him and they had started a morning run together. At first the conversation was just polite, mostly about running and the track team. After a couple of laps that changed. They talked a lot about Sarah and the future. It was made very clear to James that Robert wasn't pleased that his daughter planned to spend two weeks living with James in his parent's home. James had started to explain that she would have her own room, but was told that wasn't the issue. The real issue was that Sarah wasn't coming home to stay with her folks. He was informed that Joshua had assured Mr. Davis that there would be nothing going on under his roof. Sarah would be treated just like Joshua treated his own daughters. At the end of the run James finally heard the question he had been waiting to hear the entire week.

   Robert Davis was a relatively young man to be a United States Senator and he was in very good shape. Even with that, he was a bit winded by the end of his run with James. Even though James had run slower than normal and fewer laps it was still a long run for anyone not training for marathon running. Robert looked at James as he stopped to catch his breath. Then he spoke. "So, do you love my daughter?" James straightened up and looked directly at him as he quickly answered. "Yes sir." James watched as the man began to smile and then shake his head while speaking. "That was a very fast answer to a very important question. I have noticed that you are normally much more careful about giving an answer to one of my questions." Now James laughed. That seemed to be a surprise to Robert Davis. After he finished laughing James shook his head before he answered.

   "I don't need to think about my answer to that question. But you need to understand that while I love her I haven't told her that yet. Sir, I do love your daughter. I have no more doubt of that than I do of my faith in and love of God. I actually think I have been in love with her since the first time I actually looked at her and saw the woman instead of the cadet. That has been a major obstacle for both of us, being cadets that is. I haven't told her that I love her, because until I know I can actually have a life with her I don't want to risk it. Sir, if she loves me, and I pray that she does, we will find a way to make it work.  But until I can be certain that she feels the same, I am not willing to risk telling her how I feel. Like I told you while we were running, I don't know what the future holds for us. I do know that I have two years left at the Academy and at least five years of service after that. I believe that I will become a career officer, just like Sarah. That will further complicate things for us. I don't want to try and make a commitment until I am certain I can honor it. I think Sarah feels the same. I do love Sarah, but my love for her may be what forces me to let her go. I love her too much to allow my own desires to cause her pain. I hope you can understand and believe that I will never willingly hurt Sarah even if I have to walk away from her to avoid it."

   Robert had slowly straightened as James was talking. When James was done, Robert just turned and walked slowly down the path from the track. It took James a moment to catch him and neither spoke until they reached the parking lot where Robert had parked. Then Robert looked at James and spoke. "I think you might be the most honest young man I have ever known. I do believe you. I knew you loved my daughter the first time I saw you look at her. I don't believe anyone except a fool could miss it. That does nothing to change my concerns about you and for my daughter. While you are a remarkable young man and brilliant according to your professors, you are still a walking time bomb. I am extremely concerned about what may happen to those close to you if the bomb ever goes off."

   James smiled and spoke easily in reply to those concerned words. "Sir, I too worry about that. I won't change who or what I am though. I believe that the bomb will go off eventually with or without me. I think you know that Lt. General McBride thinks I may be able to at least begin defusing that bomb. I hope he is right, but regardless of that, I am not the bomb. I may be the trigger, but there are lots of those available. Sarah and I are both faithful Christians. I know, from her, that you are as well. I think that we can survive anything as long as we trust in God first and each other next.  I trust God. Sarah trusts God. We trust each other. You may not be ready to trust me or even Sarah, but you can trust God." James turned and jogged away. He didn't want to debate this further. He loved Sarah and he loved the Lord. That was all he could do for now.

   Nothing was said about any of that during the remaining time before or after graduation. Sarah did comment that her dad seemed to be very thoughtful and quiet for some reason. Once graduation and all the celebrating was over it was time to get packed up and moved out for Sarah. She sent most of her things home with her parents. She packed only the basic requirements in her Mustang. She and James were going to be driving that back. They had intended to drive straight across the country taking turns driving and sleeping. That hadn't been received very well by either set of parents, but they had given in eventually. That was only after Sarah had agreed to stop over at her home north of Dallas for one night. It was a longer route, but they would still be able to make the actual drive in two to three days. They were both relieved to just get on the road and away from everyone for a while.

 The trip went great. Even the night at Sarah's home went better than James had expected. They had arrived late and left early, but her folks had seemed much more at ease about Sarah going to stay with James for a few weeks. They had almost seemed to be excited for her. James tried not to question it. The rest of the drive had been uneventful. They had just enjoyed the scenery and spending more time together. This was really the first time they had ever been able to just relax and not be careful of what they said or did. James was almost sad to see it end, but sitting in a car for over twenty hours made it hard not to be ready for a break. They had arrived late and gone straight to bed after unloading. They both slept in late the next day. James had warned Sarah to be ready. He was expecting the entire clan to descend on them that first weekend and they did.

   They had arrived late Friday night to a relatively quiet house. Only his parents and Sandy were there and they were almost pushing them to go to bed. Sarah had been given the guest bedroom, the one right across the hall from his parent's room. Sandy had teased Sarah just a bit about that, by implying that apparently they wanted to keep an eye on someone. Sarah had taken it all in good fun. By noon Saturday there was no quiet or peace to be found in the house. His sisters began to arrive and with them lots of noise and mayhem. Uncle James was quickly overwhelmed by a very jealous pair of toddlers. Sarah on the other hand was surrounded by his sisters. It had taken only a matter of minutes for them to be divided up and the questioning begun. Sarah seemed to be stunned at first by the sheer numbers, but as the day passed, she quickly adapted. James managed to get her away after the evening meal for a short sunset walk. They had to take his nephews along with them, just to make sure James didn't try anything while he had Sarah alone, but they could still talk since the kids were so young.

   Sarah had laughed about the size of his family and she had beamed about all of the attention. James had been concerned that she would feel overwhelmed. She assured him that while she had felt that for a few moments it was gone now. Now all she had to say was how wonderful and amazing it was. She was making a real connection with his mom. She liked his sisters, but she said his mom was the best, because she seemed to know how to control the chaos around her and still make Sarah feel totally a part of everything. James was just glad that Sarah could handle a full scale assault by his family on her first day. He knew it would all be great when they started back and his nephews began to fight about who Sarah would carry back. Before it was over she had one on each hip. James found himself wishing they were their kids as he watched her walking while holding them both.

   It didn't end with the family assault on Saturday though. There was another full scale assault waiting for Sarah at church Sunday morning. James hadn't considered that at all. They walked into his normal class and were immediately shoved out and escorted to the young couple's class! James and Sarah found themselves sitting in a room surrounded by young married couples and one engaged couple. The youth minister and his wife took turns teaching this group and today it was his wife. James and Sarah soon found themselves and their coming separation to be the topic of discussion. It was uncomfortable at first, but as the class progressed Sarah seemed to make a connection with the other women in the class. The men were all more like James, reluctant to get involved in this discussion. It was something that James knew they would have to deal with, but he wasn't ready to talk about it in public. Sarah and the other women had no issues with talking about it though. James had to admit they had some good ideas and brought up some points that he hadn't even considered too.

   The actual church service wasn't a lot better. Oh the message wasn't focused on them at all, but the crowd was. Both before and after the service they found themselves surrounded by the church members. They had to explain many times that they weren't engaged yet, just dating. They also got to hear from virtually everyone that they made a perfect couple and should get married. The only exception was Pastor David and his wife. They were very careful not to mention those things, but Pastor David did make a point of inviting them to come and see him before they had to leave again. He told Sarah that James knew where to find him and that his door would always be open for them, either one or both of them. Once back home they took a lot of teasing about getting engaged during Sunday school. James was grateful when his father finally put an end to it. Joshua had listened to all the teasing and banter for most of the afternoon, but when the girls were starting to get ready to head home it was really getting bad. There were a lot of warnings to not decide to elope no matter how much they wanted it. Joshua had walked over and put his arm around his son and smiled. Everyone had gotten quiet as he spoke to his son.

   "James let me remind you of the advice I have given you and these girls before." He looked up at the girls as he continued. "Love is a lot like a fire. Some fires burn very hot and fast. Those look impressive and they generate a lot of heat and flames, but they burn out just as fast. They almost always leave behind charred ruins that have to be cleaned up too. Then there are the fires that never seem to really get going. There is a lot of smoke and you may even see some flames now and then, but there isn't much real warmth. Usually those smoldering fires will just slowly die and never really amount to anything, but some do eventually catch and become the kind of fire you want. That kind of fire is one the burns slow and steady. You want a fire that you can clearly see the flames burning in and feel the heat coming from it. A fire that has occasional flare ups that burn hot and bright, but one that also smolders sometimes. When it smolders it generates a lot of smoke that may hide the flames for a time, but is still burning hot at the core. It is a fire that you can feel the heat from even at a distance without seeing any flames. That is the kind of love you want too. The kind of love you can always feel, even when the smoke hides the flame. That kind of love will be just like that slow steady fire. It will last and burn until there is nothing left behind. That kind of love will last a lifetime and warm a lot of people's lives. Now you and Sarah just ignore all of these kids’ nonsense. Take it from an old man. You will know when you find that kind of love. You will see it and you will most definitely feel it. It may burn fast and hot for a while, but just wait long enough to see if it burns out just as fast or if it keeps burning after that fast start and becomes that slow steady love that you need. Forget everybody else, all that matters is finding that slow burning kind of love with the one person who sees it and feels it only with you."