In Wilde Country

friends—officers, diplomats, even General Halvorson himself. She’d
     have been on his arm at parties, as comfortable at casual staff gatherings as at the
     most prestigious of events and wherever she went, she’d have dressed properly, talked
     properly, shown the correct table manners.
    She’d have given him strong, smart children.
    She was even good in bed.
    Not exciting, like Angelica. Not wild. Connie was sweet and soft and tender, and if
     he could not imagine her fucking him on a beach, at least he could not imagine her
     fucking him over in life.
    He knew his thoughts might seem cold, even calculating, but until now he’d followed
     the male compass otherwise known as a penis, and look where that had led him.
    He put his hand under her chin and raised her face to his.
    “Connie,” he said softly. “Sweetheart. You’re a brave, wonderful woman.”
    Another of those sweet blushes swept across her face.
    “I only wish you’d let me know that we were having a child.”
    “John. Johnny—“
    “It’s John.” He dipped his head, brushed his lips lightly over hers. “That’s who I
     am, who I want to be.”
    Her eyebrows lifted. “I don’t understand.”
    He smiled and kissed her again. This time, he felt her mouth soften under his.
    “Understand this, honey. You’re not alone anymore. And you’re not moving to Austin,
     you’re moving to D.C. Or to Virginia. Maybe to Maryland.” He chuckled at the expression
     on her face. “I haven’t given much thought to where to settle and now I’m glad of
     that because part of that decision will be yours.”
    He could see dawning awareness in her eyes.
    Such gentle brown eyes, nothing like the hot black of Angelica’s.
    Hell.
    No way was he going to think about Angelica right now. She was the past; Connie was
     the future. OK. Angelica couldn’t stay in the past; he knew that. But she would never
     be what Connie would be to him.
    Yes, there’d be…difficulties.
    Difficulties? How about impossibilities? Yes, but he’d work them out.
    He wasn’t actually married to Angelica. Why not admit that? He’d always take care
     of her and the child she was carrying, of course; money would not be a problem, especially
     now that he’d inherited El Sue ño . He’d visit her from time to time; he’d want to, because he’d want to be part of
     his child’s life…
    “What are you saying, John?” Connie asked, and he drew her close, kissed her until
     she gave a little sigh and responded to the kiss.
    “I’m saying that we’re getting married. In the church here, at Wilde’s Crossing, with
     the whole town watching,.
    “But—”
    “No buts,” he said firmly. “We’re getting married, and that’s that, and I don’t want
     to delay our wedding a minute longer than it’ll take us to get a license.
    He smiled. It took a little while, but finally she did, too.
    He gathered her close against him.
    As for problems… If the Point, the army and life had taught him anything, it was that
     no problem was insoluble.
    Married men had affairs. They had mistresses. They had illegitimate children. Even
     high ranking army officers. Nobody talked about it, but everybody knew such things
     happened despite it being grounds for dismissal.
    He was Johnny.
    He was John.
    Either way, he was smart.
    There was no reason he wouldn’t be able to keep his two worlds from colliding.
    An American wife in the States. An American son.
    And, in Italy, a Sicilian not-quite-a-wife. An Italian son. Or daughter. Whichever,
     he’d provide for that family, too.
    He’d manage the details.
    Manage them with care and thought and skill.
    And, for a long time, he believed that…
    Believed it, for more than thirty years.

CHAPTER TWELVE
    Texas, the El Sue ñ o ranch, July 2014
    D awn.
    The sky blazed with tendrils of pink and crimson.
    The world was on fire, and the sight hurt General John Hamilton Wilde’s eyes, but
     then he’d never been a particularly good drunk and, man, he