Never one to shy away from a good fight, Arthur Goldman smiled. “Why is that, Jan? Ratings dropping?”

Having trained herself to resist reacting emotionally whenever someone was pressing her button, Jan took in a deep breath, flashed her award winning smile, and cocked her head to one side. “There are very real concerns, among average men and women in the country, in regard to their safety and security. One attack on a federal building can be written off as a bolt out of the blue, a fringe element that can’t possibly affect the nation and its citizens as a whole. But two, that’s a different matter. After all,” she asked in an innocent tone, “doesn’t the thought that you might be there, in person, for the next bombing, give you pause every time you enter the lobby of the Federal Court House to file a brief on behalf of one of your clients?”

Arthur was able to shrug that question off with an easy smile, especially since his law office used messengers and legal assistants whenever they were required to conduct business at Federal facilities. “We cannot let ourselves live in fear,” he finally responded. “That is exactly what these people want.”

“Well,” Jan countered, “I’ll be a lot happier when ‘those people’ are afforded the chance, either voluntarily or otherwise, to tell a jury of their peers what their druthers are.”

On this note Scott, coming up behind Jan, reached out and grabbed his wife’s arms and squeezed them. “Well, if you asked me, I’m about ready to get out of this uniform and go celebrate.”

Pleased that the cavalry had arrived to save her, Jan broke free of Scott’s grasp, turned, and threw her arms around his neck. After planting a kiss on his cheek, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “For God sakes, Scotty, beam me out of here!”

Looking up at the false smile Arthur was sporting, he greeted the attorney with a nod, then whispered to Jan using the best Scottish accent he could manage, “I’m doin’ the best I can, captain, but the engines won’t take much more of this.”

While Nathan drove his grandparents and his brother back to Natural Bridge along Interstate 81 where they would all meet and have dinner with the Goldmans, Jan and Scott took the slower, scenic route along old U.S. 11. Scott was enjoying the lushness of Virginia’s mountain greenery while Jan, not at all thrilled about the prospect of spending more time with Arthur and his latest trophy wife, tried hard to think about something pleasant. Scott finally broke the silence when he muttered absentmindedly about the landscape that seemed to engulf them. “I’m going to miss coming here to visit Nathan. Though I never would have guessed he’d pick a place like VMI, I’m glad he did.”

Shaking her head, Jan looked over at Scott and forced a smile. “Yes, it has been nice.”

Glancing out of the corner of his eyes at his wife, Scott looked at Jan as she started to withdraw into her own thoughts. “Did Arty get you that upset?”