He sighed.
“You were patient about it.”
“Patience is useful.”
Frank studied my face for a moment.
“Most people would have corrected me a lot earlier.”
“Probably.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I considered the question carefully.
“Because you weren’t trying to hurt me. You were defending something you care about.”
Frank looked surprised.
“You think that’s what I was doing?”
“Yes.”
He leaned back against the railing.
“You’re not wrong.”
Frank stared out across the yard again.
“The Marine Corps gave me everything,” he said quietly. “Discipline. Direction. Pride. When you spend that much of your life inside something like that, you start thinking you know exactly what it looks like.”
I understood that feeling.
“And tonight,” he continued, “I realized the Corps moved forward without asking my permission.”
“That tends to happen.”
Frank chuckled softly.
“Yeah.”
He looked at me again.
“I didn’t expect you.”
“In what way?”
He hesitated. Then he said the honest thing.
“You’re not what I imagined when I heard the words ‘Marine general.’”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“I’m sure you have.”
Frank rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“You know what bothered me most tonight?”
“What?”
“It wasn’t that you outrank everyone I ever served with.”
“What was it?”
“That you sat there and listened to me talk like an idiot without losing your temper.”
“That’s called discipline.”
Frank nodded slowly.
“Yeah. I guess it is.”
Another pause passed. Then he said something I hadn’t expected.
“You love my son?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why you came tonight.”
“Yes.”
He looked down at the porch floor for a moment.
“Danny’s a good man.”
“He is.”
“And if he’s chosen you…”
Frank shook his head slightly.
“Well, I clearly misjudged the situation.”
I smiled.
“That happens to all of us eventually.”
