The Soldier's Unexpected Family

by Tanya Agler

  Aidan bit back a laugh. “I’m good.”

  “Is it because you don’t want me to see that line on your arm?” Danny kept bouncing the basketball, the resounding echo consistent and purposeful. “Does that have anything to do with why you didn’t come home when Mommy died?”

  Aidan stilled. Until now, he didn’t know Danny had missed him. Sadness swept over him as yet another wave of grief that he hadn’t properly said goodbye to his sister hit him like a tsunami. He rubbed his arm and sat on the car’s back bumper, patting the spot next to him. This parenting thing wasn’t as easy as it looked, and Danny was only six. The next few years stretched before them. There were so many ways to mess it all up.

  Army strong. The motto flashed before him. He’d made it through so much already, he could manage this. Or at least try.

  “Um.” Sweat formed on his forehead, caused by mental anxiety rather than the weather, and he hadn’t even stepped foot on the basketball court yet. He wiped away the beads of perspiration with his sleeve. The easy way out would be a distraction or a pithy excuse. Whenever he asked his father questions after his mother died, his father had always blurted out something off the cuff and changed the subject. That was, until he met Cathy. After they married and had Shelby, he’d opened up a little more.

  “Can I see the line?” Danny scrambled closer to Aidan and stared at his sleeve.

  The unexpectedness of his question caught Aidan off guard, but he recovered and rolled up his sleeve. The scar had faded to a pale white line, an old injury that hadn’t been serious enough for a medical discharge. When the incident occurred nine years ago, the nightmares had been worse than the pain. Occasionally he woke up covered with sweat, but those nights were few and far between.

  “So...” He steeled himself, waiting for some sign of revulsion on Danny’s face but found none.

  “Does it hurt?” Danny reached out as if to touch it but drew his hand back.

  “You can touch it. It won’t hurt.” Aidan stretched out his arm. The scar, only four inches, was now simply a part of him, even if he preferred wearing long sleeves to cover it up. “It happened a long time ago. Before you were even born.”

  He’d been quite fortunate the knife wound hadn’t severed any tendons. He’d downplayed it to Shelby, but this and the inherent risk in the military might have been part of the reason she didn’t name him as Danny’s sole guardian.

  Truth was, his visits with her had grown less frequent over the past couple of years. Different missions had kept him off the radar for months. This new training assignment at Fort Lewis changed all of that. Unless something unexpected happened, he would remain stateside until he sought an honorable discharge next year.

  Danny reached out and traced the jagged line with his finger. “Why’d this happen?”

  Aidan noticed he’d asked why, and not how. “This occurred during a mission where I assisted with interpreting different dialects of a certain region during sensitive and classified negotiations between rival factions.”

  “Huh?” Danny pulled back. “What does that mean?”

  “I was the translator for my boss. I listen to someone else and tell my boss in English what the person said. I speak six languages. What’s different about me, though, is I’m adept with a variety of dialects and pick up slang easily.” That was one reason the security firm in DC wanted him. He saw the confusion still written on Danny’s face and tried to make it even easier for him to understand. “I was caught up in the moment and failed to ascertain the threat from the enemy combatant.”

  Translating for his commanding officer was easier than talking to a six-year-old, and Aidan stopped while he was behind. He glanced up and found Natalie standing at the frame of the garage door, a glimmer of a smile lurking in her blue eyes and a duffel bag at her feet. However, it was the way those athletic shorts showed off her tanned legs that deprived him of speech for a second.

  “What your uncle is trying to say is he’s good at talking to people. He got hurt when he was trying to help make life safer for everyone.”

  “Oh, okay.” Danny nodded and jumped off the bumper. He turned to his uncle and hugged his arm. “Thanks, Uncle Aidan, for helping the world.”

  Natalie smiled at Aidan. “Ready to go?”

  Danny passed the basketball to Natalie, who dribbled it on the driveway. “First team to ten gets to pick out tonight’s cake flavor.” A challenge lurked in her words, same as the challenge to connect with Danny.

  And he wasn’t one to pass up either challenge.

  * * *

  SOON THE SUN would set and the night would cool off a great deal because of the proximity to the mountains. Crickets chirped their mating calls, trying to find that special someone. Right now, though, magic sparkled in the twilight, the balmy air close to perfection.

  With the basketball game complete, Natalie enjoyed the night that much more. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with her towel and then sipped water while resting on the bleachers. She took another sip and drank in everything around her.

  She loved those rounded mountaintops, her little cottage and, most of all, her friends.

  Until Shelby’s death, she’d spent every Tuesday night at the River Bar and Grill, shooting the breeze and darts while munching on nachos. Once Danny joined her family, her parents had noticed her grief and instituted Sunday night dinner, with Mike and Georgie bringing Rachel, as long as Sheriff Mike wasn’t busy.

  Natalie reveled in summer, the long stretch of time away from the classroom to recharge. Fall would come soon enough, along with a new batch of kindergartners to keep her on her toes. She wouldn’t trade her job for anything.

  Except keeping Danny close by.

  That was one of the few things she’d give anything to make happen. She loved Shelby’s son as if he were her own. Now, for all intents and purposes, he was. She’d promised Shelby she’d take care of Danny if anything happened to her. A promise made on gossamer wings as Shelby had been the picture of health, but a promise all the same. Promises were dreams come to life, and she would do whatever was within her power to fulfill a promise.

  Something clicked, and bright lights illuminated the basketball court and nearby baseball field. The lights must be on a timer. Swigging another sip of water, Natalie held the ball under her arm and eyed Aidan with some suspicion. She and Danny had beat Aidan at basketball. “I think you let us win.”

  He shrugged, bent over and tied his sneaker. “Maybe I didn’t want to be the person to make such an important choice about which cake to eat for dessert.” He stole a glance at his nephew. Something akin to apprehension crossed his face. There was something mesmerizing about Aidan’s solid frame. His confidence lent substance to his handsome features. She could get used to him and after-dinner basketball if she let herself.

  The more she was around him, the harder it was to see him as Shelby’s brother or Uncle Aidan or Major Murphy. Now he was just Aidan.

  “After this much exercise, I say we deserve both.”

  “Two slices of cake. Awesome.” Danny tightened his hands into fists and punched the air.

  Natalie picked up the ball and started dribbling. “Just so you know, Aidan, I’d kick your butt in a game of one-on-one.” She kept a playful edge in her voice. She needed to keep this on a superficial level, rather than letting it evolve into a deep conversation like the one she’d overheard earlier in Shelby’s garage.

  Aidan laughed and shook his head. “In your dreams.”

  Danny jumped between them and clapped, still coming up short of a genuine laugh. “I’ll be on my best behavior on the bleachers. I promise.”

  “What exactly are you promising and why?” Aidan asked the boy.

  “I’ll be nice while you two play. I like to watch. I think Aunt Natalie’s going to win.”

  She glanced at Aidan, who met her gaze. Then that confidence was back in his
eyes, and a shiver of awareness shimmied through her. Then, her competitive edge, squashed from always coming in second to Becks, kicked in and she dribbled the ball, passing it behind her back and then in front of her. “I’m game.”

  “Isn’t it Danny’s bedtime?” Aidan tapped his watch. “A consistent schedule is a cornerstone of a child’s foundation.”

  “It’s summer vacation. Relaxing the rules a little allows the child to have freedom and know to trust that adults can show flexibility and a willingness to go with the flow.” She went over and peeked at his watch. “Besides, his bedtime isn’t for another hour and a half.”

  “And I had a shower last night. I don’t need one tonight,” Danny shouted before scrambling to the second row of the bleachers.

  Aidan pursed his lips. “If Natalie and I play, you take a shower tonight. Proper hygiene is important, and you should be bathing every night.”

  “Aww, that’s no fair. I like to be dirty.” Danny rolled his eyes, and his bottom hovered an inch off the bleachers. “Okay, but I still get both types of cake since I won, right?”

  “Right.” Natalie dribbled past Aidan and shot, executing a perfect layup. The basketball bounced off the backboard, circled the rim twice and then dropped into the basket. “Two points. First person to twenty wins.”

  “That’s not fair. I wasn’t ready.” Aidan jogged over and scooped up the ball.

  “You were born ready. Besides, you have a good four inches on me. You ought to have this in the bag in no time.” She held back a giggle. She was downplaying her skills on purpose, trying to have him underestimate her. She’d restrained herself during the previous game as it was obvious he was letting her and Danny win. All was fair in love and basketball. When you lived with Becks and Mike, you learned that fast.

  He narrowed his gaze as if assessing her. Would he see the light and frivolous side she loved presenting to the world or would he dig deeper and find the complete portrait she only showed to a few? Didn’t matter as she intended to win tonight.

  He dribbled in a deliberate manner, and she swooped in and stole the ball, executing another layup. Danny clapped, and she gave a bow. “Four to zero. Your ball.”

  “Way to go, Aunt Natalie!” Danny clapped and cheered from the stands.

  Aidan rebounded the ball, and she set aside the antics. She concentrated on the matter at hand. Most of the time she only played sports for fun, for the thrill of working in tandem with a team. Tonight, however, tension built as she felt his judgment weighing on her. For some reason, she wanted to exceed expectations, wanted him to see her as a serious competitor, one who wouldn’t bow out on a whim.

  He cut one way before breaking back and shooting, the ball sinking into the basket with a neat swoosh. She admired his move before retrieving the ball from its resting place.

  “Way to go, Uncle Aidan!” Danny let out a whoop from the stands. Joy lightened her heart at the bond forming between them.

  Aidan exerted more pressure this time, and her shot bounced off the backboard with Aidan reaching over her head for an easy rebound. Within seconds, he scored again, tying the game. They traveled up and down the court, each missing a couple of easy shots while succeeding with more difficult ones. At ten-all, she called for a timeout. Both approached Danny and grabbed their water bottles.

  Sweat dripped off Aidan’s brow, and he dipped his head while taking a sip from his reusable water bottle. “You held something back when we played with Danny.”

  “There’s a difference between playing for fun and playing for keeps.” Their gazes met and, once again, tension simmered under the surface. While she was referencing the game, they both knew there was more on the line.

  Aidan swallowed. Danny reached into her duffel bag and handed him a towel. Taking his time, he wiped off his brow. “For me, there’s no difference. What you see is what you get all the time.”

  Truer words might never have been spoken. Even though he spoke six languages, she wasn’t sure subtlety was in his vocabulary. She grabbed the ball from its resting place and jogged toward the court. “Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you this time, but no more Miss Nice Guy. No holding back.”

  He laughed and climbed off the bleachers. “Somehow, holding back doesn’t seem to be part of your personality.”

  Funny how they’d each reflected on the other’s attributes. She tucked away the implication and dribbled the ball. So far, he tended to favor the right side of the court as if he was waiting for her to make a mistake, rather than poaching in for the steal. Breaking to the left, he extended his arm and stole the ball. He sank another basket, going ahead for the first time in the game.

  She admitted his skill was formidable, but she’d grown up with two athletic siblings and had a trick or two up her sleeve. When she reached midcourt, he guarded her. She moved one way, then circled and cut the other way, passing by him and sailing the ball in the air for a basket.

  The same pattern followed for the next several baskets.

  “That’s eighteen-all. Next basket wins. My ball.” Aidan dribbled, his fierce look mingled with respect as he seemed to concede she was more of an opponent than he’d expected.

  She held her breath and moved under the basket as he shot the ball, which bounced off the rim and missed its mark. With a quick move, she recovered the ball, despite him having the height advantage. He moved back to defend, and she remembered a tip her father had whispered in her ear when she played her brother, who’d gone through a growth spurt and had a good six inches on her at one point.

  From the half court, she aimed and followed through, hoping for a miracle as this was never her best shot. She kept her gaze on the ball as it swished through, eliciting a loud cry from Danny.

  “Way to go, Aunt Natalie!” Danny climbed off the bleachers and ran her way. When he came close, he gave her a high-five. “I knew you could do it.”

  Aidan retrieved the ball and came over, his hand extended. “Good game, Harrison.”

  “Thanks, Murphy.” Something like respect dwelled in his eyes, and she’d earned every bit of that out on the court. She smoothed back the long curl that had escaped from her ponytail, and she cringed at how her frizzy auburn hair must look to them. Didn’t matter, though, she realized.

  She glanced at Danny. His head drooped, and he leaned against her enough for her to know he was tuckered out. Cake for him would have to wait until tomorrow. “We’d better get this little one home.”

  Home. A funny feeling gripped her heart. Danny and Aidan were making her believe again that she could have a family of her own. One thing she liked about teaching was the constant turnover. She got close enough to make a difference without being so close as to risk losing someone.

  With a glance at Aidan, who was depositing the water bottles and towels in her duffel bag, she wavered. He and Danny had a connection no one should sever. Who said anything about severing? Perhaps Shelby wanted Natalie as an intermediary to ensure their relationship flourished.

  Somehow, she had to accomplish that while keeping her heart out of this equation, a tricky proposition, to say the least, as there was something about Aidan that spurred her to reach for more. Not to mention she tended to throw her heart into everything.

  “Ready to go?” Aidan broke into her thoughts. The sheen of sweat dotting his forehead shouldn’t have been as appealing as it was, making him that much more attractive.

  “I’m tired, Aunt Natalie.” Danny reached up, wanting her to carry him.

  Aidan offered her the duffel bag. “How about a trade?” He motioned for Danny. “Come on, sport. I’ll carry you for a couple of minutes. That should give you enough energy to walk the rest of the way.”

  Natalie kept from laughing out loud. Aidan must not have had much experience with children. Once he started carrying Danny, he’d be on the hook the whole way.

  “I can walk. I’m a strong little fellow. T
hat’s what Aunt Natalie says every night.” Danny shrugged and walked ahead of them.

  She reached for the duffel bag, but Aidan looped it around his shoulder, his jaw clenched, the progress made during the game gone in a split second. “I’ve got this.”

  They walked along in tense silence. Natalie fidgeted while keeping an eye on Danny. The bronze streetlights bathed the sidewalks in a soft glow, and stars popped up in the dusky sky. “Wait up a sec,” she called out to Danny.

  He waited for her and Aidan. She knelt alongside Danny and pointed at the North Star, the star that had led her back to Hollydale. “Did you make a wish? How about you, Aidan?”

  Aidan cleared his throat. “Why? Do wishes come true in Hollydale?”

  His intense stare would have given her pause a week ago. Now she knew that was just part of his personality. “Of course. If you make them happen, that is.”

  “How does it go again, Aunt Natalie. Star what?”

  “Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. Make a wish, Danny.”

  “I’m wishing hard.” He screwed his eyes tight, concentration radiating off his too-serious face. He opened his eyes and smiled. “I wished real hard for...”

  “Don’t tell me. It won’t come true.” She rose and gripped Danny’s hand. Then she turned to Aidan. “Did you make a wish, too?”

  He arched his eyebrow and, before he had a chance to answer, some friends shouted a greeting.

  Natalie waved back and yelled in their direction, “Don’t forget. Hollydale Park. The weekend before the Fourth. My mom’s fried chicken and Lucie Spindler’s chocolate chip pound cake.”

  After they promised, she began to stroll, keeping hold of Danny but returning her attention to Aidan. “Well, did you?”

  “If I tell, it won’t come true.”

  Aidan Murphy made a joke?

  “Then say no more.” She nudged his side, the duffel bag swinging and bumping her shin. “If I’m out of line here, you can tell me to buzz off, but how long ago was your injury? How bad was it?”