The Sergeant's Unexpected Family
Page 13
The waiter returned. “Are we celebrating something this evening?” he asked and motioned to the package.
“My new job.” One that will allow me to stay in Loon Lake permanently.
“Congratulations,” he replied and took their orders.
While they waited for the meal, Brody asked her about her previous job.
After describing her job at the insurance company, she gazed at him across the table. “What about you? What sort of things did you do in the army?”
“The parts that aren’t classified are rather boring, I’m afraid. Heck, some of those are, too.”
“Are you saying it’s above my pay grade?” She was enjoying this moment of closeness.
He furrowed his brow, but the flickering candlelight caught the twinkle in his eyes. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Absolutely not,” she said in as serious a voice as she could muster. “I’m the one who imagined herself aboard the Serenity, remember?”
“I would never make fun of that.” His manner turned serious, and he reached out to touch her hand resting on the table. “I understand about wanting to escape the realities of a childhood we had no control over.”
“Is that what I was doing...looking for a way to escape?” Adults in her life had scoffed at her flights of fancy, so she’d learned to internalize her daydreams.
He leaned back against his chair. “That’s what I was doing when I imagined myself as James Bond.”
“I hadn’t thought about it like that.” She flinched at her breathless tone.
The waiter returned with their meals, and they ate in companionable silence for several minutes.
A splash brought her attention to the lake, but it was difficult to see anything in the water’s inky darkness.
“It’s a loon,” he said and took a sip of water.
She nodded. “Ah, yes, Loon Lake.”’
They talked about the town as they ate. When the waiter appeared with the bill Mary reached out, but Brody waved her off. “I invited you. I pay.”
“Thank you.” Mary gathered her purse.
“How about a walk by the lake before we go?” Brody pointed to a short flight of steps leading down to the lake. “There’s a boardwalk, so it should be an easy stroll.”
Her heart turned over at the prospect of walking along the lake in the moonlight with him. Not a real date, she repeated to herself. “I’d like that.”
He reached for her hand, and she slipped hers into his. A shiver of excitement raced through her at the calluses on his palm.
He was so quiet and still beside her, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. Was this a simple dinner between friends to celebrate her job? Or was it a romantic date?
“I—”
“I—”
“Ladies first.” He dipped his head.
“I wanted to thank you again for tonight.” Coward.
“My pleasure.” He squeezed her hand. “It’s getting late. I suppose we should go relieve Meg.”
“Yes, I think so,” she agreed, but she had a feeling that wasn’t what he’d planned to say. She swallowed her disappointment. It would be a shame to let something so petty ruin her wonderful evening.
Meg answered the door, and a curly-haired dog pushed his nose through the opening.
Meg grabbed its collar and opened the door wider. “Hey, guys, c’mon in. Mangy, sit.”
The dog whined but sat. Mary crouched to pet the friendly dog as soon as Meg closed the door. “I’ll bet Elliott loved you.”
“He got a kick out of him,” Meg agreed.
Brody rubbed the dog’s ears. “He seems very well behaved.”
“For the most part,” Meg said and led them into the small living room scattered with toys.
Brody turned to Mary and cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe Meg could give you lessons for Eleanor.”
Mary pulled a face at him but ruined it with a grin. “Very funny.”
“Oh, you have a dog?” Meg frowned when Mary shook her head. “Then who’s Eleanor?”
“Mary’s calf,” Brody said in a serious tone, but Mary caught the twitch of his lips.
Meg’s eyes widened. “You have a calf?”
“One of the farmers brought her to the farm when the mother rejected her,” Mary explained.
Brody was nodding, his blue eyes sparkling with humor. “Uh-huh. And Mary treats it like a dog—the calf follows her around, plays fetch and—”
Mary smacked his shoulder. “Cut that out. She’s going to believe you.”
Meg laughed, and when her gaze bounced between the two of them, Mary caught the other woman’s speculative expression.
Mary attempted to divert Meg’s attention. She didn’t need gossip about them flying around town. Not that Meg Cooper would be spreading gossip, but Mary wanted to be proactive. “I hope Elliott wasn’t any trouble.”
“No trouble at all. He’s so sweet, but I think he’s getting a tooth.”
Mary frowned. “Oh, no, I hope he wasn’t fussy.”
“Nah, Fiona and the dog kept him entertained until all three fell asleep.” Meg waved off Mary’s concerns. “Now tell me about Angelo’s.”
“It was amazing. We sat out on the patio area.”
“Ooh, how was it?” Meg glanced at Brody before turning her attention back to Mary. “I’ve heard it’s very romantic.”
“It has tons of twinkling lights and views of the lake.” Mary tried to sound as casual as possible, but warmth flooded her cheeks. Luckily Brody’s attention was on the tug-of-war with the dog.
Meg sighed. “Riley and I still haven’t gotten there, but we’ve seen the lights from across the lake.”
“Any time you want to go, let me know,” Mary said. “I’d love to return the favor and watch Fiona.”
“I may take you up on that if we can plan before this one comes along.” Meg rubbed her stomach. “It would even be worth the heartburn.”
“Oh, no, are you having problems with that?”
Meg nodded. “Some. Did you?”
“Some,” Mary said, and they both laughed.
Meg rubbed her stomach. “And what about—”
“Ladies, I love a good pregnancy discussion as much as the next guy, but I think I’m going to suggest it’s time for Mary and me to leave.” Brody relinquished the dog toy and stood.
Meg turned to him. “I never realized you were such a coward, Brody Wilson.”
“I think he could tell where this was headed,” Mary suggested.
Brody chuckled. “No place I want to be, that’s for sure.”
They went down a short hall to a bedroom lit by a low-wattage light next to a crib. The room was in the process of being decorated as a baby boy’s nursery, with a mountain mural on one wall and a penciled outline of a moose on another.
“As you can see, we’re not finished yet,” Meg said.
“It’s lovely. I’ll have to pick your brain for ideas when Elliott and I get our own place.” Now that she had a job, her days on the farm were drawing to a close. No, don’t spoil tonight.
“Next time you should plan on leaving Elliott all night,” Meg suggested as Brody picked up the sleeping baby.
“Well, I...” Mary had no idea how to respond.
“Thanks, Meg, we will,” Brody said as Elliott snuggled against his shoulder.
Chapter Eight
The next morning Mary awoke to voices outside her window, which overlooked the front yard. She crossed to it, but the porch roof blocked her view of the steps. She threw some clothes on and checked on Elliott. He’d awoken last night after they’d arrived home and had been fussy off and on during the night. She’d massaged his gums and let him suck on a cool, wet washcloth, and since both gave him a measure of relief, she knew her teething assessment was correct.
The open front door showed Brody talking with Ogle and a teen on the porch.
Ogle looked up when she approached the doorway and lifted his baseball cap. “Mornin’, Mary.”
“Good morning, Ogle and...” She glanced over at the teenager and smiled. “Kevin, right?”
“Mornin’, Miss Mary.” The kid nodded and shuffled his feet.
She stepped onto the porch, and sure enough, her car was on the other side of Brody’s truck and looking like it had before the accident. This was a good thing, she told herself. So why wasn’t she happier?
Ogle swatted a fly away with his cap. “The body shop called this morning, so Kevin and I went over and picked her up. We drove it around a bit to be sure everything was workin’ proper like.”
“I can’t thank you enough for all the help.” Mary gave Ogle a hug and turned to Kevin, remembering Brody had told her how the motherless teen had been neglected by his alcoholic father. “You, too, Kevin,” she said and grabbed the teen into a quick embrace.
After she dropped her arms, Kevin stepped back and shoved his hands in his front pockets, hunching his shoulders and ducking his head, but he couldn’t hide the ear-to-ear grin or the red cheeks. Mary understood how simple gestures could mean a lot to a kid who at one time had been made to feel expendable or inconsequential.
Ogle clapped Kevin on the back. “We’d better head back. Tavie said she had some things she wanted you to do today.”
Kevin nodded and loped to Ogle’s truck, but before getting in, he turned back. “Uh, the Coopers are having a cookout to celebrate my graduation and they...uh, said I could invite anyone I wanted... I know you two don’t know me, but...well...”
“We’d...” Mary began and glanced at Brody, who gave her a slight nod. “We’d love to come. I’ll be seeing Meg Cooper later, and I’ll get all the details.”
After Kevin and Ogle had left, Mary turned to Brody. “I hope you don’t mind my accepting for both of us.”
Brody closed his eyes for a moment. “I can’t fight both of you.”
“Both?” She had no idea what he meant. Surely he wasn’t talking about Elliott.
“You and the town.” He stepped off the porch. “If I stand around here much longer, I might be tempted to do something I shouldn’t, so I’m going to check the horses’ feed.”
She wiped her palms on her jeans. “Will you come back for breakfast? I was thinking I’d use that leftover bread for french toast.”
He hesitated for a moment then nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Give me half an hour?” She needed to at least brush her hair before fixing breakfast.
“Sounds good.” He turned and headed across the yard, moving with a lithe stride.
A touch of makeup wouldn’t hurt, either.
* * *
In the barn, Brody worked filling the horses’ buckets with oats, but thoughts of Mary and what might’ve happened last night if Elliott had gone straight to sleep when they got home kept intruding. Sure, they shared sexual chemistry, but he liked her, he enjoyed talking to her or just being with her as much as he enjoyed looking at her; that knowledge made her even more dangerous to his equilibrium.
She’d said half an hour, so he checked his watch, feeling like a schoolboy waiting to get a glimpse of his current crush. After what felt like the longest half hour of his life, he headed into the house.
As usual since Mary’s arrival on the farm, his kitchen seemed to reach out and touch him—the warmth, the smells and Mary’s cheerful voice as she kept up a stream of chatter with Elliott. He paused in the mudroom. That baby in there is your nephew. Nothing would change that fact.
Do you want to get mixed up in those family dynamics again?
“It’s just breakfast,” he muttered under his breath.
“Oh, good, you’re here.” Mary began putting things on the table.
He washed his hands at the sink and leaned against the counter as he dried them, admiring her backside while she set their food on the table. Just breakfast, huh?
Brody patted Elliott’s head before sitting down next to the high chair. “Hey there, big guy, are you in a better mood this morning?”
Elliott banged the wooden spoon he had clutched in his hand on the tray of the high chair and let out a string of baby babble.
Mary passed the plate of french toast. “I’m sorry if we kept you awake last night.”
“No problem.” He didn’t tell her that thinking about how lovely she looked in the flickering candlelight at the restaurant would’ve kept him awake anyway.
While they ate, Mary told him how she’d offered to help Meg with the preparations for Kevin’s party.
“Now that I’ve got my car, I’ll go into town and pick up some baking supplies,” she said as she poured maple syrup on her breakfast.
“Do you want me to go with you?” He dipped his piece of bread into the amber syrup on his plate.
She cut her french toast into bite-size pieces. “No, that’s fine. I don’t want to intrude on your time. Besides, I have to start learning my way around town.”
Disappointment curled in his belly, but he didn’t argue with her. She was a visitor, not a hostage. And he wasn’t going to follow her around like some lovesick puppy dog—even if he wanted to be everywhere she was.
“Meg suggested going to the Pic-N-Save, but will Tavie get mad at us for shopping somewhere other than her store? She’s been so generous to me.” She stuck the last pieces into her mouth.
“Don’t worry. They coexist peacefully.” Brody speared the last piece of french toast from the platter in the middle of the table and dangled it from his fork. “Share?”
She held up a hand. “I’m done.”
He dropped the piece onto his plate and reached for the syrup.
“I’ll check out the Pic-N-Save this morning.” She picked up her empty plate and brought it to the counter. “I’ll get Elliott ready as soon as I clean up the kitchen, and we’ll get out of your hair for a while.”
“Why don’t you leave him here with me?” Had he lost his mind?
“You don’t mind?” She opened the dishwasher.
“We’ll be fine.” He leaned close to the baby. “Won’t we?”
“Dooo,” Elliott declared and then whacked Brody on the nose with the spoon.
“Elliott,” Mary cried.
She stepped toward the high chair the same time as Brody started to move. She tripped over his foot and lost her balance, then Brody grabbed her and she landed on his lap with a startled “oomph.”
Brody’s arms tightened around her and held her for a moment, savoring her weight on his lap—that luscious backside he’d been admiring pressed against him was intense pleasure, intense torture.
Before either could move or speak, Elliott squealed in delight, as if they’d arranged the entire thing for his benefit.
“Sorry.” Mary scooted off his lap.
“My fault. Me and my big feet,” he said, but he wasn’t sorry even though he had to remain seated for an extra few minutes so as not to bring attention to his current condition.
* * *
After Mary left, Brody put Elliott on the floor to let him practice rolling over and crawling. He’d been reading child development articles on the internet and knew learning to crawl was an essential milestone. Elliott rolled onto his stomach, and Brody set a series of baby toys on the blanket but out of reach.
Tires crunching on the gravel in the driveway had Brody going to the front door. It was too early for Mary to return.
But it was her, and she was pulling a box out of the back seat. She approached the house carrying the cardboard carton.
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br /> He scooped Elliott off the floor and went to the door.
“What have you got there?” The way she’d been carrying the box out in front of her aroused his suspicions. He reached down and grabbed Elliott’s bouncy seat from beside the door. On the porch, he set it down and strapped the baby in.
She stuck her chin out, a habit he noticed when she was going to dig her heels in over something. Great, yeah, he was right to be suspicious.
“I was on my way into town when I saw some boys gathered around something and poking it with a stick, so I stopped to see what they were doing.” She set the box beside her on the sidewalk leading to the porch and pushed her loose hair out of her face. “Their behavior disturbed me.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Was this an example of responsibility walking hand in hand with capacity and power?”
“I was putting it into practice.” She nodded, her dark eyes sparkling.
A laugh broke from his chest. “And what capacity and power were you in possession of?”
“I was older and bigger...well, older, anyway.” She quirked a smile at him.
Did that box just move? “What do you have?”
She cleared her throat. “A crow.”
“A what?” He scowled.
“I think it’s been injured.” She undid the flaps on the box. “Even after I chased the boys off, it didn’t fly away.”
He blew his breath out and stepped off the porch. “Maybe an injured wing.”
“I figured you’d know what to do.”
Stop looking at me as if I can solve every poor creature’s problems. But he was starting to like the way she looked at him. “Me? Why would you assume I know what to do? Whatever gave you the idea that—”
“Because you knew what to do with the calf.” She enunciated as if explaining something to a child.
She was killing him with the way she looked to him as if he had answers. There was a time when he assumed he did have them, but that was all in the past. Just like his family, his military career, his Delta team. Aw, hell, she was still looking at him, looking to him. “This is a crow, Mary, not a calf.”