by Jo Chambliss
“Yes, sir.” She unenthusiastically walks down the hall into the spare bedroom. Once the door closes, I take Willa’s hand and pull her into the kitchen. Her cheeks are flaming in embarrassment, and she won’t look at me. Keeping her head down, she takes a seat at the table as I unload the bags I brought in.
Willa
Sitting at the table in the kitchen, I silently watch as Chris puts away the food he brought with him. Despite the fact that his coming here today was a surprise, I was glad to see him walk through that door. More glad than I’m ready to admit to myself.
When Sheriff Hudson called and said Jonathan was at the station, I almost fell out. I thought he had gone against my wishes. I asked Mike why he called my ex, a little upset that he would do so behind my back. The shock of learning about the newscast, and of Jonathan finding out that way was somehow even worse.
In any case, I knew what Mike said was right. There was no way to keep Jonathan away without getting into a sticky legal situation. Never mind that he hasn’t seen his daughter in two years and didn’t care about her the two years of her life before that.
My biggest concern in all this chaos was Ari and how she would react. After hanging up with Mike, I pulled her into my lap and told her that her daddy was coming for a visit. She had looked confused for a moment before running away into the room where she’s been sleeping.
I had a similar urge myself but stayed where I was. I’d secretly hoped that I’d never have to deal with my ex-husband again. It wasn’t because I was afraid; he never hurt us.
The reason I packed up Ari and left was that I was tired of being ignored, tired of not being first, fifth, or even fifteenth place in his list of priorities.
No, what I was afraid of was that the only reason he was coming here now is because of the news coverage. People that know him will ask about us, and he won’t have any answers. That would be embarrassing for him. A divorce in his clique is bad enough, but to be a deadbeat dad in his circle of influence is scandalous.
The best and, really, the only course of action was to let him come by and listen to what he had to say, knowing that if he was true to form, he wouldn’t be here long.
When he walked in the door, he hugged me. The simple show of affection that was missing from our marriage was unexpected and a little unwelcome. Not wanting to make a scene, I went along with it, albeit awkwardly.
“Oh, god, I’m so glad you’re ok,” he said. Either he didn’t notice the red slices all over my exposed arms or wasn’t concerned about them. “Where is Ariel?”
“I’ll go get her.” When I walked in the spare bedroom, she was on the bed, under the fish blanket, holding tightly to the stuffed fish. “Ari, your daddy’s here.” She wouldn’t come out from under the blanket, so I peeled it off of her. “Come on, Ari.” I picked her up and carried her out to the living room.
Unsure of how to proceed next, I sat down on the couch and put her feet on the floor. Appearing to expect a Hallmark-worthy reunion, Jonathan walked over to her with an expectant look on his face and knelt down. “Hi, Ariel.”
She just turned back to me and buried her head in my chest. I had been afraid that would be her reaction, but he didn’t understand. “What’s wrong with her?”
I sighed inwardly, knowing that no matter what I said, it would potentially start a fight, so I kept it honest and short. “Well, she doesn’t know you.”
With a disbelieving glare, he demanded, “What do you mean she doesn’t know me? I’m her father.”
“She was only a toddler when we divorced, and she hasn’t seen you since then.” He looked at me accusingly. Wanting to quell the coming argument, I mentioned that she doesn’t know my father either since he’s been in the nursing home for two years. It didn’t work, though. He still blamed me.
“If you hadn’t moved away, maybe she would know me, which brings me to another question. How come I’m only finding out about this from the news? I am the father of this child. Were you planning to call and tell me that you and our daughter were almost killed by a madman?”
It was in that moment that the opening door was the most welcome sound I could have heard. I don’t think I would have complained if it had been a mountain lion that walked in, but seeing Chris standing there almost brought tears to my eyes.
Now that Jonathan’s gone, I feel drained. I had forgotten that dealing with him left me feeling as if I’d run a marathon. I don’t even offer to help Chris put away the things he brought.
Actually, I was so glad that somebody interrupted Jonathan’s tirade that I didn’t even wonder why someone broke protocol and came here unannounced, especially Chris. He was even more concerned about security measures here than Mike was.
Tilting my head to look up at him, I ask the awkward question floating in my mind. “This may sound wrong, but… what are you doing here?”
He turns his head to me from where he’s reaching to place something on a high shelf, and his hand stops mid-air. “I was in a meeting when I saw your story on the news. I knew it had to have been leaked to the press. It made me angry, and it made me worry about both of you. Since I had wrapped things up on base, I raced back here to make sure you guys were all right.” He turns around fully now. “And based on what I found when I walked in, I imagine that you’re glad I showed up when I did.”
I can’t deny it, so I don’t. Instead, I ask, “But why? You don’t even know me.”
Chris puts down the coffee he’s holding, walks over to the table, and lowers himself to a knee. “I can’t fully explain it to you because I don’t fully understand it, but I need to be here. No, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but there’s something about you and Ari that I can’t get out of my head. Ari makes me want to protect her from every monster out there and give her the world just to see her smile.”
He reaches over and takes my hand. “And you… you make me want to do everything in my power to be worthy of a woman capable of such strength and sacrifice. A woman that I know is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.”
His words have me looking down at my arms and all the angry red marks there. My free hand reaches up to tug the sleeve of my shirt down, but he stops me. He takes that hand and brings it to his mouth, placing a kiss against the palm.
This is so unexpected, so fast, but so wanted. His words incite such a torrent of emotion that I close my eyes against the tears threatening to spill down my face. Chris releases the hand that’s pressed to his lips, and I lean forward to cradle it against his face. A moment later, he tilts his body and wraps his muscular arms around me. Reveling in his warmth and his strength, I gladly rest against him as he places a kiss on my temple.
I remain locked in his embrace for a long time; neither one of us in a hurry to move. I couldn’t say how long we’ve been sitting like that when I hear the soft rustling of fabric coming from behind us. Less than a second later, little feet are running through the living room and into the kitchen. Ari slams into us, wrapping her tiny little arms around both of us as best as she can.
Chris removes one arm from around me to wrap Ari up in our little circle, and I’m overwhelmed by many strange and wonderful emotions. This feels right; this feels whole. This feels like home.
Right now, sitting in this kitchen, I decide that I want this man. It may be foolish to jump in so fast, but I don’t even care. There’s just something instinctively right about my feelings for him, and I’m not going to question them.
Before much longer, Ari’s squirming forces us apart. I lean back as she moves in close to kiss Chris’s cheek. She’s surprised him if his face is any indication. Dumbfounded, he looks down at her in amazement. Quietly, she asks him, “Does this mean you’re going to be my daddy?”
I’m mortified. My face turns beet-red imagining what’s going through Chris’s mind. I should say something to diffuse the awkward situation, but I’m just too paralyzed to do anything more than watch the scene play out before me.
Chris doesn’t
appear shocked or put off by her innocent question. Instead, his eyes go soft. I watch as this big, tough man opens his mouth to speak, but his voice breaks. After a second, he clears his throat and tries again. “Ari, I promise you that I’ll be whatever you need me to be for as long as you want me to be.”
Ari throws her arms around his neck as I sit there in stunned silence. I just cannot comprehend what I’m seeing and feeling. This can’t be real.
As if he hears my thoughts, Chris reaches out and squeezes my hand to assure me that this is, in fact, quite real.
When Ari releases the death grip she has on his neck, he leans back and tweaks her on the nose. “It’s time to make some dinner. How do you guys feel about calzones?”
“What is a calzone?”
“It’s a folded-up pizza.”
“Yay!” Ari cheers.
“I’ll go wash up to help,” I offer on autopilot.
Chris stands up from where he was kneeling in front of me. “Nope, Tadpole and I can do it. You can watch or go rest or something.”
Chris pulls a chair up to the cabinetry and directs Ari to stand on it. After they’ve both washed their hands, he sets her up to wash veggies, grate the mozzarella, and even lets her work with the dough for the crust.
Watching them work together warms my heart and awakens desires I thought had died long ago. Occasionally, he tosses a grin and a wink in my direction, and I can feel myself melting on the inside. I wonder if he knows he’s doing this to me.
Dinner turns out to be a long process, but Ari is having the time of her life doing something so simple. I’m hesitant when Chris sets her up with a knife to cut the vegetables, but he stands over her, showing her how to do it properly.
Sitting here while they make dinner preparations, I watch as Ari blossoms under his instruction. She may only be four, but she’s much more capable than I realized. Maybe it’s time I started letting her have more responsibility.
After the calzones are assembled and placed in the oven, Ari sits in the floor, watching her creations bake and bubble through the oven window.
Later, while we’re clearing away dinner dishes, I shower the young chef with compliments. She beams with pride at her accomplishment. It’s definitely time to give her more responsibilities.
By the time the kitchen is cleaned back up, it’s getting pretty late. Ari and I head to the back where I give her a bath. Once she’s in her PJs, she insists on going back out to tell Chris goodnight.
“Go on,” I tell her. She then runs out of the room, and I go to turn back the covers of the guest bed where she started sleeping last night. Ari returns just as quickly as she left, taking a running jump to the bed.
I know I should scold her, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her this happy. I shoo her to the other side of the bed so I can turn down the covers. Once she’s all tucked in for the night, I lean down to give her a kiss on the head.
“Night, mama.”
“Good night, Ari.”
Now it’s my turn for a shower.
Returning to the master bath, I take longer than I planned but eventually tiptoe my way out of the master suite. With one last look into the guest room, I stare at my beautiful, sleeping child, switch off the light, and gently close the door. Turning to make the walk back down the hall to Chris, I stop just for a moment and take a deep breath... and to make sure this is what I want.
Chapter 10
Chris
Not having any experience with children, I’m a little nervous about cooking with Ari. In my mind, there’s no reason to think she’s incapable of helping, so I forge ahead.
My approach will be just like preparing my men for a new mission, minus the swearing and yelling.
I give her the right tools to do the job, give her time and space to figure things out on her own, and, most importantly, I give her an expectation.
I tell her that she’s capable of doing the job and that I won’t entertain the option of failure. It doesn’t even matter that she might do something differently than I would.
She seems scared to mess things up at first, but because I believed she could do it, she believed it. Not once does she ever get frustrated or quit. In fact, she appears to be enjoying this.
When a look in the oven shows perfect golden crusts, I have her stand back while I remove the pan. The pride on her face as the calzones come out of the oven is as rewarding as the reaction from my team after a successful mission.
After dinner and cleanup, Willa takes Ari to the back to get the little girl ready for bed. While they’re doing their thing, I lean back on the couch and just listen to the quiet. I’ve missed this place. I’ve missed the dark solitude at night, the quiet mountain, and the crackle of a roaring fire. Not sure why I’m settling for two out of three, I get up and get to work at the fireplace.
The flames are just right when Willa rejoins me in the living room. She’s freshly showered, and her light brown hair is hanging softly around her shoulders. The vanilla scent of her lotion wafts over to where I’m sitting, making me itch to get closer and feel what’s beneath the black t-shirt and leggings.
“I’m sorry it took me so long. This glue the doctors used is starting to peel. I didn’t want to walk out here, looking like my skin was melting off.”
She stands there and fidgets for a moment, unsure of how to behave. As much as I want to go to her, I remain seated to keep from spooking her. “You don’t have to be nervous, Willa. It’s not in my plans to pressure you for anything. I’m not looking for sex. I just want to be here. Let me get to know you.”
With a nod, she walks over to sit on the sofa, her moves as graceful as a cat.
Willa is quiet, content to watch the flames dance in the fireplace. Being the only light in the room, the fire casts a warm glow on her still-pale features. God, she’s beautiful.
To distract myself from wanting to know what her lips taste like, I ask her about her photography job. From there, we talk a little about our backgrounds, families, and such but eventually end up just sitting in the quiet of each other’s company.
After a while, she shifts her feet under her, and I reach out my arm in invitation. Without hesitation, she leans into me, laying her head against my chest. This… this is what I’ve been missing.
I’ve dated plenty, but they were never right. I never found a woman that was capable of just being still like this.
Carefully, I drape my arm around her shoulders, content to stay like this until time for me to leave. She surprises me, though, when she timidly wraps a slender arm around my waist.
Hours later, we haven’t moved. Her head is still resting on my shoulder with me carefully trailing my fingers up and down her arm. Every move she makes stirs up the scent of vanilla, which I breathe in deeply.
Around ten, I can tell that she’s gone to sleep. It pleases me that she felt comfortable enough with me to let herself become vulnerable in sleep. I gently kiss the top of her head and slip out of her arms to deliver her to bed.
She is startled awake when I place my arms under her, but she calms quickly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pass out on you. I’m not normally so tired. Oddly enough, I have a lot more energy when I’m busy with work.”
“I understand how that works, believe me. Why don’t I get Mike to go by your house and pick up some of your equipment? I know there isn’t much here, but behind the house is a picturesque waterfall that you could shoot.”
Something flashes in her eyes just before she looks away from me. Shit. Something’s wrong, and I’m not going to like it. “Willa?”
She still won’t look at me, so I gently take her chin and turn her to face me again. “Willa, what is it?”
With a sorrowful sigh, she begins, “Mike and Michele came by last night. He told me that my house had been broken into. He said that whoever did it destroyed everything inside.” She doesn’t say anymore, but I get the feeling there’s more to be said. “What else?”
It’s obvious that she doesn’t
want to tell me, and that scares me. Taking her face in my hands, I rest my forehead against hers. “Willa, whatever is going on, we’re in this together now. You don’t have to deal with this alone.”
Her eyes leave mine, and she sighs. “There was a message left in my house. It said I’ll find you.
I lift my head as the tension in my body ratchets up a-hundred-fold, but I bite my tongue. I want to be angry at Mike for keeping this from me, but I can’t. He’s bound by the laws he swore to uphold.
More than anything, I’m amazed. Simply amazed that Willa’s not a basket case right now. Still as strong as she is, the slight tremor in her hands tells me she doesn’t need any more stress. I lean down and press my lips to the top of her head as she begins to shake.
“I’m scared, Chris. I don’t know who this is or what they want from me.”
Sitting back down, I pull her into my lap. I tighten my arms around her and force myself to speak calmly. “Listen to me, Willa. Mike and I, we, all of us, are going to find this bastard and stop him.”
The look on her face says she wants to believe that but isn’t sure she can. Willa glances around the house that’s been her prison for the last few days. I can think of at least one way to reassure her. “I was planning to leave for a hotel about this time. Given what you’ve just told me, I’d like to stay here but only if you’re comfortable with it.”
Lifting her head to look at me, she confesses, “I can’t explain it, but I do feel better with you here. Please stay.”
The look in her eyes proves to be too much for my barely-hanging-on control. Unable to stop myself, I lean down and barely touch my lips to hers. Lifting my face again, I see clearly the longing in her eyes, though I’m sure it is overshadowed by what’s visible in my own.
Needing to break the spell before I push too hard, I release her and lean back. “I guess I better go outside and get my bag. If you want to go on to bed, I’ll check around the house and lock up before bunking down on the couch.”
