Harlequin Heartwarming March 21 Box Set

by Claire McEwen

  So he was a light sleeper? Was that tonight or every night? Nightmares or his natural habits? Their gazes locked, and a tingle of awareness made her admit he was far more complicated than he appeared.

  “What if I had invited a male friend over who had the same make and model as my mom?” She pushed a lock of Danny’s wet hair off his forehead.

  Aidan shoved his hands in the pockets of his black sweatpants. “You wouldn’t have kissed me if there was someone else in the equation.”

  Her mother appeared behind Aidan carrying a tray with crackers and water, her face giving every impression she’d heard about the kiss.

  Aidan reached for the tray, and Diane smiled. “Now that Danny’s in such capable hands, I’ll be going.”

  Natalie flinched, her jaw tightening. Diane found Aidan capable, but not her? Ouch didn’t begin to cover the gaping hurt inside her.

  “Aunt Natalie?”

  She shifted on the bed and reached for the glass of water on the tray. After he took a small sip, she sang a soft lullaby.

  He squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Aunt Natalie. I love you.”

  Within minutes, his steady breathing filled the room, and she extricated herself from his grip. At the doorway, she soaked in the sight of him, calm and content in his bed. She clicked off his lamp and found Aidan in the living room, pacing.

  “Your mother said she was sorry. She realized she sounded like she was being critical of you and promised she’d call later today.” He stopped pacing the floor long enough to look at her. “How’s Danny?”

  “Asleep. Did she really say that or are you being nice?” She folded her arms and stood back, her eyelids growing heavier by the minute.

  “Yes, she said that.” His eyes gave no appearance of being sleepy. Military background and all that, she supposed.

  “Why did you leave Danny’s room? Why didn’t you come in and comfort him?”

  He halted and sat on her couch, his shoulders slumped. “My mother sang that same song to me.”

  His voice was so low, it was almost imperceptible.

  She sat next to him. “Thank you for telling me that.” She yawned, unable to hold back any longer.

  “You need sleep. Call me in the morning with an update on Danny.”

  The morning! She was supposed to pick up Stormy from the vet’s office. “Could I ask a favor of you? Can you fetch Stormy and take her home with you for a few days? Just until Danny’s better.”

  The long pause grew into silence. “As long as you don’t repay me with cake, preserves or blankets, we’re good.”

  And his sense of humor might be the part of him that was stealing her heart.

  “Thank you.”

  “Lock up behind me.”

  He gave a longing glance in her direction but left without another word. She hesitated at the front door, the chain in her hand. While caution was part of his inner self, his words about security were his way of showing he cared.

  At least her heart started to hope he did.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  WHAT HAD AIDAN gotten himself into? He’d survived in the military, fifteen years in a world of order and teamwork. Now, in the comfort of Shelby’s living room, everything he’d accepted about himself was up in the air.

  Except for Stormy, who mewed on his lap after he’d fed her a bottle with formula mixed with chicken from a blender. He’d have never guessed the kitten had orange-and-white fur when it was all dirty and wet.

  One, two, three swipes on the kitten’s back with his pinky, and then the kitten circled once before making herself comfortable, snuggling into him, the mews turning into soft purrs. Within minutes, she was asleep. He transferred her to a box filled with one of his old T-shirts. Wasn’t like he was going to use it anymore.

  “Rest well.” His whisper was rusty from disuse, but he managed anyway. “Glad you’re safe from the storm.”

  The kitten stirred, and Aidan hovered over the area for a second until she nestled in and resumed its nap.

  Aidan went to Shelby’s bedroom, the box on the bed already half full of clothes to take to the local women’s shelter. After knowing Natalie a little over a week, he saw the box as half full. Heading to the closet, he reached for another armful of clothes and deposited them in the container. That was the last of Shelby’s closet. A long rectangular teak box on the floor caught his eye, and he reached for it at the same time the front doorbell rang.

  He still held the box in his hands when he opened the door and found Natalie on his front porch.

  “Thought I’d check on my kitten. How’s she doing?”

  “Where’s Danny?” He searched the yard, alarm rising.

  “My mom came over to check on him and is with him now. Don’t worry. His fever broke. I did tell you Penelope Romano can’t fit us in until after the Fourth, right?”

  “Yes. I made a note of the new appointment with the attorney on my phone.” He shifted the wooden box from under one arm to the other. “Were you able to reschedule his therapy appointment since you canceled it?”

  “No. They’ll see him next week as usual unless there’s anything before then that causes too much concern and…” Natalie pointed at the box in his hands. “What’s that?”

  Whatever it was wasn’t heavy. Bulky but not heavy. “I don’t know. I found it in Shelby’s closet.”

  He led her inside, and they sat on Shelby’s leather couch. He placed the box on the coffee table and stared at it for several minutes.

  She tapped his knee. “Do you want to open it? Or shall I?”

  Aidan breathed in and exhaled, rolling his neck around, popping sounds filling the air. Nothing came out of his mouth. There was so much he hadn’t known about his sister. The superficial things like butter pecan ice cream? No problem. As far as her hopes and dreams, he had no idea, no answers for Danny when he was older.

  Although he might, in fact, find out something in a minute. Would this box hold answers about what was important to her?

  Natalie picked up the box and extended it to him. For all he knew, it might be empty, waiting for a lifetime of treasures from Danny. He accepted it and opened the lid. There, stacked with a ribbon tied around them, were all the letters he’d written and sent to Shelby during basic training. Gingerly he untied the ribbon and fingered the first one.

  “I wrote her every week. I had no idea she kept them.” The lump of emotion in his throat made it impossible to talk.

  Shelby had written him every other day, sending him doodles and long chatty stories. He’d only replied out of guilt, and his letters, more like postcards really, were brief, to put it politely. Butter pecan ice cream, these letters, the Christmas care packages. His sister cared more than he’d known, and he’d failed her.

  Natalie’s arms wound around him. “She saw how your father was emotionally distant at times, and she once told me she’d never give up on you.”

  Soldiers weren’t supposed to cry. He hadn’t cried when he’d seen unimaginable atrocities. He hadn’t cried when the young enemy sliced his arm.

  And he hadn’t cried when he received the news of Shelby’s death.

  Now, one tear, then two, then an avalanche fell. For what he’d seen, for what he’d lost, for Danny. Natalie held him close as waves of grief crashed over him.

  * * *

  PUSHING AROUND HIS macaroni and cheese, Danny sent Natalie a look of pure defiance. Bored at the curtailment of activity from the past two days, his message was clear. He needed to get out of the house, and soon.

  Truth be told, she could use a change of scenery herself. The float showed some progress today, but the only places she’d been over the past couple of days were the park, Aidan’s home and her own.

  Funny how she already considered Shelby’s place Aidan’s.

  She rose from the small table in the breakfast nook and clapped he
r hands. “Time for a walk.”

  For the first time since his stomach bug, light flashed in Danny’s eyes. “With Uncle Aidan?”

  She hesitated. She’d like nothing more than to spend time with the handsome soldier who was close to claiming her heart. He was sensitive and direct, and the heady combination intoxicated her more than two glasses of her favorite zinfandel. He’d be leaving soon, and the question still remained whether he’d take both halves of her heart, the half that belonged to Danny and the half he was close to occupying.

  Still, there was no reason not to include him. After a little more than a week, his seriousness and dependability were becoming bedrocks in her life. Problem was, another military bedrock had been ripped away from her once before.

  “Aunt Natalie?”

  Danny’s voice pulled her back to the breakfast nook, and she nodded. While Danny fastened the Velcro on his sneakers, she slipped into her favorite ankle boots. They headed next door, where Aidan didn’t answer when she knocked. Danny’s face fell, and a twinge of something missing tickled her spine.

  She chucked his chin. “We’ll tell him in advance the next time so we can include him.”

  They set out for downtown, his little hand tucked in hers. She refused to think this might not be the case in the near future. Aidan and she would work together in a way that would benefit Danny in the long run. For Danny’s sake, they had to agree rather than take sides against each other.

  Stretched across the top of the two-story brick storefronts were lines of twinkling white lights. Hollydale bathed in the happy glow of the last day of June. Holiday excitement took hold, smiles on more faces.

  Even now, though, the mountain air and altitude provided a welcome respite to the heat that often gripped the South. She was glad for the light sweater she had donned before they left.

  Near the gazebo, college-aged students joked and one or two strummed guitars while families dotted the lawn with their picnic blankets and coolers. Strolling along, she stopped and chatted with a former student about her summer.

  She and Danny approached Timber River Outfitters, run by a former classmate of her brother’s. The backbone of the town, small businesses were some of her favorite places to shop. While she’d normally prefer to check out her favorite dress shop, Odalie’s Dresser, or Miss Louise’s Ice Cream Parlor, or even the nearby art gallery, Danny’s face lit up at the new window display at Timber River. “Let’s go inside.”

  Danny’s smile was enough reward for her. Her eyes adjusted to the lower level of fluorescent lighting, and she smelled Aidan’s citrusy scent before her gaze fell on him. Aidan wasn’t home because he was here.

  “Natalie! Danny! What are you doing here?” His gaze met hers, tentative with a touch of disapproval.

  After everything between them from kisses to tears, he still didn’t trust her. Then again, he might not know Danny’s tummy trouble was normal for someone his age.

  “I should have realized right away what was up. I’m a kindergarten teacher. I see this type of stomach bug all the time. Sick for a couple of hours and climbing the wall the next. He’s feeling much better.” Reassurance lined her voice, and she leaned against the display of lanterns.

  “I’ve been better since yesterday morning.” Danny backed up her claim and mimicked her gesture, his arms tight against his chest. “If I didn’t walk, I’d be a real crab. Aunt Natalie said so.”

  Out of the mouth of babes. Natalie’s cheeks warmed even in the coolness of the air-conditioning.

  Aidan closed the gap and ruffled Danny’s thick brown hair in need of Mitzi’s services at A New You salon. “I stand corrected. Anyone who can put two adults in their places like that is on the road to recovery.”

  “What were you looking at?” Natalie asked.

  “Canoes.”

  They strolled over to the section, and Aidan ran his hand over the smooth contours of one at the end of the aisle, his longing and desire clear.

  “Timber River has some great spots for canoeing and kayaking. I have a friend who runs a tubing and canoe station.”

  “Do you know everyone in Hollydale?”

  She shrugged and stopped from whistling at the price of the canoe Aidan was eyeing. “That was one reason I moved back. Homesickness can gnaw at you.”

  “You need a home for homesickness.”

  The electric current between them rushed along like class five rapids. She accepted there was something between them, but until Aidan admitted love didn’t run on a schedule, she wouldn’t make the next move. “Home starts with people who care about you. It’s within your reach if you want it.”

  Her heart raced as it sounded like she was proposing he settle here and create just that, a home. Then again, when it came to push and shove, why else would she have been singing Hollydale’s praises all along? She wanted Aidan to love it here and put down some roots.

  Danny bounced up and down before reaching for a paddle. “I’ve never been canoeing. Is it fun?”

  “Depends.” Aidan gave Danny a slight nudge to place the paddle back on the shelf.

  Danny did just that, and Natalie stepped away, admiring Aidan. That was the type of person Aidan was, encouraging others to do the right thing without coming straight out and saying it. Instead, he gave careful prompts to the person so they’d consider their actions for themselves. Same as her teaching style in kindergarten, although there were times she had to break down and flat-out state the moral in simple terms as clearly as possible.

  Natalie stopped looking at the canoes and patted Danny’s arm. “Hey, Danny. We’ve been out long enough. Time to go home. Staying well for the Fourth is our main priority right now.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” Aidan said.

  “That would be nice.” She winced at how bland she sounded.

  As they edged toward the exit, he slipped his hand in hers, and giddiness spread through her as she entwined her fingers with his. This felt like home.

  * * *

  THERE WAS NOTHING like breaking down and showing your innermost weaknesses to someone to pull two people closer together. With his hand joined in hers, he and Natalie walked along Maple Drive. Dusk was fast approaching. He almost let her go but didn’t want to.

  Could love and acceptance be in his grasp?

  They turned north on First Avenue.

  “Natalie! Aidan! Over here.”

  Natalie’s friend Lucie stood on a blanket spread over the grassy area near the gazebo and waved her arms. With some reluctance, he let go of Natalie’s hand first and they strolled over to Lucie.

  After greetings were exchanged, Lucie held out a pink cardboard box with Night Owl Bakery scripted in black, adorned with a whimsical owl. “Caleb’s taking an overnight expedition of possible donors for the nature conservancy out camping. He won’t be home until tomorrow. I’m sending him in my place on Saturday to work on the float, since I have to be at the Wellness Center. As a consolation prize, can I offer you a cookie?”

  Danny looked at her pleadingly. “Please, Aunt Natalie. I haven’t had a cookie for two whole days.”

  Her conflict played out on her face, Danny’s wants against what was best for him. Her shoulders slumped before she perked up. “We’ll split one. That shouldn’t be too rough on your stomach.”

  Danny’s lower lip jutted out, and he pouted. “I want a whole one.”

  “Half or nothing.” Her usually sunny tone contained a warning.

  Danny kicked at the grass. “Guess I’ll have half.”

  Lucie broke one in half and extended a piece to each of them.

  “What do you say to Miss Lucie?” Natalie nudged his ribs.

  “Thanks.”

  They reclined on the picnic blanket with the twins and two dogs. Lucie offered Aidan a cookie as a bulldog came over and sniffed him while the border collie circled the group as if shepherding
them before settling back in place.

  “Have you met Ladybug before?”

  Ladybug was the bulldog’s name? He’d have remembered the name, let alone that face. Ladybug sat on her haunches until he petted her.

  “I promise she’s harmless.” Lucie laughed. “She’s really hoping you’re a pushover who’ll give her a cookie. She knows better than to beg from me since these are my favorites. Oatmeal chocolate cherry.”

  If the smudge of chocolate at the corner of her mouth was any indication, Natalie’s friend told the truth. Lucie waited beside Aidan as if seeking his approval, and he decided to take the plunge. The texture of the oatmeal complemented the cherry chunks, and he held up his thumb for approval. “Thanks. These are really good.”

  “Be sure to visit the bakery before you leave.” Lucie reclined on the blanket between Mattie and Ethan, and Ladybug followed while wagging her tail.

  Aidan munched another bite, unused to evenings like these. He savored the rest of the cookie before resting his gaze on Danny.

  Natalie rose and wiped her hands. “Busy day tomorrow. Come on.”

  He and Danny stood, and Aidan stretched his back.

  “But I want the last cookie.” Danny stomped his foot into the ground. “Mommy would have let me have it.”

  A pure look of hurt shadowed Natalie’s face before her ankle boots dug into the grassy knoll. “Shelby would have said ‘no way’ simply on that reaction alone. We’re going home.”

  “I don’t like you anymore.” Danny ran ahead, and Natalie glanced upward before turning on her heels and following him.

  Aidan passed her and looked over his shoulder. “I’ll talk to him.”

  She pushed aside her hair, the curly strands swaying in the breeze. Without a word, she nodded. Aidan hurried and reached Danny, both of them shoving their hands in their pockets.

  This guardian act was new and frightening, in some ways requiring a different sort of bravery than what he was used to. “You should always be respectful.”