“Dad wanted to let you know that Stormy is fine and he’ll be at your place later to drop her off. He also said to thank you for letting him cat-sit.”
“Why did your father agree to stay with Stormy during the fireworks?”
“He wanted an excuse, and he loves animals. Big crowds aren’t his thing. The barbecue is his lone exception, and he goes along with it for Mom, since that’s how she wanted to celebrate their anniversary.”
Her mother tended toward splashier displays. For years, her parents had proven the adage opposites attract, meshing their styles for a successful partnership and a loving marriage. Could we do the same?
The three of them turned onto Marigold Lane. The promise of tomorrow’s canoe excursion was uppermost in her thoughts.
“Natalie.” Aidan’s voice made her pause three houses down from hers.
“Yes?”
“There’s something I need to tell you…”
Her heart leaped at the expectant tone in his voice, and she touched the stars around her neck. He halted as a plain blue sedan pulled into her driveway, and Natalie turned toward him. “Are you expecting someone?”
“No. Besides, it’s your driveway, not Shelby’s.”
She held Danny back, expecting the driver to reverse and head in their direction, lost after the fireworks.
Instead, the taillights extinguished, and Aidan forged forward. “I’ll check it out.”
The glow of the lamplights caught the glint of familiar red hair. Natalie blinked, unsure of why her twin would be here in North Carolina, rather than in California.
Natalie reached for his arm. “It’s okay. That’s my twin sister, Becks.”
As they approached, though, it was clear the situation was anything but okay. The streetlights provided enough illumination to make the red blotches on her sister’s ashen face stand out. Natalie was instantly on alert. Becks showing up unannounced was unprecedented. While Becks reached into the back seat, no doubt for Natalie’s niece Pippa, Natalie turned to Aidan, her hands still on Danny’s shoulders. “Can Danny sleep with you tonight?”
“About that and tomorrow.” Aidan fidgeted, but his face softened. He exhaled a small sigh. “It’s for the best we cancel the outing now, what with your sister here and all. Any chance we could meet for breakfast, though?”
Natalie shook her head. “I promised you and Danny I would plan something and spend the day with you. I’m sure Becks will want to see Mom and Dad, and I don’t back down on a promise.” Not to Principal Garcia, not to Danny, not to Shelby. “I’ll text you in the morning, though, to let you know if we’ll be starting later than expected.”
Danny faced her, his big brown eyes transfixed on her. “Who’s going to read me a bedtime story? Who’s going to tuck me in?”
Natalie ruffled his hair, then brushed her hand over his matching light-up star necklace. “This is a special day.” And it was, considering she’d heard his laughter for the first time in ages. “You’ll be back home tomorrow night. For tonight, though, I bet your uncle is a great tucker-inner.”
“He probably won’t make funny voices for every character like you do.” Danny’s pout played with her heart, but she stayed firm.
“Then you’ll have to teach him how, okay?” Natalie kissed his cheek. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise you’ll be back in your own bed in no time.”
Aidan opened his mouth as if to speak, but Natalie rose and put her index finger over his lips. “This must be important. You and Danny will be fine. Becks needs me.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
AIDAN FLIPPED PANCAKES on the griddle. He hadn’t cooked his mother’s special recipe in forever. Stormy had awakened him hours before dawn, and he’d held her an extra-long time before taking every precaution to be as quiet as possible while packing his suitcase. Once he’d finished, he found Stormy again, until it had been time to make breakfast. He wouldn’t leave Danny, so he’d canceled his morning run and turned to comfort food instead.
All his plans were out the window, and it was time to be honest with Natalie.
Could he take Danny away from this town without notice? No, he couldn’t. Hence the comfort food.
A soft knock at the kitchen door almost leveled him. It could only be one person. Natalie.
He flipped the pancakes off the griddle and added them to the stack on the plate before answering the door. In place of her usual sundress and ankle boots, she wore a light blue University of North Carolina T-shirt with short floral athletic leggings.
She leaned against the doorjamb. “I have good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news?” He could use some before he shot the cannonball through her plans.
She sniffed the air and smiled. “Are those pancakes I smell? My absolute favorite breakfast ever. I’ll trade you news for a Stormy sighting and some pancakes.”
Breakfast was the least he could do, considering everything they’d have to get settled today, from relocating Stormy to mapping out Danny’s future. He stalled, though, unable to move, wanting this moment to last longer. If he willed it, maybe she wouldn’t reject him the way others had in the past. Though Danny would be part of their lives always, he acknowledged, he wanted more than a shared custodial arrangement with her. Maybe she’d still stay after he told her everything, so they could work out something together.
She nudged him and pointed inside. “Late night impacting you, too? I guess Danny’s still sleeping, huh? Pretty soundly if the smell of pancakes isn’t waking him. Glad I reorganized everything for early afternoon.”
“You haven’t mentioned your sister yet. Is she okay? Why’d she arrive last night?”
“Stormy, food, news about Becks. In that order, I think.”
He led her into the living room, where Stormy lay sleeping in a curled ball. Natalie reached for his hand and squeezed. “Seeing a kitten like this makes me believe everything’s going to work out for the best.”
“Natalie.”
“Uh-oh. I don’t think I can take whatever’s coming on an empty stomach.” She headed toward the kitchen. “Mind if I help myself to pancakes and syrup?”
It was next to impossible to say no to a whirling sandstorm. “Want some coffee?”
“I’d love some.”
He filled two cups and sat at the table, his appetite diminished. She settled in and poured syrup on her pancakes. “Thank goodness we’re canoeing later today. Becks, that’s my twin sister, said she’ll watch Stormy.” She cut her stack into big pieces. “Before you say anything about canceling, hear me out. She and Pippa flew in from California yesterday. Becks found out Jack cheated on her. She’s utterly devastated and wants a day to herself with Pippa. My mom and dad will descend on her anyway, and that’s a conversation best between her and them, without me getting in the way.”
“Canoeing today isn’t a good idea.” The scar on his arm throbbed, and he rubbed away the pain.
“It’s a perfect plan. Because you need to know you deserve this. We can make this work somehow. We can’t throw something like this aside. Danny’s only part of it. This type of attraction doesn’t come along every day. And those kisses?” She lifted a bite to her lips and smiled while he struggled to pull himself together.
Those kisses were part of the reason this was so hard. Everything about her had brought what he’d lost back into his world. Most of all, he cared for Natalie, the pure essence of her. She played basketball with her whole heart. She dropped everything to raise her best friend’s child as her own. She even changed breakfast from something ordinary to something special just by being her. Here he’d thought he could make everything fit into a comfortable timetable. A relationship with someone safe, a more traditional career with a security firm with military contracts and raising Danny in a convenient setup. He was wrong.
If only he had more time to find out if whatever was st
arting between him and Natalie could last.
As she chewed, she looked at him, waiting for some response.
“Relationships take time.” Something he didn’t have, thanks to his new orders.
“Anyone who can make pancakes this good is worth keeping around. You haven’t listed Shelby’s house yet.” She sipped her coffee, bliss coming over her face. “These next two weeks are a perfect opportunity for us to start building on what we have. You’re a planner, and I like more spontaneity. A nice compromise, don’t you think?”
“I have to leave tomorrow.” He’d blurted out the words.
She blinked, pushed that stray curl behind her ear and slumped backward. “I didn’t hear that right. It sounded like you said you’re leaving tomorrow.”
Her voice was small, almost as though she’d uttered the words in a tunnel.
“I did.”
She set her fork and knife on either side of her plate with deliberate precision. “What time did your commanding officer call you? Isn’t he in Seattle? I thought it’s still before dawn there.”
His hands turned to ice, and he tugged his long-sleeve T-shirt over the scar before giving up the effort. It was part of him forever. “He called yesterday morning.”
Standing, she disturbed the table, and her plate clattered to the floor. They both looked toward the direction of the hallway as if expecting Danny to materialize. No sounds came from his room, and she turned back. Their eyes locked, anger coming from hers.
“You knew all day yesterday?”
“I didn’t want to upset the festivities.” That sounded lame even to his ears.
Natalie huffed out a deep breath. “When you care about someone, you include them in decisions. You include them period. Love isn’t about control or about dictating who knows what, when. Love is about taking risks, something I haven’t done in years. Love is about two people buoying each other up, rather than sinking, a support in the storm.”
Love? Falling in love would require letting go of any control he had over a situation. When he let go, bad things happened to those he cared about. Like his mother. Like Shelby. Even his father and Cathy.
“Love takes time.”
“Anything can happen in an instant. Love, death, laughter. Any of it. We can’t control everything, just like you can’t plan for every scenario. But I love that you’re a planner because together our strengths added up to a beautiful float that made people happy, that gave Danny the freedom to be himself and laugh again.” She broke the gaze and strode to the back door.
“Natalie.”
She stopped at the mention of her name and turned toward him.
“In spite of that, Danny is my only living relative, and vice versa. I know he should stay here, but he belongs with me.” He couldn’t let him go. Not if something bad might happen and he wasn’t around. “I want Danny to go with me tomorrow. Maybe you can fly to Seattle before school starts and make sure you’re happy with the arrangement.”
He came forward, but she held out her arm, keeping him a good length away.
“How magnanimous of you to let me fly out after you’ve taken him from his home. Danny finally had the courage to laugh again.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? So he’ll be fine at the base. I’ll make sure of that.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Whether you like it or not, Shelby named me as co-guardian. Someone has to think about Danny’s best interests.” The tears flowed down her pink cheeks, and he hated himself for placing her in this position. She reached for the knob and opened the door. “He needs to stay here. For his continued therapy and well-being. I’ll call Penelope and text you the time she can meet with us today.”
If she walked out, another person in his life would once again be leaving him. “Come to Seattle with me tomorrow. You’re on summer break. We’ll see then if this is real. Right now, it almost seems surreal. You’re mentioning love, and everything’s been so fast. We need time to make sure this can be manageable and not messy, make sure no one gets hurt.”
“I don’t need time to know I love you. There. I love you. I said it.” She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “As far as getting hurt, I think it’s too late for that, but I’d rather put myself in a place where I hurt and feel the emotion. It’s the only way I can be myself. Becks needs me.”
Natalie slipped out the doorway, and took part of him with her, too. He should go after her. Danny, though, slept nearby, and he couldn’t leave him alone. Waking up to no one in the house would scare him too much.
He walked over to the table and collapsed in a chair. He’d always bounced back before, emerging from his losses strong and in control. No, that is a lie. He’d thought he’d been in control since he quit relying on emotion, using the convenient excuse that being in the military demanded that kind of discipline. In fact, he’d relied on that as a crutch, burying feelings that became messy, that hurt too much.
While he assumed he’d find someone staid, someone who wouldn’t challenge him to feel again, someone who’d accept security in exchange for companionship, he hadn’t counted on Natalie.
He hadn’t counted on Natalie in so many ways, but she’d proved herself time and time again. Once more, Aidan had taken the safe way out. This time he’d hurt both him and the whirling sandstorm.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
NATALIE PICKED UP the picture of her, Shelby and Danny, all smiling in happier times. She’d met Danny the day he was born, and her heart had belonged to him ever since. She’d cemented her promise to Shelby that day.
What was the exact promise?
If anything happens to me, make sure Danny is taken care of. Promise me, Nat. The words flooded back, and Natalie’s legs collapsed under her. In the picture, Danny was almost a miniature version of Aidan. Someday, he’d resemble his handsome uncle with high cheekbones, eyes that read a person like no other, with a tall stature and a whole lot of honor.
Aidan hadn’t stayed away from their lives out of anything other than duty, she reminded herself. Over the past couple of weeks, he’d proven he’d always do what was best for Danny. The bond between uncle and nephew tightened yesterday, with Danny’s small, fragile hand in Aidan’s strong larger one, Danny’s laughter ringing out during the fireworks display.
Aidan would not only take Danny with him when he flew to Fort Lewis. He’d be taking her heart, too.
The cry escaped her throat as the notion of what was right washed over her. Aidan needed his nephew. She knew him well enough to believe he would form a support group at Fort Lewis for Danny. Aidan was a man of his word.
Yesterday showed how much Danny needed Aidan. Unlike the pie contest compromise, this situation resembled the basketball game where only one of them could come out the victor, except there wasn’t a winner or loser here. This was all about Danny.
She wanted to be upset with Aidan for marching in here and stealing her heart and Danny, but she couldn’t. The ache was too raw. She loved his commitment and the way they grounded each other while pushing each other to new limits. Too bad he hadn’t trusted her with his heart or even told her the truth about when he’d received his orders.
Every inch of her screamed with a deep-down hurt, but she knew what she had to do. As much as she dreaded relinquishing custody of Danny, it made sense. For both Aidan and Danny. They understood each other on a basic level that would serve Danny best for the long run.
Finding her phone, she dialed Penelope’s office. To her surprise, Penelope had a spare moment, and they talked. Natalie outlined her plan and hung up after assuring Penelope she’d be there at one to sign the necessary papers.
Her couch never looked so inviting, and she clutched her big, fluffy purple pillow to her chest. Her mother stepped forward from the back hallway, Pippa in her arms.
Natalie gasped. “Mom! Where did you come from?”
“Didn’t you see my car in the driveway?” Diane sat next to her on the sofa, taking care with Pippa.
“I used the back door.”
“Becks called. Thank goodness Mike wasn’t operating the speed gun in one of his usual spots today.” Her mom jostled Pippa on her lap, her niece’s thin, downy red hair lying flat on her small head. “Who’s a good baby?”
Last night was her first introduction to her niece, and she’d instantly flashed back to Danny’s full head of brown hair and his small features. Somehow, Pippa therapy might be the right answer to losing the two Murphy males. Natalie wasn’t quite sure yet. She’d have plenty of time to find out the answer.
Why had Aidan assumed she wouldn’t want to know right away about his orders to report back two weeks ahead of schedule?
Maybe because he hadn’t wanted to ruin her favorite holiday. Maybe because the second he told her, she gave up and took the easy way out. She’d left his house faster than a college track star.
Considering how Cathy stopped trying to draw him out after Shelby was born, she could see how fear played into his response. Hadn’t he helped her work through her fear of committing to anything on more than a superficial level?
Didn’t he deserve the same consideration? Someone to show him he was worthy of the kind of dedication he put into everything?
“Becks filled me in while you were gone.” Diane cooed at Pippa, her gentle tone soothing. “I know you need to talk, too.”
What is there to say? Natalie clutched the pillow tighter against her chest, the ache growing instead of subsiding. Aidan would leave, and she’d rally her troops around her. Wasn’t that what she did best? Retreat to home base when her world fell apart?
“Hard to talk about myself when Becks is hurting.”
Like Jack breaking his vows to Becks, Natalie would also be going back on a promise, sort of. No, she wouldn’t. She’d be fulfilling hers to Shelby. Promising to do what was best for Danny always. In the process, though, she’d risked her heart again, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way. Because in the end, every life had to have an anchor, purpose and meaning in the midst of the storm.
Harlequin Heartwarming March 21 Box Set Page 65
