by Ivy Jordan
People loved the idea of the carnival and enjoyed the games and specialty booths. Of course, the little old ladies, the gossip queens of the church, got to incorporate their bake sale into the carnival with cake walks, jam tastings, and pie eating contests. It was nice to see a change in the town, to see it come alive. I wished my brother could’ve seen it. He would’ve loved it.
“Liam’s here,” I shouted to Holly and my mother, who were still getting ready.
I walked out onto the porch and held up a finger for Liam to hold on. Holly ran from the back room, pushing past me, and towards the truck. Liam jumped out, pulled her from her feet, and spun her around in the driveway as she giggled.
“I’m sorry,” my mom sighed, making her way slowly from the back room.
“It’s okay. Take your time,” I smiled.
I held the door open for her, locking it behind us as we both stood on the porch. She had tears in her eyes already, so I quickly grabbed a tissue from my purse, handing it to her.
“It’ll be okay,” I promised.
I walked her to the truck. Liam opened the door and helped us both inside. Holly had climbed into the back seat, while Mom preferred to ride in the center of the front, between Liam and myself.
There wasn’t much conversation as we made the drive to the grave site where Jason was buried. I knew the tension had to be hard on Liam, who barely knew Jason since he was so much older and probably didn’t know what to say or do to comfort any of us.
This was something we’d done each year. On Jason’s birthday, we visited, all taking a turn telling him what was new in our lives, talking to him, and telling him how much we loved him. I actually came more than just that once. I would drive up alone on the anniversary of his death, sometimes just because I felt alone, and I was sure my mother did the same.
There were nights she was gone late, later than usual, and I suspected she was with Jason.
Liam parked the truck near the grave, and got out, helping us to our feet one by one, lifting Holly into his arms and kissing her before setting her down to her feet.
Holly didn’t know Jason. She never got the chance to meet him, but I’d shown her pictures, told her stories, and she’d grown to love him just the same.
Liam stayed behind while I took Holly by the hand and walked to my brother’s grave.
I told him about my life, how Liam had returned, and how great things were going. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I spoke. He was my older brother, the one I looked up to, and the one who always protected me when I was young.
“I want you to meet my dad,” Holly said, kneeling down to place a flower over Jason’s grave.
She turned, waving at Liam until he made his way next to her.
“This is my dad, Uncle Jason. He’s strong, tall, brave, and you’d like him, cause he’s a SEAL, too,” she smiled.
Liam knelt down beside her, introduced himself to her uncle, and promised him he’d take care of all of us, and that he no longer had to worry about any of us.
My heart swelled in my chest. It was perfect. He was perfect.
He wiped my tears and then picked Holly up, carrying her to the truck. We all climbed inside, giving Maria time alone with her son.
Liam dropped us off at my mom’s, where Holly would change into her costume before we spent the evening at the carnival together.
Aiden was already there, working one of the booths, and Liam wanted to go check on him before picking us back up.
Holly looked adorable in her costume as she bounced around the house.
“You’re the cutest Navy SEAL I’ve ever seen,” Maria told her, giving her a big squeeze.
I kept an eye on my mother. She was acting strangely. She peered through the window, waiting on Liam. There was anxiousness to her that I wasn’t used to, one I hadn’t seen in her before.
“Is everything okay?” I questioned her.
“It’s fine. Everything is amazing,” she’d smile, but she never divulged why she was acting so anxious.
Liam finally pulled up, and my mom nearly tore the door off the hinges to get to him.
She whispered something in his ear as he helped her into the truck, and then she turned back, smiling at me with a strange smirk.
Holly bounced from the house, her arms in the air, displaying her costume to her dad for the first time. He laughed with pride, his eyes beaming at her as she ran towards him.
“You look amazing,” he gushed, his cheeks blushing, and his smile widening.
I chuckled at the two of them, goofy, dancing around in the driveway like fools.
“Let’s go; we can’t be late,” he demanded, rushing us into the cab of his truck.
We drove to the church, just a few blocks away, and found a parking space right in front.
“Look at this,” I gushed, amazed at how cool everything looked.
The people at the church really banded together to pull this off. It was just as I’d envisioned it.
A tractor pulled a large wagon across the field. I knew it was headed to the farm where kids could pick their own pumpkins. The brightly colored booths were all busy; people were in line with tickets, ready to try their hand at winning a prize.
“What do you want to do first?” I asked Holly as we climbed from the truck cab.
“The ring toss,” she beamed.
“Okay,” I chuckled at her excitement.
We made our way through the crowd, many of them stopping to thank me for the wonderful event. I couldn’t take credit, or hardly any of it. I always told them Liam, Holly, and my mom did all of the work.
There was a long line at the ring toss, everyone trying to win a two-liter of soda with their plastic rings. Holly bounced excitedly as we moved closer and closer to the front of the line.
Aiden smiled in our direction, and I was certain I saw him wink at Liam.
“Here ya go,” he said, handing Holly five plastic red rings.
She tossed the first one and missed. The second one she made it around a bottle of Dr. Pepper, and the third around a bottle of Mountain Dew.
“You just need one more,” Aiden encouraged.
Holly took her time, aiming her ring with her tongue sliding across her bottom lip. She tossed it and missed.
“You’ve got one more. You can do it,” Liam leaned over her shoulder offering encouragement.
Holly tossed the ring and landed it around a bottle of Orange Crush.
“You won!” Aiden shouted.
“Pick your poison,” Liam chuckled.
“Orange,” Holly beamed.
“Do you want to try?” Aiden asked, handing five rings in my direction.
“I don’t know. It’s for the kids,” I sighed.
“C’mon. Give it a try,” he urged.
“Okay,” I took the rings and tossed my first one, making it around a bottle of Diet Coke.
The second and third I missed, but I made the fourth around a bottle of Sprite.
“One more. You got this,” Liam smiled.
I took my time, aiming as diligently as Holly, and tossed it towards the bottles. It bounced, twirled, and then settled around a bottle of Dr. Pepper.
“I won!” I exclaimed, way more excited than I expected over a bottle of soda.
Aiden pulled out a bottle of Dr. Pepper, knowing it was my favorite.
“Here ya go,” he said with a smile.
Liam moved towards me, his hand slipping around my back, and then down to my hand, holding it in his.
I started to pick up the bottle but realized the label was different than the other Dr. Peppers. It was red, but the letters, the words, they were different.
Will you marry me? It said on the front, where Dr. Pepper’s logo was normally displayed. My heart stopped for a second, and suddenly I noticed that a ring dangled from the neck of the bottle. I reached for it, pulling the string loose and holding it in my hand.
I looked up at Aiden with confusion. He nodded towards Liam. I turned as he lowered to one knee,
still holding my hand.
“Alyssa, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved, the only one I’ll ever love. I bought this ring for you twelve years ago, and I’ll never forgive myself for waiting so long to give it to you. I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you, proving to you that I’ll never leave again, that you can count on me. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife, of giving me the best family a man could ask for?”
He proposed right there in the middle of the carnival with everyone staring, and it didn’t bother me one bit. Let em’ stare!
“Yes!” I exclaimed, letting Liam slide the ring onto my finger.
It was gorgeous.
He pulled me into his arms, embracing me tightly, and then pulled Holly into us for a group hug. Everyone cheered, the people in line roaring with excitement and happiness as we shared our first kiss as an engaged couple.
I stared at the ring all night, unable to focus on the booths we visited for longer than a few seconds at a time.
“You bought this before you left?” I asked.
“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t give it to you then,” Liam apologized.
“It’s okay. I have it now, and that’s all that matters,” I smiled.
“Where will we live?” Holly asked.
I looked up at Liam. I wasn’t sure.
“I think you should move in with me,” Liam said quickly.
His house was larger and closer to Holly’s school. It made sense. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay there though, with the memories of his parents in every room.
“That way you mother can start school right away,” he added.
My mouth dropped open, and I stopped in my tracks.
“What?” I asked.
Liam reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pamphlet for the local college.
“I still have to wait for fall classes next year. Enrollment closed a month ago,” I explained, feeling grateful that he even offered.
I could wait. I had plenty on my plate now. I had a wedding to plan and a family to take care of; I could go to school anytime.
“I know. That’s why I enrolled you,” he smirked.
“But how?” I gasped.
“I have my ways,” he smiled.
“What about my job? I can’t just quit,” I sighed.
“I already worked it out. They have a temp ready to come in and take over whenever you make the final decision,” Liam explained.
“Wow,” I gasped, jumping into his arms.
I couldn’t believe how my life turned out. A young girl, pregnant and alone, working so hard to make things work and expecting nothing from the world, and here I was, the happiest woman in the universe.
That’s the end of SEAL’s Secret Baby. Click here to continue.
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SEAL DEAREST
By Ivy Jordan
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Ivy Jordan
Chapter One
Xander
A dark cloud rolled over the cottage, blocking the sun and lowering the temperature to a frigid chill. I finished wrapping the fish I’d caught in butcher’s paper and headed inside. The warm water of the faucet soothed my aching hands. I’d come here for the winters, but I wasn’t quite ready for them. It looked like it was coming sooner than expected.
My phone vibrated across the table with Elijah’s face plastered on the screen. I smiled as I picked it up, already missing my good friend. “Aloha,” I boasted with a half-chuckle.
“Hey, how’s Maine treatin’ ya? You ready to come back yet?” he asked.
“It’s beautiful. You and Taylor need to plan a trip soon,” I suggested.
“I’d love that,” Elijah sighed.
I filled him in on the cottage, the area, and how I’d settled in just fine. He told me all about Bailey, how well she was doing in kindergarten, and how well Taylor was taking to motherhood. It was good to hear his voice, to hear he was doing well. It had only been a couple months since I left Hawaii, but it felt like a lifetime ago.
“Is it cold there?” Elijah asked. I laughed. Cold, that was an understatement.
“It’s nippy,” I joked.
“I don’t like you up there in the mountains all alone,” he complained.
“You know that’s the way I like it,” I pointed out.
I listened to him sigh on the other end of the phone. I knew he didn’t understand my need for seclusion, and I was grateful he didn’t. A lot of the guys came back home with a few new ticks, ones that developed from listening to gunshots in the night, air missiles raiding the dark, and screams of their brothers that had been hit. I had a few ticks myself, ones that Elijah luckily hadn’t developed. Alone was fine with me.
We said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone. The sun was gone, even though it was early, and tiny specks of snow were beginning to fall from the sky. At least I knew the snow would keep the fall hikers from my cottage, and once the ski lodge opened up down the mountain side, all the locals would flock to it, leaving me alone.
I stepped outside and let the cold flakes of snow fall on my face as I looked up at the dark cloud growing above my cottage. It was going to be a rough one—that was for certain.
My freezer was packed with fish, my cupboards filled with non-perishables, and I had enough bottles of water to last four winters stacked outside my back door. I was ready.
The breeze flew through the trees, leaving a whistle through each branch as I closed up my shed. I slammed the lock down hard and started towards the cottage when a sound echoed through the mountain, a sound that I hadn’t heard before.
I stopped, looked around, and waited, but heard nothing. I shrugged it off, figuring it was a fox, maybe an owl, or some other creature warning the others of the impending storm headed our way.
My hand rested on the front door as the noise carried up the mountain side once again, this time louder, more human-like.
The paths that had been beaten down by hikers were about a half mile from my cottage, but I knew no one would be dumb enough to chance a hike with this weather looming. It had to be a creature.
I almost made it inside when the noise bellowed again, this time clearly a moan, not a growl, a hoot, or squeal, but a moan. I grabbed my gloves and hat from the chair by the door and headed towards the noise. Who in their right fuckin’ mind would be out here in this shit?
“Where are you?” I called out, walking towards the nearest path. The whistle in the branches was all I heard. No moan, no return call. I must’ve been going nuts out here all alone.
I made it to the snow covered path as the moan returned, this time fainter, but closer. I called out again, moving towards the sounds of distress. The wind subsided, leaving an eerie silence over the mountain. “Oooh,” a low groan rolled up the path. I turned the corner to find a woman lying on the ground. Her long red hair was braided into a long ponytail, and blood trickled down her forehead from an injury to her head. I rushed towards her, kneeling down so she could see my face. “What’s hurt?” I asked as her eyes rolled back into her head. Shit!
I slid my hands underneath her, turning her towards me. There was a gash on her head, not a bad one, but it was bleeding pretty fast. I bit onto my right glove to free my hand and used a bandana from my back pocket to add pressure to the wound. She was breathing, and her pulse was strong, but she was out cold. Why was she out here all alone? Why was she out here at all?
The parking lot where hikers parked before making their trek up the mountain side was a good three miles down. I looked up at the sky, debating on whether to attempt to bring her to her car, to civilization, or up the mountain to my cottage that was less than a mile away. Fuck! This was why I left Hawaii: the damn hikers, touri
sts, and people crowding in on my secluded spot in the woods.
I pushed my glove back on my hand and scooped the young woman into my arms. She was light, thankfully, but her limp body was awkward to carry up the slick path.
Snow was already sticking to the ground, accumulating quickly. The weather report hadn’t mentioned a storm, but it was clearly the start of a big one. I stepped off the path, making my way through the thick brush to my cottage with the limp woman in my arms. She groaned as I missed my step, my foot sliding behind me quickly and bringing me to my knees. It hurt like hell, but I bit down, pushed myself back up, and made the rest of the trip to my front door.
Inside, the heat instantly thawed my cheeks and fingers, causing them to tingle and burn. I placed the woman on the couch and rushed into the kitchen for my first aid kit.
The knot on her head was swelling, but the bleeding had finally slowed. I cleaned the wound, wrapped it in bandages, and sat down on the edge of the couch by her feet. Why was she out here all alone?
She wore a small fanny pack around her waist. I carefully removed it, checked inside for some sort of identification, a phone possibly, but found only a granola bar, a bottle of water, and a knife.
A soft moan rolled from her lips as I got up from the couch. I knelt down beside her, speaking softly as I asked her if she was awake. She let out another moan, this time softer, and then, just breathing.
I looked outside. The snow was coming down fast and furiously, and the skies had turned a strange grey. I knew the weather would be unpredictable when I moved to Maine and chose the mountain side as my home, but this was far more than even I expected.
I tossed a couple logs on the fire, covered the woman in a warm blanket, and started on dinner. I made an extra piece of fish, just in case she would wake up hungry.
An hour in the kitchen, and a few minutes at the table eating my dinner, she never woke, not even stirred. I cleaned everything up, carried her to my bed, and tucked her into the blankets for the night. Hopefully, the morning would bring some answers as to who she was and why she was out here in this weather all alone.
