The SEAL's Stolen Child

by Laura Marie Altom

  At first, he went to the same room she’d had in high school, but that was a bust. It looked museum perfect, oddly frozen in time as if it were an exhibit used to show the life of a typical American girl—only even back then, Eve Barnesworth had been anything but typical. Garrett peeked in at least six other rooms with open doors, finally deducing she must be in the only one with a closed door.

  He knocked.

  “I’m up, Juanita,” Eve called from inside.

  Garrett eased the door open. “It’s me. You decent?”

  “You’re back.”

  He entered to find her in the center of a canopied bed surrounded by movie magazines and three boxes of chocolates. The sun-flooded room had been done in yellow and cream. Eve was so pale, she blended with the sumptuous linens. Considering her long hair formed a bushy halo and she wore a Coral Ridge Football T-shirt over yoga pants, he couldn’t help but ask, “Have you been drinking?”

  “No.” She made quick work of stacking her glossy reading material, gathering brown paper candy cups to toss in a bedside trash basket, then scooting off the bed to stand before him, looking as though she may have wanted to give him a hug, but wasn’t sure if he’d accept. “When did you get home? Are you okay?”

  “I’m good, but what’s up with you being a lady of leisure? I stopped by your office and Darcie said she hadn’t seen you all day.”

  She turned her back on him while tidying the bed. “My fainting spell scared me. I figured what could it hurt? You know, taking time just to chill.”

  Strange. The whole scene felt off. Completely out of character for the woman he knew who put her responsibilities toward those she employed far above her own needs.

  He strode to an enormous arched, paned window, staring at acres of manicured lawn and gardens. Garrett had lost count of how many magazines the mansion and grounds had been featured in. Everything from Architectural Digest to Southern Living. The world saw this place as a living work of art. He saw it as the maze where he and Eve used to play tag when they were kids. The fountain where on particularly scorching summer days they’d waded in as teens. Back then, he never would’ve dreamed he and Eve’s friendship could be shaken. Sure, he’d had his guy friends, but the bond he’d once shared with her had been extra special. “Remember when our third-grade class came here on a field trip to study your flowers?”

  She’d joined him at the window. “My mom was still alive. I’m pretty sure she was crushing on the French gardener. Juanita, too.”

  He laughed. “Even as a kid, I remember that guy being awfully cool.”

  Now Eve was laughing. “Dad had a fit when Jacques started going to their parties. Said it was beneath them to socially mingle with staff.”

  “Yet, after your mom died, Juanita pretty much raised you, right?”

  “Yes.” Swallowing hard, looking as though a stiff breeze could topple her over, she shocked him by delivering that hug he’d earlier missed. “Which is why I’m glad you’re home safe. Because up until—well, you know. You were always there for me, too. Thank you for that.” Silent tears streamed down her cheeks. She made no move to wipe them away. “I had lunch with your mom and aunt Carol a few days ago. They’re good women. They reminded me how much history you and I have shared—even way before what happened with our son.”

  “Okay, whoa.” Leaning on the window, he faced her. “Something about you is off. And what the hell were you doing with my mom and aunt?”

  She covered her face with her hands in what he feared was the start of a major sob fest, but then she lowered her hands and smiled. “Your mom’s a nice person. So is Carol. I’ll probably be seeing more of them in the future.”

  “Why?” Garrett didn’t like the thought of his family getting chummy with Eve. Didn’t like it one bit. His family was his. A safe place. Far from the chaos reigning whenever he and Eve shared a room.

  “Does it matter? And anyway, why are you even here? It’s not like you to show up unannounced.”

  “I want to launch a fresh search of this house for clues. I tried calling, but you weren’t answering your cell.”

  “Oh.” She had the good graces to redden. “I must’ve left it in my purse. Sorry.”

  “No apology necessary. You need a break, but seriously, what’s going on with you? Since I’ve been gone, you’ve changed.”

  She opened her mouth, looking on the verge of telling him something, but then pressed her lips closed.

  “Eve? Talk to me. What’s going on?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Eve almost admitted to Garrett that the two of them were pregnant all over again, but couldn’t do it. If she lost the baby, she couldn’t bear the weight of him knowing she was a failure at the most basic act women were put on earth to do. Luckily, Garrett’s mother had understood her reasoning. But the more Eve was with Garrett, the less she felt as if she truly knew him. The one thing she did know was that seeing him stroll through her bedroom door, healthy and handsome as ever despite wind-burned cheeks and overgrown hair, made her happier than she’d been in a long time.

  “Don’t ignore me,” he pressed. “I’m not stupid, Eve. Does your sudden penchant for lounging in bed in the middle of the day have something to do with your fainting spell? You’re not sick, are you? You don’t have cancer?”

  “No,” she assured him. “I’m just mentally and physically exhausted and taking a break. End of story.” Seated at her mirrored vanity to brush her hair, she asked, “You mentioned wanting to search for clues. Where do you want to start?”

  “I guess your father’s room. I know anything personal I want to hide, I stash in my closet.”

  “What are you hiding?” she couldn’t resist asking. She’d put her hair in a side ponytail and felt lighter than she had in days. Blaming it on the congratulatory chocolates Dina had showered her with, Eve refused to believe her sudden inability to be serious had anything to do with her being happy about Garrett’s return. “Girlie magazines? Piles of foreign loot?”

  He sighed. “More like my passport and car-insurance papers. Anyway, would you be okay with us doing a serious search through Hal’s stuff?”

  “I’m all right with anything that helps find our son.”

  * * *

  WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HIM?

  Garrett was supposed to be engrossed in their search of Hal’s obscenely large closet, but all he seemed capable of focusing on was the sight of Eve’s derriere. Who knew yoga pants could be sexy as sin? Even worse, her T-shirt kept riding up, giving him glimpses of her abdomen and lower back.

  “If you give me a boost—” Eve reached for a shelf above her head “—I think I can get that box.”

  “Sure.” Though he could’ve easily grabbed it himself, Garrett took her up on her invitation, settling his hands low on her hips to lift her a couple feet. Her sweet floral smell was like nectar, making him only want her more.

  “Got it.” With the box in her arms, he lowered her down the length of him nice and slow, loving the feel of her softness against his strength. Once her feet hit the thick-padded carpet, he took longer than he should’ve to release her, but couldn’t help himself. This lighthearted version of Eve made him doubt his resolve to stay away. Could her talk with his mother have had anything to do with Eve’s change? If so, what could Dina have possibly said?

  Eve sat on the floor, legs outstretched with the dust-covered box between them. “Whatever’s in here, looks like it’s been around awhile.”

  He
sat next to her, leaning against custom teak cabinetry. Hal had a penchant for loud pants and they all now stared at Garrett. “So? What’re you waiting for?”

  “I feel like I’m going to get grounded.”

  He snorted. “I doubt you ever got so much as a time-out.”

  “Well…” She laughed. “I was trying to think up a witty comeback, but you’re right. Aside from me getting pregnant, Daddy never had to worry too much about me.”

  “That’s what I figured.” He nudged her shoulder with his. “So open it.”

  She did and from his first glimpse, he wished she hadn’t. More tears were imminent and he thought she’d already cried enough.

  “I had no idea he kept these. This looks more like something Mom would’ve done.”

  Fingering the delicate pink ribbon binding report cards and glowing teacher reports, Garrett said, “She probably did. But then he took over when she was gone.”

  Sure enough, she began crying, dropping the stick-figure drawing of a mom and dad with a blond-haired angel in between them to dash for the bathroom.

  She returned with a wad of tissues, drying her eyes and blowing her nose. “I’ve been so h-hard on him, but he was a wonderful father. I m-miss him so much.”

  “He stole our baby.”

  “B-but only because he thought he was helping us.”

  Garrett reached for the picture Eve dropped. In the process, he noticed part of the carpet was loose. He picked at it, only to get a shock when the whole section lifted out, revealing a floor safe.

  Eve gasped.

  “I take it you didn’t know this was here?”

  “No,” she said, kneeling and fiddling with the combination knob.

  “Any idea how to get inside?”

  “Daddy was many things, but tech-savvy wasn’t one. I’m running through birthdays and anniversaries.” Two minutes later she had it open. “I’m honored my big day won.”

  “Whoa.” Garrett reached past her to pull out bound stacks of hundreds. Lots of them. Next were more of Hal’s manila files, followed by leather-boxed estate jewelry.

  While Eve sat on her heels, oohing and ahhing over priceless necklaces, rings and earrings, Garrett was more interested in what Hal had considered worthy of filing, yet so sensitive in nature it’d had to be stored in a hidden safe.

  It didn’t take long to finally have tangible proof for what Garrett had suspected all along—Hal Barnesworth hadn’t been a nice man. One folder netted careful log-ins of gifts he’d given women during multiple affairs. Column after column of Chanel purses. Another, a list of generous payoffs to various state officials for looking the other way for offenses ranging from forgiving three DWIs to encouraging zoning rulings to go in his favor to his most recent hiring of truckloads of illegal immigrants.

  “I’ll be damned…”

  “What?”

  Garrett flashed the contents of a particularly upsetting file. “Remember when we talked about my dad maybe having been influenced by Hal to stay out of Barnesworth business?”

  She groaned.

  “Around the time you left town, your dad made a hefty donation to the fire department—enough to buy five new trucks. Your dad wrote that he ‘bribed Solomon to forget about my daughter and the baby by putting just the right squeeze on the budget. Talk—it goes down. Keep quiet—it goes way up. Threatened jobs, too, just to make sure he felt my request on an emotional level.’”

  Eve’s expression had changed from teary mourning to hardened anger. “Please tell me this is a bad dream…”

  “Sorry.” As much satisfaction as it’d given Garrett, learning the man the whole damn town touted as a hero had been the snake in the grass he’d always known him to be, he now felt that much more sad for Eve. She was the one left to deal with Hal’s dirty legacy.

  Flipping through the file listing Hal’s extramarital affairs, she said, “I was only teasing about Mom and the French gardener. I always believed my parents had a fairy-tale marriage.”

  “Yeah, a dark fairy tale. Think she knew how many times Hal cheated?”

  “She had to, which makes her life tragic.” Talking more to herself, she dropped the file back into the safe. “Matt cheated on me. Even though by that point there was no love between us, it still hurt. Made me feel dirty. When I was a girl, one of my favorite things was sitting with Mom in one of the formal living rooms, sharing high tea, looking through her wedding album. Daddy was so handsome and she looked like a princess, complete with a diamond tiara holding her lace veil. Their wedding cake was seven layers tall and the parties lasted a long weekend. To this day, it’s one of the largest wedding stories Town and Country has ever featured. When I think of fairy tales, my parents were the ultimate…” Teary gaze meeting his, she asked, “How could I have been so wrong?”

  Never had Garrett wished more for a magic wand to whisk away Eve’s pain. From losing her mom at such a tender age, to always having lived under Hal’s thumb, she’d led a strange life. From the outside, she’d been envied, but even back when they’d dated, he’d sensed a deep sadness in her. All she’d ever wanted was to be honestly loved. She believed she’d had that in her father—and hell, Garrett didn’t doubt the old bastard had loved her in his own warped way.

  “If you don’t mind—” he almost hated breaking the heavy silence “—I’m going to check out some of the women on your dad’s list. Maybe one of them knows something about our son.”

  “They’d be too old.”

  “Still,” he urged, “shouldn’t we at least try?”

  “I’m done. I really thought I could handle anything, but now I know I can’t. Do what you want with this information, Garrett, but please, leave me out of it.”

  “You don’t mean that.” He gripped her shoulders, forcing her to face him. “I know finding our son means as much to you as it does me.”

  Instead of pushing him away, she sagged against him, and he held her for all he was worth. Yes, lean on me. No matter what, he’d be there for her.

  But for how long?

  Even if he abandoned himself to the feelings he still had for her—had always had—that didn’t mean she would, too. Beyond that, how was he supposed to continue his career in Coral Ridge? And Eve’s heart was obviously stuck in their hometown.

  “I’m not this weak person,” she mumbled against his chest. “I never cry or feel defeated, yet lately, just facing each new day feels like an insurmountable goal.”

  “Give yourself a break.” Hand beneath her chin, he said, “When I showed up this afternoon, you seemed to have everything under control. Don’t let this crap about your dad bring you down.”

  “Easy for you to say.” She left him to finger one of Hal’s more colorful pair of golf pants. “Your dad was a hero. Mine was thought to be, but I’m now finding he was little better than an adulterer and common criminal. What am I supposed to do with that? What does his legacy say about me?”

  “Nothing. With the exception of the illegal immigrants, all of it’s in the past. Leave it there. It has nothing to do with you.”

  She nodded. “You really think contacting all those women on his list is worth a shot?”

  Shrugging, he said, “Not like we have better leads to follow. In the meantime, let’s take a walk…”

  * * *

  “YOU, GARRETT SOLOMON, are amazing.” Eve tilted her head back, arms outstretched, turning in a slow circle while drinking in warm, winter sun. Garrett had taken her to their own
secret garden, deep in the woods on her father’s land. The white marble picnic pavilion was nestled alongside a lazy river, but a hurricane flood had carried off half the paver tiles and the place had been forgotten, only to be reclaimed by sinewy vines and rogue hibiscus. Ten-foot marble angels towered over each of the four corners and an arched marble pavilion took center stage, complete with wraparound circular benches. The trees now only allowed pieces of sun to enter in mysterious, slanted rays. Sweet, hidden blooms perfumed the air. “I’d forgotten about this place. You always used to bring me here whenever Sidney Calmount made me cry. You told me angels make everything better.”

  “Back then, they did.” He sat on one of the marble balustrades, fingering the spot on a nearby cypress where they’d used bootlegged crab forks to carve their initials.

  “With all due respect, our problems used to be a little easier.”

  “Did they?” Garrett asked. Far overhead a crow cawed. The sound was eerie amongst the already heavy hum of insects. “I came here when you first told me you were pregnant. And I came here again almost every day while you were gone. I used to close my eyes and pretend you came back to me. But you never did. And that made me sad. And angry. And until now, I was bitter and I didn’t know who—if anyone—to trust.”

  “I’m sorry.” Though she’d whispered her words, in this place they sounded inordinately loud. “You were the last person I ever meant to hurt.”

  “I know.” He’d grabbed a stone, skipping it into the lazy river. “I shouldn’t have even brought it up. Being here dredged up issues better left alone.”

  “But you brought me here to make me feel better.”

  He shrugged. “I’m guessing it didn’t work?”

  He flashed a sliver of a white-toothed smile that made her heart skip a beat. All over again Garrett became the little boy who at recess charged to her rescue. She adored him for that. And hated herself for ever causing him a moment’s pain.