She bit her lip. He was right. “You’re serious? The whole place isn’t bigoted, love.”
“No. But it sure feels like it at this minute.” He growled again. “Imagine somewhere in California.”
“You can’t just pick and choose, baby.”
He grabbed his cap from his head and crushed it in his fist. Josh stayed quiet for a few seconds, something obviously percolating in his brain.
She was kind of relieved he’d had this reaction to the principal. It made her feel less of a wuss when she considered how often Mrs. Jacobie had tied her tongue into so many knots that she’d spent the rest of the day unraveling them all.
“How about we home tutor her?”
Gia blinked. “Home tutor Lexi?”
“No, Luke. Of course Lexi.”
She bumped her hip into his side. “I’m not a tutor, Josh. I couldn’t teach her the things she needs to know. Plus, she’d be missing out on interacting with other kids.”
“Screw that. We can take her to the park more often. Make her join groups or whatever. There’s always plenty of shit she can do to make friends. We can hire a tutor.”
“That will cost a fortune.”
“And this place wasn’t costing a bomb? We can afford it.”
“You want us to do that? Are you sure?”
“No, I don’t. I’d like to find her a nice school where the worst thing to happen on a daily basis is a storm cloud bursts and rainbows fly about. As it is, this is reality.
“I don’t care what Luke says. I don’t care that she has to get used to it. I don’t want her getting used to it yet. She’s too goddamn young to be worrying about stuff like this. And if that is an example of the school’s policy for dealing with ‘abnormal’—and I still can’t believe she called us that—family backgrounds, then this isn’t the place for Lexi.
“Maybe when she hits middle school, we could try again, but I’m not having her hurt because our situation is unusual.”
“I feel the same way,” she admitted, worrying her lip. “There are online programs. Maybe I could help out. I’m not a total idiot. I did well at school and college. I…I’ve never tutored or done anything like that.”
“We can see how she gets on. If it doesn’t suit her, then it doesn’t suit her.”
Tempted by the idea of having her baby at home all day every day, she nodded. It had killed her introducing Lexi into a school environment a year earlier than necessary. Lucas had told her it was important Lexi get used to being separated from them before it adversely affected her at school.
But it sucked.
She knew most mothers had separation issues at first, that it was only normal, but it did lighten her mood to know her little fairy would be dancing around the house a while longer.
She doubted Lucas would be as content as she.
He was a firm believer in education. And had Lexi been a boy, she had no doubt the child would have followed the same rigid path Josh and Luke had traversed.
Academy after academy, until they hit adulthood and had to go to West Point.
She was kind of glad Lexi was a girl.
Two soldiers in the family was quite enough. Not that girls couldn’t be soldiers, but Lexi was a lover, not a fighter.
The same could be said for Luke.
He was in the armed forces because it was what the boys did in his family. It was tradition. But he was here, now, all these years later, when his other brothers had long since retired to “civvy street,” because he was a peacekeeper.
She prayed to God Lexi went down the hippie route rather than the soldier route.
Having Luke deployed was a nightmare, but her baby girl?
Hell, no.
Looking down the hallway, she noted there were two swing doors with window panels in them. She peered through them, eventually spotting Lexi with her teacher, Miss Green.
They both wore smiles as they walked, but Lexi’s eyes lit up when they glanced over her parents.
Once Miss Green had opened the door, Lexi ran to Gia, then squeezed her legs, only to hurry over to Josh, who immediately hefted her up into his arms. Setting her on his forearm, he asked, “Short stuff, do you feel like breaking out of this joint?”
“Please, Daddy,” Lexi murmured, ducking her head with a coyness that made Gia’s lips twitch.
“Since when were you a shrinking violet?” Josh rarely beat around the bush.
Lexi peered around, then whispered something in his ear. Whatever it was, it made him grunt and grab Gia’s hand. As a trio, they made their way out of the building.
She and Josh nodded at Lexi’s ex-teacher while their baby girl shyly waved farewell. They strode out of the building and headed for their cars. They’d arrived separately, Josh with his aide-de-camp and Dana, his PA, and after Gia had dropped Lexi off, she'd waited for Josh to arrive so they could go to the appointment with the school together.
“Mommy, did you tell Daddy we were getting a dog?”
She blinked at that, then hid a smile when Josh frowned at her. “Technically, I said I would talk to Daddy about it, Lexi. I never said it was a definite thing. You know they make him sneeze.”
“But I asked Miss Green again this morning, and she said poodles are hi-po-ller-gen-ic.”
Out of habit, Gia corrected Lexi’s mispronunciation. “That’s true, but we still don’t know what Daddy’s reaction will be to them.”
Josh sighed. “I’ll ask Dana.”
“You’re whipped,” she whispered when he lowered Lexi to the ground, swinging her around a little to make her squeal with laughter.
“No, just glad to get her out of this place. Do you know what she said to me?” He watched as Lexi ran over to greet Dana and Matthew.
“What?”
“That Mrs. Jacobie had told her she was to stop being a troublemaker. She spoke to her this morning, before our meeting.”
“That bitch,” Gia snapped.
“If a dog makes her happy and makes up for this social-experiment-level disaster, then we’ll get her one.”
“Poor Dana. I can only imagine what her to-do list is going to be today.”
“She’s used to it. I’ll get her researching homeschooling. More than anything, I want Lexi to enjoy learning. This place didn’t encourage that. At the same time, we need to see which tutors will suit Lexi best. We need to give her every opportunity.”
“You’re a great dad, sir, yes, sir.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I do my best.”
She reached up on tiptoe, then pressed a kiss to his lips. “Did you manage to wrangle the leave?”
He nodded. “Tomorrow. For four days. Get packing.”
She grinned. “What? Just naughty lingerie?”
“Think of it as a present for Luke. You know how he likes you in all that lacy stuff.”
“Oh, and you don’t, I suppose.”
Josh smirked. “I like ripping it off you.”
She smacked his arm. “That stuff costs a fortune.”
“Well, I’ve saved us a year’s tuition at this place. I can afford to buy you some new panties.”
“Promises, promises,” she purred, lips tilting into a smile when a smoky cast overtook his gaze, and she knew he was thinking about last night.
“As it is, I’ll be staying at the base tonight,” he gritted out, his voice gravelly with arousal. “I’ll be there tomorrow, ready to go the airport at zero-nine hundred hours.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Lucas.”
“He already knows.”
“Fine.”
He bent to kiss her again. His hands slid down her back, resting at her waist before they traveled down to her ass. He cupped her slightly and murmured, “You’re going to be fine for the honeymoon, aren’t you?”
“Full working order,” she teased.
“Good,” he whispered, the words brushing her ear.
Josh pulled away, and it added a bounce to her step because she knew it was the last thing he wanted to do.
As he headed to his car, he leaned over and bussed Lexi on the head. He told her something that made her laugh, and she waved to the car’s occupants before skipping over to the family's SUV.
“Do we never have to come here again, Mommy? Do you promise it?”
“Yep,” she told her, satisfaction lacing her tone. “I promise we don’t have to come here again.”
“I’m glad,” was all Lexi said, but those two words said a lot, and they hit Gia in the gut.
Guilt had her stopping off at the local gelato vendor for some more ice cream. Though it was only ten thirty in the morning.
A mother’s guilt. Was there anything like it in the world?
* * * *
“Where are we going, Mommy?”
“We’re going to run some errands, sweetheart,” Gia told her, taking a slurp of her ice cream as she drove down the boulevard to Luke’s parents’ home.
She hadn’t intended to go there. If anything, she stayed out of her lovers’ families’ lives. Mostly because she knew they all viewed her oddly.
Maybe it made sense. After all, people didn’t live in threesomes, not outside erotic romance novels, right?
Plus, they all knew she’d moved in as their surrogate and had simply never left.
She never said anything to the guys because she didn’t want them to know how isolated she felt among their families. There was no point in sharing something like that mostly because they couldn’t do anything to stop it.
People felt the way they felt, and no one could change that.
Take this situation with Luke and his father.
Robert had always viewed her askance, but he’d been courteous. Polite.
The recent revelations about Robert's attitude to her daughter seemed the opposite of cordial. It had come as a surprise, and she wanted answers. She’d let him treat her like an outsider because, in many ways, she was one. Not in her relationship with Josh and Luke, but to the world, she was.
It didn’t matter to her. Gia didn’t mind being a nonentity. If it had bothered her, then she wouldn’t have been okay with Josh marrying Lucas. She would have pouted and teared up.
Instead, she wanted Lucas to have that security. She had all she needed.
But with her father-in-law who wasn’t her father-in-law, his behavior had been nagging at her. She had to go and see him, to rake this over the coals. It would eat at her otherwise.
She wouldn’t be able to stop wondering if Robert had done something to her baby girl when she hadn’t been around.
Tired, she raised a hand to knuckle her left eye. Last night, she’d fallen asleep tucked in Luke’s arms, missing Josh and wishing he were there. Trying not to think that when Luke deployed, she’d be all alone in their big bed.
Would Josh try to make up for Luke’s absence?
She really hoped so, because sleeping alone was far out of her comfort zone now.
Not that she’d have much choice when it boiled down to it. The job came first with a brigadier general, and how could she complain when he was protecting their country? It wasn’t like he was going out every night, trawling the bars and wasting hundreds of dollars on Texas Hold’em.
“What’s the first errand, Mommy?” Lexi broke into her thoughts, as she had a habit of doing.
“We’re going visiting, sweetheart,” she replied, then took another slurp of her vanilla and pistachio swirl ice cream.
She looked over the two pictures she had swaying from the rearview mirror, and was prompted back to her original thoughts. Luke, dressed in his civvies for once, Lexi on his shoulder as they traversed the chaos of Disneyland, him looking like he was back in Iraq, his face was so intent. Josh in full regalia. Christ, he looked hot when he dressed to terrify.
It wasn’t like Josh stayed away on purpose, she told herself, letting the cool vanilla freshen her mouth. He was a busy and important man. National security issues rested on his shoulders. She only knew that because he’d never actually told her the department he worked for.
Luke said it was classified, but she had the feeling he knew and didn’t want her to know.
For her own safety.
When Josh’s job was as vital as it was, how could she ask him to come and babysit her at nighttime because she was used to falling asleep with Luke at her side? Gia tightened her lips at the thought, but when she looked in the rearview mirror, she relaxed at the sight of Lexi’s chops covered in chocolate sauce. She had Gia’s Kindle in her hand, and was engrossed in both the book and ice cream, which was why her inordinately expensive uniform was also loaded in sauce.
Huffing out a faint laugh, Gia squinted as the bright morning sun peered through the windshield. It was going to be a hot one. The AC wasn’t doing that great a job of cooling down the car. Either side of her, farmland scorched in the heat. She turned off deeper into the heartland, where Luke’s parents had lived since Robert retired.
When she saw the farmhouse in the distance, she murmured, “We’re going to see your grandparents, honey.”
“Nanna Laurie?” Lexi asked, excitement in her tone.
“Nope. Grandpa Robert.”
“Oh.” Lexi's disappointment was like a lead weight crushing the car. Her attention immediately reverted to the book she was reading. Apparently that was enough to end the conversation on her part.
Gia swallowed down her nerves. “You don’t like Grandpa Robert?”
Lexi’s nose wrinkled. “Grandpa Davie and Nanna Laurie always let me read at the table.” The dime-silver eyes she’d inherited from her father gleamed at that. Letting her read at the table was like giving her a two-ton bag of candy.
Gia truly believed that Lexi would select two thousand books over two thousand grams of sugary treats.
“Don’t Grandpa Robert and Grandma Lou?” It was the damnedest thing trying to keep all the names straight.
That’s what happened when there were three sets of grandparents. Not that Lexi knew Gia’s mother.
Hell, Gia didn’t either anymore.
“No. They’re strict.”
“In what way?” Her gaze darted back to the rearview mirror, and she had to force herself to study the road. She wanted to watch Lexi’s reactions, see if Robert’s disapproval had trickled over to his treatment of her daughter.
The urge was too great. She pulled over and turned to face Lexi.
“Why have we stopped, Mommy?”
“I’m interested, darling.”
“In Grandpa Robert?”
“Uh-huh.”
Lexi’s little brow puckered. “Why?”
“Because I want to talk to him today, and I want to know how you feel about him.”
Gia watched, stomach twisting when Lexi nibbled her little lip. As it was practically coated in chocolate sauce, the move was a sticky endeavor.
Reaching for her purse on the passenger seat, Gia grabbed a wet wipe and leaned into the backseat to wash Lexi’s mouth.
When Lexi was clean, Gia asked, “You okay, baby?”
Lexi nodded. “Yes, Mommy. It isn’t that he’s nasty to me. Not like Billy. But…” She paused, her gaze darting around the car like a ricocheting bullet, before she burst out, “Sara and Lizzy get to sit on his knee. But he never lets me. And I painted him a picture and he patted me on the head, but he put Jerry’s on the fridge.”
The flood of words told her Lexi had been hurting for a long while.
And Gia hadn’t noticed it.
Oh, God.
Pressing her fist to her mouth, Gia whispered, “I’ll sort it out, baby.”
“You will?” Lexi asked, hope throbbing in her tone. “I try to be a good girl. I don’t think he likes me very much.”
She’d kill him.
Screw that, she’d annihilate him.
Gia’s jaw ached from the pressure she exerted on her back teeth. “He likes you fine.”
Lexi looked doubtful, and it was no wonder. She was far too perceptive to believe Gia.
Hell, Sara, Jerry, and
Lizzy, only three of the Grays’ brood of grandchildren, were all years older than Lexi, and they weren’t as smart.
She wasn’t saying that as her mom either. Lexi had the reading age of a twelve-year-old. And only then because they had to watch her books. Gia didn’t doubt they’d be progressing to adult books soon. She envisioned spending hours vetting literary works suitable for a six-year-old voracious reader.
If anyone deserved a pat on the head, it was her baby girl. And being so obvious in his attentions? Christ, she wanted to knee Robert in the balls. How dare he make her little girl feel inferior.
She turned around, faced the road that led to the Grays’ house, and started the engine. Three minutes later, after speeding down the drive, they arrived, and she demanded, “You stay in the car, baby.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
Gia parked in the shaded carport. She opened all the windows and tested the temperature on the dash. It was far cooler here than out in the yard. Lexi would be better off stuck in the car than listening to her mother blister her Grandpa Robert.
Some fucking grandpa.
“Stay close to the car if it gets too hot in here, baby.”
“Yep.”
“Be a good girl.”
Lexi giggled, and Gia’s lips twitched. Lexi didn’t know how to be anything else.
Sighing at the thought of how lucky they were to have such a little angel for a daughter, she climbed out of the car and headed to the front of the house.
It was a nice property. It spoke of the Grays’ comfortable income and the fact that they farmed the land more for amusement than a need to earn a living wage. In the distance, she could hear their workers laughing and chatting as they did whatever farmers did. She knew the Grays had a lot of fruit trees, but mostly they farmed cotton. At least, that was what Luke had told her once. He’d also told her that, thanks to the drought, they had started to cultivate flowers for drying.
Beside the farm door, two hanging baskets overloaded with peonies perfumed the air. She sneezed as she rang the bell, and when the door opened, and Lou, Luke’s mother, stood there smiling, she said, “Hi, Lou.”
“Hey, Gia! What are you doing here?” She peered around her. “Is Luke here?”
Taking in the features that were almost identical to Luke’s, Gia shook her head. “No. He’s at the base. I’m here alone.”
The Luck of Love Page 7
