by Cat Johnson
“Maybe you didn’t but Chris might have. Or Zane could have.”
Looking a little pale, Chris shook his head. “Uh, yeah. No. First off, I didn’t know anything about your um . . . cycle, so there was no way I could have told Zane or Jon anything. And I promise you I haven’t talked to Jon. I didn’t even know he was back.”
“It doesn’t matter if Jon knows about the baby or not. He didn’t want to be with me before he left. And he only thinks he wants to be with me now because he probably almost died. But I know him and he’ll do the honorable thing and force himself to marry me because I’m pregnant and it’s the right thing to do.”
“But Jon did want to be with you. He asked you to move in with him. That’s a huge step. It’s like being married, but without the paperwork.”
Ali scowled at Darci’s reasoning. “He asked me because my lease was up, my rent was going to skyrocket, and it was most practical for me to move in.”
Jon was nothing if not thrifty and practical.
“No.” Darci shook her head. “That all might have been a factor in the timing but he asked you to move in because he loves you.”
“Oh, he loves me. But still look what he does to me. He disappears. If he doesn’t outright lie, he at the very least avoids telling me the truth.”
“That’s his life.” Again, Darci took Jon’s side. It was starting to piss Ali off. Darci was supposed to be her friend.
“No, it was his life in the SEALs. He’s no longer in the SEALs, is he?”
Sighing as Ali’s argument took the wind out of her sails, Darci glanced up at Chris. “Ali does have a good point. You work for GAPS and yes there are certain details you won’t tell me but I never feel like Ali does. That you are consistently withholding the truth.”
Chris lifted a shoulder. “It’s not my company. I’m only privy to what pertains to me and my specific assignment. Jon’s the keeper of all the information, some of it top secret. It makes sense he’d be cautious. The company’s reputation depends on it.”
Ali let out a huff. “Then he can just marry the company.”
Chris drew in a breath and let it out, silently giving up the fight with her. Probably because with that last statement she sounded like a child and only a fool would argue with a child. Chris Cassidy was no fool.
Given that, Ali should probably listen to him.
Maybe tomorrow.
CHAPTER 21
It had been a long night for Jon alone in the bed where Ali should have been with him. If he hadn’t been exhausted from traveling he probably wouldn’t have slept at all. As it was, he got a restless sleep and woke up not long after dawn.
Rather than hang out at the condo reliving the shit storm of the night before, he made coffee and headed right out for the office. At least there he’d be busy. All the work that had no doubt accumulated while he was gone and a full email inbox would keep his mind occupied until Ali decided to talk to him again.
Jon opened the office door and found Chris was already there. The man glanced up from the coffee maker when Jon walked in.
“Hey, bubba. Good to see you back in one piece.” Chris’s tone was ripe with unspoken questions and comments.
“Thanks.” Jon could only imagine what Chris knew and what he was thinking given that Ali had gone directly to Darci’s last night. He decided to redirect the conversation away from his personal life. “By the way, I didn’t see Brody or any of his team where I was.”
“And where was that exactly?” Chris cocked up one brow.
With a sigh, Jon decided he might as well spill. The op was over and since his picture would be plastered all over for every ISIS fighter, leader and recruiter to see, he wouldn’t be going back. At least not in the same capacity as last time.
“Makhmour.”
Chris nodded. “A’ight. Thanks. That narrows down my choices of where he might be. If they weren’t in Makhmour with you, Brody could be part of that big push to retake Fallujah.”
Jon cringed. “That’s where Mack was with his old unit when Speedy was killed. That fucked up Mack’s head pretty bad for a while. It’s why he got himself transferred to Brody’s team and now he could be right back where he started.”
“Yup. Let’s hope for everyone’s sake it’s been long enough now he’s channeled all that emotional shit and can focus on the mission.”
Jon hoped so too. From what little he knew of the man, Mack could be intense sometimes.
But SEAL team dynamics weren’t Jon’s problem anymore and hadn’t been since he’d left the Navy and formed GAPS. The pissed off look on his partner’s face as Zane walked in the front door though—that definitely was Jon’s problem.
Zane directed a glare at Jon. “Let’s go in the back room.”
After their talk on the phone from his hospital bed, Jon had thought he might get away without a lecture from Zane. Apparently he’d been wrong.
Bracing himself for the worst, Jon followed Zane to the meeting room. He sat. Zane didn’t, which didn’t bode well.
“What you did goes against all of our training. One man on his own is not a militarily significant unit.” Zane launched right into the lecture.
“I know.”
Jon was very aware that there was always a lost man plan for every op, but he didn’t unconditionally believe the military’s philosophy that a single man was nothing without a group backing him up. Sometimes one could move more easily—accomplish greater things—than six or even two.
Shaking his head, Zane continued, “You say you know, but yet you go and pull a Bergdahl? You know better than that shit, Jon.”
Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who wanted to be a lone hero and see some action. The act of him leaving his base and going off on his own, only to be captured by the enemy, cost him years of his life and the military thousands of dollars. Not to mention he put his fellow troops at risk as they attempted to get him back.
Bergdahl had been ridiculously foolish, and Zane was calling Jon stupid with the comparison. But Zane lobbing insults didn’t change anything.
That didn’t stop the man from continuing his rant. “And you know what? I should have seen this coming. The minute Chris told me you’d been growing your beard and not cutting your hair I should have known you were preparing to take on ISIS. But dammit, Jon, I never thought I’d have to play mommy to my own partner. Did you not see that ISIS is killing their own people looking for spies? Hell of a time to go over there as an actual damn spy!”
Zane’s nostrils flared and he drew in a breath after that tirade. Jon hoped he was done, but he was wrong.
“And what about Ali? Do you realize how worried she was?”
“I know.” Jon didn’t need Zane to remind him that if he couldn’t make things right with her this mission—whether justified or not—could cost him Ali.
Chris, who’d been leaning against the doorframe in the open doorway silently observing Zane’s rant until now, finally joined the conversation. He pushed off the wall and took a step into the room. “I’m not sure you do know how bad it was for her.”
Jon sighed. Now Chris was against him too. “I told her not to worry before I left.”
“You told her not to worry? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you not know women at all?” Zane threw his hands in the air, as if he was done with the whole mess and Jon.
If only that were true. Unfortunately Jon had a feeling this was far from done.
Chris shook his head. “Buddy, it was bad here. Hell, if last night was any indication, it still is bad. And being engaged to Darci, I get a front row seat to the whole clusterfuck. Jon, the day we got word from Zane you’d been found and we went to tell Ali, she collapsed. Like literally went down. I grabbed her before she hit her head and we stayed with her all night but still . . .”
Jon bit out a curse and then raised his eyes to Chris. “Thank you for being there for her.”
Chris raised a brow. “Of course, I’d be there for her. That ain’t the point. You have some work to do. Mak
e that a lot of work to do repairing your relationship. And I suggest you do it ASAP.”
“I know.” It seemed he’d been saying that a lot today. But knowing he’d screwed things up and knowing what to do to fix it were two very different things. “Unfortunately, she’s not exactly talking to me right now. She won’t respond to my texts. Won’t answer my calls. Hard to apologize when she won’t listen.”
Chris widened his eyes. “Then make her listen.”
Not sure why Chris was so invested in his relationship with Ali, Jon said, “Okay. I’ll try.”
“Maybe send her some flowers. Or chocolate. Little things like that can go a long way to getting a girl over her mad,” Chris suggested.
“Diamonds go even further.” Zane, born and raised by parents so rich Jon couldn’t even guess their net worth, added his two cents.
Even if he could afford the kind of gifts Zane was talking about, Jon knew Ali. He wasn’t sure diamonds would do any good. “At this point, I have a feeling she’d throw anything I gave her back in my face.”
“That’s why I always have my make-up gifts delivered. Softens her up first before I show my face.” Zane grinned, making Jon laugh in spite of his misery.
Chris shook his head. “Don’t listen to Casanova here. You need to romance her. I bet that’s what she’s been missing now that you’re living together and with you working so much. The romance.”
Jon took his words into consideration. Chris could be right. “All right. I’ll think about it.”
Chris, who was probably more than tired of being caught in the middle of this mess, cocked a brow. “Think fast.”
Just like in a mission, sometimes taking action was the only way to get out of the shit and Jon was certainly in the shit right now. But he’d get himself out of it. Somehow.
After the wake up call in Iraq, he might actually be motivated enough to get his work-life balance in order.
If he’d learned anything through all this mess, it was that there was more to living than the job. And love was a huge part of life.
Romance . . . Hell, why not? He could do romance. It might even be fun. He just hoped it would win him Ali back.
CHAPTER 22
Ali had forced herself to go to work even though she had barely slept. She didn’t even want to get out of bed, forget about put on clothes and interact with people. But she figured she’d better start banking her time off.
Given her current situation, there’d be doctor appointments and who knew what else she might need time off for. What kind of maternity leave did the bank give employees anyway? She’d never had reason to ask. She sure did now.
That frightening reality had been in her mind day and night since the doctor had delivered the news. Ali had a feeling that wasn’t going to change.
“Ali?”
She glanced across the car at Darci. “Yeah?”
“You coming inside?” Darci had the driver’s side door partially open and her seatbelt off as she frowned at Ali, still buckled in the passenger seat.
They were in Darci’s driveway and she hadn’t even noticed.
Yup, it had definitely been for the best that they had carpooled to work today in Darci’s car. Ali was obviously way too distracted to navigate rush hour traffic.
“Yeah.” Blowing out a breath, she disconnected the seatbelt and swung her door open, only to realize she’d never gone over to the condo to get any of her stuff.
She’d been lucky that she had two work outfits in her car that she’d picked up from the dry cleaners. With the distraction of finding out she was pregnant, she forgotten about the dry cleaning bag in the backseat.
Luckily, she and Darci wore the same size shoe.
Those were the only reasons Ali had something besides her yoga pants and sneakers to wear to work.
Darci was the perfect host. She’d given Ali a brand new toothbrush and had shared her toiletries and makeup, but eventually she needed her own stuff.
And if she really did decide she couldn’t stay with Jon, she’d have to find someplace to live as well.
“You doing okay?” Darci asked as she unlocked the front door of the house.
“Just thinking how I can’t live with you forever.”
“You could if you want to.”
Ali laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure Chris would love that. You two being newlyweds and me hanging around.”
“We haven’t even set a date yet.”
“You will though. And then there’s Rick—”
“Rick has a rich girlfriend he can stay with. You’re fine in his room. Don’t worry about that. My name is on this house, not my brother’s.”
“Thank you, but still, I have to do something eventually.”
“You could talk to Jon,” Darci suggested, pausing in her path toward the kitchen.
Ali followed her friend, hoping she was going to make some tea. “I could.”
“But?”
Ali opened her mouth to say she wasn’t ready to talk to Jon yet, when a box on the counter caught her eye. “What’s that?”
“I don’t know.” Darci walked closer and then smiled. “But it says Ali on the card.”
“It does?” She frowned and moved to stand next to Darci. The box did indeed have an envelope with her name on it, written in Jon’s handwriting.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” Darci asked.
“Okay.” Suddenly shaking, Ali reached for the envelope. After pulling out the card, she flipped it open and read the contents aloud for Darci’s benefit. “I know you’ve been wanting one.”
“One of what?” Darci asked.
Ali looked at the box. “Good question.”
There was only one way to find out. She tore at the wrapping paper and saw the printed box. “It’s a VCR.”
“A what?” Darci laughed. “Do they still make those? And why in the world did you want one? Don’t you have a DVD player?”
“Yes, but I have all of my favorite Christmas movies on tape. Last year my VCR broke. I figured if I couldn’t find a new player to buy I’d have to replace all the movies with DVDs.” Tears clouded Ali’s eyes. “I didn’t realize Jon even knew how upset I was about it.”
“I guess he did.”
Darci was right. Amazingly Jon had known and remembered and he’d somehow found a player to buy for her.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to text him? Or call so he knows you got it?” Darci asked.
Ali glanced up to find Darci watching her. The gift had been left in the house with her name on it, so Jon shouldn’t doubt that she’d gotten it. Darci was obviously playing peacemaker by trying to get Ali to call Jon.
“I’m going to get changed out of my work clothes. That’s what I’m going to do.” Abandoning the box with Darci, Ali headed for the bedroom.
She was barely through the bedroom door when she saw her suitcase on the bed with yet another note. Not sure if she was ready for more assaults on her emotions, she reached for the folded paper.
Ali, I thought you might need a few things. I’d rather have you come home but if you need some time away I understand. I love you. Yours always, Jon
With her heart twisted tight, Ali opened the bag.
One glance inside showed her he’d packed everything she would have grabbed herself. Hairbrush, toothbrush and a bag of toiletries and makeup. One of her favorite work outfits including the heels she always wore with it. Underwear, a bra and even her comfy old pajamas and fuzzy socks.
And, as detail oriented as ever, he’d put in her cell phone charger.
The choice of clothes, the attention to what she loved best, proved Jon was more observant than she’d given him credit for.
“You okay?” Darci’s voice behind her had Ali turning.
There were tears in her eyes when she nodded. “Yeah. He, uh, dropped off a bag of my stuff.”
Darci frowned. “So what does that mean? I refuse to believe he’s fine with you moving out. Is he just going to give up on you two?”<
br />
Ali glanced from the note on the bed to the warm, worn PJs she’d snuggled in during so many nights. “No, I don’t think he’s giving up.”
Typical Jon, he was laying a foundation to get her back. And if his intention was to slowly melt her frozen heart, it was working. She’d never been happier for Jon’s single minded, goal oriented stubbornness than she was at this very moment.
“Your cell phone beeped.” Darci walked in the room a bit farther. She handed Ali her purse, which contained her cell.
Ali had a feeling whom the text was from before she dug out the cell and opened up the text. One glance confirmed it.
Let me know if you need anything else. I love you.
Ali felt the weight of Darci’s scrutiny. She had to say something. “Um, I guess I should thank him.”
Darci couldn’t have beamed with a wider smile. “Good idea. We’re out of lettuce so I’m running to the store. And you know, if you wanted to invite Jon over for dinner—”
Ali rolled her eyes. “Don’t push it.”
“I’m just saying. Dinner with the four of us might be a good way to break the ice between you two. They’ll be no pressure since you won’t be alone.”
Ali pulled her mouth to one side. “I’ll think about it.”
“Okay.” With another wide grin, Darci practically bounced out of the bedroom.
CHAPTER 23
“Thanks for coming with me, Chris.”
“No problem.” Chris leaned against the display case and let out a long whistle. “Wow. I see you’re following Zane’s advice about the diamonds.”
Jon smiled. “Not really. I shouldn’t have proposed without a ring the first time.”
He wouldn’t make that mistake again. Maybe Ali would have reacted differently if he’d shown he’d been thinking about this for a while and it wasn’t a knee jerk reaction to events in Iraq.
It wasn’t that at all. Yeah, being on the wrong end of an RPG tends to make a man feel his mortality, but he always knew he wanted to marry Ali. He just moved on a slower timeline than some of the other guys. Such as Rocky, for instance.
The damn SEAL had proposed to a girl he barely knew and Ali and Darci both thought it was the most romantic thing ever.
