Читать книгу: «The Soldier's Forever Family»

For John and Kerry, the fiercest dad-daughter air hockey competitors ever. And for the rest of the family who have to bravely avoid flying pucks! I love my nutty family.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

DAWN WAS ADAM SCOTT’S favorite time of day at the South Carolina coastal resort where he both worked and lived. Suspended between darkness and light, the beach was quiet but for the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and the drumming of his feet on the wet sand. He ran every morning before beginning a long day of work. He passed the occasional beachcomber or fisherman, but they rarely exchanged more than civil nods. Folks out this early weren’t looking for conversation.

This was his time to clear his head, to organize his plans for the day. A chance to savor the solitude that was increasingly rare for him as his responsibilities at the resort had increased over the past three years. He didn’t always go to bed alone, but he never invited anyone to join him on these morning runs. For this hour every morning, he had at least the illusion of complete freedom, no one making demands on his time or attention, no obvious reason he couldn’t just keep running if the mood struck him.

A small form appeared ahead, hunched on the sand, barely visible in the pale light from the pink-streaked purple sky. Adam squinted, trying to make out the shape. Was it a dog? No. A child. A young one, at that. What was the kid doing out alone at this time of day?

Estimating the boy to be four, maybe five, Adam approached slowly. He didn’t want to scare him. “Hey, buddy. Whatcha doing out here by yourself?”

Still crouched over a shallow tide pool, the boy looked up. Maybe it was a trick of shadows or the watery light of dawn, but there was something eerily familiar about this kid with his tumbled dark hair and smoky gray eyes. Perhaps Adam had seen him around the resort before? Clouds shifted overhead and the light brightened enough for him to see more clearly. No. He was sure they’d never met. But still there was something about this child...

“I’m not allowed to talk to strangers.” The boy didn’t look particularly concerned as he shared that rule.

“That’s a good policy, but I work for the resort,” Adam assured him, keeping his distance for now. “My name is Adam.”

The child frowned thoughtfully. “You could still be a bad guy.”

Adam was startled into a chuckle by the little guy’s logic. “Well, yeah, I guess that’s true. But I’m not.”

Apparently satisfied, the boy extended one hand. “Do you know what kind of shell this is?”

Glancing at the cylindrical shell on the outstretched palm, Adam nodded. “It’s a lettered olive. It belonged to a type of snail.”

“It’s cool. I want to find a starfish, too.”

“You find them here occasionally. So, where are your parents? Do they know you’re out by yourself?”

As if in answer, a woman’s anxious voice called out. “Simon? Simon! Where are you?”

The boy winced. “That’s my mom.”

A woman emerged, almost running, from the canopy of tropical trees that marked the edge of the main resort grounds. She wore a tank top and plaid cotton shorts with flip-flops, and her collar-length brown hair was disheveled, as though she’d just climbed out of bed. “Simon! You know better than to wander off like this. You scared me half to death.”

The voice was an echo from Adam’s past. He took a step back, his startled gaze locked on the woman’s anxious face. Her attention was focused on the boy, so she hadn’t spared Adam more than a quick glance. Would she recognize him when she looked more closely, or had she forgotten all about the man she’d known so briefly all those years ago?

Joanna looked so much the same that it was hard to believe it had been six years since he’d last seen her. Her hair was a few inches shorter than the style she’d worn before, but was still a glossy chestnut that complemented her green eyes. Her fair skin was smooth, her cheeks flushed with heightened emotion. Seeing her now affected him as strongly as when he’d met her on this very beach. He’d wanted her from the moment their paths had first crossed. Apparently, that physical reaction hadn’t changed in the ensuing years, though there was little to no chance the outcome would be the same this time.

He was aware that he’d changed a lot more than she had. When they’d met before, he’d been rail thin, brimming with impatient, brash energy. His dark hair had been cropped in a military cut. He was a healthier weight now, more muscle than sinew, tanned and generally relaxed. His last deployment had left physical traces in the carved lines around his eyes and mouth, in the scars hidden beneath his clothes, and in the strands of premature gray that peppered his hair, long enough now to brush his collar and usually mussed by the ocean breeze. He thought he looked more surfer than soldier these days. He wasn’t surprised she hadn’t immediately recognized him.

He couldn’t believe she was really here. He’d figured she’d long since moved on with her life, finding new places to visit on vacations. Six years was a long time.

“I’m sorry I scared you, Mom. I wanted to find shells before the other people come out. You were asleep.”

So she had at least one kid now. No doubt a husband waiting back in their suite. Adam told himself he was happy for her. Then wondered if he’d ever crossed her mind in the years since they’d parted.

Holding her wind-tossed hair out of her face with one hand, Joanna spoke more calmly now that her first surge of panic had subsided. “You should have woken me. Or asked last night and I’d have gotten up early with you. Don’t ever come out again without telling me, understand?”

The boy sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”

Joanna nodded in satisfaction, and then turned to look up at Adam. He realized he was still gaping at her. Belatedly remembering he was now an employee here, he gave her a professional nod. “Good morning.”

He figured he’d leave it up to her to decide whether to acknowledge that they’d met before. Maybe she’d want to pretend that their vacation fling had never happened. Hell, maybe she didn’t even remember him. For all he knew, she’d made much more of an impression on him than he had on her.

Joanna’s green eyes widened, and her lips parted on a gasp of disbelief. “Adam?”

So she did remember. He cleared his throat before speaking, keeping his tone as even as possible. “Hello, Joanna. This is a surprise.”

“You could say that.” Her right hand fell on the boy’s shoulder. Her face had paled—though he couldn’t say whether it was from leftover concern for her son, shock at seeing him or a combination. “What are you doing here?”

“He works here,” Simon piped up. “Does that mean it’s okay to talk to him?”

Adam saw her fingers tighten on her son’s shoulder before she replied. “Yes. It’s okay. But you’re still not allowed to come outside without my permission.”

The boy pointed. “There’s a tide pool on the other side of that big rock. Can I go look in it?”

Without taking her gaze from Adam, Joanna nodded. “Stay where I can see you.”

It shouldn’t be this hard to think of something to say to her. Though meaningless small talk would never be Adam’s strong suit, he’d gotten better at it during his three years working at the resort. He made it a personal rule not to get intimately involved with guests, so he avoided that awkwardness. Still, this wasn’t the first time in his life he’d unexpectedly run into a woman he’d slept with, and he was usually able to manage a few polite words. Apparently, none of those other women had affected him in quite the same way Joanna had.

He settled for the mundane. “How have you been, Joanna?”

She moistened her lips, visibly nervous. Was she still on edge because of her son’s early disappearance? He couldn’t imagine why running into Adam again would elicit such a dramatic response. They’d had nothing more than a few days of fun. Laughed, danced, walked, swam, enjoyed each other in bed a few times. A few damned good times. But thinking about that wasn’t making this encounter any less awkward.

“I’m—um.” She pushed her blowing hair out of her face, and he could see that her hand wasn’t quite steady.

Seeing him again wasn’t a happy surprise for her, apparently. Was she worried he would make things uncomfortable with her husband? Okay, he could understand that. How could he let her know that he was willing to pretend their fling never happened?

Giving her his most impersonal smile, he took another step back. “As your son told you, I’m on staff here, so if you or your family need anything at all during your stay, just let us know.”

Her gaze darted from him to the boy and back again. She moistened her lips again. “Thank you.”

She’d changed little in appearance, but something was definitely different about Joanna. The woman who’d drifted on occasion through his memories had been confident, animated, flirty. If there was, indeed, a husband waiting for her, he could understand why she wasn’t flirting now, but he couldn’t figure out why she seemed so stiff and nervous. The only explanation that made sense was that she was concerned he might interfere with her current relationship.

He made a sudden decision. “I’ve got a few vacation days built up.” More than a few, actually. Despite his employer’s encouragement, he hadn’t taken more than a handful of days off in the past three years. “I’m thinking about taking a week off. If I don’t run into you before I leave, it was nice seeing you again, Joanna.”

Though he’d have to scramble to make arrangements, maybe things would be easier for her. It was for a similar reason he’d slipped away after their long-ago weekend together, to save her—okay, to save them both—from awkward partings. At least this time he’d said goodbye.

He started to turn, but paused when Simon ran up to him again, another shell clutched in his hand. The boy gazed up at him eagerly, his steel-gray eyes squinting against the brightness of the rising sun. “Do you know what this one is?”

Man, there was just something about this kid’s eyes...

“That’s a banded tulip,” Adam said automatically. “Got a little chip out of it, but it’s still a nice shell for your collection.”

Simon repeated the name under his breath as if committing it to memory, then asked, “Will you help me look for a starfish?”

“Um—”

“It’s time for breakfast, Simon. We need to go back to the suite and get dressed for the day.”

The boy heaved a huge sigh but didn’t argue. Probably didn’t want to push his luck after sneaking out earlier. “Can we come back after breakfast?”

“Yes, we will.”

Simon held out both hands toward Adam, a shell displayed on each little palm. “Banded tulip. Lettered olive,” he recited slowly, nodding to each in turn. “Right?”

“Very good.”

“I still want to find a starfish. And a Scotch bonnet. My friend Liam found a Scotch bonnet once and I want to find one, too.”

Once again, Adam was impressed by how well Simon expressed himself for being such a little guy. Was he small for his age? “How old are you, Simon?”

“Five years and three months. Have you ever found a Scotch bonnet?”

So, a little older than he’d first thought. “I have, yes. I hope you find one during your stay. There are lots of shells in the gift shop. You can buy them there or study them to learn the names.”

“Okay. But I want to find my own.”

“Of course.”

“Simon, let’s go, please.” Joanna sounded as though she was losing patience quickly.

“Okay. But...just one more second. I think I see another shell over there.” Without waiting for permission, Simon dashed a few yards away and bent down to dig in the wet sand.

Joanna made a low, strangled sound of frustration.

Cute kid, Adam thought. She must have had him soon after...oh, damn.

He’d always been good at math, but it didn’t take a CPA to figure out that adding nine months of pregnancy to five years and three months took him back exactly six years. Feeling suddenly like the world’s biggest idiot, he realized why he’d thought the kid—Simon—had looked so familiar.

It had been like looking at a childhood photo of himself.

* * *

JOANNA ZIELINSKI WAS aware of almost the exact moment when the truth hit Adam. His head snapped back, his jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed as if against a blast of overbright light. He must have felt as though he’d just been poleaxed.

She knew the feeling. Seeing Adam here on this beach talking with Simon had stunned her into near incoherence—an uncharacteristic response from a trained psychologist used to giving lectures to college students. She always prepared thoroughly for those presentations. She couldn’t have practiced for this. She’d had no clue that the man who’d slipped out of her bed six years earlier now worked at the very resort where they’d accidentally conceived a son.

“Simon,” he said, his voice a taut growl now.

It wasn’t a question, but still her first impulse was to shake her head. To lie about her son’s parentage. Her second, and almost overwhelming, instinct was to snatch up her child and run back to the happy home she’d created for him on her own.

Her last encounter with Adam had turned her meticulously outlined, fiercely pursued life plan upside down. Something told her this unexpected reunion would have similarly far-reaching and life-changing consequences. For her, for Adam and for Simon.

She banked down her seething emotions and squared her shoulders. She’d always taken pride in her integrity, and she wasn’t going to abandon her principles now.

“Yes,” she said in answer to the question he hadn’t uttered. She kept her voice low so her words wouldn’t carry to Simon. “I didn’t know it for a couple of months afterward, but I was pregnant when I left here six years ago.”

“By me.”

That didn’t seem to be worthy of a response, so she let it pass.

He pushed his left hand through his hair, and she thought she detected a slight unsteadiness in his fingers. This was obviously hitting him hard. Understandably.

Suddenly self-conscious, she smoothed the hem of the purple tank top she wore with purple-and-green plaid shorts. It certainly wasn’t the first time Adam had seen her rumpled from sleep, but that seemed like another lifetime now.

She noted Adam wasn’t wearing a ring, which didn’t mean he wasn’t married or otherwise committed. Was he thinking of the awkward discussions he might need to have with his wife? Did Simon have siblings? If so, how would this development affect them? How was she going to explain all this to her son?

Adam moved his hand to the back of his neck. His tousled dark-coffee hair was longer now. Thick. Touchable. He’d gained a few pounds in the ensuing years, but they looked good on him. Really good.

It shook her again when their eyes met. His were the same smoke-gray as Simon’s. Exactly as she’d remembered, though she’d always pictured them gleaming with a smile. He wasn’t smiling now.

“Did you even try to find me?” he asked, his voice low and gruff.

Her chin rose. “You didn’t leave me an address, if you’ll remember.” Or even a goodbye, she added silently, her chest clenching with the memory of waking up and realizing he was gone. That the fantasy was over.

She couldn’t do this now. She needed time to gather her thoughts, to get her nerves under control. She took a quick step backward on the damp sand. “Simon needs his breakfast. If I don’t see you again before you go on vacation...”

His eyes narrowed sharply. “I’m not going anywhere. We have to talk. You owe me that much.”

Six years of emotions flooded through her—shock, stress, joy, exhaustion, wistfulness, laughter and tears. Her voice was barely audible even to her over the wind and waves and seagulls when she responded, “I don’t owe you anything.”

With that, she turned and hurried to her son’s side, taking his hand to lead him back to their suite. Simon cooperated without protest, probably sensing this wasn’t the time for rebellion.

She doubted she had completely avoided a painfully awkward conversation with Adam. She’d postponed it, at best. But at least he wasn’t trying to detain her, which would give her a chance to prepare for whatever was to come.

* * *

JOANNA SETTLED SIMON at the table on their balcony where he could look over the resort while he ate the breakfast of fruit, yogurt and granola she served from the kitchenette in their two-bedroom suite. They had a spectacular view of the beautifully maintained grounds, which were centered around a small, natural-looking lake decorated with blooming aquatic plants, fish-feeding piers and paddle boats. Masses of colorful flowers and shady trees lined winding paths. The sprawling U-shape of the resort allowed a glimpse of the ocean from their balcony through clearings in the trees.

To keep Simon occupied for a few extra minutes, Joanna set up her computer tablet in front of him with an educational video about seashells, his latest intellectual passion. Screen time during a meal was a rare treat for him, and he was obviously delighted. She left the sliding doors open when she went inside, but she moved across the room so he wouldn’t hear her when she made a call.

Her sister answered on the second ring, though her groggy voice made it clear she’d been roused from sleep. “Joanna? What’s wrong?”

Finally letting go of the tight rein on her emotions, Joanna blurted, “Maddie, he’s here.”

“What? Who’s there? Are you okay?”

Hearing the sudden anxiety in her younger sister’s voice, she drew a deep breath and tried to speak more calmly. “I’m okay. Mostly. I’m at the resort with Simon. And...and Adam’s here.”

“Adam? Wait. The Adam?”

Joanna swallowed hard and nodded, then remembered Maddie couldn’t see her. “Yes.”

“Oh, my gosh, what’s he doing there?”

“He works here.”

Maddie gave an incredulous laugh. “You’re kidding.”

“Do I sound like I’m kidding?”

Her sister grew abruptly serious. “No. Sorry. You must have been shocked.”

“That’s one way to describe it.” The feelings swirling inside her were so fierce, so complicated that she hardly knew how to define them. Honestly, she’d never expected to see Adam again. It had never even occurred to her when she’d booked this trip that Adam would be here, especially not on staff.

“Did he remember you? Do you think he knew you were coming this weekend? Maybe he saw your name on the reservations list?”

Remembering the look on Adam’s face when he’d said her name, Joanna replied, “Yes, he remembered me. But I think he was as stunned as I was when we ran into each other this morning. I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect to see me here again.”

Especially with his child in tow, she thought, biting her lower lip.

Their brief affair had been unplanned and intense. For the first time in her focused and responsible twenty-seven years, Joanna had felt completely unfettered. Passionate, desirable, spontaneous, adventurous. So unlike her usual self. They’d met on the first night of solitary long weekend vacations for both of them and had been inseparable afterward. They’d spent hours walking on the beach, talking, laughing and holding hands. Flirting. Dining. Dancing. Making love. Just having fun, with no strings or expectations on either side.

She’d thought they’d been careful despite the playfulness of their time together. She’d discovered a few weeks after returning home that they hadn’t been quite careful enough.

“Does he know yet? About Simon, I mean,” Maddie clarified unnecessarily.

“He sort of leaped to conclusions when he found out how old Simon is. Maybe he saw the resemblance. Simon really does look just like him, Maddie. I’ve always known that, but seeing them side by side...well, it’s almost spooky.”

“Oh, my gosh. So, what now?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted in little more than a whisper.

“What did he say? Was he happy? Mad? Skeptical? What?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t give him much of a chance to say anything. I told him I had to make Simon’s breakfast, and I bolted. He said he wants to talk later. I could tell he was shocked, of course, but the only question he asked was whether I’d tried to find him.”

As the only person to whom Joanna had confided all the details of that vacation fling, Maddie was indignant. “This from the guy who ghosted you without even a ‘Hey, babe, I’ll call you sometime’?”

“Which is basically what I told him,” Joanna agreed, grateful her sister understood so well. There’d been a time when she’d never have believed she and Maddie would have this mutually supportive relationship. This closeness was one of the two good things that had come of her brief affair with Adam.

She’d always planned to tell Simon the truth about his parentage at some point. She’d even thought this trip would be a good time to tell him that she’d met his biological father here, if it seemed appropriate. She’d planned to leave it up to him to decide if, when he was older, he wanted to find his father. Not that she’d have been able to assist him much. She and Adam hadn’t exchanged many personal details during their time together.

Maybe she could have located Adam before now, had she put in more effort. She could’ve persisted in her request for resort records. As a professor, she had strong research skills. There should have been ways to track him down, though his name was common enough to have made it difficult without more information. She could have even hired a private investigator, for that matter. She’d found plenty of reasons to rationalize her choice not to pursue the search. For one, Adam had been clear from the start that he’d had no interest in commitments. He hadn’t elaborated, but she’d gotten the impression he’d had important plans for after his vacation.

Having just defended her doctoral thesis and on the verge of beginning a new phase of her chosen career, Joanna hadn’t been looking for a serious relationship, either. She’d simply asked him to assure her he wasn’t married. Though she’d been amenable to a no-strings vacation fling, sleeping with a married man would have crossed a line for her. He’d promised her he was single and unattached, and she’d believed him. Foolish, perhaps, but she’d sensed from the beginning that Adam was trustworthy.

“How did it feel? Seeing him again, I mean?”

Joanna still didn’t know how to answer that question. It wasn’t as if she’d been in love with Adam. She hadn’t known him long enough for that. Of course, she’d thought of him since; after all, she lived with a daily reminder of him. And maybe she’d wondered if the blazing sexual chemistry between them might have led to more had the timing and circumstances been different. Their situation seemed even more problematic now, considering everything that had happened in the intervening years and the big life changes looming for her and Simon.

“Do you think he’ll want to be part of Simon’s life now? Is he going to cause you problems? If so, he’d better damned well be aware that he owes six years of back child support. Is he married now? That could be awkward, huh? Will he—”

“Maddie,” Joanna broke in quietly. “I don’t know any of those answers yet.”

And it was the not knowing that had her stomach tied in tight knots.

“Mom? Is there more yogurt?”

“Yes. Just a sec,” she called back to her son. “I should go, Maddie. I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Do you want me to come? I can be there in a few hours.”

Because she knew her sister would absolutely drop everything and rush to her side, Joanna blinked back tears. She was so very thankful they’d set aside their early differences and had become friends as adults. “I appreciate the offer, but I can handle it. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Good luck, Jo.”

“Thanks.” She was pretty sure she’d need it.

“Mom?”

“Coming,” she said. She put down her phone and moved to get the yogurt from the kitchenette fridge. Pausing in the open doorway with the container in hand, she studied her son with an ache of love in her heart. He looked so serious and sweet dawdling over his breakfast, a frown of concentration on his face as he memorized everything he was seeing on the tablet screen.

He was her everything.

Panic momentarily closed her throat. Her muscles quivered with a strong, if ill-advised, urge to run. She could be packed and checked out in less than twenty minutes. She could leave a note for Adam, which was more than he’d left her. Would he try to find them now that he knew about Simon? That would hardly be difficult if he worked for the resort and had access to her address. Would he disrupt the comfortable life she’d made? Or would he be relieved, instead, if she made it clear she’d ask for nothing from him?