The SEAL's Valentine (Operation: Family) (18 page)

* * *

“
D
OING
ANYTHING
SPECIAL
FOR
Valentine’s Day?” Brynn’s boss, Lindsay, asked while they finished planting the last of the potted Christmas trees that hadn’t sold over the holidays. It’d been so rainy for the past few weeks, the ground had been too muddy to dig.

“Ha! You’re so funny.” Brynn bore down extra hard on her shovel. When Tristan left after helping find Cayden she’d hoped it would be easier saying goodbye a second time, but if anything, it’d been harder.

“I’m not trying to be. But, sugar, the man dumped you going on nearly six months ago. You can’t just sit around pining for him forever.”

“Who said I’m pining? I’m up early every morning, getting my kid to school on time and myself to work. My baby’s clean and fed—”

“Not to mention, cute as a bug in a rug in that new sweater.” She grinned at Mackenzie, who sat in her stroller, gnawing a rattle.

“You’re missing my point. If I were truly pining for Tristan, wouldn’t I do nothing but sit around in my pj’s all day? Eating bonbons and listening to Barry Manilow?”

“I don’t know.” Lindsay grunted while lifting an extra-full shovel of dirt. “I’ve always been a fan of Celine Dion when I’m blue, but that’s beside the point. I ran into Vivian at the bank the other day, and she told me a while back Sean’s firm hired a lawyer who’s single, and—”

“Stop right there.” Brynn rested against her shovel. “My so-called friend has been trying to hook me up with this guy practically since the day Tristan left. When—if—I’m interested, I’ll be sure to let you both know.”

Lindsay rolled her eyes. “Now you’re missing my point. This guy’s hot, can afford to buy you a nice steak at Scooter’s and still has his own teeth. Sounds like a winning combination to me.”

“Nah...” Grinning, Brynn shook her head. “I only go for the geriatric set who’ve lost all their teeth.”

Lindsay stuck out her tongue, then allowed Brynn to finish the task in welcome silence save for the wind in the pines and Mackenzie’s happy babble.

It’d been so long since Tristan had been gone, when she closed her eyes she had a tough time remembering his face. But when she dreamed?

Raw emotion threatened to overwhelm her.

Oh, when she dreamed, the man played a starring role in brilliant Technicolor. But what did that matter? Even if by some miracle he showed up on her doorstep, begging for her to take him back, would she? Considering how Cayden had fared during his absence, no. And like Tristan’s mom, Brynn had been a nervous wreck, consumed by fears of what she’d do were she to hear that one of his missions had gone horribly wrong.

* * *

“
T
RISTAN
,
GOOD
TO
SEE
YOU
.” His CO, Mark Hewitt, welcomed him into his office. The room’s only decor was a cheap plastic ivy the team had bought him one year for his birthday since his every attempt at growing a real plant always ended in disaster. Sleet sounded like tacks hitting the window. “You did a helluva job our last trip out.”

“Thank you, Chief.” Tristan had been back in the country for a week, but had yet to even call his mom. He’d been working on a plan with Deacon, Garret and Calder, but wanted to officially explore his options first.

“So, to what do I owe this visit?”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” He wiped sweating palms on the thighs of his camos.

“Granted.”

“First, let me just say I love the navy. From the day I enlisted, there was never anything else I wanted to do.”

Commander Hewitt nodded. “That’s why I’m glad to have you on my team.”

“That’s just it, sir. In Somalia at Christmas, something in me snapped and I—” he bowed his head “—I’m not proud of myself, but I lost it. In this case, my anger worked in our favor, and I got lucky in that no civilians were around, but I was just so pissed.” He leaned forward, looking the man he greatly respected in his eyes. “I hated these freakin’ assholes who cause all of us to be away from our families for so much time and for what? It’s like we take out one bad guy and four more grow in his place.”

“True.” A nerve ticked in the commander’s jaw. “But that’s what we signed up to do. And if we weren’t out there in the world’s shit holes, taking care of business, can you even imagine how much worse off the planet would be?”

“I get that. No one understands the importance of SEALs more than me. Which is why I need to run something by you....”

Chapter Eighteen

The Tuesday before his big Valentine’s Day party, Cayden was in music class when a student aide handed him a pink slip that made him have to go to the office. He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, but all his friends made the
oooooo
sound anyway.

All the way there, his stomach felt like he might need to barf.

Outside the office, the principal, Mrs. Dega, stood waiting for him. She wore her meanest look and his heart beat so hard he almost ran back to class. “Hello, Cayden.”

“Um, hi?”

She put her hand on his back, guiding him to the bulletin board his mom sometimes helped decorate for PTA. “Sorry to take you from music, but there’s someone here to see you. He’s not family, but I know from several sources he’s an extremely close family friend. I would ordinarily call your mother to obtain her permission for him to speak with you, but in this case, my instincts tell me it’ll be okay.”

Nose wrinkled, Cayden asked, “What’s ‘obb-taned’ mean? And who wants to see me so bad he’s brave enough to sit alone in your scary office?”

She actually laughed! “We’ll worry about word definitions later. Right now, I just need to know if you’d like to see your old friend Tristan?”

“He’s here?”

Nodding, she said, “Yes, sir. He’s come a long way just to see you.”

Cayden nibbled at the inside of his bottom lip. Part of him wanted to see Tristan more than anything in the whole world. Another part was still mad at him for leaving.

“Cayden? If you’d rather not visit with him, you’re free to return to class.”

“I will...”

“See Tristan or go to class?”

He took the deepest, bravest breath he knew how. “I guess I probably want to see Tristan.”

* * *

“
H
EY
,
BUD
.” T
RISTAN
STOOD
when Cayden entered the room. The principal thankfully gave them some privacy by shutting her door. The blinds on her window-wall remained open. “I missed you.”

The boy just stood there, staring.

“Sorry I haven’t called. I’ve been in Africa twice this year.”

Cayden took a moment to ponder this, then asked, “Did you see an anaconda?”

“No, but I did see a lioness with her cubs.”

“That’s cool.”

“Know what else I saw every day while I was gone?”

Shaking his head, Cayden said, “Nope.”

From the chest pocket of his khaki shirt, Tristan withdrew two worn photos. One of Jack and the other of Cayden, Mackenzie and their mom. Handing them both to the boy, Tristan said, “On every mission I’ve taken since being away from you—especially since you ran away—I looked at these every morning when I got up and every night before going to sleep. I missed you guys a lot.”

Notching his chin higher, Cayden said in a surprisingly grown-up tone, “I missed you. So did Mom. She cried lots when she thought I wasn’t looking, but I was.”

“I’m sorry,” was all Tristan could think to say. Deeply, profoundly sorry.

“Okay.”

“I never meant to hurt you, but I was confused. I know that’s not a good enough reason for what I did, but that’s all I’ve got. Guess what I need to know is can you forgive me? And if you can—” he fished in his jeans pocket withdrawing a small box “—would you be okay with me giving this to your mom, then asking her to be my Valentine?”

“Whoa!” Cayden said when Tristan opened Brynn’s gift. “That’s
really
pretty.”

“I thought so. But do you think she’ll like it enough to marry me so I can be your stepdad?”

Tears welled in both of their eyes when Cayden nodded, then crushed Tristan in a hug. “Please don’t leave me again.”

More than anything, Tristan wished he could deliver that promise now, but before that, he had one more stop.

* * *

“
A
W
,
SWEETIE
,
PLEASE
EAT
,” Brynn all but begged Mackenzie the morning of Valentine’s Day. “We’ve got to get cookies and cupcakes to your brother’s party by eleven and judging by how much oatmeal you’ve put in your pretty curls, it’s going to take that long just to wash your hair.”

“Baaaa!”
Mackenzie said in answer to her mother’s request.
“Baaaa! Baaaa!”
Grinning, she proudly displayed her three teeth while kicking the footrest of her high chair.

“Okey doke.” Brynn removed the plastic tray and hefted her big girl from her seat. “I’m taking that as a sign you’re through.”

She was on her way to the tub with her sticky daughter when the doorbell rang.

“Who in the world is that?” she asked Mackenzie. “We don’t have time for a magazine salesman.”

Beyond the front door window was a bright, sunny day, and Brynn couldn’t make out much more than the silhouette of a man. She pulled back the curtain only to gasp.

Tristan?

Pulse racing to an alarming degree, she wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry or bolt.

“Brynn,” he called through the door. “Please, let me in.”

She ran her hands through her hair and then groaned at her misbuttoned nightgown. In all the times she’d imagined this very scene, she’d never been quite so disheveled.

She unlatched the dead bolt. Door open, she hadn’t a clue what to say.

“Baaaah!”
Mackenzie was all too happy to do the talking.

“Wow, has she grown.” Tristan gazed at the baby in awe. “I’ve missed out on so much.”

Yes, you have,
it was on the tip of Brynn’s tongue to snap, but what was the point? Judging by the tears in his eyes, Tristan knew exactly what he’d missed out on by running.

“Mind if I hold her?”

“She’s covered in oatmeal. I was just going upstairs to give her a bath.”

He took the baby anyway, cradling her close, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.

Part of Brynn envied Mackenzie’s kiss, but another part wished Tristan would just blurt out whatever was on his mind, then leave. He’d already caused her more than enough sleepless nights.

“I’ve been dreaming of this day ever since the last time I walked out the door.”

“Oh?” She perched on the sofa arm.

“I thought I’d make a big Valentine declaration. Buy you dozens of roses and more chocolate than you could eat in a year, but the way we left things, somehow I figured simple and straight-to-the-point was best.”

He’d hurt her so badly, she refused to even look at him. “I don’t mean to be rude,” she said, “but I don’t have anything to say to you. After you found Cayden, I told you what I wanted, and if you can’t provide at least some level of commitment to me then—”

“Woman, anyone ever tell you, you talk a lot?” From the pocket of his jeans, he withdrew a burgundy velvet box that’d been tied with a crushed white satin bow. He handed it to her. “Before you say anything else, open this. Sorry about the ribbon. Guess I should’ve planned better for that contingency.”

She opened the box only to have her vision blur by tears for him that she’d sworn she’d given up. The square-cut diamond was everything she’d ever dreamed of in an engagement ring, just as Tristan had the potential to be her perfect groom. But potential was all he’d ever be because he knew she couldn’t marry him while he held such a dangerous job.

“I see your mind working and before you say a word about your fear of me being gunned down, hear me out. I’m still a SEAL, but assuming you’re okay with California, I’ve already filed for a transfer to be an instructor at the SEAL training center in Coronado. Not only will I be home every night for dinner, but we can spend weekends with Jack. Hell, we can even bring my mom out to live with us if you want—but only if you want.”

More tears started and wouldn’t stop.

But then laughter won when Mackenzie took charge of the situation, poking Tristan’s right ear.
“Baaaahhh!”

“Ouch,” he said to her daughter. “You’re kind of ruining my big proposal here.”

“I don’t know,” Brynn said, “I kind of like the look of oatmeal in your hair.” Clenching his ring in one hand, she cupped his handsome face with her other. Was this truly happening? After all her lonely months of hoping and praying he’d not only return, but return with a way for them to both be happy, he’d done just that, making her wildest dreams come true. But it wasn’t just her making this decision. Cayden also needed a say.

“At least you still think I look good, but I’m waiting for an answer, Brynn. I’m so sorry for leaving the way I did. But now I know beyond any shadow of doubt that us being an official family is right.”

“But is it?” Pacing, she said, “What about Cayden? You didn’t just hurt me. How’s he going to feel about being uprooted again?”

“Fine.”

“What do you mean?” Her eyes narrowed. “Without personally asking him, how would you know?”

“Because I did—ask him.” He removed Mackenzie’s sticky fingers from his ear once more. “In fact, I spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon not only asking his forgiveness, but for your hand in marriage and permission to cart all of you out to the west coast.”

“And he was okay with it?” She was almost afraid to ask.

“Would I lie?”

No. Tristan might infuriate or delight, but deception wasn’t his style. If anything, at times he’d been too brutally honest.

He set Mackenzie in the nearby playpen. Taking her hand, he uncurled her fingers from around his ring box. He opened it, removed the bauble, then held it between his thumb and forefinger. On bended knee, mesmerizing her with just his white-toothed smile, he said, “I love you. I love you more than I ever thought it possible to love. I love your son and your sticky daughter. I even love the way you’re so cautious with your heart and your children’s that you’re making me wait forever to answer my very simple question.”

“I can’t,” she squeaked through a fresh batch of tears.

“Baby...” He was back on his feet, kissing her cheeks and nose and finally, finally her lips. “Why not?”

“I know it sounds silly, but I’m afraid this is too good to be real. I’m afraid you’re standing here, kissing me breathless, is nothing but a lovely dream. I can’t wake up alone again, Tristan. I can’t breathe without you.”

He slipped the ring on her finger. “Which is why we might want to get married sooner as opposed to later.”

“Stop.” Hands pressed to his strong chest, she said, “Don’t make light of this moment.”

“I’m not.” He kissed her again, only to be interrupted by a cooing, gurgling monkey crawling between them.

“Baaa! Baaa! Baaahhh!”

He looked down. “Did she just...”

“Escape her playpen without assistance? Afraid so. Your parenting duties are suddenly about to be way more difficult than when you left.”

“Not a problem.” He swooped the baby into his arms. “I may no longer be on the front line of SEAL action, but I’ll never back down from a challenge. Especially female challenges with crazy-beautiful blue eyes, freckles and oatmeal in their curly red hair.”