When he turned around and she got a gander at his muscled back and tight ass, she groaned again.
Gage handed her another juice box without saying a word.
But Bailey noticed while she had her focus on Streeter that his focus was one hundred percent on Olivia. He was teaching her to swim in the deep water, trying to allay her fears while building her enthusiasm. He had an abundance of patience with her, even when she became frustrated. He understood when she’d had enough and they retreated to the shallow end to frolic. When Streeter laughed, Bailey couldn’t help but smile because he truly looked relaxed and happy.
A few minutes later, Olivia bounded over. “Can Gage play with me, Sergeant B?”
“It’s okay with your dad?”
“Uh-huh.”
“All right.” Gage jumped up and she snagged him by the arm. “But first you need another coat of sunscreen.”
He knew better than to argue.
When Bailey stood, she noticed that Streeter had moved the red rope with the plastic disks closer to the slide. “Good plan.” She plopped down next to him on the cement. “I never would’ve thought of that.”
“I have to be very literal with Olivia on rules or she’ll find a way around them.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.”
Silence passed as they watched the kids playing.
She stared ahead but she felt Streeter’s eyes on her. “What?”
“I’m surprised you’re down here. I thought you’d lounge in your deck chair.”
“Gage is in the water, I’m in the water. I’d never take a chance with my nephew’s safety,” she said tersely.
Streeter held up his hands. “Sorry, that came out wrong. It’s just . . . I can’t trust Olivia’s aunt on land with her, say nothin’ of the water.”
Bailey brushed a bug off her leg. “I know my limits. I’d never take all three boys swimming at one time in a place with no lifeguard. I don’t know that even my sister has tried that.” She took a chance on continuing the conversation. “Olivia’s aunt . . . meaning your sister?”
He shook his head. “Her mother’s sister.”
Interesting that he didn’t say his wife’s sister.
After that, Streeter didn’t utter a peep and Bailey wondered if he was this closed off around everyone or just with her.
Then he said, “I have two brothers, no sisters.”
“Older? Younger?”
“One of each.”
She grinned. “Ah. The middle child. Are you the peacemaker in your family?”
“Nope. I’m the clichéd forgotten one.” He sat up. “Olivia. No running.”
“That goes for you too, Gage,” she warned.
Silence stretched between them again and it drove Bailey crazy. How was she supposed to get to know hot-bodied Daddio if he wouldn’t talk to her?
Maybe that’s the point, dumb-ass.
So naturally, she pushed the point. “I’m the youngest and Gage is the youngest so that’s why I seem to have a special bond with him.”
“But he’s not the youngest anymore.”
“That’s why it’s hard for him. He’s been the baby his whole life, and now he’s not. Things might’ve been different if they’d had another boy, but a baby girl . . . he’s getting lost in the shuffle. And as the forgotten youngest, I know how that feels.”
A minute or so passed before he spoke.
“I imagine my younger brother would agree with you. My older brother and I were thick as thieves and mostly ignored him growin’ up. It’s only been the past few years he and I have gotten close.”
“What changed?”
Streeter’s entire demeanor turned so rigid she could’ve used his body as a surfboard. But she didn’t apologize. Like it or not, they were in each other’s lives as neighbors, and as parent and teacher. Maybe if they got past his barrier they could actually be friendly.
When Streeter shifted as if he intended to stand up, Bailey set her hand on his leg. “Stay and talk to me.”
“Why does it matter to you?”
“Because I don’t know anything about you or your family, and I wasn’t trying to chase you off by asking anything personal.”
He snorted derisively. “You really expect me to believe that the damn gossipmongers haven’t gleefully shared the tale of poor Olivia and Streeter Hale?”
Bailey removed her hand from his muscular thigh and shoved her sunglasses on top of her head. “If by ‘gossipmongers’ you mean my sister and brother-in-law . . . no, they haven’t told me anything about your family because I haven’t asked them. I hope you have more faith in your employers than to believe they’d gossip about an employee’s personal life to another employee if I’d asked them—not that I’d do that. So I’m asking you, Streeter, to tell me what changed in your life that allowed you to get close to your younger brother. That’s it.”
His eyes searched her face so intently she wondered if he’d counted her freckles. But whatever he saw took the starch out of his spine. “Sorry. Habit.”
She didn’t look away when she said, “Apology accepted.”
He offered his hand. “Truce?”
When Bailey shook his hand she noticed it engulfed hers completely. “Truce.”
Olivia shrieked.
They both turned to see Gage aiming a water tube at her. Bailey tensed, waiting for Streeter to tell Gage to knock it off. But he just said, “Olivia. Stop screaming.”
“But it’s cold!”
“You want to get out?”
“No!”
“Then stop screaming.” He sighed. “Never knew that little girls screamed so much.”
Bailey laughed. “I never knew that little boys hit each other so much.”
Streeter smiled at her.
Oh, damn, damn, damn. Not fair. The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled like that.
He turned away to watch his daughter, giving Bailey time to lower her shades and splash some cold water on herself.
A few minutes passed and Streeter tensed up again, but he didn’t clam up. “My life changed when Olivia’s mother died. Olivia was six months old and I went from bein’ a full-time rancher to a full-time parent. At the time I was ranching with my dad and older brother. They made it so miserable that I quit after they accused me of not pullin’ my weight.”
“That’s awful.”
He shrugged. “Come to find out they’re awful guys. My job skills were limited to ranching and I was lucky enough to land this job. The irony is, I started out job-sharing with my little brother.”
“Why is that ironic?”
“Because me’n our older brother and dad cut him out of our family ranching business. I realized what we’d done to him was all kinds of wrong when I was standin’ on the wrong side of the fence, so to speak. Anyway, he’s a better man than me. He had no issue with us workin’ together, knowing I had to put Olivia first. Then when his position in Casper went to full-time, Renner kept me on. Now my brother is my closest friend and I don’t know how I would’ve made it through the last four years if not for him and his wife.”
Bailey forced herself to be satisfied that he’d opened up and bit back the million other questions she had. “I’m glad for you. The irony in my situation is that I had to join the army and move away from my sister to get closer to her.”
“Your older sister too?”
“Liberty is twelve years older than me. She moved out when I was six. But since we were both in the army, we now have that common thread. I’m happy after she retired she settled in Denver so she and Harper get to see each other more often.”
She felt him studying her before he refocused on Olivia. “What about you? Are you done with army life?”
“Yes . . . and no.”
“That cleared things up.” Streeter splashed
her. “Try again.”
Bailey laughed and splashed him back. “I’m on sabbatical for the summer.”
“Ain’t that unusual for you to be on sabbatical for so long?”
Most people didn’t pick up on that. “Technically, I had a bunch of leave saved up and I took it. Without sounding pathetic . . . I had nowhere else to go. Traveling alone on vacation sucks. After talking to Harper, I got the feeling she could use extra help with her kids and the store. So my intentions of hanging around and burning a couple of weeks of vacation has turned into me being here the entire summer. And running a day camp.”
“Do you feel we railroaded you into takin’ on the kids’ camp?”
“Maybe a little. But it was also a good excuse.”
“An excuse for what?”
Bailey wasn’t used to talking about family matters. But she’d demanded honesty from him so he deserved the truth from her. “To help Harper any way I can.”
“I don’t follow.”
“My sister is overwhelmed with being a mother to four kids, a rancher’s wife and a business owner. She jokes about it, but she’s not been herself. Bran knows her better than anyone and I’m not sure he knows how to help her either.” She briefly pressed her lips tighter, biting back her confession that she understood how sadness could spiral you deeper into that vortex of darkness and hopelessness. “Depression is one of those things that no one talks about, especially when someone appears to have it all. So I’ll be here to bolster her, to help her wherever, whenever and however she needs me until she’s ready to tackle the decisions weighing on her.”
Streeter abruptly stood. “Olivia, it’s time to go.”
Bailey did a double take. What the hell? He was leaving right in the middle of a conversation? That was ruder than his usual habit of walking away without saying good-bye when he tired of talking to her.
He’d stepped up his . . . and we’re done game.
Screw that.
No, screw him.
“You’re starting to burn, Sergeant.”
Sergeant. They were back to that now.
“Oh, I think you’ve burned me plenty of times now, Mr. Hale.”
Ignoring his proffered hand, she rolled to her feet and walked over to Gage. “Hey, bud, you ready for another game of shark attack?”
His blue eyes lit up. “Can Olivia play too?”
“Nope. It’s just us. So climb on, monkey boy.” Bailey picked him up and spun him around piggyback style, and they waded into the deeper water.
When she turned around at the diving board, she saw that Olivia and her grumpy father were gone.
She should be thinking good riddance, whatever, I tried. But she just felt sad. She’d put herself out there, like her therapist had suggested, and she’d failed . . . which just circled back to why she didn’t “put herself out there” to begin with. She was dealing with enough personal failures; she didn’t need his continual rejection on top of it.
Chapter Eight
Daddy, where we goin’?”
“To Uncle Tobin and Aunt Jade’s for supper.”
“Oh. I forgot.”
Streeter looked at Olivia in the rearview mirror. “Where’d you think we were goin’?”
“To town so I could buy my own bow and arrow.”
“We’ll see if you’re still interested in archery after this week’s camp, okay?”
She returned her gaze out the window. Then she added, “Sergeant B said she’s gonna let us have BB guns next time.”
Not if he had anything to say about it.
But that’s the problem, isn’t it? You don’t know what to say to the sexy spitfire sergeant.
Streeter couldn’t remember the last time anyone had pushed him to talk. It’d surprised him that she didn’t know the gruesome details about how Olivia’s mother had died. Maybe she already knew, but he opted to believe she’d truly been interested in his relationships with his brothers. Which had opened the door for her to talk about her sisters, specifically her worries over Harper’s stress levels with a new baby.
And he’d panicked. He’d cut her off and run before she could do the unthinkable and ask him how Olivia’s mom had dealt with postpartum depression. Because he couldn’t really answer the way he wanted: Well, my wife didn’t talk about her depression and told me everything was fine—a lie I believed right up until the minute I found her body.
Even in his own head he knew he sounded clinical and bitter describing the event in those terms, but his therapist assured him that addressing it without euphemisms would allow him to move past it.
He’d moved past some things, others not so much.
Yet, Streeter understood that no one could fault him for not trying to meet new people, because he’d be back to square one: explaining what had caused him to be a single parent and a widower at such a young age.
He turned down the long driveway and parked in front of the funky house Tobin and Jade had inherited from Jade’s grandmother. Streeter and Olivia both loved it here. This place had become home to them.
Tobin paced on the porch with his two-month-old son cradled in his arms. He opened the childproof gate that kept their energetic two-year-old daughter, Amber, corralled. “Get in here quick because I don’t have the energy to chase her down again.”
Streeter laughed.
Olivia immediately led Amber to the opposite end of the porch and they settled amid a pile of toys.
“Good to see you, T.” Streeter held up a six-pack of hard cider. “Here’s our contribution to supper.”
“That’s perfect. Ask Jade if she wants one when you go inside to grab the opener.” Tobin gently jiggled the baby. “This is the first time Micah has slept all damn day.”
“Rough, man. I’ll be right back.” Streeter didn’t let the screen door slam when he entered the house. He turned the corner into the kitchen and saw his sister-in-law chopping carrots like a professional chef.
She was also crying.
What to do? Should he go away?
Put his arms around her?
He sucked at this.
Or maybe you could just stand here paralyzed at the thought of talking to a petite woman who you consider your sister.
Fuck that. He started toward her. “Knock knock.”
Jade glanced up and wiped her face on her sleeve. “Hey, Street.”
“Smells good in here.”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s pasta. I’m behind on making the sauce because our son wouldn’t let me put him down all day.”
“Tobin mentioned that you might be needing an adult beverage.”
“God, yes please.”
Streeter plucked the magnetic bottle opener off the fridge and popped the tops on the cider. He and Jade clinked bottles before they each took a sip.
Jade sighed. “That’s what I needed. Thank you.” She gestured with the knife. “Now off with you so I can finish my sauce.”
He peered in the saucepan. “You put carrots in your red sauce?”
“It’s an extra serving of vegetables for my husband and daughter that I don’t have to nag them to eat, so don’t tattle on me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Streeter snagged the bottles and returned outside.
Tobin lounged on the porch swing with Micah tucked close to his body.
After Streeter handed over the cider, he lowered himself into a wicker chair.
“So what’s new?”
“Nothin’ much.” Except I’m attracted to a sexy drill sergeant with a body that sends dirty thoughts straight to my dick and I’m such a moron I don’t even know how to talk to her about normal stuff. “How about you?”
“Workin’ and changing diapers.”
He swallowed a long drink of crisp, cold cider.
“Ain’t we the exciting pair?” Tobin said.<
br />
“No one’s ever used ‘exciting’ to describe me, bro.”
Olivia hopped up and rested her hands on Streeter’s thigh. “Something exciting happened to me, Uncle Tobin.”
He grinned at her. “I’m all ears, darlin’.”
“We got to use bows and arrows at boot camp! And Sergeant B says I’m a natural.”
“That is exciting.”
“Uh-huh. I even hit the target more than Tate did, and he’s nine.”
Tobin whistled softly. “You’re a real Katniss Everdeen.”
Olivia frowned. “Who’s that?”
“A reference that’s a little over her head, Uncle Tobin.” Streeter smoothed Olivia’s hair back. They’d rushed from the pool and he’d forgotten to comb out the tangles—an oversight he’d pay for after her bath tonight. “It’s a book you’ll read when you’re older.”
“I can read now!”
“I know you can. In fact, why don’t you read to Amber? She loves that.”
“Okay.” Olivia skipped away.
Tobin lowered his voice. “How’s she doin’?”
“She hasn’t chased off either of her new babysitters. She barely threw a tantrum when she came back from Gramma Deenie’s. I only got one incident report from her camp counselor.” He sipped his cider. “And she hasn’t had night terrors for an entire week.”
“That’s progress, right?”
“Yep.”
“Deenie’s still insisting on weekly visits?”
“Uh-huh. And Steve too.”
“But doesn’t Olivia act up more after she’s been with her grandma and grandpa?”
Streeter picked at the label on his bottle. “Not as much as she used to, but what am I supposed to do about it?” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure she wasn’t listening. “Olivia is all they have of Danica. It sucks that Deenie and Steve divorced after Danica died, but I can’t deny either of them time with her.”
“But one of them takin’ her for an overnight visit ain’t givin’ you the break you deserve when they have to call you to find out why she’s cryin’ and upset.”
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