A Soldier's Return ; The Daddy Makeover

by RaeAnne Thayne

  She still wasn’t sure why she hadn’t done exactly that. Maybe it was the adrenaline crash from working on Jim, or maybe it was the highly inappropriate dreams she was still having about him, or maybe it had simply been the result of the long week of doing her best to fight her attraction to him.

  Regardless, their kiss had happened. How on earth was she supposed to face him at work all day without remembering the taste of his mouth or the salty, musky scent of him, or the safety and security she found in his arms?

  She had a serious crush on the man. This morning hadn’t exactly helped her gain control of it, first watching him save a life and then sharing that amazing kiss.

  As she headed with Fiona toward the house, Rosa walked out on the back porch to greet her. She could tell immediately that her friend had seen her and Eli together at the bottom of the garden. She must have been sitting here when they walked up, with a clear view down to the garden to the beach-access gate.

  The only thing she could do was own it. “Yes. Okay. I just kissed my boss. We’re both determined to forget about it. I would appreciate if you would try to do the same.”

  Rosa gave a laugh that she tried to disguise as a cough. “All right. Enough said. It’s none of my business anyway.”

  Okay, she probably shouldn’t have said anything. Now she’d only made things worse by bringing attention to the kiss, like in high school when girls used to walk into class and announce to everyone that they had a new pimple.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  “Nothing to apologize for. I only came for my dog so you did not have to walk her up the stairs.”

  “Thanks. You have no idea what kind of morning it’s been. Eli and I happened upon a tourist who collapsed from a heart attack.”

  “Is that what the paramedics were doing? I heard the sirens and worried. How is he?”

  “Better than he would have been if we hadn’t been there. Eli gave him CPR, then shocked him with the AED and he came back. It was amazing to see.”

  “I can imagine. Good for Eli.”

  “The kiss you saw. That was kind of a crazy reaction to what happened. The adrenaline rush and everything. We shouldn’t have... It won’t happen again.”

  “We are not going to talk about that, though.” Rosa smiled and Melissa felt a wave of gratitude for her.

  “When do you leave for your hiking trip?” she asked.

  “The plan was to take off tonight and be back tomorrow night, but my friend just texted me and had an emergency in the family, so now we’re leaving tomorrow and will be back Sunday night. Fiona will be here until then, just in case you need her.”

  “I might. Thanks.”

  Fiona tugged at her leash, obviously wanting to be home, and Rosa gave the dog an exasperated look. “I’d better get her some water, then we’ve got to head into the office. Have a good day.”

  “Same to you.”

  As Rosa and Fiona headed up the stairs to her apartment, Melissa opened the door to her own.

  Inside, she fought the urge to collapse on her bed for a few hours. Or maybe the rest of the day.

  Rosa had wished her a good day. She had a feeling it would be anything but good. How on earth was she supposed to make it through, especially having to face Eli again after that stunning kiss?

  She could do it. She had tackled tough things before and she could do it again.

  No matter how difficult.

  * * *

  By some miracle, she and Eli managed to get through the day’s appointments at the clinic without too much awkwardness between them.

  Melissa had decided on a strategy of avoidance. Though it was tough, she tried to pretend their kiss had never happened, that they hadn’t spent a glorious five minutes with their mouths tangled together and his arms tightly around her.

  It was one of the toughest things she’d ever had to do. Every time she passed him in the hall or shared an exam room with him while he spoke with a patient, she had to actively struggle to keep from staring at his mouth and remembering the heat and magic of their embrace.

  The only saving grace was the clinic’s caseload. They were both busy with patients all day and didn’t have time for small talk. She almost made it through her shift without being alone with him, until she waved goodbye to Carmen and Tiffany and headed out to the parking lot at the end of the day, only to find Eli walking out just ahead of her. She almost turned around to go back inside but couldn’t think on her feet quickly enough to come up with an excuse.

  She found her urge to flee annoying and demeaning. So they’d shared a kiss. That didn’t mean she had to be uncomfortable around him for the rest of his time here in Cannon Beach.

  She put on a cheerful smile. She could do this. “Do you have big plans for the weekend?” she asked, then instantly regretted the question. She did not want him thinking she was hinting that they should get together or something.

  He shook his head. “Dad is hoping he’ll be ready to come home soon, so I’ll probably be busy making sure the house is ready for him. What about you?”

  “Not really. Skye and I are running into Portland tonight to take Carol’s things to her. The hotel has already packed them all up for her.”

  “That’s very nice of you.”

  “It’s the least I can do.”

  Jim had been airlifted to the hospital in Portland and Carol had flown with him, unwilling to leave his side even long enough to come back to Cannon Beach for their suitcases.

  “What’s the latest? Have you heard? When I talked to Carol earlier, she told me he was likely going to need a quadruple bypass.”

  “Then you know as much as I do. The surgery won’t be until tomorrow, from what I understand. I feel good about his chances, but it’s too early to say if he’s out of the woods.”

  “At least he has a chance. He wouldn’t have, if not for you.”

  “And you,” Eli said.

  It was a shared bond between them, one she never would have expected when she awoke that morning.

  He smiled a little, more with his eyes than his mouth. Melissa fought a shiver. She also wouldn’t have expected that kiss.

  Why had he kissed her? And would it happen again?

  She cleared her throat. “I’d better go. Skye will be waiting for me at the babysitter’s.”

  “Right. Pizza night. Tell her I meant my invitation of the other day. The two of you are welcome to come to my dad’s house so she can shoot some pool. Nobody else is using it. Who knows, maybe she can turn into a pool shark and start fleecing all the tourists over at A Slice of Heaven.”

  “You’re a bad influence on my child,” she said, shaking her head. And on her, she wanted to add, giving her all kinds of ideas she didn’t need complicating her world right now.

  She had a weekend away from him to regain her perspective, and the sooner she started the better chance she would have of putting that kiss out of her head.

  She gave him a wave and had started to climb into her SUV when another vehicle pulled into the parking lot—a flashy red convertible carrying two people, a blond male and a darker-haired, more petite female.

  She paused, ready to explain that the clinic was closed. The convertible pulled up next to her. When the driver pulled off his sunglasses and climbed out with athletic grace, Melissa let out an involuntary gasp.

  “Cody! What...what are you doing here?”

  Her ex-husband beamed his trademark smile that had appeared on surfing magazine covers for more than a decade. “I told you I was working on coming back to Oregon. And here I am.”

  “I didn’t realize you meant you were coming back immediately.”

  “I wanted to surprise you, Missy.”

  “I’m surprised, all right.” She couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d come back to town with tattoos covering his face like a Maori warrior. “Are
you...moving back to Cannon Beach?”

  “No. We’re just here hanging out with my buddy Ace. You remember him, don’t you?”

  “Oh, yes.” Ace had been a jerk in high school and now had a string of used car lots along the coast. From what she heard, he was still a jerk.

  “We’re going to settle in Portland, near my folks. Since I lost my sponsorship, I need to find a more reliable paycheck. Got that baby on the way and all. My dad’s been pushing me to join his office and this seemed as good a time as any.”

  Now he wanted to be financially stable? For the five years they had been married, he had been perfectly content to let her support them with her nursing career.

  “You’re going into real estate.” She tried to process that shocking information, but it was too much for her brain, after the day she’d had.

  “I guess I have to pass some kind of class and stuff before I can actually do any selling. But I’m going to start small and see where it goes.”

  Knowing her ex as she did, she had no doubt he would probably be brilliant at it. Cody had always been good at convincing people he had exactly what they needed.

  After her dad died, Cody had been so sweet and attentive, making her feel like the most important person on earth. She had been grieving and lost, and he had helped remind her the world could still have laughter and ice cream and sweetness.

  “You know how you’ve been bugging me to spend more time with Skye. This is my chance! We’re moving into one of my dad’s rentals in Portland and working out of his office there. We’ll only be a few hours away.”

  “Great.”

  “Amalia can’t wait to meet her. She’s been asking every day.”

  “Amalia.”

  “My wife. That’s one of the reasons I stopped by before we go out to dinner with Ace and his wife. I want you to meet her. Babe, get out here.”

  A young woman who looked to be in her early twenties rose from the passenger seat of the convertible with a grace that matched Cody’s. She was dark and petite, tanned and fit and gorgeous. And very, very pregnant.

  “Oh.” The word escaped before Melissa could swallow it down.

  Cody glowed like he was the pregnant one. He held out a hand to the woman, who moved to his side looking elegant and beautiful—so different from the way Melissa had looked when she was pregnant with Skye, when her ankles had disappeared and all the baby weight had somehow settled in her hips and butt.

  “This is Amalia. I met her in Brazil. She doesn’t speak much English.”

  “Hello, Amalia.”

  “’Ello.” The woman’s voice was low and throaty and exotic, though she looked nervous. Cody didn’t speak a word of Portuguese, as far as she knew. If his new wife didn’t speak much English, Melissa had to wonder how they communicated.

  “Like I said, she’s been dying to meet Skye. Where is she?”

  “Not here,” she said, pointing out the obvious. “This is my workplace. She’s at the babysitter’s.”

  “Oh. Right.” He gave a little laugh. “I should have realized that. Where does the babysitter live? I can go see her there.”

  Skye would be thrilled to see her father. She adored him despite his chronic negligence.

  “It would be better if I picked her up. Why don’t you meet me at Brambleberry House in about an hour. Do you remember where that is?”

  “I think so. Sounds good.”

  He started to lead his wife back to the car, then apparently noticed Eli, still waiting and watching the scene beside his father’s Lexus SUV.

  Cody’s gaze narrowed. “You look familiar. Have we met?”

  Eli coughed politely. “Yeah. Eli Sanderson. We went to school together. You and some buddies ambushed me in the parking lot once during a school dance.”

  Cody let out a rough laugh. “You’re kidding me. Why would I do that?”

  Eli shrugged. “You apparently weren’t very happy with me for asking Melissa to dance.”

  “Kind of a dick move, dude, asking another guy’s date to dance with you.”

  “Sometimes. In this case, I guess I figured you wouldn’t care, since you had been ignoring her all night.”

  Cody laughed out loud at that. “I was an ass in high school. I hope there are no hard feelings.”

  He was still an ass, on many levels. She couldn’t believe it had taken her so many years to figure it out.

  “Why would there be?” Eli said coolly. “It was a long time ago.”

  She had completely forgotten about that school dance. As usual, Cody had abandoned her in the corner while he talked to his friends. She might as well have been invisible for all the attention her date paid her that night. That wasn’t a unique situation. Even now, she wasn’t quite sure why she had put up with it for so long.

  “Anyway, we’re staying the night at Ace’s guesthouse, but I was hoping we could take Skye back to Portland with us tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “We’re buying some things for the new little munchkin, and I figured she might like to be involved in the whole baby thing.”

  As usual, he didn’t think about anyone but himself. He didn’t consider that she might have plans with her daughter. They were just supposed to drop everything for him.

  According to the Gospel of Cody, the world revolved around him and always would. She hated thinking of the years she had wasted trying to make things different.

  She glanced at the pregnant young woman beside him, who looked at Cody like he was the sun and the moon and the stars, all wrapped up in one perfect man.

  She wanted to tell him to forget it, that she and Skye would be busy, but her daughter truly did adore her father and she would be sad to miss the chance to spend time with him.

  “I’m sure she will be happy to see you.”

  The truth was, Cody wasn’t necessarily a bad father. He did love their daughter, she just didn’t come first, the way a child should.

  “Perfect. We thought we would leave about eleven.”

  “I’ll have her ready.”

  “Maybe we’ll just wait until then to have Ami meet her. Save us time tonight, since we have to get ready for dinner. Does that work?”

  “It should be fine.”

  “Thanks, Missy. This is gonna be great. You’ll see.”

  With that use of the nickname she hated, he helped his pregnant young wife into the passenger seat of his impractical little red sports car, hopped into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving Melissa feeling as if she had just been pounded by heavy surf against a seawall.

  She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them, wishing she could have dealt with that encounter alone, without any witnesses.

  “Well, that seems like a pretty sucky way to start a weekend.”

  Eli’s dry tone surprised a laugh out of her. “Congratulations, Dr. Sanderson. You officially get the understatement-of-the-week award.”

  “I was talking about me. It’s tough being confronted with the guy who once tried to beat me up.”

  “Tried to?”

  “I was tougher than I looked even when I was a tall, awkward geek.”

  He had never been awkward. She remembered that now, too late.

  “I studied jujitsu from about age nine and had a few moves that still serve me well.” He studied her. “I take it you’re not exactly jumping for joy about your ex-husband’s return. Is it the pregnant new wife?”

  “No. Not exactly. Skye will be thrilled about having a new sibling to love and she’ll be over the moon that she might see Cody more often. She loves her father.”

  “That’s the important thing then, isn’t it?”

  His words struck with the ring of truth. “Yes. Thanks for the reminder.”

  He studied her for a moment, blue eyes glinting in the fading sunlight. “You
’ve got your hands full tonight and don’t need a trip to Portland. Why don’t you let me take care of Jim and Carol’s suitcases tonight?”

  “I offered. It doesn’t seem right to hand off the duty to you simply because it’s become inconvenient.”

  “I don’t mind. Max loves riding in the car, and it will give me the chance to check on my patient.”

  He was such a good man. Why couldn’t she have seen past the skinny geekiness when she had been in high school instead of being drawn to the macho, sexy surfer type? She could have avoided so much heartache.

  “That’s very kind of you. They were staying at The Sea Urchin. The innkeeper has already packed up their suitcases for them. Thank you, Eli.”

  “It’s no problem,” he assured her. He gave her a smile that almost reached his eyes this time, and she surrendered even more of her heart to him.

  He made it extremely difficult to resist him, and she was completely failing at the task.

  * * *

  “Didn’t you say he was coming at eleven? That was forty minutes ago. Where is he? Do you think he forgot?”

  Melissa could feel the muscles in her jaw ache and forced herself to unclench her teeth. “He’ll be here,” she assured her daughter, though she wasn’t at all positive that was the truth.

  As she looked at Skye watching anxiously out the window, Melissa was painfully reminded of all the nights she had waited for Cody to come home or call from the road when he said he would.

  Cody was great at making promises and lousy at keeping them.

  “He’ll be here,” she said again. “Let me text him again and see where he is.”

  She quickly shot off a text, only refraining from swearing at him by the same superhuman effort she was using to keep from grinding her molars.

  It took him several long moments to reply.

  Running late. Waves too good this AM at Indian Beach. On way now.

  That was more of an explanation than she used to get from him but still not enough to placate a girl who adored him.