A Soldier's Secret

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Melissa couldn’t really blame her. A hot doctor coming back to town, even temporarily, was bound to stir up all the single women.

  Not her. She was willing to entertain a friendship with the man but that was all she could give him. She had no room in her life for anything more, especially not a wandering doctor who would be heading off to the next hot spot on the globe the moment his dad had his knees under him again. Been there, done that, with a man whose career was far more important than his family. She would never even consider it again.

  Her priority had to be Skye, and providing her daughter the most stable home life possible, after the chaos of her daughter’s earlier years.

  She smiled to let the other woman know she wasn’t a threat. If Gina was interested in Eli, she should go for it.

  “Right this way,” Gina said coolly.

  She led them back to a fairly good table with a nice view of the sunset.

  “Will this be okay for you?” Gina asked. She looked only at Eli when she asked the question. He in turn deferred to Melissa.

  “Does this work for you and Skye?” he asked.

  “Looks great,” she answered. “Thanks.”

  He reached for the back of a chair and pulled it back. Nobody had held a chair out for her in such a long time, it took Melissa an awkward moment to realize he meant for her to sit there.

  “Uh. Thanks.”

  She really needed to get out more.

  She sat down and Skye plopped into the seat next to her.

  “Can I get a root beer?” she asked.

  They had a pretty strict no-soda/low-sugar rule 95 percent of the time, but Melissa tended to relax a bit on pizza night. “One. A small.”

  “I’ll let your server know,” Gina said. “Here’s a couple of menus,” Gina said. “Our special tonight is the arugula and prosciutto with our house-pulled mozzarella.”

  “Sounds delicious,” Eli said. “Thanks.”

  The next few minutes were spent perusing the menu. Skye ordered her favorite, half cheese, half pepperoni, while Melissa and Eli both ordered the special, along with salads with the house dressing on the side and, of course, an order of their cheesy bread.

  “If I can’t play pool, can I at least go play the pinball machine?” Skye asked. “I brought all my own quarters.”

  “All of them? I thought you were saving up for a new scooter like your friend Alice has.”

  “I am. But Sonia gave me two dollars for helping her pull weeds yesterday, so I put that in my piggy bank and took out six quarters.”

  Skye reached into her pocket and pulled out change that jingled as she set it on the table. “I want to see if I can do better than last time we came.”

  “It’s your money. If that’s the way you want to spend it, go for it.”

  “Thanks.”

  She shoved her chair back and hurried to the row of gaming machines along one wall of the pizzeria. This was an ideal setup, where she could keep an eye on her daughter but didn’t have to stand right over her shoulder.

  “She seems like a sweet kid,” Eli said. “I know my dad thinks so, anyway.”

  Melissa had made plenty of mistakes in her life—including a disastrous marriage—but her daughter was not among them.

  “She’s amazing. Kind, compassionate, funny. I won the kid lottery.”

  He smiled at that and sipped at the beer their server had brought him. “Does she see her father very often?”

  All her frustrations from earlier in the day rushed back, and Melissa did her best not to tense.

  “Not as often as she’d like. It’s been tough to have a relationship when he’s always heading to the next beach with the pro surf circuit.”

  “Must have made it tough on a marriage.”

  “You could say that.”

  “How long have you and Cody been divorced?”

  “We split up when Skye was three and officially divorced a year later.”

  “And she’s, what, seven now?”

  “Yes.”

  The sense of failure never quite left Melissa, even after four years. She knew she had no reason to feel guilty, but somehow she couldn’t seem to help it.

  She didn’t tell Eli how hard she had tried to salvage the marriage for her child or how even after it became clear that Cody wouldn’t stop cheating, she had chosen to stay in Hawaii, Cody’s surfing home base, so her daughter could still see her father.

  “Where is he these days?”

  “He’s coming back to Oregon. His new wife is expecting a baby, and he wants to be closer to his family in Portland so they can help her out.”

  She wouldn’t let herself be bitter about that. When Melissa had been pregnant with Skye, Cody hadn’t been nearly as solicitous about her needs. He’d been training for a big wave competition, totally focused on it, and couldn’t take time away. Instead, they had lived in a crappy studio apartment on the North Shore. He had refused to come back to Oregon, even for her to deliver the baby close to her mom.

  Maybe the fact that he was putting his new wife and unborn baby first for once was proof that her ex was finally growing up. She hoped so, but she didn’t think anyone could blame her for being skeptical.

  “And how long have you been back in Cannon Beach?”

  “About seven months. For the past few years, Cody’s home base has been Oahu. Last year he moved overseas, so I decided it was time Skye and I came back to be closer to family.”

  “That’s nice. And you live in Brambleberry House.”

  “For now. We love it there, but I’m saving up to buy a house.”

  “And going to school, I understand. Carmen or Tiffany mentioned it today.”

  “I’m working to become a family nurse practitioner,” she said as their server set down salads in front of the two of them.

  “How’s that going?”

  “Not going to lie, it’s been tough while juggling a full-time job and a child. I still have two years to go. I can do most of the work online, which helps.”

  “That’s terrific. There’s such a need for well-trained nurse practitioners right now. Good for you.”

  The approving look in his eyes sent warmth seeping through her. Going to school and working was tough work, and she had sacrificed sleep and a social life for it, but she was trying to build a solid future for her and her child. All the sacrifices were worthwhile, an investment toward security for Skye.

  “What about you? I’m surprised you haven’t done the whole family thing yet.”

  He shrugged, a hint of a shadow in his eyes. “You know how it is. Some guys can handle starting a family while they’re in med school, but I wasn’t one of them.”

  “You’ve been out of med school—what?—five or six years now? There hasn’t been a chance in all those years to find somebody you want to make Mrs. Dr. Elias Sanderson?”

  “No,” he said quickly. Too quickly. The shadows seemed to intensify. Eli Sanderson had secrets. What were they? She had the feeling he had lost someone close to him. Was it a woman?

  She wanted to probe, but Skye came back before she could ask a follow-up question.

  She was relieved, she told herself. Eli’s secrets were none of her business. He was her employer, at least for the next few weeks. Okay, he might also be becoming a friend. That didn’t mean she needed to know everything that had happened to him since the day he had left Cannon Beach for college.

  “Your quarters are gone already?” she asked her daughter.

  “Pinball is hard,” Skye complained. “Simon made it look so easy.”

  Simon was the son of her friends Will and Julia Garrett, twin to Maddie, a girl who sometimes babysat Skye for her. The last time they had come to A Slice of Heaven, their family had been there, too, and Skye had been fascinated, watching the older boy.

  “Simon is a teenager, honey. Almost eighteen. He’s probably had a lot of practice at it.”

  She pouted but didn’t have time to fret more as their server fortuitously came by just th
en with their pizzas, fragrant and hot.

  They were all too busy the next few moments savoring their meal, which didn’t leave a lot of room for talking.

  In between bites, Skye kept looking back toward the billiards tables with a wistful look.

  “You look like you’re wanting to try your hand at pool,” Eli said.

  “Mom says I can’t. It’s too busy here on Friday nights. There are people waiting their turn to play.”

  “My dad has a billiards table in the sunroom,” Eli said. “You’re welcome to come over and practice a little there before you try to play in the big leagues over here at A Slice of Heaven.”

  “Thanks,” Skye said, eyes wide with excitement.

  Melissa tried to hide her frown. She really wished he hadn’t said that. Eli would forget he made the offer, but Skye wouldn’t.

  Her daughter had spent entirely too much time being disappointed by empty promises. She didn’t need more.

  Maybe she was being too cynical. Maybe he wouldn’t forget.

  She distracted Skye with their favorite game of I Spy for the rest of the meal, and Eli joined in willingly. He had a unique eye and stumped both her and Skye more than once with the things he observed.

  “I’m totally stuffed now,” Skye said after two slices. She eased back in her chair and placed her hands over her belly.

  Eli chuckled. “That was delicious, wasn’t it? The best pizza I’ve had in a long time. I forgot how delicious the crust here is.”

  “They have a magic recipe,” Melissa said.

  “They must, especially if they can make it calorie-free.”

  His smile made her hormones sigh. Seriously, this was becoming ridiculous.

  After they boxed up their leftover pizza, Eli insisted on paying the tab. She would have argued, but her friend Sage and her husband, Eben, part owners of Bramble-berry House, came in at that moment and distracted her. By the time she waved goodbye to her friends, the server had already completed the bill.

  “Next time is my treat,” she said.

  “I’ll look forward to it,” he answered. His words had a ring of sincerity that again warmed her far more than they should.

  They walked outside into a lovely April night, rich with the scent of the ocean, with flowers, with new life.

  She could hear the low murmur of the waves along with the constant coastal wind that rustled the new leaves of the trees next to the restaurant.

  Oh, she had missed it here. She had lived in many beautiful, exotic places since she’d left Cannon Beach, but none of them had been the same. She had lived here longer than anywhere, from the age of thirteen to eighteen. It was home to her.

  “That was lovely,” he said when they reached their respective vehicles in the parking lot. “The most enjoyable meal I’ve had in a long time. Thank you for inviting me.”

  “You’re welcome. Thank you for insisting on paying for it.”

  “Yeah. Thanks,” Skye said cheerfully. “It was fun.”

  Melissa couldn’t make a habit of it. She was far too drawn to him.

  “Have a good evening, Eli.”

  Their gazes met, and those shadows prompted her to do something completely uncharacteristic. She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek, intending it only as a warm, friendly, welcome-home kind of gesture.

  He smelled delicious, of soap and male skin, and it was all she could do not to stand there and inhale.

  She forced herself to ease away, regretting the impulse with every passing moment.

  “Good night, Melissa. Skye, it was a pleasure. Persuade your mom to take you to my dad’s place sometime soon so you can practice your pool game.”

  “I will! Thanks.”

  “See you Monday,” she said.

  “Put some ice on that wrist,” he answered, his voice gruff.

  She nodded and ushered her daughter to her vehicle. Though her wrist still ached, the injury seemed a lifetime ago.

  ISBN-13: 9781460375440

  A SOLDIER'S SECRET

  Copyright © 2008 by RaeAnne Thayne

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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  ††The Cowboys of Cold Creek

  **The Women of Brambleberry House

  §The Wilder Family

  *Outlaw Hartes

  †The Searchers