A SEAL's Consent (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 4)

by Cora Seton

  “Darling, don’t be ridiculous—I’ve just been trying to tell you about the concert I set up for you to give while you’re here. At the Arboretum. Like I said, it will be very exclusive—a truly lovely event. A fundraiser for cancer research. Surely you support that.”

  Savannah was floored. Only her mother could manage to turn something wonderful into an insult and an obligation. “I’m not being ridiculous. I’m being accurate. You’re trying to throw me off because you don’t want me to succeed. You’ve never wanted me to succeed.”

  “There is no success where music is concerned,” her mother burst out. “Don’t you see that? Not on a… piano!” She practically spat the word. “Now if you’d built an app for file sharing, or a social media outlet that focused on launching new bands…. That’s a business where you could have made some real money. And this television series would have been the making of you! But regardless, it’s too late for that now, so we’ll salvage what we can. You’ll do the concert at the Arboretum and you’ll ace your audition. That will show them.”

  Savannah hung up. She restrained herself from throwing the phone to the ground and smashing it with the heel of her shoe, only because she shared it with all the other women. Instead, she turned it off, shoved it into the pocket of her apron and headed for the manor.

  But when she reached the parlor and sat down at the piano, she found it difficult to play. Her mother had succeeded in stripping the last vestiges of joy from this venture. What had started as a goal had turned into a noose around her neck.

  Chapter Eight

  ‡

  “Where’s Savannah?” Boone asked when he sat down next to Jericho on one of the logs. He took a big bite of the breakfast burritos Kai had served.

  “I think she’s avoiding me.” Jericho had no appetite today. He was still reeling from Savannah’s confession from the night before. After all the time they’d spent together working out the details of the wind turbines and solar arrays, he couldn’t understand how she could consider a situation that required her to fly to California twice a month. It was like she hadn’t given it a second thought.

  Which was exactly the problem, he thought. No one did. Not really. Not when doing so meant they might have to put a plan on hold—or scrap it all together. And if someone as smart as Savannah didn’t see it—or saw it and still didn’t feel like changing the way she lived—how were they supposed to change anything?

  “We had a fight last night,” he went on when Boone didn’t answer. “About airplanes.”

  A corner of Boone’s mouth turned up. “Airplanes, huh?”

  “Well, it was a little more serious than that,” Jericho admitted. He recounted the conversation that had prompted the argument. “She claimed I don’t think she’s good enough to play nationally, but that’s not what I meant at all, and I hope she understands that. I can’t tell if she’d simply never thought about the implications of all that travel, or if she did and put it out of her mind.”

  “Savannah and the other women didn’t come here on purpose to live environmentally friendly lives,” Boone pointed out. “We can’t exactly force them to see things our way.”

  “She worked beside me for weeks. You should see her figure out the calculations for the energy grid; she’s way better at it than I am. But she doesn’t see the big picture. And that’s what I thought this was all about; showing everyone how to live a good life without using up every freaking resource this world has to offer.” He wanted to toss his plate away and pace, but they were surrounded by cameras as usual. One crew member had honed in on them and was recording this conversation. Jericho didn’t care. Let them record; this was the conversation that defined their time, after all. “How does the average person live in such a way that he or she honors her goals and desires—and doesn’t ruin the world for future generations?”

  “That’s the million-dollar question,” Boone agreed. “And the point of this show. But the longer it goes on, the more I realize we’re not here to show people answers; we’re here to get them talking about the questions. We don’t have all the answers.”

  “The answer isn’t to fly back and forth to California twice a month,” Jericho said darkly.

  “I don’t think we get to dictate that,” Boone said. “I think Savannah has to find her own solutions, and you’ve got to trust she’s smart enough to come up with the right one.”

  “Right for whom? Her? Us? The world?”

  Boone shrugged. “We’re all just doing our best.” He set his plate down. “Savannah’s doing her best to figure out her future.”

  “I know what you’re going to say next.” Jericho set his plate down, too.

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

  “Time for me to consider a backup bride.”

  “Yep.”

  When Nora and Riley entered the parlor an hour later, Savannah was still sitting at the piano. She’d managed to force herself through her warmup exercises and run through the first of the pieces she’d play for Redding several times, but her fingers kept tripping over the most basic notes, and she was so distracted this practice period was doing more harm than good.

  “You weren’t at breakfast,” Nora said.

  “I wasn’t hungry.”

  “I seem to be hungry all the time now.” Nora rested her elbows on the top of the baby grand.

  “Me, too,” Riley said, smiling as she came to stand next to Nora.

  Savannah nodded and examined her fingers. She’d have to shake this off and get back to practicing for real if she was going to play the concert—and really, how could she refuse to do a charity event when her mother had already promised she’d be there?

  “Savannah.”

  “Yes?” She looked up, surprised Nora and Riley were still there.

  “I said I’m hungry all the time now,” Nora said pointedly.

  “Me, too,” Riley said again.

  Savannah cocked her head. “There’s food in the kitchen if you didn’t get enough—”

  “I’m pregnant,” Nora burst out. “I’d been keeping it secret because I was worried about Riley.”

  “But I’m pregnant, too!” Riley nearly hopped up and down with excitement. “I just took the test this morning! All that worrying for nothing!”

  “Oh.” Savannah stood up. “Oh, my goodness! Congratulations—both of you! I’m sorry—I was lost in my own thoughts.”

  “That’s okay.” Nora grinned as Savannah hugged her, then Riley, and for the first time in ages, Savannah forgot her troubles in her happiness for her friends. “I’m so happy for both of you!”

  “We’re happy, too,” Riley said.

  “We are.”

  Both of them were beaming and Savannah was so glad to hear their good news.

  She bit her lip. “I’ve been keeping a secret too,” she confessed. Was it right to spill her news when even Jericho didn’t know? “I’m pregnant, too,” she squeaked, unable to hold it in a moment longer.

  “You are?” Riley’s eyes went wide. “Savannah!”

  “But you can’t tell anyone. I mean it. I have to tell Jericho first.”

  “He doesn’t know?” Nora looked shocked.

  Savannah couldn’t blame her.

  “Only Alice does. Although, Sam might have guessed. Heather Hall did,” she admitted. Three people. Five now. She had to tell Jericho soon.

  “But…why wouldn’t you tell him?” Nora tugged her over to the couch and they all sat down in a rustle of skirts.

  “Because he doesn’t want children.” To her dismay, her eyes filled with tears, and her friends’ shone with compassion.

  “I’m sure he’ll change his mind—”

  “I don’t know anymore. I don’t think we’re on the same wavelength at all.” She filled them in on everything that had happened. When she got to the part where Jericho yelled at her about flying to California, to her surprise her friends looked at each other and smiled.

  “You know, I’m sure Jericho was thinking about saving
energy and climate change and all that—but do you think maybe he got so mad because he didn’t want you to leave?” Riley asked.

  “He doesn’t want to lose you, Savannah,” Nora went on. “When you told him you were going to do all that traveling, he finally understood what your life is going to be like. If you become a concert pianist, you’re not going to be around much. He’ll have to trust you when you sleep away from home—and that’s a sore spot for most men. He’s going to want you around; that’s how they are.”

  Savannah sat back. “You really think that’s why he got so angry?”

  “A little of both, probably,” Riley said. “He cares about the world. He cares about you, too.”

  “I don’t want to give up my goal.” But her voice sounded flat even to her own ears. Her mother’s interference had ruined the audition for her. She couldn’t believe Redding had solicited her family. How ironic to know her parents had bought the audition that was supposed to lead to the success she needed to prove herself to them.

  “I think the first step to finding a solution is to be completely honest with Jericho—about your goals and about being pregnant. Your baby changes everything, don’t you think?” Riley said.

  “Are you saying it means I should stop playing piano?”

  “Not at all.” Nora looked shocked. “I don’t plan to slow down one bit.”

  “Me, either,” Riley said emphatically. “But it changes things between you and Jericho. No matter what, you need to start making decisions together.”

  “I guess so.”

  “Go talk to him,” Nora urged. “And congratulations to you, too. Think about it; we’re all going to raise our babies together!”

  Her friends looked so happy Savannah couldn’t bear to contradict them. Because if she and Jericho couldn’t work things out, she didn’t think she could stay in Chance Creek.

  “Jericho?”

  Jericho turned when Kara called his name, and sighed when he realized he couldn’t escape the grocery store without speaking to her. For one thing, a camera crew was blocking his exit. He wondered what they’d done wrong to get stuck with such a boring assignment. Filming him walking up and down the aisles had to be the worst. He waited for Kara to catch up to him, his cart in front of him like a shield.

  “I was hoping to run into you sometime,” she said.

  “Really?” He couldn’t think why. After the dinner they’d suffered through, he didn’t feel the urge to be near his family for a good long while.

  “I was a little… out of line the other day. I probably drank more than necessary.”

  “You think?”

  “Hey, cut me some slack, I’m trying to apologize.” She surveyed the rows of chips on the shelves nearby and grabbed a couple of bags of salt-and-vinegar ones.

  “You were pretty harsh.”

  “Family doesn’t bring out the best in me.” She dropped the bags in the cart and bent to choose another one of pretzels. “Besides, I wasn’t the only one out of line.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “What you said at the table—that wasn’t fair.” She dropped the pretzels into her cart, too, and faced him.

  “Are you kidding? It isn’t fair that I’ve taken the rap for you all this time! Mom and Dad treat me like I’m an asshole. Like I’ve lived a life of crime or something. I’m not irresponsible; I had a career in the Navy most people couldn’t dream of taking on. How come I don’t get any credit for that?”

  “Jericho, I was seven years old,” Kara burst out. “Seven! I made a mistake!”

  “So you blamed it on me?”

  She put her hands out to ward him off and to his surprise he saw they were shaking. “I was angry, all right? Furious. Everything was always about Donovan back then. Always! No one cared about me!”

  “Kara, that’s not—”

  “It is true! Do you think I don’t remember how it used to be? How our parents drunk themselves into oblivion night after night after night?”

  “What are you talking about?” Jericho couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Do you know how many times as a child I woke up, went into Mom and Dad’s room and couldn’t shake them out of sleep? I’d hear you snoring in your room, but not them—they’d be passed out like they were dead. I’d go downstairs and find Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris the same way on the couches. You had Donovan with you in your room. I had no one.”

  Memories flooded into Jericho’s mind and he fought against them, but Kara was right. He’d had Donovan. And while the little boy was no protection against danger, he’d kept Jericho from feeling alone on nights when the card parties went far too long into the night, and he’d lain awake until his parents dragged themselves upstairs, their steps heavy, their voices funny. He’d hold his breath until silence reigned through the house, then reach over to touch the crib—and later the trundle bed—to reassure himself Donovan was still there.

  “That’s why I shoved you.” Kara appeared to be struggling against tears. “Because you were paying attention to him, not me. I just wanted someone to see me—just once—and then he fell—”

  “Kara.” Jericho reached out for her, but she waved him away.

  “I still see it when I close my eyes. I see him falling. I hear the impact—I know my life is over.”

  “Kara—”

  “And now I’m the one drinking.” She scrubbed away the tear that slid down her cheek. “I’m the one putting my kids to bed and downing a bottle of wine. I’m going to lose them. Andy’s threatening to leave me.”

  The cameras were capturing everything. Jericho didn’t know what to do.

  So he did the only thing he could; tugged his sister into a rough embrace and held her as she sobbed on his shoulder. A woman with a cart turned the aisle, took one look at them and turned back.

  “Come with me,” he heard himself say. “To North Dakota. Let’s go see Donovan. Let’s make this right.” As the words spilled out of his mouth, he knew it was the right thing to do. And wondered why they’d waited this long. Nothing could be as bad as the outcomes he pictured when worry kept him awake at night. Kara must be plagued by the same kind of fears.

  “What do you say?” he asked her.

  Kara dried her eyes. “Okay,” she said finally. “Yeah, why not? What’s the worst that can happen?” Her face crumpled and she sobbed against her fist. “What if I ruined his life?”

  “Then we’ll find a way to help him. Together.”

  “You’re leaving?” Savannah wasn’t prepared for the way her heart fell when Jericho told her his plans later that afternoon outside the bunkhouse. She hated the thought of being apart from him even for a couple of days, but then, she’d head out for California soon. She hadn’t gone down to work with him that morning, and the rest of the day had dragged. Once her initial excitement had faded about Nora and Riley’s news, she’d felt worse than before. If she couldn’t change Jericho’s mind, how could she leave Chance Creek and not share the experience of being pregnant with her friends?

  “Next Saturday. There’s something I need to sort out. Donovan,” he added, as if that explained everything.

  Savannah supposed it did. She remembered Jericho’s anguish when he’d told her about the accident that had paralyzed his cousin. “You’re going to see how he’s doing?”

  “It’s about time I did, don’t you think? Kara’s coming, too. Together we’ll make sure he has everything he needs.”

  “That makes perfect sense.”

  “Savannah.” Jericho took her hand. “I should have said this earlier. If you marry me, Donovan’s going to be a part of your life, too. I’ll always be financially responsible for him, which means I won’t have as much to give you—”

  “That doesn’t matter.” She could barely admit to herself how good it felt to know Jericho still wanted her, despite everything. At the same time it made it harder to stand her ground.

  “It matters to me. I want to be there for you. I want to provide for
you.”

  “That’s not what I need from you.” She bit her lip as soon as she said it. Now wasn’t the time for that discussion; not with cameras filming them. “When will you back?” she hurried to add.

  “Two days. Maybe three. Longer if there’s anything we can do to make his life better right away.”

  “I leave for California that Friday.” She could hardly look at him when she admitted that, but even knowing how he felt about air travel, she had to go through with the audition—despite what her mother had done. “I’ll be there through the weekend. Mom booked me a performance without telling me.” She filled him in on the phone call she’d received.

  “Family, huh? They’re enough to drive you crazy.”

  Savannah smiled. “Sure feels like it sometimes.”

  “Did you clear that with Renata?” one of the cameramen interrupted. “These trips you both are taking?”

  Savannah met Jericho’s gaze, knowing she probably looked as horrified as he did.

  “Oh, hell,” Jericho shoved his hands in his pockets. “Am I going to have to take a passel of you along with me?”

  Savannah’s heart sunk. Was she going to have to do the same?

  “Yep.” Ed nodded firmly. “You both better come talk to Renata right now. She’s not going to be happy.”

  “She never is,” Jericho said.

  Chapter Nine

  ‡

  “You should have told us,” Boone said late that night as Jericho sat with him on a log near the fire pit. Overhead, stars glittered in the wide open sky.

  Jericho wondered what his troubles would look like from out there. As important as those of a beetle or an ant—or a microbe—he supposed.

  “Didn’t seem like something I could share.” He’d finally told Boone the whole truth about Donovan’s injury and the fact he’d been sending his cousin money all this time.