by Terry Spear
“Wait!” She set her empty coffee cup in the dishwasher, then dashed to her office.
When she walked out of the room with a teddy bear and a pair of scissors, he raised his brows. “I thought you said you only had one stuffed toy.”
“Teddy doesn’t count. Everyone owns a teddy bear. If I take Bambi from Whiskers, he’s got to have Teddy for a replacement. He never sleeps without a pillow.”
“And the scissors?”
“To do some surgery on poor Bambi.”
“Okay, are we all set to go then?”
She rested her finger on her lip, deep in thought for a moment, then nodded. “I think that’s all.”
He grabbed her bag as she opened the front door.
“Oh, did you turn off the light last night on the lamp or did it shut off automatically?”
“It turned off by itself.”
“Okay, I wanted to make sure it’d keep turning on and off like it’s supposed to while we’re away.”
She locked the door behind them, and he grabbed her hand as they strode to the apartment complex next door where his car awaited him.
“So what are you going to do about Bernadette?” she asked.
Bernadette. He wanted to wring her neck for moving into his home without his permission. He didn’t know what to do about her. His gut told him to kick her out of his house, simple as that. She didn’t belong, she wasn’t invited. When she had called it quits with him over three months ago, she’d been a witch. But his intellect told him if she was carrying his child, he couldn’t throw her out on the sidewalk with nowhere to go—could he? Then again, she had plenty of relatives. That’s where she belonged.
“Scott?”
“I don’t know. Quite honestly, she’s trespassing—”
“But she has the key to your house.”
“Yeah. That sort of presents a problem.” He shook his head as he shoved Nicole’s bag into his trunk. “She can’t stay at my place.”
“I should say not. What would your wife think of the old ex-girlfriend living there too?”
He chuckled. He loved it when she played the role of his wife. He’d love it even more when he could truly be her husband.
“You want to handle it?” he asked.
Nicole laughed. As brave as he was about handling the bad guys, she couldn’t believe he’d be scared to take care of the matter with a woman. “Sure. Does she have a place to go?”
“Several relatives: two brothers in San Antonio, a sister in El Paso, and parents in San Diego.”
“Must be nice to have so many relatives.”
They climbed into the car and drove toward the vet clinic.
“Don’t you have anybody?”
She glanced at him. Concern shown in his eyes and a worry wrinkle creased his brow. Smiling, she patted his lap. “I sure do. A husband.”
His face brightened in amusement. She could tell he was totally pleased to hear her playing her role so well. But could she actually marry him?
“And my family.”
“Which includes?”
“My sister, Janice. She and her two little boys, Roy and Shawn, are visiting my mother. My nephews are five and seven and are rather rough on their old Uncle Scott.”
Uncle Scott. She’d never considered Scott to be an uncle or anything. Just one attractive hunk of a captain who made her heartbeat quicken whenever he drew near. Seeing him with his nephews was going to be interesting. What was he like with kids?
They drove into the parking lot vet clinic and parked. She turned to Scott. “It’ll take me just a minute. I’ll have to have one of the staff exchange Teddy for Bambi or it’ll break my heart when Whiskers wants to go home with me.”
“Do you want to take him with us?”
His offer warmed her heart. He sure knew the right words to say. “Thanks so much, but hauling a cat, litter box, food, and water all the way to Amarillo, would be too much of a hassle. Not to mention what your mother would think.”
“She’s like me, loves all animals and all animals like her.”
That was certainly good news. Maybe Whiskers wouldn’t rub him the wrong way then. “Well, if we were to run into trouble, I wouldn’t want to worry about Whiskers being hurt.”
“Okay.”
She grabbed Teddy and hurried into the clinic. When she walked up to the counter, she said to the clerk, “I’d like to exchange this stuffed toy for the one Whiskers is sleeping on, if I can.”
“Certainly.” The lady disappeared into the back with the teddy bear. A few minutes later, she returned with Bambi.
“Are you still leaving him here until the end of the week?”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll see you then.”
She hated leaving him behind, but she knew it was the best place for him. She hurried back outside to the Mustang, waving Bambi in the air at Scott. He started the ignition after she hopped into the car. With scissors in hand, she started snipping at Bambi’s seams carefully so she could hand sew him back together later. Scott pulled onto the road and headed for the highway to Killeen.
“Will Bernadette give up your house key, do you think?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, we should stop at the first hardware store you see.”
“And?”
“We’ll get a replacement knob for your door.”
He chuckled. “I like a woman who thinks quickly on her feet.” He looked at the balls of stuffing piling up on the floor.
“Sorry,” she said, “I should have brought a plastic sack for the stuffing. I didn’t think of that.”
“Anything?”
“Not yet.”
After they picked up replacement doorknobs for the front and back doors, she looked up from her work several minutes later as he pulled his car to a stop. The one-story, cottage-style, brick house was a perfect place for a young couple just starting out. Live oaks stretched their branches across the acre lot shading the entire place like a miniature forest. “It’s beautiful.”
Forest green shutters framed the oversized windows, matching the green metal roof. Roses trimming the light redbrick walkway greeted guests. And a leafy green wisteria hugged a black wrought-iron lamppost curbside. Much nicer than her apartment. Then she saw a yellow Neon parked in the carport. A two-car garage was attached to the house. But it was the blue Mustang parked some distance down the street that bothered her the most. She tried to fight the chill that twisted down her spine. Major Tom Cromwell owned a blue Mustang.
Chapter 15
A blond-haired woman peeked out between white drapes at Scott’s window, and Nicole asked, “Bernadette?”
Scott turned off his car’s engine. “Yeah. Maybe I should handle this.”
She looked back at a blue Mustang. No telling what Tom’s license plates were, but if there was an officer’s blue sticker on the windshield, it would mean there was a greater chance the car was his.
Scott reached over and patted her leg. “Is something the matter, honey?”
“I’m going with you. I was thinking that I’d need a ring, but we’re cougars and so is she. So she won’t expect me to be wearing one.”
“That’s true.”
“But…I have to check out that Mustang over there.”
“What’s the matter? I can tell by the edge to your voice—”
“Maj. Tom Cromwell drives a Mustang the same color.”
He stared at the vehicle. “How could you tell if it’s his or not?”
“I wouldn’t know for certain, but if he’s got an officer’s sticker on the windshield, the probability that it is, increases substantially.”
Scott backed into the road, then drove past the car. “Yep,” they both said at the same time. “Has the officer’s sticker,” she confirmed.
“Okay, listen. I want to marry you. Not just for pretend. I want to mate with you, forever,” Scott told Nicole.
She truly loved being with him, so she had no problem with dating only him. She looked at his house
as he pulled back into the driveway. It was happening all too quickly. Looking up at him, she realized he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
He took her hand in his. “I know you’re afraid of committing to marriage. I’ve never known a woman like you before, who I’ve had such strong feelings for. I want more than anything to make our relationship permanent. Next beach we go to will be in the Hawaiian Islands, or the Grand Cayman Islands, or the Caribbean. Somewhere that you won’t have to take a mud bath, and I can see you through the sparkling azure waters while I’m swimming with you.”
“And protecting me from sharks?”
“Hell, yeah. Any variety, two-legged variety or otherwise.”
Now that sounded good. But still… “I want a retirement check.”
He chuckled. “Good. You can support me.” He pulled her from the car and shut the door.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. I want to make this work. We’ll make it work. I have a computer science degree and I dabble in programs all the time. I figure I can get a job anywhere you end up. I’d only do it for the one I love.” He leaned over and kissed her lips. “If you are transferred somewhere that I can’t be transferred to also, I’ll quit the service and go with you and get a job there.”
She couldn’t believe it. “You’d do that for me.”
“Yeah. I’m serious.”
He seemed like a keeper. He eyed the house again. “Maybe you’d better stay here—”
“Not on your life. I’m sticking with you.”
The drapes were pulled back slightly and Bernadette peered out.
It was time to take care of Scott after all the protection he’d provided for her, Nicole thought.
Yeah, I’m home, Bernadette. Time for you to hightail it out of here.
Holding Nicole’s hand, Scott walked her up to the front door, ready to toss Bernadette out. He hoped he didn’t have to call the police, but he was ready to do so if necessary. He twisted the door handle. Bernadette stood in the living room, glowering at him as he opened the door. “Where’d you dig up another cougar?” Bernadette asked.
He was frowning, smelling the scent of another man in the house. “Okay, pack your bags. You have family to stay with, and you’re not welcome here.”
“Ask her about Tom. He’s been here!” Then Nicole headed for the kitchen. “Did you want some coffee?”
“Sure, honey.”
Bernadette narrowed her eyes at him. “He likes it with two scoops of sugar because of his mean nature.”
“Why was Tom in my home?” He glanced down at her narrow waistline.
Bernadette immediately went on the defensive. “I’m not showing yet. I just found out I’m pregnant.”
Now he wondered if she really was. “Yeah, well, it’s time for you to move along.” He held out his hand. “Key?”
“I’m not leaving, here.”
“Fine, I’ll call the police. They can take you away, for all I care.”
He hadn’t meant to be so harsh, but the woman irked him something fierce. How could she pull this on him?
He stormed into the bedroom and smelled that Tom had been in there and they’d had sex. Furious, Scott grabbed a bag lying by the closet, then threw it on the bed. Shoving everything he could find of hers into it, he fought the fury that rose in his veins. Her overbearing perfume filled the room and he knew she was watching him from the doorway, but he ignored her. When he thought he had it all, he stared at a used condom lying partially hidden under the bed skirt.
He used a pen to pick it up and held it up to her. “From your last guy? Tom?”
Her green eyes couldn’t have sharpened to the point any more than they did as she glared at him. “It must be yours. I haven’t seen it before.”
“It’s not mine. So why would you need one, if you’re pregnant already? Doing it with guys who have sexually transmitted diseases now?” He strode past her toward the kitchen.
Nicole’s brows rose as he walked into the room with the soiled rubber on the tip of the pen. “Evidence Tom’s been with her, here in my own house.” He pulled out a plastic sandwich bag and shoved the offending item in, then zipped it close. After washing his hands, he returned to the bedroom and grabbed Bernadette’s suitcase.
He held her bag in one hand and grasped her arm with the other as he led her outside to her car.
“I’m not leaving, Scott Weekum.”
“Yeah, well, you already left me and if you haven’t gotten the message, it’s over between us.”
He walked back to the house and closed the front door behind him. “I’ve got to get packed and we need to get out of here.”
“Tom’s been seeing that one woman that I knew of. I had no idea he’d been seeing any others.”
He was incensed beyond reason that Bernadette would have been entertaining men in his home while he was gone. They had to get on the road and hopefully would have a safe journey to Amarillo. “Okay, as soon as I pack, I’ll change the lock on my door, and we can get on our way.”
“What if Tom could really be the father of the child.”
“Possibly. Or she’s not even pregnant.” The notion had never occurred to him that she could have been seeing some other man behind his back. But she did have a place of her own, and there were times she said she couldn’t see him, for one reason or another. He’d never considered she could have lied to him.
He disappeared into his room and tugged a bag out of his closet. When he finished packing, he hurried into the living area to find Nicole changing the lock on the door. He smiled. “I’m marrying a handyman.”
“Sure. I cook too.” She wrinkled her brow and walked over to the coffee table. Picking up a golden wrapper, she said, “Yours?”
“No.”
“Tom sucked on butterscotch candy all the time. This looks just like one of the wrappers.”
“Okay, further evidence. See anything else?”
She pulled out the couch cushions and wrinkled up her nose. “Uhm, do anything exciting on the couch lately?”
He walked over to the couch and bumped heads with her as she peered into the cushions at another used condom. “I’ll get another baggy.”
Not sure what she’d find that might have been his and not someone else’s, he hurried her out the door with his suitcase in hand after bagging the other possible evidence—just in case they needed it.
Nicole’s thoughts reverted to Tom. If he was involved with Bernadette, all she could hope for was the child was his and not Scott’s, if she was even pregnant.
When they returned to the car, Bernadette’s car had already gone, to Nicole’s relief. But she noticed the blue Mustang had disappeared too. Had Tom slipped out the back door when they were entering the house and sneaked out to the car? Bastard.
Now, Nicole and Scott were on their way to Amarillo and hopefully it would be safe.
“It’ll take us ten hours to get home. I guess we got a little later start than I thought. We’ll get in about eight this evening.”
“Do you know how to get there all right?”
“Yeah, I’ve been there from Killeen four times while I’ve been assigned to Fort Hood.”
Nicole reached down for the stuffing from Bambi and ran her fingers through the cottony white stuff. “There sure doesn’t seem to be anything in here. I can’t find a thing.”
“Is anything sewn on the inside of the fabric?”
She turned Bambi inside out. “Nope.” She began stuffing the animal, filling his legs first, then worked the fiberfill into the head next. The body was last. After she finished stuffing him, she rested him under her seat. “Maybe I can sew him up at your mother’s place.”
“I would have figured there was something to the toy.”
“Yeah, me too.”
About halfway to Amarillo, they stopped at Wichita Falls to get another tank of gas and to Nicole’s surprise, Scott offered the wheel to her. She rubbed his shoulder. “Road weary?”
“Yeah, but that sur
e feels good.”
As they continued their journey, he navigated and she finally said, “So you just have a mother and sister and two nephews? You said the father ran off with another woman. A cougar too?”
“Yeah. He hasn’t had a thing to do with the boys, and he doesn’t send support money. I just can’t see it though. The boys are adorable. Of course they take after their Uncle Scott appearance and personality-wise.”
“Ahhh.”
“But they’re cute kids.”
“And Bernadette’s child?”
“If she even has one. I’ll want half custody. I want to be perfectly honest with you.”
“What I don’t understand is if she was a career woman, how she could have gotten pregnant? I mean, if you used protection, surely she used the pill.”
“She said she did.”
“Was she in the same division as us?”
“Yep.”
“Then she might have met Tom sometime in his dealings with other staff. But what I don’t understand is, why would she have left the service if she wanted a career so badly?”
He grabbed his phone. “I’ll see if I can find out.” After punching in some numbers, he said, “Hello, this is Cpt. Weekum, Finance Officer, Fort Hood. I need to speak with Cpt. Copperton.”
A pause followed. Nicole tried to concentrate on the traffic and not on Scott’s conversation.
“Hello, Dick? This is Scott.” He chuckled. “Yeah, listen, I need a favor to ask. You know Cpt. Bernadette Williamson? Yeah, well, she was an ex-girlfriend of mine. No kidding. So she told me she was never leaving the service. Then without cause, she resigns her commission. What’s that all about?”
Nicole wished he’d put the phone on speaker. She was bubbling over with curiosity.
“No shit. You’ve got to be kidding me. Sure, I’ll keep it under my hat. Man, listen I owe you one.” He glanced at Nicole. “I’m getting married. Yep. To one great personnel officer. Captain. Blond, blue-eyed. Can’t reveal anything more or she’s bound to clobber me. Thanks. Call you later.”
Nicole knew her cheeks had to be crimson as hot as they felt. He reached over and ran his hand over her back and the warmth of his touch made her relax. Then she considered what the other officer must have said to Scott. “Okay, what’s the deal with Bernadette?”