“I didn’t want to wake you,” he said. “I’ve got an early meeting.”
“Come here.” She beckoned him with her finger.
“If I do that, I’m going to be late.” He moved toward her anyway.
“I just want a kiss,” she said. And to be held again before he left for the day. After they made love, she’d slept in his arms until he’d woken her to do it again. She’d been a willing participant both times and was already looking forward to tonight. The sex was great, always had been with Zach, but she also loved having him in her bed, his body warm and hard next to hers. She felt safe, protected. No one else had ever made her feel that way. She wondered again how she’d let him go before.
He sat on the edge of the bed, and she scooted toward him. The sheet slipped to her waist as she moved. His eyes followed it down, and he swallowed, a slight flush coming to his tanned cheeks.
“See something you like?” she teased.
“You make it hard to leave you,” he said, lifting the sheet and tucking it around her chest, his hands lingering on her.
“Austin’ll be up soon. Our time would be limited, but still…” She stroked his freshly shaven cheek. His aftershave had a spicy, masculine scent she remembered well.
He chuckled, catching her fingers and kissing them. “Patience. We have tonight.”
“And tomorrow night?” she asked before she could stop herself. She didn’t mean to sound needy. She wasn’t a woman who begged for a man’s attention.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured her before pulling her to him and kissing her, a long kiss that ended only when they heard Austin stirring in his bed. Zach rested his forehead against hers while they listened to their son’s happy babbling.
“I’ll get him this morning. If he sees you, he won’t want you to go,” she said. Austin was plenty attached to his daddy already. Carolyn got out of bed and pulled on a robe while Zach watched her, desire in his eyes. What she wouldn’t give for another hour alone with him.
“Do you want me to pick him up at Nina’s after I get off work?” Zach asked. His day usually finished before hers, so he’d bought a car seat and often picked Austin up.
“He’ll be with my mom today, and I want to ask her about a paper I found in that box in the attic last night. Can you meet me at her house after work?”
“No problem.” He kissed her one last time before leaving.
Later in the day, they arrived at her mother’s house at the same time and walked in the door together. Austin was sitting on Faith’s lap, flipping through pages in a book.
“Look who’s here,” Faith said to Austin, who squirmed to get down as soon as he spotted them.
Austin went to Zach first, arms extended upward. Zach picked him up, giving him a hug and a kiss before holding him out for Carolyn’s kiss.
“You three look good together,” Faith commented with arched eyebrows.
“We do,” Carolyn said, leaving it at that. She knew her mother’s game, but she wasn’t willing to give out too much information about her relationship with Zach just yet—which didn’t prevent him from grinning at her behind Austin’s back.
“I think Austin’s never been happier, too,” her mother insisted.
“He’s always been a happy baby,” Carolyn countered, which was true. Happy, cooperative, leaving her little fear of the coming terrible twos, despite the many warnings she’d heard.
“So I’m having no effect on my son’s life?” Zach whispered while Faith went to grab some toys for Austin.
“I didn’t say that,” she responded with a smile. “I think you’ve had a big impact on his life…and mine.”
“Good.” He stole a kiss just before Faith returned with a bag of toys and Austin wanted down to play. “I’ll get the box from your car.” Zach touched her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze before going out.
“It’s not my business, but…” Faith commented as soon as Zach was out the door.
“Mom, give us some time.” Carolyn stopped her with a good-humored warning. She and Zach were moving quickly to a reconciliation, but they’d spent nearly two years apart, and she wasn’t ready to discuss their future with her mother when she and Zach hadn’t even talked about it yet.
“Okay. I still think he’s a keeper, though.” The front door opened, and Faith clamped her lips shut until Zach came back in the room.
“Where would you like them?” he asked.
“Oh, not another old batch of papers. I should have shredded that stuff years ago.” Faith groaned as Zach placed the box on the coffee table in front of them before plopping down on the floor to play with Austin.
“Maybe,” Carolyn agreed, “but it’s been an interesting read. I came across this one last night.” Carolyn pulled the paper from the top of the box and held it out to her mother. Carolyn had reread it that morning to make sure her quick perusal the evening before had been accurate. She had, in all fairness, been distracted by Zach and the possibilities that lay between them. “You never told me that you owned a jewelry store before All That Sparkles.”
When her mother’s face fell, Carolyn wished she’d broached the subject differently. She’d almost called her sister earlier to see what she knew but decided their mother might have kept it a secret for a reason. Now Carolyn was sure of it. What could be so bad about having had a different store?
“I guess I should have told you about that years ago. You’ve been an adult for a long time, after all. It’s just so…” Her mother shuddered, obviously upset by it.
“You don’t have to explain.” Carolyn tried to take the paper back and stuff it in the box.
“No, I do,” Faith said firmly, catching Carolyn’s hand. Faith took the paper, smoothing it against her knee. “You should know.”
“Let’s go outside, buddy.” Zach picked Austin up. “It’s a beautiful day out there.”
“Thanks,” Carolyn mouthed to him before he headed out the French doors onto the back patio.
“He’s a good man,” her mother said once they were out of earshot.
“I know,” Carolyn readily agreed. She was grateful to have him back in her life. She pulled her attention back to the paper her mother still held. “Mom, you don’t have to tell me about it if it’s none of my business.”
Her mother sighed. “You deserve an explanation. If it were simply a poor business decision that I made, I wouldn’t mind, but it’s wrapped up in sordid details I’ve tried to hide from you and Charlotte.”
Carolyn couldn’t imagine her mother being involved in anything unsavory, so she waited for her to continue.
“When you were very young, I started a jewelry business with a friend of mine. I thought she was my best friend. Her name was Marta Huntly. We’d met when we both worked for Tiffin’s Department Store. I was in jewelry, of course, and Marta sold perfumes and cosmetics. Anyway, we decided to go out on our own. I put up most of the capital to buy merchandise and rent a storefront. Overall, it went pretty well for the two years we were in business, but only if I was constantly in the store. Marta wasn’t the type to do her fair share, as I quickly learned.”
“Were you forced to close?” Carolyn asked. Small businesses failed frequently, especially new ones.
“We could have made it, but…” Her mother seemed to take a moment to gather herself. “You aren’t going to like this part of the story.”
“Tell me,” Carolyn said, her suspicions running wild.
“I was headed out of town for a trade show,” her mother said slowly, “when my flight was canceled at the last minute. I returned home, planning to fly out the next morning. You and Charlotte were with my mother, thank goodness. When I arrived, Marta’s car was in the driveway. I thought that was odd, because she was supposed to be managing the store, but I let myself into the house and went upstairs…”
A sick feeling churned through Carolyn’s stomach. She remembered that trip to Grandma’s house that got extended for several days. When it was over, her parents sat her do
wn and told her that they were filing for divorce. “You found Marta with Dad.” She filled in the blank so her mother didn’t have to.
“I did. In our bed.” Faith paused. “I was angry with both of them, and then I felt hurt and foolish for not having realized. Of course, they claimed they were in love. The affair had been going on for more than a year.”
“Do you think they loved each other?” Sadly, Carolyn didn’t know her father well enough to guess.
“No,” Faith said with a rueful smile. “They lasted less than a year together after the divorce. Your father, I’m sorry to say it, loved himself above all others and always had a wandering eye. I don’t think Marta was the only woman he was with during our marriage.”
“God, that’s awful,” Carolyn said. She hated the thought of not being able to trust the man in her life. She glimpsed Zach and Austin out the window. They were feet apart, tossing a red ball back and forth. She and Zach had had their differences, but she’d always known she could trust him.
“He was not cut out for family life,” her mother said. “I knew he was bored and restless, but I was so busy running the business and raising you girls.”
“You don’t blame yourself, I hope.” Carolyn was well aware of her father’s shortcomings. As a kid, she’d refused to see him for what he was, always hoping he’d come back and be the father she’d dreamed of. That bubble burst long ago.
“Not anymore. Needless to say,” her mother continued, “we dissolved the business and sold off all the assets. Out of that and the divorce settlement, I was able to pull together the money to open All That Sparkles.”
“That had to have been tough, Mom.” Carolyn could only imagine that kind of betrayal. She’d felt something like that when she thought Zach was abandoning her and their son, but her mother’s experience was far worse.
Tears shimmered in Faith’s eyes. “It was. I lost my husband, my best friend, and my business all at once. But I had you and Charlotte, and I still had the dream of opening my own store.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t do it on your own to start with.”
“Being a young mom and opening a business is scary. I guess I was too frightened to follow my dreams on my own. The chance of failure was too great. After the mess was over, though, I had to do something for myself and you and your sister. I had to be successful.”
“I remember how hard you worked, doing everything yourself and still being there for us,” Carolyn said—remembering, too, how rarely she’d seen her father throughout middle and high school, until he completely disappeared from their lives.
“Those were challenging years.” Her mom managed a smile. “But I wouldn’t trade them. Although I’m enjoying semiretirement and my grandson very much.”
An idea occurred to Carolyn. What if Marta was bitter enough to be causing the trouble at All That Sparkles? The woman might be harboring some seriously sour grapes over losing her stake in a business as well as, eventually, the man she cheated with. She might blame both those things on Faith and be jealous of her success.
“Whatever happened to Marta? Do you know?”
“I had no interest in her once it was over,” her mother said. “Other than hearing that she and your father split, I haven’t a clue, and I want to keep it that way.”
“Mom, could she be behind the sabotage?” Carolyn asked.
Her mother was silent for a minute. “I wouldn’t think so. It was a long time ago. If she’d wanted revenge, I think she would have taken it by now. Besides, she wasn’t all that smart, as I quickly learned. She could smile and show off merchandise, but when it came to transactions and orders, she couldn’t handle it. I think she liked the idea of being in business but knew nothing about running one. I can’t imagine her masterminding a plot like the one you believe is happening.”
You believe? Did her mom not see the recent problems at the store were connected and intentional? Carolyn let it go, not wanting to argue with her mother after she’d revealed the emotionally draining story. At least Zach seemed to believe her. She focused her eyes on him again. It was so good to have him in her corner, her house, her bed. She could enjoy all that goodness a whole bunch more if she knew for sure what was happening with her business and the attempted sabotage.
12
“I’m glad you took today off,” Zach said to her the following Saturday morning.
“I wanted to spend time with my two guys.” She had Austin on her hip as she walked around the kitchen, putting items in a day pack they’d take with them on a hike later. “And Charlotte can handle the store, even if it is busy.”
“How do you know it’s busy?” He narrowed his eyes at her.
“I may have called her to check,” she admitted. He laughed and shook his head. “I have to be involved. It’s my business.” She’d promised to take the entire day off, but it was hard when she was worried about All That Sparkles and making her bottom line. Saturdays were usually high-profit days, what with the weekend shoppers. She reminded herself that customers would make purchases even if she wasn’t in the store, and that Charlotte knew nearly as much about the business as she did.
“I might as well tell you that I heard from Steve earlier.” Zach leaned against the counter.
She’d seen him take a phone call as he checked the backyard after breakfast. “You planned to conceal information from me?”
“No, I just didn’t want our day to get overshadowed by anything, but I feel guilty not conveying what he said. I don’t want to keep secrets from you.”
She was glad he added that sentence. If their relationship was going to survive, honesty had to be at the heart of it. During the week, he’d moved some more items into her house, and he was sleeping in her bed, which made her happy. They were working toward being a family, but they weren’t there yet. She studied him. He looked deceptively casual, one foot crossed over the other. “I’m not going to like it, am I?”
“Afraid not, sweetheart.” He walked toward her, took Austin, and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for her to sit.
“I’m really not going to like this,” she concluded.
He sat across from her, bouncing Austin on his knee. “Steve has serious concerns about your current tech company. He spared me the geek details, but he says their security systems are outdated, meaning that malware and other evil stuff can get through. Some elementary—in his opinion—steps to secure your account were just not taken. And, worst of all, alerts triggered on your email and other systems were suppressed or ignored.”
She gasped. “I pay them a small fortune every year, and they seem so efficient when I talk with them on the phone,” she said, sitting back in her chair.
“They may seem that way, but they aren’t working for you. Steve recommends you dump them,” Zach said. “He gave me the names of places he’d recommend.”
She blew out a breath as she processed the information. Zach was right; she hadn’t wanted to hear any of it. The question was, what was she going to do about it? “I can’t just fire them. I have a contract until the end of the year, unless my lawyer can get me out of it. Can Steve give me proof of their negligence?”
“He can. I’m sorry about this, sweetheart.” He reached across the table, taking her hand.
“Not your fault.” She sighed. “And I guess it’s good to know. Is it connected to my problems, though?”
“Steve couldn’t say for sure yet. He’s still digging.”
“He thinks so, doesn’t he?” At her question, Zach nodded.
“Okay.” She felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. Setting up with a new tech company would take a ton of time and come with up-front costs. She didn’t think her budget would stretch that far. The blows kept coming, enough to make her wallow in self-pity. Until she looked at Zach and Austin across the table from her, with their identical blue eyes and dark hair. Then she remembered she had a whole lot to be thankful for. Austin waved to her, his chubby toddler fingers splayed out, and she smiled at him
.
“We’ll figure this out,” Zach said, squeezing her hand.
“We will.” Sometime in the past week they’d gone from singular to plural. It felt good to have Zach’s help. “I’m still thinking Mom’s former business partner might be behind all this.” After the conversation with her mother about the events of twenty years ago, Carolyn had confided in Zach.
“It was a long time ago,” he pointed out.
“I know, but I can’t think of anyone else who might have a grudge against my family. We’ve never even fired an employee.” Carolyn had combed her memory for any incident, no matter how small, that might be coming back to bite them now. “I really think it could be her.”
“From what your mother said, Marta wasn’t the type to put together a complex revenge scheme. She didn’t appear to have the right psychological makeup for that. And what would be her motivation at this point?”
“I don’t know,” Carolyn said, not letting the idea go. “I just can’t get it out of my head.” Her gut was sending her a message. She’d learned long ago not to ignore those. “I’m going to do a little research.”
“No problem. I’ll keep this guy entertained.” Zach tickled Austin while he spoke. “We’re hiking later, though.”
“I haven’t forgotten. Give me an hour.” While Zach took Austin into the living room to play, Carolyn grabbed her laptop and started searching any information on a Marta Huntly in Sheridan Falls, Virginia. The name wasn’t too common, so she hoped some records would be available.
After following several false leads, she came across an obituary from two years before. Fifty-eight-year-old Marta Huntly had died suddenly at home. It appeared she’d been unmarried at the time of her death, as no spouse was listed. She was survived by a son, Dale, and had been predeceased by a daughter, Gloria. Carolyn’s breath caught in her throat. Despite her feelings about what Marta had done twenty years ago, she wouldn’t wish that kind of grief on anyone. Shuddering, she closed the laptop, wanting nothing more than to hold Austin close.
The SEAL’s Surprise Son: The Admiral’s SEALs Book One Page 8