The Captain's Baby Bargain

by Merline Lovelace

  “Tough area,” Suze commented with deliberate understatement.

  The Taliban had regained a big patch of Kandahar. The province included the majority of Afghanistan’s opium-producing poppy fields, which the terrorists used to fund their operations. Although the US-led coalition of NATO forces in Kandahar served as “advisors,” they were right there, side by side with their counterparts, when the crap hit the fan.

  The second female was more interested in Cedar Creek’s hot young mayor.

  “Is he as sexy as he looks?”

  Suze laughed. “Sexier.”

  “Wow!”

  She chatted with the evening crew for another ten or fifteen minutes. One Diet Dr Pepper and two ice cream cups later, she was still restless.

  “What floor is the maternity ward on?”

  “This floor, east wing. The nursery’s viewing window will probably be curtained for the night, though.”

  Suze decided to take her chances. After her morning scare, she felt an undefined but deeply visceral need to connect with other mothers, other babies. Dropping her sister-in-law’s name at the east wing’s central station helped. The viewing window was, indeed curtained, but the flick of a switch opened it for a few precious moments.

  The interior of the nursery remained dim, sheathing the plastic bassinets in soft light. Suze rested a palm on her stomach and let her gaze roam the high-tech cradles. Only three were occupied. The scrunch-faced occupants were all asleep. She watched them until Kathy’s friend signaled that she needed to close the curtain and get back to her station.

  Suze waved her thanks and meandered back to her own room. Still restless, she clicked on the TV and was watching an old movie with the soundtrack on low when she got a late visitor. The stranger didn’t knock on the half-closed door, just poked her head inside.

  “I heard your TV, Ms. Hall. May I come in?”

  “Sure.”

  Suze understood why the woman hadn’t knocked when she nudged the door open with one shoulder. Both arms were bandaged up to the elbow.

  “I’m Donna Osborne,” she said, confirming Suze’s instant guess. “Your husband came to visit me earlier. He said you were here.”

  Suze clicked off the TV and swung her feet off the bed so she could sit up and face her visitor. “I’m so sorry about your husband.”

  Tears filmed the woman’s tired eyes. “I still can’t believe he’s gone.”

  Suze was searching for the right words in the face of such raw grief when Donna Osborne showed she had a core of steel.

  “I could’ve lost my boys, too,” she said, blinking back her tears. “I almost did. So although all I want to do is howl and scream and pound my head against the wall, I have to be strong for them.”

  “How are they doing?”

  “The oldest’s burns are superficial, thank God. My mom flew in from Chicago this morning and will stay here at the healthplex with him. I’m transferring to Baptist tomorrow to be closer to my baby.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Suze said again.

  “Me, too.” Donna let down her guard for a moment, and her face took on a haunted look. “It was such a stupid, stupid accident.”

  Suze could’ve said that, in her experience, most accidents were pretty damned stupid. Instead, she gestured to the chair beside her bed.

  “Would you like to sit down?”

  Donna pulled herself together again and shook her head. “No, I need to get back upstairs. I just wanted to thank you. Your husband told me what you did. To help put out the fire. I couldn’t sleep wondering if you’re in the hospital because of...because of us.”

  “No. It’s something else entirely.”

  Donna nodded, obviously relived. “Well, that’s one less guilt I have to carry on my heart. Whatever the problem is, I hope you’re better soon.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And please tell your husband that I appreciate everything he’s done for me and the boys more than I can ever say. I can’t believe he’s accomplished so much so quickly.”

  “He has?”

  “He didn’t tell you? He notified the insurance company for me. And talked to our church about organizing a clothing and toy drive. He’s also assured me...” her eyes blurred again “...that someone from the medical examiner’s office will contact me about when we can make funeral arrangements.” She managed a wobbly smile. “He’s a good man, Captain.”

  “I think so, too.”

  “Cedar Creek’s lucky to have him.”

  Gabe was right, Suze thought when her unexpected visitor left. They did need to work on their communication skills. He hadn’t told her about any of his activity on behalf of the Osbornes. Then again, she hadn’t asked. Probably because she’d been so wrapped up in her own worries that she hadn’t given any thought to his.

  She lay awake as the clock ticked toward midnight, then one. Her body still sagged with residual tiredness but her mind swirled with everything that had happened in the past few days. The past few weeks, actually. In that short space of time, her world had turned upside down. So had Gabe’s. And until this moment, they’d both been operating from their individual but separate perspectives.

  Those searing few moments with Donna Osborne now had Suze reviewing every decision and questioning every step in the process. She finally dozed off and slept as well as anyone could in a hospital until her mom rapped lightly on her door.

  “Hi, sweetie.”

  A quick glance at the clock showed it was barely six thirty. “Hi, Mom. What are you doing here so early?”

  “Delivering the fresh-baked cinnamon-raisin rolls I promised. I wanted to be sure the night crew got some before they went off duty at seven. Dad’s distributing them now. He’ll be here in a minute.”

  “Hope he saves some for me!”

  “Of course.” She tipped her daughter a worried glance. “How did last night go? Any more spotting?”

  “No.”

  “Thank God! Dad and I said some heavy prayers for you and our grandbaby.”

  “I said a few myself.”

  “Does Gabe know?”

  “Not yet. I didn’t want to call and wake him this early.”

  “Uh-oh. I called to tell him about the cinnamon rolls. He’s on his way in. And I thought you might want to freshen up before he gets here.” She dug into a tote splashed with embroidered hollyhocks almost as colorful as the streaks in her hair. “I brought you a hairbrush and a toothbrush. Some clean underwear, too, although it looks like you’ve already had a change of clothes.”

  “These are Kathy’s scrubs. She brought them by before she went off duty last night.”

  “She’s got a kind heart, even if she did say some rather disparaging things about you after the divorce.”

  “We talked about that.”

  Suze wanted to ask her mom if she’d heard anything about Kathy and her husband but refrained. That flash of pain she’d spotted in her sister-in-law’s eyes made the topic too private, too personal.

  Once she’d washed her face and brushed both her teeth and her hair, though, she did ask about Cedar Creek’s community activities in support of Donna Osborne and her boys.

  “The whole town’s rallied,” Mary Jackson reported. “For the Osbornes and the other families whose homes were damaged. The Kellys and the Sugarmans have moved into the Comfort Inn temporarily. We’re having a bake sale at our church today to cover the cost of their rooms. The Methodist Church is soliciting contributions for Walmart gift cards so they can buy what they need in the interim, and Ruby’s offered free meals until they get settled. Oh, and Alicia Johnson’s been a whirlwind. As soon as she and Dave Forrester got back from Texas, she lined up rentals for both families and arm twisted the owners into giving the first three months rent free. I have to tell you, Suzanne, I could never warm up to Alicia when you were girls. And,” she added with a sniff, “I certainly didn’t like the way she threw herself at Gabe after the divorce. My opinion’s changing, though.”

  “M
ine, too.”

  “Really? What...? Oh, good. Here’s your dad.”

  She jumped up to relieve him of an extra-large Tupperware carrier so he could give his daughter a kiss. “Cute teddy bears,” he said, eyeing her borrowed scrubs. “Where’d you get them?”

  “Kathy. She stopped by when she got off work last night.” Suze twitched her nose, closed her eyes and floated on a heavenly scent. “Oh, my Lord, Mom. Those rolls smell incredible. Do we have to wait for Gabe?”

  “Hell, yes, you do,” her husband answered from the door.

  He elbowed the door open, double-stacked coffee containers in both hands. He yielded the top ones from each hand to her parents before dropping a kiss on Suze’s nose.

  “Morning, wife.”

  “Morning, husband.”

  His gaze raked her face. “You look a little better than when I left you last night.”

  Suze wished she could say the same. He’d obviously showered and shaved, but the lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth seemed to have taken up permanent residence.

  “Did you get any sleep last night?” she asked.

  “Some. How about you?”

  “Off and on.”

  “How’s our little Peanut?”

  The worry in his eyes belied the flippant question. A smile spread across her heart as she reassured him. “Still holding his or her own.”

  “So we’re celebrating,” her mom announced as she popped the top on the Tupperware container. “Sugar all around.”

  “Oh, Mary. Bless you.”

  Relief etched in every line of his face, Gabe closed his eyes and dragged in the scent of cinnamon, raisins and hundred-proof sugar icing.

  “If I wasn’t married to your daughter and your husband wasn’t standing three feet away, I’d beg you to run away with me. All you’d have to do for the rest of your life is flip blueberry pecan pancakes and bake cinnamon rolls.”

  “Don’t be so ridiculous.” The scold didn’t match her mom’s delighted smile. “You don’t need to suck up to me. You’ve already got my vote.”

  Suze knew her mother had tossed out the comment carelessly, without thinking. Yet the barb dug deep. She popped a soft, doughy bite studded with raisins and dripping with sugary frosting into her mouth, then reached for her coffee to wash it down. The brew was strong and black, just the way she liked it. Just the way Gabe always fixed it for her.

  Without warning, her mind flashed back to their chance meeting in Arizona. The unplanned stop at McDonald’s. Her husband waiting with a coffee in each hand when she’d come out of the ladies’ room. He’d remembered how she liked her coffee then, too. He’d remembered everything.

  The confused, conflicting thoughts that had tumbled though her head during the sleepless hours last night coalesced. The brief, middle of the night talk with Donna Osborne had added a sharper focus to choices facing her and Gabe.

  Like the bits of a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle, they fell into place. And for the first time since she’d come home, Suze caught a clear, unclouded glimpse of her future.

  She eased into it slowly, carefully. Between sips of the life-giving caffeine. “Donna Osborne came to see me last night.”

  “Seriously?” Gabe frowned. “She didn’t look strong enough to get out of bed when I saw her yesterday afternoon.”

  “She was still in pretty bad shape. Both hands and arms were bandaged, and her grief seemed as though it was tearing her apart.”

  Her mom tch-tched in sympathy. “She and the boys will have a long road to recovery, emotionally and physically. Yesterday at the church we were talking about how we could help.”

  “Mom mentioned that Alicia has lined up rentals for the two families whose homes were damaged,” Suze told Gabe. “Do you know if she’s found anything for the Osbornes?”

  “As a matter of fact, I was going to talk to you about that today.” He polished off his roll and swiped his hands on a napkin. “I’d like to offer Donna my place until the boys are both well and she decides whether she’s going to stay in Oklahoma or move back to Chicago to be closer to her folks. We’ll be on our way to Arizona this time next week, so the timing should work.”

  “I thought of that, too, and it seemed like a perfect solution. There’s just one problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You won’t be going to Arizona.”

  The hand holding Gabe’s coffee cup stopped halfway to his mouth. “You want to run that by me again?”

  “I’m putting in my papers as soon as I get back to base.”

  Gabe went completely still, his eyes locked with hers. “When did you decide that?”

  “Last night. After I talked to Donna Osborne.”

  “You don’t think that’s something we should discuss and decide together?”

  The terse question turned her mom’s expression from puzzled to worried. She glanced at her daughter, then her son-in-law and back again.

  “What papers?” she wanted to know. “What are you talking about?”

  They ignored her.

  “I said last night we needed to improve our communications skills,” Gabe said, each word clipped. “Maybe we should start with yours.”

  Flustered by the sudden tension in the air, her mom fisted her hands on her hips. “What papers, Suzanne?”

  “C’mon, Mary.” Her husband hooked a hand in her elbow and tugged her toward the door. “I’ll explain outside. Let’s get some fresh coffee and give them some privacy.”

  She went, but they could hear her wail from halfway down the corridor. “What papers?”

  “Okay,” Gabe said, his eyes still cool and flat. “It’s just us, Suze. How about telling me why you’ve decided to separate from active duty and, oh, by the way, unilaterally reverse the course of our lives.”

  “Would you buy super-ultra-hyper hormones?”

  “Suzanne...”

  “Hey, it was worth a shot.”

  “Dammit!” His growl was all the more effective for being low and furious. “First you don’t bother to tell me about the spotting. Now this?”

  “I’m sorry, Gabe. I am, really. It was just so late, and Kathy said not to worry. And you were gone when I got up the next morning.”

  “Don’t give me that bull. We both have cell phones, don’t we?”

  “Okay, I screwed up on that one.” Sighing, she tipped her chin toward the chair pulled up next to the bed. “Can we at least sit down while I try to unscrew this one?”

  She perched on the edge of the bed. Gabe faced her, his knees spaced between hers. His expression wasn’t quite as taut as it had been a few moments ago but hadn’t completely thawed yet.

  “When I drove home to Oklahoma to tell you about the baby,” she said slowly, trying to reduce her thoughts to an understandable logic, “I figured we’d work out amicable custody and visitation terms. And I knew you well enough to feel sure you’d take over as custodial parent if and when I deployed.”

  His lip curled. “Good to know you had such confidence in me.”

  “Okay, I deserve that. But I swear, Gabe, I never imagined, never dreamed, that you’d want to be such a big part of our baby’s life that you’d quit your teaching job, resign as mayor and move to Arizona. Looking back, I think I was so surprised that I just grabbed at the offer with both hands.”

  “So what’s changed?”

  “Lots of things, but mostly my perception of the kind of the life we could build together in Cedar Creek.”

  She slicked her palms over her knees, then bridged the short distance from her thighs to his. His muscles were hard to her touch, his jeans stretched taut across them.

  “You’re a natural at your elected position, Mr. Mayor. You care, you’re not afraid to get down and dirty, and you make things happen. Everyone says the next step is the state legislature. Then maybe the governor’s office. But what’s even more important to me is how you shape young minds.”

  She smiled at the memories.

  “I kept thinking of
the teachers who pushed and prodded me. Very Scary Mrs. Lee. Remember her?”

  “Our seventh grade math teacher? Like I could forget.”

  “And my advanced physics prof our sophomore year at OU. If not for him, I wouldn’t be an engineer—or be wearing captain’s bars.”

  “Yeah, well, let’s talk about those captain’s bars. You said you intended to put in your papers. Does that mean you’re quitting the Air Force completely? Or are you thinking about the Guard or Reserve?”

  “I’d like to apply for the full-time vacancy coming up at the 137th. There’s no guarantee I’ll get it. I’m pretty junior compared to some of the folks out there. And if I do, I’ll probably have to deploy at times, depending on the world crisis or natural disaster.”

  Gabe searched her face. He knew how much this intrepid woman thrived on challenges, the tougher the better. “What if you don’t get the job at the 137th? What if you’re stuck playing mommy in Cedar Creek for the rest of your life?”

  As soon as the words were out, he realized how stupid they were.

  “Oh, hell! Of course you won’t stay stuck in Cedar Creek. If the 137th job doesn’t pan out, you’ll go to work for Dave Forrester and end up managing his entire conglomerate. Or get appointed to an international commission chartered to extract water from hot air in Africa. Or, hey, join the NASA team that wants to construct a laser highway to the moon.”

  Laughing, she didn’t deny any of possibilities. “I’m thinking I could also lobby for the director of the EPA position when my husband wins a seat in the US Senate.”

  Gabe leaned forward and framed her face with his palms. “Tell me the truth, Suze. If the 137th job doesn’t come through, can you really hang up your uniform with no regrets?”

  “No regrets at all? Probably not. I love the camaraderie. And the sense of being part of something bigger than myself. You and the baby will just have to push me down a career path that provides that same level of satisfaction.”

  He blew a soundless whistle. “Looks like the kid and I have a job cut out for us.”

  “Yeah, you do.” She angled her head and pressed a kiss on his palm. “So...are we good?”

  “About staying in Cedar Creek? You know the answer to that. About how we got to that point? Not hardly.”