True Love

by Natalie Ann

  Nancy laughed and winked at him. “You’ll have to work on her. Little Ms. ‘I’m good on my own’ needs to learn to accept when she can lean on a shoulder now and again.”

  “I’ll work on it,” he said, glad to know he might have an ally in his corner.

  “She’s been fed and cleaned up and is ready to go,” Nancy said.

  “Jay,” Kayla said, reaching her arms toward him now. He was wondering if she was going to acknowledge his presence and was trying not to be hurt by it. But she hadn’t seen her mommy in longer than ever before and he understood that took precedence over a man she’d only known a few weeks.

  “Hey, cutie pie,” he said, reaching his arms out for hers. She easily switched over and settled on his hip.

  “Gifts,” she said.

  “Shhhhh.” He was shocked she remembered that. About the little talk he had with her the other day.

  “Oh,” Nancy said, “that reminds me. Kayla, are you forgetting something?”

  “Down,” Kayla said, wiggling in his arms. He bent over and let her have her way.

  She ran back into the house and came out with a piece of paper in her hand and handed it to Shelby. Shelby reached for it and he could see it was a picture of Kayla’s hands, traced, and what looked like stickers of flowers around a bunch of scribbles. “Happy Mother’s Day,” Kayla said.

  “We had fun drawing it for you last night,” Nancy said. “We figured it’d be better than me grabbing a card at the store from Kayla.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Shelby said. “I’m going to put it on the fridge with all the other drawings that Kayla does for me. Thank you for remembering.”

  “I’d never forget. Even if my own kids did,” Nancy said frowning.

  “It’s early yet,” Shelby said. “I’m sure they’ll call.”

  “We’ll see,” Nancy said, then turned to him. “Did you remember?”

  “I did,” he said. “My mother received her gift yesterday when we spoke. I’ll talk to her tonight too.”

  “That’s a good boy. Any man that remembers his mother is always a keeper.”

  Jared laughed. Shelby blushed. Then the three of them made their way back to Shelby’s to get a start on their day.

  ***

  Shelby was trying not to be embarrassed by Nancy’s words. She didn’t need Jared to feel pressured to take care of her. To do anything for her. She just wanted a companion. A mate. Someone special for her. Maybe even for Kayla.

  She wasn’t having long-term thoughts in her head. Much. Or yet. However much she wanted to think about it.

  Been there and done that. As much as she wanted to again, she wasn’t jumping this time. She wasn’t looking for someone to save her. She saved herself. She could save herself.

  “Let’s get together a beach bag,” Jared said.

  “What?” she asked when they were back at her house.

  “I have plans for the day. Kayla wanted to go to the beach. She planned this day with me.”

  Shelby felt her heart flutter at those words. That Jared planned this day with her daughter. A day for them as a family as much as it was supposed to be a day for her—the mother. Maybe she needed to loosen up. Maybe her daughter needed someone other than her in her life.

  Or maybe she needed to push those thoughts out of her head knowing she was teaching her daughter how to be independent.

  “Well then, let me get Kayla’s suit and some towels, sunscreen and beach toys. Are you sure you’re ready for this? There’s a lot of stuff to put together.”

  “Not a problem. I’ve got a big enough vehicle for it all.”

  “Let me get my cooler and put together some sandwiches for lunch. I know it’s early, but if we get hungry we’ll be all set.”

  “Nope. It’s all covered. Just get yours and Kayla’s stuff. I’ll go get my swimsuit and change now too.”

  When he came back in the house, Shelby was putting drinks in a cooler. She could tell he wanted to tell her not to bother but held his tongue. It made her feel better to prepare, and she knew what her daughter would want. She wasn’t used to relying on someone for things. Or anything at all now.

  Just before ten, everyone was all set in Jared’s vehicle and on the road. He pulled into a cafe and said, “Hang on. I’ll be right back.”

  “What the heck is in there? That’s a big bag.”

  “Just lunch. I’ve got it covered,” he said again.

  They drove a little further to the beach by the bridge. It wasn’t as packed as she expected it to be, but then again, it was still early and most people were probably taking their mothers to breakfast or brunch. She remembered those days, making breakfast for her mother. Never going out. Never being seen as a family in public. They were long gone too.

  “Where is everyone today?” she asked.

  “The cafe was packed. Maybe it’s just really early for the beach. For now, we can get a nice prime spot.”

  Shelby carried her bag with towels and beach toys, while Jared grabbed an umbrella with her little cooler of drinks. “I’ll come back for the food when we’re ready for it,” he said.

  Kayla was tugging on her hand for her to move faster. Kayla loved the beach and Shelby was happy this was the plan that had been made. That Jared even thought to ask Kayla in the first place. It was going to be the first Mother’s Day she’d ever really celebrated for her and it was going to be perfect. She just knew it.

  A few hours later, lunch was eaten and cleaned up. Jared had gone all out. He didn’t just get sandwiches, but a few salads and chips and even three cupcakes. “I figured it was easier than a cake.”

  “It’s great. Awesome. I can’t thank you enough. Not just for today, but the whole weekend.”

  “Well, I don’t need any thanks for last night. That was for me too.” The boyish grin he was sending her had her body heating up once again. “And as for today, I might have been a bit selfish wanting to see you in a bathing suit.”

  Now the heat filled her face. She’d never felt she was anything special. She was on the small side, but that was because she never sat still. Chasing a two-year-old around and working nonstop, doing everything in the house that needed to be done, burned a lot of calories.

  She only owned one bathing suit. A blue two-piece. Nothing fancy. Just plain bottoms and a triangle top. She wasn’t even sure it was going to fit and was nervous putting it on. She’d bought it before she was pregnant, something she thought Ethan would enjoy seeing on her.

  He’d told her she looked nice and the color was pretty, but it didn’t inspire any touches or grabs. Not like it did with Jared. Not the way Jared’s eyes lit up and roamed from her breasts and down. Or when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. “Just need to mark my territory so no one else has any ideas,” he’d said, winking.

  It made her feel good. Desired. And what woman—mother—didn’t want to feel desired in life?

  “Don’t look too closely or you’ll see my stretch marks.”

  There wasn’t anything she could do about the faint white lines on the sides of her waist, but they weren’t as bad as they could be. Of course he saw everything last night. But this was different. This time they were in public and not lost in the throws of passion.

  “Please. Do we need to compare scars?”

  “Yours are sexy. You got them being a hero.”

  “Being a mother. Carrying a child. That has its own marks of strength and heroism.”

  It was nice of him to think that, even if she didn’t feel that way. She never had any reason to.

  “How long did you want to stay?” Shelby asked, noticing Kayla rubbing her eyes. They were pushing naptime and Kayla hadn’t slowed down once in the three hours they’d been here.

  “You tell me when you want to leave.”

  “I don’t want this day to end, but Kayla needs a nap or she’ll be a bear later.”

  “Okay. One more thing then. Kayla, do you want to give Mommy her gift?”

 
; “Yes,” Kayla said, running to his side. Of course she didn’t have far to run, not with Jared building castles with her and bringing her down to the water and letting Shelby just relax back and enjoy the day. Kayla had been pretty much glued to Jared’s hip all day. When was the last time she had a day that she wasn’t running herd on a toddler?

  “Gift? Jared, you’ve done more than enough,” she said.

  “This isn’t from me. It’s from Kayla. She told me what she wanted you to have.”

  Shelby rolled her eyes playfully knowing he was just making that up. But when he pulled a small box out of the bag he’d had his things in, she was stunned. She wasn’t expecting any kind of jewelry. What the heck could he be thinking?

  Kayla took it out of his hand and walked it over to her, then sat on her lap, while Shelby pulled the paper off and flipped the lid. It was a gold necklace with the word “Mom” in cursive. In the center of the O was a light green stone. Kayla’s birthstone for August.

  “This is too much,” she said, her hand shaking. She’d never had anything like this. She didn’t want him spending his money on her.

  “No, it’s not. It’s from Kayla,” he said, grinning again.

  “I don’t know what to say.” Her throat was starting to clog. For a first Mother’s Day, this one was taking the cake, but she felt she needed to protest just a bit more. She didn’t want him to think he had to buy her things. “Jared. You really shouldn’t have. We haven’t known each other that long.”

  “Stop and just say thank you. But it was all Kayla’s idea. She picked it out.”

  She tilted her head. No way. Jared had never had Kayla anywhere without her. “I’m not buying that.”

  “She picked it out on my phone,” he said.

  “Oh.” That was possible. “Jared. You really shouldn’t have. This had to cost a lot of money.”

  He sighed. “It’s probably not nearly enough for what you deserve. But since you’ve given me so much in such a short period of time, then I was glad to be able to do this for you.”

  Yeah. She was going to cry. She hadn’t cried in years. But these were tears of happiness. Something she’d never done before.

  Annoyed or Thrilled

  “Come on in, Jared.”

  He pushed away from the doorframe he’d just knocked on and walked into the admiral’s office. “Is it a good time?”

  “Perfect. I just finished up something and figured you’d be by before your class this morning. Just the one for this block, right?”

  He nodded. “Since it’s condensed, it’s a longer class time, but still the same amount of work.”

  “You’ll do fine. How are your parents doing?”

  “They’re good. I talked to my mother last night. My father was out grilling dinner for her.”

  Kevin and his father met in college and had been friends ever since, but neither of them ever shared that information with anyone. No one needed to know how close the admiral and Jared really were. He didn’t want anyone to think there was favoritism.

  “Do you wish you went home for the weekend to be with your family?”

  His siblings were there for Mother’s Day, but it would have been too much travel for a short period of time. Besides, he wasn’t about to give up the plans he had with Shelby.

  “It worked out. They knew I was starting classes today and just finished up last week. They plan on coming to visit sometime this summer.”

  “Your father told me.”

  “When did you talk to him?” Jared asked, frowning.

  “A few weeks ago. Just an email. No, he wasn’t checking in on you. It had to do with something completely different.”

  Jared wanted to call the admiral a liar, but never would. He hated the worry his parents had when he entered the Navy, and how it magnified after the explosion. They were hoping he’d leave and get a job in the private sector. It wasn’t what he wanted. He liked where he was. Or he thought he did.

  Now he just needed to find another place to like here. He wasn’t sure teaching was it, but agreed to give it one full year.

  “So what’s this project you wanted to talk to me about?”

  Kevin pulled a folder out of his desk and slid it over. “It’s highly confidential. The Navy is looking into a different assault rifle to take in the field. They’re looking to test them, but before we get to that stage we want all the specs and want them broken down from every angle.”

  Jared opened the file to see simple basic designs and dimensions for the nasty-looking weapon with more power behind it than anything he’d handled before; he could tell right away. “You want me to look these over? There’s not much here right yet.”

  “That’s part of it; when we get everything else. That’s all they’re willing to release at the moment for obvious reasons. It’d have to be done in DC. We don’t want that file off-site. We’re getting a team together to go test them out and are waiting for clearance. Everything should be set by the time your class block is done in a few weeks. If you decide you want to do this, you’ll need to travel with the team to the vendor site, then DC for the rest. Once there, they will release more specs, but not everything. That’s where you’ll come in and break it down and test it before they get a full commitment.”

  “What about my classes for the second block?” he asked, feeling some excitement.

  If he’d learned one thing in the time he’d known Shelby, it was to change and alter course when needed, but not to let it bring you down. He’d let too much bring him down already and he was ready to be done with it. This might be a step in the right direction.

  “If you agree, they’ll fill that class with another professor.”

  “How long would I be gone?”

  “Just a week or two. Not long.”

  “Why me?” he asked, sitting back. “Am I the only engineer on this?”

  “You won’t be the only one. One other out of DC and both of you were hand selected. And why you? Because you’re the best there is here. I know it and so do others.”

  “You suggested me?” he asked, wondering if he should be annoyed or thrilled over it.

  “Actually, I didn’t.” When Jared frowned, Kevin just laughed at him. “I know how you feel about anyone knowing our connection. Your name has come up a few times in different circles. The minute it was for this, I felt like it was a good time to jump in and give my opinion.”

  Jared knew that was all it would take. Anyone the admiral endorsed was normally signed on.

  “When do you want me to start?”

  “So you’ll do it?”

  “Yeah. I think I need to. I like the teaching more than I thought, but I need to know if there is something more out there for me. Something else. I don’t want to settle.”

  “You’ve never been someone to settle for anything in your life, Jared. Why do you think you are now?”

  He shrugged, not wanting to go into it right now. His internal struggles were solely his and probably trivial to some. “I just want to look at all avenues.”

  “That sounds like you.”

  Jared hesitated for a minute and finally said, “Can I ask you a favor?” He hated asking anyone for anything, but Kevin was the only one he felt he could go to for this.

  “Anything.”

  “I’ve been seeing someone.” Kevin grinned, forcing Jared to too. “She’s a widow. Her husband was in the Navy. Died about two years ago or so. I just wanted to know if you could tell me something about him or what happened. What he was even doing here in Annapolis.”

  “You haven’t asked her?”

  “I haven’t wanted to. She’s brought him up. Talks about him openly, but I get this underlying feeling that asking too many specifics might make her question my reasoning.”

  Kevin pushed back. “What is your reasoning?”

  “I’m not sure. She’s really strong. Very independent—almost annoyingly so—but I have a feeling she hasn’t always been. She’d said she was looking for an escape from her fam
ily. I don’t even know why. It seems like they had a good relationship, but maybe not a strong one. That maybe her independence came after actually meeting him.”

  “And that bothers you?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I’m confused. I just wanted to know about him.”

  Kevin inched closer to his computer. “What’s his name?”

  “Ethan McDonald.”

  Jared was quiet while Kevin hit a few keys and then seemed to be reading stuff over. “Nothing major here. Looks like he was a seaman. Maintenance work really. That’s what he was transferred here for. Maintenance of the grounds. He was at sea and there was an accident below deck.”

  “What kind of accident?”

  “It says that a pipe burst and when he was cleaning up, he slipped and fell, hit his head. There were witnesses and it was ruled an accident. Do you think it was something else?”

  “Not at all. I just wasn’t sure.” He got the feeling Ethan was just a body. Not one that wanted to fight. Not one that wanted to serve his country. Just one looking for a way out of the life he had.

  There was nothing wrong with that. Everyone had their own reasons for enlisting, but it surprised him that Shelby ended up with someone like Ethan. Someone that didn’t seem to strive for much. Someone so different than him. Was that the appeal for Shelby now? Or was he just over analyzing it?

  “Was he ever deployed?”

  “He’d never been to war. Just out to sea. He was assigned here doing work on the grounds when he wasn’t out to sea, like I said.”

  “So he wasn’t here long?”

  “No. A few months before the accident. Why all the questions? What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to know more about him.” Hoping to maybe figure out more about Shelby, but now he realized it was stupid on his part. Shelby was her own woman. Just because she hadn’t been married to Ethan long, and they didn’t see much of each other didn’t mean there was anything to look for.

  He guessed if he was honest with himself, he was hunting for ghosts. For what he needed to fight for or was up against in winning Shelby over. And admitting that to himself was downright scary.