The SEAL's Stolen Child

by Laura Marie Altom

  “Oh, Eve…” Her friend rounded the desk for a sideways hug. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Wait, it gets better. Garrett dropped me at the house and as usual, I couldn’t stop crying, so in a move only I’m dumb enough to make, I asked if I were pregnant, if he would stay, then—”

  “What? You told him you love him and about the baby?”

  “Thank God, I didn’t go that far. Almost, but not quite—which is good because when he seemed relieved there wasn’t a baby in our future, my insides felt shredded. With everything in me, I finally realized how much he’s come to mean, only it’s too late for us. I’ve made a mess of anything special we once shared and there’s no fixing it. And now that he’s gone—”

  “Wait—” Perched on the edge of Eve’s desk, Darcie asked, “Gone, as in back-to-Virginia Beach gone?”

  Eve nodded.

  Darcie whistled. “No wonder you’re freaking inside.”

  “Actually, now that the whole ugly scene is over, I’m vowing to be better. Stronger than I’ve felt since Dad…well, you know.”

  Eve started answering an email, but then her traitorous emotions welled up again and tears fell so hard she couldn’t see the computer screen. “Wh-who am I trying to fool? Practically my whole life—with the exception of those eight gaping years—Garrett’s been my one constant. He makes me laugh and he holds me when I cry. For the second time his baby’s growing inside me and I want to shout it from the rooftops, but I’m afraid. What if I lose this baby? Worse, what if I have a healthy, gorgeous boy or girl only to discover the last thing Garrett wants is to be a father? What then? Because I would never want a man simply because he feels trapped by honor to ‘do the right thing’ by me.” Eve dropped her forehead to her desk. This was all too much.

  “Okay, before you whip yourself into additional angst, let’s break this down. You mentioned you got the feeling Garrett was relieved you weren’t pregnant.” Handing Eve a tissue, Darcie pressed, “Could you have misread his reaction? What if instead of him being happy you weren’t pregnant, he was actually sad?”

  Eve took a moment to mull that over. “I suppose it could be possible. I mean, every signal he sends makes me think he feels at least a little something for me. Why didn’t I just tell him everything—not just about the baby, but how much he’s come to mean to me?”

  “Know what I think?” Darcie tucked strands of Eve’s riotous hair behind her ear. “Maybe Garrett’s just as scared as you.”

  “So what do I do?”

  “Easy.” Darcie grinned. “March that cute behind of yours to his base and tell him you not only have fallen for him, but you’re carrying his future child.”

  * * *

  “YO, WOOF!”

  On a blustery late-January Friday, Garrett looked up from spraying salt water from his dive gear to see Tristan running toward him. “What’s up? You never run unless you’re in trouble.”

  His longtime pal laughed. “Oh, someone’s in trouble, all right, but this time it’s not me. Chief just got word you’ve got company up at the gate—female company.”

  “My mom? She okay?”

  Tristan took the hose from him, picking up where Garrett had left off. His shoulder was nearly healed. “Think a whole lot younger and named Eve Barnesworth.”

  “Damn…” Garrett’s stomach sank. He’d said all he could that night back in Coral Ridge. What had possessed her to come all the way up here?

  “No kidding.” Tristan laughed. “Hurry up and see her, so you can bring me details.”

  “Anyone ever told you, you’re worse than a gossipy old woman when it comes to butting into other folks’ business?”

  His buddy just cast him a supersize cheesy grin.

  Even on a borrowed golf cart, it took Garrett a good fifteen minutes to wind his way up to the gate, and once there, the gate guard directed him to a black rental sedan parked in the visitor lot.

  Eve appeared to be sleeping.

  When he approached, she woke with a start, then exited the car. “Garrett!” she called with a wave.

  Lord help him, but his pulse quickened at the sight of her. She was lovely as ever, but dangerous. He wanted her—needed her—too bad, which left him vulnerable to her hurting him all over again. Every soldier knew to never show your enemy your weakness. Eve had hurt him more than a gunshot ever could. He refused to go through that kind of pain again.

  “This is a nice surprise.” He tried striking a casual tone, as if the act of her being in one of the places he most loved and felt alive hadn’t just made his whole year.

  “Sorry to barge in like this, I…” Her flighty hands landed in her hair, where the ocean breeze had swept it into her eyes. She wore all white and the color emphasized her fragile, ethereal air and his unquenchable desire to always protect her. “I have something I should’ve told you back in Coral Ridge, but chickened out.”

  “O-okay.” He braced his left hand on the hood of her car. Whatever she had to say, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to hear. “Shoot.”

  She licked her lips. “I was hoping for a more formal setting, but I suppose this will do.” A seagull squawked, landing not ten feet away, feasting on bread crusts from someone’s lunch.

  “I’d offer to at least take you to coffee, but I’m still on duty till five.”

  “That’s okay.” Her smile wavered, resulting in him feeling like the world’s biggest jackass. “This won’t take long.”

  “Want to at least sit in the car? Get out of the wind?”

  “No,” she said with a firm shake of her head. “I’ve kept this from you for a while now—too long—so I might as well just come right out and say it. Remember the night you left when I asked if you’d stay if I was pregnant?”

  “Yeah…” His stomach tightened.

  “I lied.”

  “Then, you really…”

  She nodded. “Almost ten weeks.”

  “So then the first time we…”

  “I knew right away.” She looked to him with her expression hopeful, but Garrett was too rattled to form a sentence. Part of him was elated. A larger part—terrified. He’d been down the exact road with her once before and it’d ended horribly for both. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

  “Honestly…” He sharply exhaled, then couldn’t seem to catch his next breath. “I’m, ah, not sure what to say.”

  “Then I’ll talk. You listen. I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am for keeping this from you, but with the miscarriages I’ve had and losing Boyd, I was afraid this baby was a dream that might never come true.” Hands curved to her belly much the same way the night he’d noticed her doing by the pool, tears welled in her eyes, but she held her emotions in check. “Now that I’m further along than I was with the babies I lost, I’m hopeful—excited, even—for what the future, our shared future, may hold. This time, we could go through my pregnancy together. I want you to experience feeling our baby move. And I don’t want to go through another labor alone. I’m not afraid to admit I need you, just like I did with our first son, but I was so scared of shaming my father, that in hindsight I failed doing what was the most important thing in the world—calling you.”

  Hearing this long-awaited confession from her should’ve made his spirits soar, but Garrett only found himself all the more confused. Removing a notepad from his chest pocket, he jotted down his address. “Do me a favor and meet me here. Say five-thirty?”

  “Garrett?” Her raspy tone ripped at his c
onscience. She’s carrying your baby, man. Seriously? That’s all you have to say? “Would you rather I just leave? Go back to Coral Ridge?”

  Part of him wanted badly to grab her up in his arms and never let go. To give her the happy ending she’d obviously chased him down to find. But he just didn’t have it in him. He’d stood unflinching with a rifle aimed between his eyes and felt less pressure.

  “Garrett, please, say something.”

  Nodding, shaking his head, he managed to say, “Know this—when the time comes, I will always be there for my child. As for us, yeah, it’d probably be best if you go.”

  “B-back to Florida?” As long as he lived, he’d carry her pained expression.

  “Yes. Please, just go.” Before you destroy me again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Back up the truck.” Because of the gravity of Garrett’s situation, Deacon had joined him and Tristan for a night out at Tipsea’s, their favorite bar. “She told you she’s pregnant and you sent her on her way? Are you nuts? Or really just that big of an ass?”

  “Hey, whoa, slow down with the name-calling.” Tristan cracked a peanut. “Garrett’s been to this rodeo twice with the same gal. Who’s to say she’s not going to pull the same disappearing stunt all over again?”

  “She was sixteen!” Deacon argued, slamming his longneck beer to the counter. “Now, Eve’s a grown woman. I seriously doubt she’s going to check herself into a home for unwed mothers.”

  “You don’t know what she’s liable to do,” Tristan countered after his third shot of Jack. “I’m telling you, women are the devil. Nothing but trouble in heels.”

  Deacon rolled his eyes. “That’s whiskey and heartache talking. If Garrett would just—”

  Garrett whistled the two of them quiet—no easy feat above blaring honky-tonk and an already rowdy crowd. “How about I get a say in my own affairs?”

  “Too late.” Deacon signaled the bartender for another round. “You already blew it. Leave it to us to figure out a way to get Eve to take you back.”

  Garrett argued, “What if I don’t want her?”

  “If that were true, you wouldn’t have passed on the last five hotties who hit on you.”

  * * *

  “EVE, ARE YOU CRAZY?” Dina hustled her in from a frigid downpour. “Get in here before you catch your death of cold.”

  “S-sorry,” Eve said through chattering teeth. “Juanita’s in Miami and I—I went to Garrett and told him about the baby, but he told me to go home, but without my dad that giant house doesn’t feel like home anymore, and I didn’t kn-know where else to go.”

  “Sweetie…” Dina fussed with taking Eve’s trench coat, hanging it on the entry-hall rack, then getting a towel for her hair. “I’m so glad you’re here. I was just making a cocoa. Want one?”

  “Yes, please.”

  A fire crackled in the hearth and an old black-and-white movie had been muted on TV. Fat Albert purred on Garrett’s father’s recliner.

  Dina tossed Eve an afghan throw. “Wrap yourself in that and then follow me. Sounds like this situation calls for some good old-fashioned girl talk.”

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even come.” Five minutes later, warm, dry and back in her right mind, Eve realized how crazy she must look to Garrett’s mother. “I returned from my flight and it was raining so hard and the house was cold and dark, I needed to be with someone I knew.”

  “Aw.” Dina patted her hand. “I’m flattered you picked me. Wanna know a secret?”

  “Sure.” Eve’s pulse kicked up a notch at whatever Garrett’s mom had to tell her. Hopefully she held a happy secret and not anything that would only make her more upset.

  “Remember after your father’s funeral? And Garrett brought you here?”

  “Yes…” Eve remembered all too well how painful that time had been.

  “Well, when you woke from your nap and we were in the garden, and I told you us Solomons keep what’s ours, I meant it—especially about you.”

  “Me?” Eyes wide, Eve put her hand to her chest.

  “Since you two started grade school, Garrett’s always held a soft spot for you. In high school, I secretly hoped you two might one day marry. When you left, it hurt me, too. Something about you has always brought an extra sparkle to my son’s eyes. I saw it back when you were kids and it’s there again every time he sees you now.”

  Eve sadly laughed. “That may be but, Dina, I poured my heart out to Garrett. Told him about the baby and he sent me away like I was a stranger. I’ve never known him to be so cruel.”

  “Know what I think?” Dina asked while adding cocoa and sugar to a saucepan filled with milk.

  Eve was afraid to ask.

  “My boy is scared out of his mind that he’s going to fall for you all over again and you’ll leave him.”

  “What?” Face pinched, Eve shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. Where would I go?”

  “That’s my point—not that you’ll physically leave like you did last time you carried his baby, but you’d leave him behind just the same.”

  * * *

  “WITH DR. LOVE PASSED OUT cold,” Deacon said on his way into his old apartment living room, “I’m glad we’ll finally be able to have a real talk.”

  “Honestly—” Garrett picked up the remote, surfing through channels for a decent action flick “—I’m over it. Making the decision to be without Eve hurts less than it would to lose her and another kid all over again. Being face-to-face with my son—my freaking son—yet not even be able to hug him or tell him I care without coming across like a nut was horrible. I can’t imagine going through something like that again. I have to figure out a way to be with my kids, but avoid their mom.”

  Deacon took the remote and turned off the TV. “Yeah, that seems real smart. Especially when Eve came all this way to pour her heart out to you.”

  Hand to his forehead, Garrett admitted, “When you put it that way…”

  “My point exactly. Our last mission, you babbled about Eve nonstop. Trust me, since I went through something similar with Ellie, I remember the signs. I’m not saying marry Eve tomorrow, but at least give things a chance.”

  “What about the distance? What if she wants me to give up the navy?”

  Deacon held up his hands in surrender. “That, you’ll have to take up with Eve and the CO. But if she feels half as much for you as you seem to for her, I’m pretty sure you two will figure it out.”

  * * *

  GARRETT DROVE ALL NIGHT.

  Only when he got to Eve’s mausoleum, he was informed by her security she wasn’t home.

  Beyond exhausted and feeling darker by the minute about what he’d done to Eve—what he’d done to his own future should she not forgive him, Garrett headed for his mom’s. He’d get a couple hours’ sleep then have a better perspective on how to play this out. All he had to do was get Eve to give him another chance and then together, just like Deacon said, they could work out everything else.

  He pulled up to his childhood home only to get a shock.

  Eve’s Jag was parked at the curb.

  At five in the morning, he opened the door on a dead-quiet house. He found his mom asleep in her room and Eve crashed in the guest room usually reserved for his aunt Carol. His cat was sprawled out on her bed. What was going on? Since when were Eve and his mom pals? Especially when Eve had kept her as much in the dark about her pregnancy as him.

  Or had she?<
br />
  How did you and Eve end things?

  She didn’t have anything special to tell you?

  Holy hell… Had his mom known all along? Kept him as much in the dark as Eve had about his own baby?

  Garrett dumped his bag in the middle of the living-room floor, then walked right back out the front door. He needed space to think. Breathe. This changed everything. If he couldn’t even trust his own mom, then who?

  * * *

  EVE WOKE NOT SURE WHERE she was, then it all came rushing back. Cold, Atlantic wind. Garrett asking her to leave in a brittle voice that’d chilled her to her core.

  Though sunlight streamed through lace curtains, all Eve wanted to do was pull the covers over her head and hide. Apparently Fat Albert agreed, as he’d stretched across the bed’s bottom half and showed no intention of moving. His purring was loud enough to echo.

  It was Saturday, so at least she didn’t have to worry about facing Darcie at the office. Why hadn’t she gone to her last night? Why had she run to Dina for consoling when this time, it’d been her son causing pain?

  A knock sounded on the door. “You two all right in there? I’m hoping you have exciting news.”

  Confused, not even remembering having closed the door, Eve called, “Dina, come in. It’s just me.”

  The door creaked open. Dina gave the room a quick look-see. “How odd…”

  With a half laugh, Eve asked, “Who were you expecting?”

  “Garrett’s ditty bag is in the living room, but he’s not here and neither is his car.”

  Eve’s mind raced. “What does that mean?”

  “Wish I knew…”

  Eve fingered her quilt’s lace trim.

  Dina asked, “Where do you think he could be?”

  With sudden clarity, Eve knew exactly where Garrett would’ve gone upon finding her at his mother’s home. “I have a hunch where to find him.”

  Out of bed, she took her jeans from where she’d folded them over the footboard, wriggling them up bare legs, not caring if in the process, Dina was given a view. “Got a sweatshirt I can borrow?”