The SEAL's Valentine (Operation: Family)

by Altom, Laura Marie

  “What’s caught your funny bone?” Jason hefted the last of the equipment into his truck bed. The vehicle had come along with his recent election win as Ruin Bayou Chief of Police. Not only was the rig equipped with flashing lights and a siren, but tires that could handle damn near any terrain—a good thing considering the whole town was practically a swamp. His wife and toddler son had already long since gone home.

  “Just thinking how much trouble we used to get in. Hard to believe where we are now.”

  Jason snorted. “Yeah. Back when we used to sit in detention every afternoon, who’d have thought we’d now be in charge?” He elbowed Tristan. “Well, me anyway. I don’t know what you fancy navy SEALs do.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Tristan took out the keys to his own more modest black Ford pickup. “Just keep tellin’ yourself that. You might keep Ruin Bayou safe, but my jurisdiction’s the world.”

  “Modest much?” Jason had climbed behind his wheel.

  “Nah.” Tristan slipped his key into the ignition when he noticed the SUV the crabby pregnant woman had stood alongside was still parked at the far end of the lot, only with no one inside. She hadn’t chased after her kid on her own, had she? Mother Nature was a full-on raving bitch in these parts. “Hold up a minute. We might have a situation...”

  * * *

  CAYDEN LOVED HIS MOM A WHOLE, big bunch, but right now he wanted his dad. His mom said his dad died, but most times Cayden wasn’t even sure what that meant. All he really knew was that his dad was gone and ever since they left their house in St. Louis, all his mom ever did was cry.

  Now he was stuck up in a tree and his big toe hurt really bad and he was pretty sure something giant was trying to eat him.

  “Mommy!”

  He barely heard her say, “I’m coming, sweetie!”

  He usually hated it when his mom called him sweetie pie and stuff like he was a little kid, but out here, it was kind of nice, knowing how much she loved him. He worried once the baby came, she’d only love his new sister, then he’d be all alone.

  Cayden started to cry, and he hated crying.

  Crying was for stupid babies.

  He called out for her again and again, but this time, heard nothing. Forever and ever he sat alone in the tree, until even his own breathing sounded scary.

  “Cayden?” Who was that? Sounded like Coach Jason. “Mrs. Langtoine?” Was he coming to tell him he made the team?

  Light bounced through the dark trees, making everything look waaaay more spookier. “Coach? I’m up here! All my bones are broke bad! And there’s an alligator trying to eat me!”

  “You mean this guy?” Coach held up a loudmouthed frog.

  “Guess it could’ve been him.”

  Coach asked, “Where’s your mom?”

  “Don’t know. I—I think she’s lost.”

  * * *

  FROM DEEP WITHIN THE WOODS, Brynn glanced over her shoulder and saw a light bobbing in the gloom. Not sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, she did a double take. “Hello?”

  A hulking figure emerged from the brush. “Mrs. Langtoine?”

  “You...” The man she’d admired on the field for his knack for talking with the players and whom she’d later regretted snapping at for sharing his advice concerning her son had now come to her rescue. Relief sagging her shoulders, she cupped her hands to her belly.

  He extended his hand. “High time for a formal introduction. Tristan Bartoni. Guess I owe you an apology. Seems letting your boy run off wasn’t such a great idea.”

  “Brynn Langtoine. And actually, if I’d done as you suggested and left him alone instead of chasing him, he probably wouldn’t have gone so far.” The man’s fingers enveloped hers. His height and breadth made her feel all at once vulnerable, yet strangely safe. “Have you seen my son? I thought I had him, but this swamp got me all turned around. Sounds don’t carry right, and...” She shook her head. “I need to find Cayden. He’s all I have.”

  “Understood.” Tristan punched numbers into an electronic gadget, then took a handheld radio from a side pocket in his cargo pants. Into the radio, he said, “I’ve got the mom. How’s it going with the boy?”

  “Got him,” came a static-garbled voice.

  Relief turned Brynn’s knees to rubber. When she nearly collapsed, her new friend was there to support her. “Whoa. We’ve had enough excitement for tonight.

  “Copy that,” he said into his radio. “Meet up back at the trucks.” With the radio returned to its pocket, he again consulted his gadget. “You hauled ass through rough terrain.”

  “Um, thanks, I guess.” Legs again steady beneath her, Brynn straightened, trying to regain her composure. “Desperation makes a body do crazy things.”

  “No kidding. Now we have to trek damn near two miles to get back.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Oh, hey—” he held back an armful of brush for her to pass “—I’m not complaining. Truth is, you’re doing me a favor. This beats the hell out of watching reality TV. Been cooped up at my mom’s too long.”

  “Oh?” She wanted to ask why, but figured not only wasn’t it her business, but the last thing she needed was to form a connection with someone when it would inevitably fail. Since moving to Ruin Bayou just after Christmas, Brynn had done a good job of keeping to herself. Selling Mack’s Escalade had given her enough cash to buy a less expensive SUV, and not have to get a job right away. But with that money dwindling, she couldn’t hide forever.

  Maybe not forever, her wounded heart cried, but at least until she had her baby.

  After ten minutes walking in silence, he said, “I grew up around here and only knew one Langtoine. My mom said Mack’s widow was back with their little boy. You her?”

  “Yep.” So much for hiding.

  Chapter Two

  Last thing Tristan wanted was to get in Brynn’s business. He knew all too well what it was like to be caught in a situation bigger than he could handle. That said, he’d considered Mack a friend, and had been shocked and saddened by the allegations lodged against him.

  The muck they sloshed through sucked at the soles of his boots, making travel arduous. Most women he’d encountered would’ve bitched a blue streak over being caught in this kind of mess, but Brynn trekked on without complaint.

  “Go ahead,” she said with a defensive tone, “ask away about my husband. Everyone else does.” She stopped, tilting her head back, giving her long curls a shake before arranging them into a messy ponytail with a band she’d had on her wrist.

  “Well?” Tristan probed. “Did he do it?”

  “Which of his transgressions in particular? Gambling ring—check. Game fixing, partnership in an underground casino—check, check.” She started walking.

  Tristan whistled.

  “That about sums it up.”

  And here I thought I’d had it bad. Sidestepping a log, he said, “Hang to the left just a bit.”

  She set a quicker pace than he’d expected from a woman in her condition as she asked, “What’s your story?”

  “Complicated.” And it still stung plenty bad. But he didn’t discuss his past even with his mom, let alone a stranger. “Mack was a great guy. I can’t imagine him—”

  “You don’t have to imagine it. I lived it.” Her snippy voice had returned with a vengeance—not that he could blame her for being cranky.

  “Back in school, Mack never even cheated on tests.”

  “And you did?” They kept an even pace and the look she cast his way wasn’t exactly complimentary.

  “Maybe once or twice in a pinch. Who didn’t?”

  “Me.” He didn’t appreciate her high-and-mighty tone. “And just think what that says about your moral character.”

  “Give me a break. I was thirteen.”

 
Having reached a small creek, she said, “I don’t remember crossing this before. Check your navigation thingy and make sure we’re still going the right way.”

  “Seriously?” He shook his head. “I’m not the one needing to be rescued. And as for cheating, now that I think about it, I only did it once—on my Algebra midterm. But for the record, I felt so bad about it I went home and learned the work inside and out. Plus, the kid I copied off of made a lousy grade, so I didn’t even reap any benefits.” Lord, listen to him—rambling like a guilty third-grader. Why? What was it about Brynn that made him even care what she thought?

  * * *

  “MOMMY!” TEARS CAUGHT IN Brynn’s throat when Cayden ran across the field to meet her, crushing her in a hug. Only two hours had passed since she’d last seen him, but it felt like a lifetime. “I was so scared.”

  “I know, baby.” She kissed the top of his head. “Me, too.”

  “Coach Jason said I was really brave, and if I practice I might be able to play later in the summer with the team.”

  “That’s awesome.” Still holding her son, she looked to the man she also knew was the town police chief. “I can’t thank you enough for your help. Tristan, you, too.”

  The man she’d spent a large portion of her evening with merely nodded.

  The chief’s truck radio squawked, then a dispatcher called him. “Looks like I’m needed down at the Suds & Swirl, but, Cayden, no more running off when things get rough, okay?”

  In the truck light’s glare, her little boy nodded.

  “Promise?”

  “Yeah,” Cayden said with a solemn nod.

  “All right, then.” After a quick ruffle of Cayden’s hair, Jason said, “Tristan, you got this handled?”

  “You know it.”

  “Y’all have a good night, then.”

  Brynn thanked him again for his help finding her son, waving him on his way.

  When Cayden climbed into their SUV’s passenger side, she found herself once more on her own with Tristan. Immersed in darkness tempered only by the faint light of the moon, she wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, let alone her galloping pulse. She owed him so much, and wanted to express her gratitude, but she was broken, and couldn’t find words to match the emotion swelling in her heart. “What you did—and the coach—helping Cayden and I...” Rather than meet his intense dark gaze she looked to her clasped hands. “Well, I appreciate your help. I haven’t had a lot of folks on my side lately, and—” Her voice cracked and that chink in her carefully constructed armor proved her undoing.

  “Hey...” He approached her, but held a respectful distance.

  She softly cried, covering her face with her hands. “What’s wrong with me? Tonight could’ve turned out so bad, but for once, luck shone on me. I’ve been so strong, keeping everything in.”

  “Know the feeling,” he said. “The stuff I went through with my ex-wife...” Jaw clenched, he shook his head. “Hell, I’ve been shot and had it hurt less.”

  “Can’t say I’ve ever been shot.” She managed a smile through her tears. “But my husband was, so I have known pain. The gambling and game-fixing were humiliating, but seeing Mack killed...” Her voice had turned raspy with grief.

  “Mom!” Cayden popped his head out the open car window. “I’m hungry!”

  “Duty calls.” Brynn smiled and genuinely felt it. Which made her sad for having earlier been snarky and standoffish. Tristan seemed like a great guy. She needed to remember that not every man was as despicable as her ex.

  * * *

  “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?”

  Tristan tried sneaking into his mom’s house, but as he’d feared, the second the screen door creaked open, she was up from what she called her comfy crafting chair and paused the living room TV on one of her favorite shows.

  In the kitchen, Donna grabbed two beers. He expected her to hand him one, but she kept them both for herself. “You’ve worried me to drink.”

  “Sorry.” He rummaged through the fridge for his own adult beverage. “After tryouts, one of the boys who didn’t make it ran off into Lee Bayou. Jason tracked him, and I went after his mother.”

  “Oh?” Always on the hunt for a future daughter-in-law, her eyebrows shot up. “Anyone I know?”

  He popped the top on his beer, taking a nice, long drink. “For this, you might want to sit down.”

  “I’m intrigued...” So much so that she fished through the pantry for a bag of chips.

  “Whoa—thought your doctor told you to drop a few pounds?”

  She fished out a handful, popping them into her mouth. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  Rolling his eyes, Tristan took her second beer and returned it to the fridge but let her keep her chips. “I already lost Dad to a heart attack. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer keeping you.”

  After sticking out her tongue, she snagged a few more chips before closing the bag. “All right, enough lecturing. Tell me about your mystery date.”

  “It wasn’t a date, but we had to rescue Mack’s wife and son.”

  “Mack Langtoine?”

  “Yep.” Tristan needed another drink. Just as he never would’ve believed Andrea would leave him, he felt the same of his old friend cheating in the game he loved.

  “What do you think of the whole thing? Was he guilty?”

  He shrugged. “Brynn seems to think so.”

  “Poor girl.” His mom drank more beer. “And then to have him gunned down like that, right in front of her. Too much for a tiny thing like her to bear—especially being pregnant.”

  Joining her at the table, he asked, “How far along is she?”

  “Garden club gossip has her at eight months.”

  “So she’s in your club?”

  “I wish.” She fingered the bag of chips. “Judging by what she’s already done with the old Langtoine place’s yard, she’s got a green thumb, but very much keeps to herself. Her neighbor to the east is Georgia Booth. She’s been over three times with muffins and Brynn never even answers the door. Georgia didn’t think it proper, and had to practically stalk her outside to even bring the girl baked goods. Peculiar, if you ask me.”

  Tristan had another view. “What if Brynn’s scared? So many people have trash-talked her, associating her with Mack’s crimes, she’s probably terrified of being judged.”

  “That’s pretty deep,” his mom observed. “Since when are you so smart?”

  He laughed. “Know what they say about with hindsight comes twenty-twenty vision? Well, if there’s anything I’ve learned from my divorce, it’s that when it comes to relationships, like Brynn, I should be afraid—very afraid.”

  * * *

  “HURRY, SWEETIE.” BRYNN GAVE Cayden’s behind a light smack as he raced back upstairs for his forgotten book bag.

  Her smile faded as she remembered the panic from the night before. Cayden had been concerned about not earning a spot on the baseball team, but if he’d been hurt in that swamp, she’d have lost so much more.

  And yet, for all the spooky growls and grunts she’d heard, nothing had hurt them—in large part due to Tristan and his friend Jason. The last position she’d ever wanted to be in was finding herself depending on another man, but for those couple hours it’d taken Tristan to lead her back to civilization, that’s exactly what circumstance had forced her to do. And look at her—still in one piece. All limbs intact.

  Strangest fact of all, she had the oddest craving to see Tristan again. To properly thank him.

  “Found it, Mom.” Book bag in hand, Cayden raced down the stairs. “Let’s hurry. I have to be extra early. It’s my turn to feed Toby.” Toby was the classroom turtle. Feeding him was a great honor.

  Driving her son to school, Brynn tried remembering times she’d been as excited. Nearly every o
ne of Mack’s games. Seated with the other wives, she’d been so proud of her man. Prouder still of her little boy and of finally being accepted into the popular crowd. Her father, an East Coast fisherman, had died at sea. Her mother, not a year after, had passed of what the aunt who’d raised her diagnosed as a broken heart. Brynn hadn’t been much older than Cayden, and at times, she’d thought the pain more than she could bear. But she had. And she’d grown and done well enough in school to earn a full ride to Notre Dame—a magical place so far from all she’d ever known, she’d been convinced only magic could be found within those creamy-colored brick walls.

  When she not only met and fell in love with Mack, but discovered the sheer joy of having him love her, too, never had she felt more complete.

  “Mom?”

  “Uh-huh?” She stopped for the light on Elm.

  “Why didn’t Dad rescue us last night?”

  Her stomach knotted, and she searched for just the right thing to say. No matter how many times she told Cayden his father was gone, he hadn’t fully absorbed the fact. He was still convinced Mack would appear. As if he’d only been gone on an extended series of away games.

  She accelerated when the light turned green. “Sweetie, you know why. More than anything, I know he’d never have wanted anything bad to happen to you—either one of us. But remember when we talked about how he isn’t coming back?”

  Chin to his chest, Cayden said, “I thought you might not’ve really meant it. Like when we order pizza and you tell me you’re so full you’re never eating again.”

  Pulling up to the curb in front of the town’s only elementary school, Brynn searched for words when there were none. “I wish it was like that. I really do.”

  He unfastened his seat belt, grabbed his bag from the floorboard, then hopped out of the car.

  “Where’s my kiss?” she asked.

  He blanched. “It’s bad enough I didn’t make the team. I can’t kiss my mom in front of my friends.”

  That comment set the tone for her day....