A SEAL's Return
Page 20
Almost.
“It’s perfect!” Nora lifted the golden turkey off his counter and groaned as she shuffled to the table. “And heavy!”
He jumped up, pushed the chair back, and stepped to her. Swiftly he lessened her load and transferred the platter to the table. “You outdid yourself.” He took her hand and hugged her toward his chest. “Thank you.”
He gave her a quick squeeze and a kiss on the back of her head that made Graham and Charlotte giggle, then Nora sat at the far end of the table.
Now, this was his future.
They settled at the table, and Nora smiled. “Before we dig in, should we tell them?”
Jake leaned back as though considering. “I don’t know. I think we should torture them until dessert.”
“No! No! No!” Charlotte and Graham cried.
He laughed. “Well, as happy as I am to have helped Nora and Graham get their house fixed, we decided to ask the both of you to help us find a house that is ours. We want to get married and stay together—always—in one house.”
Nora beamed. “One that we’re going to pick out together.”
“The four of us?” Charlotte squealed. “And a wedding? Can I be the flower girl? ”
“I call ring bearer,” Graham chimed in.
“Yes,” Jake answered, pleased with their enthusiasm. “We’re not in a rush—”
Graham clapped. “Let’s pick one out tonight!”
“And make wedding plans," Charlotte added. “It has to be pink, so I get a pink dress. And I want a house with a library we can fill up with books for all of us. ”
So much for thinking Charlotte held on to nostalgic notions of where she grew up with her mother. But as Nora had pointed out, Charlotte had Ally firmly in her heart, and the kid wasn’t much attached to the house. Unless they took the fairy gardens into consideration, and those could come with. Still, Jake was worried. “And, snuggle bug.”
“Yes?” She beamed.
“I want to make sure you’re comfortable with this.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He tilted his head. “Because this is where you lived with your mom.”
Charlotte tilted her head, thinking over his sentiments. “She’s not in the house. She’s at the graveyard. And home is where we’ll be together always. All four of us. ”
Beyond her years, once again. Charlotte tugged at his heartstrings, just like she did every day.
“And, Charlotte added. “Mom is an angel. So if she’s here, she’ll fly along when we move.”
Graham nodded. “Charlotte was her angel. That’s what she called her.”
Jake glanced at Nora, and her eyes were watery. “That’s true, baby.”
“You were her angel,” Graham told Charlotte. “And now she’s yours.”
Charlotte nodded as though Graham had just brought both adults’ hearts to a standstill. Jake’s heart was full as he stared at his family. “Happy Thanksgiving. I love each of you.”
###
The pillows were stacked underneath the dining room table, and Charlotte leaned against Graham as they piled another blanket in front of them.
“You know, we did it.” Charlotte moved two of her dolls closer, knocking over one of his ninja warriors. “We made them happen.”
Graham grabbed the ninja warrior and rearranged the dolls to hold it up. “Don’t push my guy. Sit everyone like this, so that they all sit together.”
She elbowed him. “Did you hear what I said?”
“I heard you. That we did it.” He elbowed back. “What did we do?”
Charlotte rolled her eyes and groaned, taking one of her dolls back and moving her to the other side. The other doll and the ninja warrior both toppled.
“That wasn’t very nice.” Graham took both and shoved them under a pillow.
“Neither was that.” She snapped her doll into her arms. “Your mom and Uncle Jake. We did that. They're getting married.”
Graham stopped and turned. “Oh, I know that. We said we would, and we did.”
She clapped around the doll in her arms. “Now we get to be best friends like Uncle Jake and my mom were.”
Graham banged his ninja warrior against the doll in his hand. “I know.”
“Do you think that we should tell them?” She suddenly worried that they might get in trouble for getting them to fall in love. Though her uncle Jake seemed very happy and Nora too.
“I don’t know.” Graham let the toys rest in his lap. “What if they think they did it on their own?”
“Hmmm.” Charlotte gnawed on her lip. “I don’t know. Let’s go see them.”
“They’re in the living room.” Graham crawled underneath the table, and Charlotte followed.
They stayed on their hands and knees, crawling through the dining room then the kitchen until they approached the couch. The television droned over football. No one talked.
“Shhh,” Graham hushed for no reason.
“I know!”
Graham put his finger on his lip. “Shhh!”
Trying not to giggle, still shushing each other, they crept to the side of the couch. Four grown-up feet dangled over the edge. Graham and Charlotte inched in front of the couch, where Nora lay next to her uncle Jake. Neither looked at the TV.
Uncle Jake snorted like a lion. They jumped and then laughed, slapping their hands over their mouths to stop the giggles. Uncle Jake snored again, and wide-eyed, they stared until another loud snore came again.
“Go,” Graham whispered.
“I am!”
They scurried on hands and knees to down the hallway. With their backs flat against the wall, they used secret hand signals, debating if they were far enough away. Eventually, they gave thumbs-ups, giving the okay to talk.
“Jake snores very loud,” Graham said. “Like a jackhammer.” Then he asked, “How did we make it happen?”
Charlotte hummed. “Maybe when we wished the dandelions outside the library.”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Or maybe on the shooting star.”
She shook her head. “That wasn’t a shooting star. It was an airplane.”
“It was not,” he pouted.
“Uh-huh, I know these type of things.”
The giggled and wordlessly decided to spy on the grown-up again. Carefully, they crept around the corner. Charlotte wonders if Nora had lost some of her hearing. Otherwise, how else could she sleep next to Uncle Jake snoring? Maybe, Charlotte wondered, there were things that looked like one thing but were something else. Did Nora like Uncle Jake’s snores? “Maybe… it wasn’t an airplane.”
“It wasn’t. I already told you. We wished on a shooting star.” Graham stuck his chin up. “I know things.”
Charlotte pinched her eyes closed and recalled that moment. A real shooting star. Wow.
“What do you will happen when Santa comes?” Graham asked.
The idea was almost too much to handle. Charlotte squeaked. Graham toppled on top of her, sealing his hands over her mouth. Finally, he pulled back. “You have to be quiet.”
“Graham.” She grasped the sides of his head and shook him. “If a shooting star made us brother and sister, just imagine what Santa will bring!”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Alexander writes action-packed romance novels with military heroes and happy endings. She leaves the steamy scenes to her alter-ego, NYT bestselling author Cristin Harber. Have no fear! She promises swoon-worthy suspense and heroes who defy death while falling in love. The Safehouse Security series includes “sweeter” version of her bestselling romance novels.
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Safehouse Security:
The SEAL’s Return
The SEAL’s Promise
The Spy’s Second Chance
The Commander’s Betrayal
The Soldier’s W
ife
Visit Cristin Harber’s Amazon author page to read steamy romantic suspense novels that are available in Kindle Unlimited.
COPYRIGHT
© 2019 Grace Alexander
ISBN-13: 978-1-951085-10-0
ISBN-10: 1-951085-10-8
All rights reserved. This book or any portions thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author and publisher except for the use of brief quotations used in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally.