Raising the Soldier's Son: So what if they share a history? That's in the past. And it's staying there. (Hometown Hero Series Book 3)

by Clare Connelly

Fury flowed into her veins. “You’re kidding, right? Another one of your, ‘my way or the highway’ resolutions?”

  His grim frown was set. “He is my child.”

  “And mine, too. I’m the only parent he’s ever known. Before you go getting involved in his life, you should think about how involved you want to be. Long term. Children aren’t toys, Kirk. You can’t decide on a whim to stay or go.”

  “He’s my child.”

  “Yes, and if you really want to be a part of his life, in a meaningful way, then we’ll talk about it. But you’re not going to impetuously decide something so huge right now and have me go along with it.”

  “Says who?” He demanded fiercely, taking another step, so that his hips were pressed against hers.

  “Says me,” she responded fiercely. “The woman who’s done a damned fine job looking after our son for four long years. I would walk through fire if I had to, to protect Wade.”

  “You don’t need to protect him from me,” he said firmly, staring down into her wide-set eyes.

  “Forgive me if I’m not convinced, Kirk. I’m only the girl you left pregnant and heartbroken while you got straight in bed with GI Jane, or whoever.”

  He shook his head, anger and regret making his head swim and his heart groan.

  “Fine. If it makes you happy, I can wait until tonight. But I want to meet him, Annabeth.”

  She shook her head. “Tonight’s no good.” Before he could speak, she forestalled him with a shake of her head. “Wade’s gone fishing with friends for a few days.”

  “When does he get back?” A question laced with demand.

  “Wednesday.”

  “Fine. I presume you’ll have no objections to my coming for dinner on Wednesday, then.”

  Actually, she had several. “If you still feel this way Wednesday, then that can be arranged.”

  “Why do you think I’m going to change my mind?”

  She shrugged her slender shoulders. “You told me you loved me. That you’d always love me. You changed your mind. All your life you wanted to join the Navy. And then, what? You changed your mind. You quit and came back to run your family business? Your track record is hardly impressive.”

  Annabeth couldn’t have known that each accusation was like a knife in his gut.

  His desire to serve his country in the Navy had been borne out of a love of the States, and pride in his nation. His discharge sat heavily on his shoulders. It would for the rest of his life. They could dress it up with as many war medals as they wanted, the fact was, he was home, living a life of obscene luxury, while terrorism continued to flourish in the Middle East, and his comrades were dying every day.

  “I want to be in his life, Annabeth. If I’d known about him, I would have been in his life from the beginning.”

  She wanted to believe him. But how could she? He’d broken her heart. She’d be a fool to let him scrape under her defenses again.

  “Have dinner with me, then,” he surprised them both with the invitation.

  “No.” She denied instantly. She’d be mad to accept.

  “Hear me out. Before I meet Wade, I want to know a little about him. Just… give me something, Annabeth.”

  The anguish in his eyes convinced her in a way his arguments never could. She sighed, frustrated with herself and her weakness where this man was concerned. “I’m working tonight, but it’s always quiet on a Monday. You can come and ask questions at the bar. If you want.”

  He did want. “Sounds good. Can I drive you over?”

  “No.” She frowned. She needed to move. She had to expend some nervous energy before she got to work. Jeanie would take one look at her and know immediately that something was up. Annabeth had to get her feelings under control first.

  Kirk had always grappled with her stubborn streak. But right now, he was dazed, and totally confused. “Okay. Suit yourself. Annabeth,” he called to her, as she walked down the road. She turned, slowly, and the hint of a breeze lifted her hair, carrying its sweet fragrance to him. “I will see you tonight.”

  She nodded, her mouth dry. Like it or not, Kirk was back in her life now.

  A short time later, as Annabeth set up the beach umbrellas on the deck, to shade the outside tables from the glare of the summer sun, Emma followed her around like an angry tiger. “I can’t believe you told him!”

  “I thought you wanted me to,” Annabeth drawled with a frown of concentration, as she flicked the handle to lift one of the bright red shades.

  “I did. Then I remembered how hard he hurt you, and what a scumbag he is.” She shook her head. “He’s going to hurt you and he’s going to hurt Wade. You’re crazy to think this is a good idea.”

  Annabeth’s stomach was in knots. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think it’s the only thing I could do. He is Wade’s daddy. You were right. He deserved to know.”

  “No. I was wrong,” Emma said with a shake of her head.

  Annabeth was desperately miserable, and yet she laughed. “Don’t! It’s done. I can’t undo it now anyway, so please just nod and say something like, Oh, good on you, great decision.”

  Emma heaved her hands on to her hips. “Oh, good on you, great decision,” she repeated, her words laced with angry irony.

  “Why are you getting so steamed up?” Annabeth asked curiously, as she moved to the next table.

  “Because I picked up the pieces. I saw how he left you. And I don’t want to go through it again.”

  “Nor do I,” Annabeth promised earnestly. “But it won’t be like that this time, Me. I’m older and wiser. Besides,” she grunted, pushing the umbrella over a sticky spot on the handle, “I don’t think I have any heart left to break. He did a pretty thorough job the first time ‘round. Time might have moved on, but I never did.” She threw her friend a wistful expression. “True love isn’t so easy to forget.”

  “Which goes to show he never really loved you,” Emma said unnecessarily. “I’m sorry to be harsh, honey, but you need to keep your eyes open. He’s a smooth talking devil, far too gorgeous for his own good, and I don’t want you to look into those big blue eyes of his and forget any of this. He didn’t love you. Not really. Not when he could leave you like that.”

  “I know.” Annabeth grabbed Emma’s hand and squeezed it. “You’re not saying anything I haven’t already realized myself.” She surveyed the deck, checking that all the umbrellas were up, the chairs pushed in, the tables wiped, and nodded. “How did Saturday go?”

  “Saturday? Oh, right.” Emma followed Annabeth inside, looking enviously at her friend’s shapely, tanned legs. “Well, the Loxton town fair is hardly the highlight of my professional calendar, but it’s nice to do something other than weddings and babies, I suppose.”

  “You’re saying you weren’t in awe of those enormous pumpkins?” Annabeth giggled as she pulled the bar stools down one by one.

  “I’m always in awe of the pumpkins,” Emma contradicted mock seriously. “Hate to think what they put in the soil, though, huh.”

  “Chemicals and steroids,” Annabeth agreed with a murmur.

  “Yeah. Gross. Ah well, at least it was something different. I’m flat out with all the usual stuff until the end of the year. Although, did I tell you that hoity toity Virginia cancelled me for next weekend?”

  “Can she do that?”

  “Well, usually I require more notice, but to be honest, I was sort of relieved.”

  “Oh? I would have thought her portrait would give you good exposure?”

  Emma winced. “But working out what angle would minimize her fourteen chins best would be beyond even me, Annabeth.”

  “That’s unkind,” Annabeth chastised, but she was laughing. Virginia Creole was a society dame of the south, renowned for her love of pastry and her cruelty to those who worked for her.

  “So I have a weekend to myself, for the first time in a year, and I intend to use it.”

  “What about A.J?”

  “Back to back gigs,” she gri
maced, thinking of her handsome rock star boyfriend with a sigh. Dating the wunderkind of the country music scene was a blast, except when it came to the long periods of time when he was on the road. She missed him like crazy.

  “What’ll you do?”

  Emma shrugged her slim shoulders, so that the spiky necklace she wore danced around her throat. “Maybe go away? Wouldn’t mind heading up to Nashville and having a poke around in some of the antique shops. Did I tell you that A.J’s going to be playing at the Harvest festival?”

  Annabeth hid her smile. “Only about a thousand times.”

  Emma, uncharacteristically, blushed. “Well, I’m excited. It’s going to be so good to show him around Clearview.”

  The annual Harvest festival was one of the highlights of the calendar in Clearview. It attracted tens of thousands of country music fans, but it was an event first and foremost for the town. Some of the biggest names in the music business made a bee line for the hay bales and fields. Emma and Annabeth went every year, and this year would be particularly special. Emma was right to be glowing with pride.

  Emma stayed for the rest of the afternoon. Annabeth loved the fact that her best friend worked as a freelance photographer and was successful enough not to need another job. It made her time at The Whistlestop much happier, with Emma there to chat to. Especially on that day. The first day of the rest of her life, when she’d opened the door a fraction for Kirk to be a part of her son’s life.

  As she’d expected, they weren’t busy. Mondays never were. A few tourists for some chips and sodas, a couple of locals at the end of the day for a beer or whisky. Some teenagers for dinner, and that was about it.

  When Kirk sauntered in, Annabeth could have sworn that everything else froze. On a sense of presentiment, she’d looked to the door a second before he’d entered. So she’d seen him push the frame inwards, his powerful stride carrying him across the threshold, as though he owned the place. He looked every bit as confident and he always had done. More so, somehow. Maybe it was the military training, he seemed to hold himself higher.

  As everyone and everything else in The Whistlestop faded into the background, her eyes clung to him. He was wearing jeans again, dark denim and snug fitting, showing his muscled legs, his firm stance. His shirt was check, and tucked into his waistband, so that his narrow waist and broad shoulders were visible. The sleeves were rolled to just below the elbow, exposing his tanned forearms, and confident, capable hands. She gulped, and acknowledged to herself, finally, that she was in way over her head.

  When his eyes met hers, she had the oddest sensation of being caught. Trapped in a net, or wrapped up with rope. She was so firmly held by him that she almost couldn’t breathe.

  Purposefully, without releasing her eyes from his iron-like gaze, he walked towards her. By the time he reached the bar, Annabeth felt dizzy from breathlessness. “Hi,” she whispered, her cheeks flushed.

  “Hi,” he repeated, and then, a smile began to unfurl on his face. “You look good enough to eat.”

  Her cheeks went from rose pink to crimson. “Not on the menu,” she snapped tartly, earning a laugh from him.

  “We’ll see.”

  Out of nowhere, she remembered how she’d felt, in his arms, against the warmth of her car earlier that day. Her treacherous body went weak with longing. Yeah, it complicated the heck out of things, but she got the feeling she wouldn’t be able to keep certain things off the menu for long.

  “Can you take a break?” He asked, leaning forward urgently. “I want to show you something.”

  She looked around the bar, straight into Emma’s disapproving stare. “Would you mind, Em?”

  “Sure, why not. Just remember what we talked about,” Emma said seriously, shooting daggers at Kirk for good measure.

  “She doesn’t like me, huh?” He said, holding the door open for Annabeth.

  “Not even a little bit,” Annabeth agreed with a grimace. “Can you blame her?”

  “She knows about Wade?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then, no. She has every right to think the worst of me.”

  The heat of the day had finally broken. A refreshing summer breeze was moving through the car park. She’d stood in front of The Whistlestop a thousand times in her life, but that night, everything felt more sensually vibrant. The light tickle of the sea breeze on her bare legs was like a caress.

  “What did you want to show me?” She needed to get back to the safety of the bar, as soon as she could.

  “Here.” He dangled a set of keys out to her.

  Annabeth frowned. “What’s this?”

  “It’s your new car.” He nodded towards a red SVU in the middle of the car park.

  Emma shook her head resolutely, shock making her fingers numb. She passed the keys back. “No. It’s not.”

  “Emma,” he sighed in frustration. “Think of it as alimony, or a back pay in child support. Just, take the damned car.”

  “No, Kirk.” She turned away from him, looking out towards the water. “I don’t want anything from you, of all people.”

  “Don’t be so selfish, Annabeth,” he intoned harshly.

  She whipped around. “Selfish? How do you figure?”

  “You could stand on your principles when it was just you. But our son’s in the picture now. He shouldn’t be getting from A to B in a car that looks likely to explode any moment.”

  She sucked in an indignant breath, fire in her belly. “You’re accusing me of being a lousy parent?”

  “Of course not,” he responded angrily. “I’m accusing you of being as stubborn as ever.”

  “You can’t just give someone a car, Kirk. It’s ridiculous.”

  “Why? Why not? You know I’m a wealthy guy, Annabeth. I have more money than ten thousand people could need in a lifetime. Why can’t I give you, and our son, something that you need?”

  “Hush,” she demanded, pulling at his arm. “Keep your voice down.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “People are going to find out I’m Wade’s dad eventually, you know.”

  She nodded groggily. Yes. But she hadn’t realized it until that moment. “I don’t want the car. I don’t want anything from you, Kirk.” Oh, but she did. She wanted the promise of their future back. She wanted to feel true joy again.

  “Don’t make me prove to you how much of a lie that is,” he said warningly.

  “It’s not a lie!” She spun around, ready to launch into a full argument with him, but he was too quick. He kissed her before she could guess what he was doing, his lips demanding and angry on hers.

  “You want me, Annabeth, just like you used to.”

  “No,” she denied, a word wrenched from her tormented soul.

  “Yes,” he contradicted, kissing her soundly, his tongue at war with hers.

  “Yes.” She could have sobbed, but her whole body was at a fever pitch of need for him. “Damn it, Kirk.”

  He broke the kiss just long enough to pull her with him.

  “Where are you… what are we…?”

  He didn’t answer, just increased his stride, tugging on her hand so that she fell into step behind him, until they reached the old disused boatshed behind The Whistlestop.

  They didn’t make it inside. He pushed her against the wall, and reclaimed her mouth as his own, exploring what made her moan, and what made her shiver uncontrollably; her desire was a force to be reckoned with.

  Annabeth had lost the ability to think. Her hands, mouth and body were in charge. She un-tucked his shirt and pulled at his belt, freeing his pants and pushing them, down, while he nudged her shorts away, removing all barriers. Against the weatherboard side of the rickety old building, hidden from view by overgrown shrubbery, Kirk drove himself into her core like a man who had been denied what he needed for far too long. He hadn’t dared dream he would ever possess Annabeth again, but now, as he pushed into her most intimate soul, he knew that this coming together had been inevitable.

  “Oh, God,” she moaned
, as he drove into her again. “Yes!” Her body arched, her legs clamped around his waist. “Oh, Kirk, yes,” she whispered, running her hands down his back, over the cotton shirt he wore. She didn’t notice the way he paused; the way he seemed to freeze for the smallest of seconds, and so she didn’t stop to wonder why.

  Kirk cupped her rear with his hands, holding her against him, as he moved inside of her. He heard her cries, but not his own guttural calls for release, as together, they moved as one. Their bodies were in complete unison, joined by more than just the physical, there were a force of the past and the present, brought together in one moment that defied logic and sense.

  Annabeth cried out and gripped his shoulders as wave after wave of sensation flooded her system. “I’m…” she whispered, throwing her head back and moaning. Her release was swift and complete, and bone meltingly intense. She shuddered from the strength of her body’s satiation.

  Her muscles spasmed around him and Kirk could hold on no longer. He joined Annabeth, gripping her tight as together they rode their wave of ecstasy, combined completely.

  His breathing ragged, he held her close, feeling her heart racing against his chest, her body shaking in his arms.

  He didn’t want the moment to end.

  They had a volcanic mountain of issues to discuss; an emotional minefield to navigate, but all he wanted was to stretch the string of this moment out for as long as he could. Gently, he kissed her neck, tasting her salty perspiration on his tongue.

  “Beth,” he whispered into her ear, squeezing her tight. “We were made to do that together.”

  She wondered at her lack of remorse. Perhaps it would come. In that moment, with the only man she’d ever loved still deep inside her, her body weak with sexual exhaustion, she could only be glad. What Kirk said was true. There was such rightness to their coming together, and she couldn’t over think it.

  “I’ve missed that,” she murmured against his cheek.

  “I’m glad.” Regretfully, he lowered her back to the ground, still supporting her, because he wanted to touch her. To hold her.

  “I should probably say something, like ‘that shouldn’t have happened’,” she bent down to pull shorts pants back up. “But I’d be lying. I don’t feel that. Strange, huh?”