A Navy SEAL's Surprise Baby

Author:Laura Marie Altom
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780373754700
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“Not much to say.” Saturday morning, Calder topped off his mom’s coffee from the carafe room service had left with their breakfast. Harold, his stepdad, had already left for his day’s meetings. Calder had spent the past thirty minutes filling his mom in on Pandora’s past.

He’d left out their kiss.

That part was too private. Too raw.

Quinn fussed on his grandmother’s lap. The poor little guy hadn’t been himself since leaving home.

“You can’t be cranky when you’re with Nana.” His mom adopted a singsong tone.

Quinn wasn’t having it and broke into a full-on wail.

“Let me take him.” Calder reached for his son but didn’t have much better luck calming him.

“Hmm...” His mom rested her elbows on the table, framing her mug with both hands. “Do you suppose he misses Pandora?”

“I’m sure he’s just hungry.”

“I fed him a bottle right before you got up.”

Great. There went that theory. Calder checked his son’s diaper to find that hope blown, too.

“I can’t believe I’m even saying this,” Gloria said, “but maybe you overreacted. Your uncle Pete drank and Aunt Melanie’s son—you know? Ulie? Well, he was a raging pothead in college. Of course, he’s better now—a lawyer in Boston. Your aunt’s very proud. So, see? People can make mistakes and get better.”

He sighed. “She was in prison, Mom.”

“Prison or jail? There is a difference.”

Quinn cried harder.

His mom stood, taking the infant. She paced, all the while singing “You Are My Sunshine” in a soft, lyrical tone. The song took him back to his childhood. To when he’d had a bad day at school and he’d come home to her hugs and fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies.

Quinn finally calmed.

The relief from his crying struck Calder as profound.

Calder said, “You were a good mom. Still are. I’m sorry for what Dad put you through.”

She waved off his concern. “That was a million years ago. And while I love you for thinking of me, would it shock you to know I was secretly relieved your father cheated?”

“What?” Calder narrowed his eyes. “That’s crazy.”

“No, hon, it’s called we got married way too young, and I fell for your dad’s Paul McCartney imitation but pretty much couldn’t stand anything else about him. We worked in the bedroom, but nowhere—”

“Stop.” He waved his hands. “I don’t wanna hear this.”

“You need to hear it.” She set Quinn in the portable hotel crib, along with a few toys. “I’ve been afraid for a while now that you’ve never gotten serious about a woman because of the example your father and I set. This Pandora intrigues me. You’ve never spoken to me about a woman the way you did her.”

“It wasn’t like that between us.” He sat at the foot of the bed, trying not to think about the fact that had he never insisted they go to a mall, Pandora would be here with him now. They’d have all shared a meal, maybe spent the afternoon hiking or riding bikes down one of the resort trails.

That was a first—lying to his mother.

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