Not at Eight, Darling & the Soldier and the Single Mom by Sherryl Woods

Author:Sherryl Woods
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-07-15T17:55:36+00:00

* * *

Gina was bone tired after her short, broken sleep and a morning of physical work, and stressed out about the eleven messages she’d found on her phone, her in-laws demanding that she return Bobby to them immediately. Of course she’d disabled the GPS on her smartphone, but she was still worried her in-laws could somehow find her.

But Buck had offered to drive her around and, tired or not, she needed to seize the opportunity. Once she had her vehicle nearby with some gas in it, she’d feel better. She’d have an escape route and she wouldn’t be quite so dependent on the kindness of strangers.

When she went out to Buck’s truck, he was leaning in through the rear door, adjusting something.

“Wow, where’d you get a car seat? That’s wonderful!”

He cleared his throat. “It was sitting around here.” He reached out and took Bobby from her arms without meeting her eyes, then settled him into the infant seat and expertly adjusted the straps.

Mr. Tough Guy continued to surprise her.

They stopped first at the grocery store, a small, homey market a quarter the size of the superstore she’d shopped at back home. The aroma of rotisserie chicken filled the air, and bushels of produce, labeled as locally grown, stood in rows just inside the front door. Gina held Bobby in his sling, facing out so he could see the people passing by, which he loved. Buck waved to a cashier and pounded a bagger on the back as they walked toward the baby aisle.

When they got there, she picked out six jars of the cheapest baby food available. She looked over at the diapers and bit her lip, hoping the single one remaining in the diaper bag would last until she got to the box in the SUV.

Buck held a plastic basket for their purchases and studied the shelves. “Look at this stuff. Turkey with pears. What self-respecting baby would eat that?”

“I know. We used to see the weirdest baby food at World Gourmet. Avocado risotto, vanilla bean with spinach...” But that was a lifetime ago, when she’d been able to shop at the most expensive healthy foods emporium in her California town.

“Buck Armstrong, is that you?” came a woman’s husky voice.

They both turned. There in the food aisle of the Star Market was the most beautiful woman Gina had ever seen. Tall, super skinny, with high cheekbones and long shiny stick-straight black hair.

A little intimidated by the woman’s breathtaking looks, Gina could only offer a smile.

“Amy Franklin?” Buck reached out and hugged the woman, then held her shoulders to look at her, a genuine smile on his face. “It’s been a lot of years. Welcome home!”

“It’s nice to be back. Kind of.” The woman wrinkled her nose. “And this must be your wife and baby! I heard you’d married. He’s adorable!” She reached out to tickle Bobby’s chin.

“No, I’m not—”

“No, this isn’t—”

They both broke off. Bobby reached out to grab for the woman’s gold necklace.

“No, sweetie.” Gina loosened his fingers from the shiny chain and took a step back.

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