The SEAL's Valentine (Operation: Family) by Altom Laura Marie

Author:Altom, Laura Marie [Altom, Laura Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

I love you.

The whole trip to his mother’s Tristan’s stomach flamed with nerves. The last thing he needed was for an amazing kid like Cayden to put his trust and love in him, because clearly Tristan was lousy at being a dad.

He’d been trying to get ahold of Jack for a week, and always just missed him. Tristan was sick of Andrea giving him the runaround, and when he and his mom headed out there next week, he planned on setting some new ground rules. He’d been more than accommodating when it came to letting his ex run off with their son, but he’d be damned if she’d now keep him from even talking to Jack on the phone.

In the house, he found his mom in her crafting room, hot gluing rhinestones on a doll skirt.

“Rats,” she said without looking up at him. “You’re home way earlier than I would’ve liked.”

“Please, stop with the matchmaking. It isn’t going to happen—especially after what just went down.”

He now had her undivided attention. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. Cayden was in a snit, so I offered to talk with him. He broke down and just when I finally felt like I’d broken into his shell, he goes and tells me he loves me.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” She sipped from her bottled water.

“Not just bad, but catastrophic. He’s already lost his dad. If he’s now looking to me as a father figure, that can’t be good for him. I need to get back to my base. How’s he going to handle two men vanishing from his life?”

She returned to gluing. “You know what my answer would be, so why are you even bringing this up?”

“Oh—” He laughed. “Let me run right out and buy Brynn a ring, resign from the navy and we’ll all live happily ever after, right?”

“Works for me.” She’d finished one doll skirt and started a new one. “I know just the right people to help with the wedding cake and flowers.”

“Would you listen to yourself? You sound crazy. I already married once and when I made those vows, I meant them.”

“Of course you did. But nothing lasts forever. Just like you never imagined Andrea leaving you, I never thought your father would be taken from me so young. But, honey, that’s life. You have to grab happiness wherever and whenever you find it. I’ve seen the way Brynn looks at you and you look at her. Trust me, the fuel’s already simmering. All you have to do is add a spark and boom. Fireworks—which reminds me, have you thought about asking her to be your official date for the Fourth of July?”

Tristan shook his head. “Did you find my secret beer stash? You sound tipsy.”

* * *

“THANKS AGAIN FOR DOING THIS,” Donna said at the Shreveport Regional Airport. “A week’s parking would cost more than our whole trip.”

“Aw, for all you’ve done for us lately,” Brynn said, hugging Donna at the curb, “this was the least we could do, right, Cayden?”

He nodded, but looked near tears.

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