Читать книгу Soldier Daddy - Cheryl Wyatt - Страница 9

How had she died?

Sarah wondered the following day as she eyed the mantelpiece photo she assumed to be of Aaron’s late wife. After all, the woman in the picture held two newborn babies swaddled in blue camouflage buntings.

Adorna, the nanny agency owner, had informed Sarah that the twins’ mother had died when they were eight weeks old, but she didn’t elaborate. And Sarah hadn’t felt it appropriate to ask.

“Welcome back.” Aaron came up behind her. “Mina let you in, I see.” His gaze tracked where she’d been looking: the photo. He’d entered so silently it was eerie. She gathered he’d gained the ability from being a military special operative.

Sarah forced herself to seem oblivious to the profound sadness flashing across his gaze as it brushed the image. Then in awkward silence, he lowered himself to the footstool and skimmed his solemn gaze from the glass to Sarah. His face became completely unreadable.

Understanding dawned on her. How very difficult it must be for him to have to bring a stranger in to care for her children.

It took everything in her not to rush forward and say so.

A slightly frazzled Mina shuffled into the room with a tray, breaking the moment and preventing the opportunity.

Mina looked pointedly at Aaron, still seated. “The boys are about to come unhinged. They want to know when-when-when-when-when?” She darted a head toward Sarah and raised her brows.

Sarah bit her lip to keep from giggling, because it seemed to her Mina was just as anxious as the boys.

Sarah had to admit she was anxious, too. She’d hardly been able to sleep last night due to excitement over getting to finally meet the Petrowski twins.

Aaron rose. Again, as yesterday and the day before in the nanny agency upon first meeting him, Sarah was stricken with just how intimidatingly tall and watchtower-strong he was. Arms muscled into impressive facets made her glad he served in the job he did. If she were in need of rescue, she’d want someone this capable and strong. Blond hair with hints of starlike-silver above his ears was shaved into a military buzz. The masculine cut complemented his sturdy neck, jaw and otherwise exquisitely carved facial bones.

He gave the air a grand wave. “Let’s bring in the troops.” Exiting, he went to the doorway of the playroom, said something, and came back in.

Two sets of shoes clomped across an area of tile that she couldn’t see. So loud it sounded like a herd of…something. The kitchen door leading to the other end of the room banged open.

Two tiny humans who each looked like miniature Aarons in different ways bounded toward her, toting twin grins.

Her smile stretched, and her heart twisted into taffy. Twice.

Hunkered to his knee, Aaron drew them close. Tenderly, he sandwiched both in his massive arms. “Boys, I’d like you to meet someone special. This is Miss Graham. I’d like you to get to know her while I run to the DZ.”

Refuge had a drop zone? Duh, of course it did. She’d been skydiving before, so she knew a DZ was a skydiving facility. Made sense. Aaron was a commander of military search-and-rescue skydiving paramedic teams, the ones who dove into danger to rescue fellow military personnel as well as dropped feet-first into disaster to rescue civilians.

She’d looked up Pararescue on her computer after the agency’s owner had notified her she was a match for his family. How humbled and strikingly intrigued she’d become by Aaron after her extensive Internet and library searches. A real hero with uncommon valor and bravery.

Her attention shifted to the two beautiful boys smiling expectantly at her. She slid to the rug in front of them. The smaller twin with the shy grin hid behind the taller one, who didn’t look one bit bashful.

“Hello. You must be Braden,” she said to the taller one. Tipping forward, Sarah peered at the shorter twin. “And you must be Bryce. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Bryce inched forward. “Do you know I like fishin’?”

“I didn’t, but I’m glad I do now.”

Speaking of fishing…

Five minutes with the boys and she was hooked by the gills. She shouldn’t let hope rocket, but she couldn’t help it. The boys had climbed into her heart as fast as they’d clomped into the room. Yes, she had a past. But she knew the person she was today. She knew with confidence she would take the best care of these precious boys.

She could only pray that Mina and Mr. Petrowski would feel the same if they discovered the epic mess she used to be.

Fortunately, he seemed the kind of Christian who maintained a close relationship with God and who led his family with faith and strength. That meant he’d hear God’s voice and obey. And, hopefully, possess mercy for monumental mistakes.

Bounding forward, Braden performed a mutant wiggle dance. “And did ya know I like to play softball?”

“Really? Wow. Me, too!” Sarah tapped the brim of Braden’s ball cap and smiled at Bryce. “And I also like to fish.”

Truth struck Sarah like an aluminum bat to a ball.

If she didn’t get this job, she’d be devastated.

Standing, she lifted her face to find Mr. Petrowski carefully watching her. She retrained her focus on the boys. An easy task, given how delightful they were.

Other than her thrice-weekly letters, her gym regimen and her child-care classes the past few years, she hadn’t put her heart into anything so strenuously in a long time.

A decade, in fact.

Self-punishment, she presumed.

That she had hope for her future for the first time in a long time had to mean something, right?

If this is Your will, please give me favor with Aaron—I mean—Mr. Petrowski. Especially if those dark places of my past ever come to light.

Perplexed.

That’s exactly what he felt like at the moment. What thought pattern cast dark shadows across Sarah’s previously luminous eyes? Just what was the air of mystery and intrigue about her?

Mina, normally possessing unnervingly accurate radar, seemed oblivious as she went to the kitchen. Maybe he’d imagined the dismal caution in Sarah’s eyes.

Aaron nodded toward the door. Sarah waved and distracted his boys while he made his escape.

“Impressive.” Aaron slipped out, completely baffled at how Sarah had immediately engaged the attention of his toddlers like no one he’d ever known—faster than foreign aircraft drew attention from air control watch towers in no-fly zones.

At the driveway, he peered in the window to study them once more. Mina stood near the family-room wall, grinning bigger than he’d seen in a while. Good to see her relaxed for once. Her blood pressure had been climbing to dangerous altitudes lately, which was another reason he needed to secure child care. Though Mina was watching them temporarily, he couldn’t put the full burden on her once he returned to full-time duty.

Aaron stretched to see his boys, who stared at Sarah in wide-eyed wonder. They’d been too wrapped up in her to notice his departure.

He hoped he hadn’t had the boys’ enthralled, enamored look on his own face when he first saw Sarah.

She plopped back down in the floor, probably to reach eye level with his sons. Scooting close, she listened with eager, expressive eyes at something Braden was saying. Braden talked as much with his hands as with his mouth. At least Bryce wasn’t having his usual Monday-morning meltdown at Aaron’s leaving today. Sarah held his quiet yet rapt attention.

“Amazing.”

Aaron tugged out his keys and headed for his SUV. He’d let her spend an hour with the boys and Mina. He’d have his thirty-minute meeting with Senior Master Sergeant Joel Montgomery, the leader of his local PJ team, who was also Aaron’s prayer buddy, then swing back by here to observe Sarah with the boys and the boys with Sarah.

“You want the good, bad or ugly news first?” Joel asked at Refuge’s drop-zone facility moments later.

Aaron pulled out his planner and pen. “Good news first.”

“Thanks to our actions on Reunion Bridge after it collapsed, Refuge city council requested we take part in more community projects. They feel it will help build up town morale since our team’s rapid response saved lives and made national news.”

“What kind of projects are we talking?”

“For one thing, they asked us to conduct water rescue classes for local first responders. Paramedics, EMTs, firemen, police officers, Refuge River Guard, nurses, doctors, et cetera.”

Aaron jotted notes while Joel talked.

“Vince Reardon offered to head that up. He also said he’d expand the program to offer it to the general public. Meaning teach laypeople, adults, children, teachers, day-care workers, et cetera, classes on basic and advanced water safety.”

“And the bad news?”

“Refuge city officials want us to do more than water rescues. Our superiors are agreeable to the plan because it will help raise awareness of pararescue and help military recruitment.”

“So it’s a win-win situation.”

“Yes, except we don’t have the manpower with our seven, eight with you, teammates. Which is the bad news. Unless our superiors agreed to station at least one more of your other two PJ teams here.”

Aaron hated to break this to Joel. “No go. Least not yet. Not until I agree on paper to return to full-time, they said.” And he couldn’t do that until he secured child care for his boys.

Joel scrubbed his hands up his face. “May as well give you the ugly, then. Funders of the community projects have moved up their deadline by two months. Amber and I are scheduled to be out of the country then to visit the children we’re adopting.”

“Two months.” Aaron seethed air through his teeth. “That’s cutting our time in half.”

Joel pulled out his calendar and pencil. “Look, if you need us to reschedule our trip overseas—”

“No. You and Amber have waited years for this.”

“Tell me about it.” Joel casually tossed his pencil on the pad.

Aaron picked it up and twirled it. He knew Joel felt the pressure as much as he did. No doubt they wanted to help the community. The only solution was Aaron coming back full-time. He had to do that before his superiors would station his remaining two pararescue jumper teams in Refuge and that needed to happen in order for the Refuge PJs to help the community effectively.

The way Joel sank into his chair, he looked as if he could use more good news.

“I have a nanny on the radar.”

Joel’s tense expression loosened. He sat up. “Seriously?”

Aaron nodded. “Yeah. If I hire her, I’ll be available immediately to help get more PJs here and the community programs up and running. Name’s Sarah. She’s young, though.”

“Single?”

Aaron nodded. “That’s what her application said.”

“She pretty?” Joel smirked.

“She’s pretty young,” Aaron emphasized.

But Joel’s smirk didn’t fade. “Oh. Right, Chief.”

Silence pervaded for several seconds until Joel’s amused grin morphed into an expression of thoughtfulness.

“Young might be exactly what your boys need,” Joel finally said in sincere tones.

“She’s certainly energetic enough. The last time Mina got on the floor with the boys like the applicant did, Mina claimed it almost took a crane to get her back up.” A smile started to erupt at images of Sarah on the rug with the boys.

Joel must have noticed. He leaned in and eyed Aaron with a funny expression.

Aaron swiped all evidence of the grin from his face and cleared his throat. “So anyway, it’s something to be praying about.”

Joel and his own grin didn’t look deterred. Best change the subject before he could probe.

“Which other projects did Refuge officials mention?” Aaron clicked his pen and poised it over his planner.

“In addition to Vince Reardon’s community and military scuba diving and water safety classes, they got wind of, pun intended, Brockton Drake’s wind tunnel idea. They knew we’d requested zoning for the facility in order to train military skydivers indoors during bad weather. They asked if we might also open it to the community as a family fun center and have some of our guys run it. In exchange, they offered to front half on the cost of the facility.”

“Wow.”

“They’re also interested in Chance Garrison’s rope safety training. They know he’s been working with local Eagle Scouts to teach that stuff, which has been beneficial. With all the caves, bluffs and craggy hiking crevices around Refuge, local volunteer firemen and paramedics could also benefit from his training.”

“Let’s focus on those three programs for now. Stepping out in faith that God is drawing me back into duty, I’m going to talk to my other two PJ teams about transferring to Refuge.”

“Meaning you’re officially giving word and paperwork that you’re returning full-time?”

Aaron nodded.

“And the nanny situation?”

“I’m confident God has it under control.”

After praying with Joel, Aaron returned home. As he pulled into the driveway and exited his car, he could hear shrieks of laughter from inside. Curiosity piqued, Aaron moved faster to see. He paused at the picture window, taking in the live Norman Rockwell-ish scene in his Thomas Kinkade-like living room.

Clapping her hands, Mina tossed her head back and laughed so hard her mouth didn’t close for what had to be fifteen full seconds. Aaron’s gaze followed Mina’s to the floor. In an undignified scramble, Sarah crawled on her hands and knees after Braden, who shrieked with laughter. Bryce scuttled from the footstool onto Sarah’s back yelling, “Yee-haw! Giddy up, pony! Giddy up!”

Making very unladylike burring sounds and snorts, the previously poised Sarah moved faster, holding Bryce on her back with one hand while doing a strange-looking crawl-run-gallop thing after Braden. The entire room pulsed with fun and family togetherness, like the Rockwell and Kinkade paintings lining the guest room he couldn’t bear to enter because the beautiful images of family and light felt more like a mockery in the midst of the dark sadness that had swept his home the night thieving death broke down his door and left widowhood in place of his wife.

Aaron watched through the window and swallowed. But a good kind of lump sat in this throat.

Because today was the first inkling things could be different. Aaron continued to soak in the warm scene. Sarah probably had no idea what she’d already brought into his home. Yet it was more than her. God’s presence in and through her?

The sight melted something inside that had been frigid nearly four years. All Aaron could do was stare. It seemed a miracle was unfolding before his eyes. He’d seen admirable women before but never quite like this and never quite like this one.

The melancholy cloud blocking his emotions for so long lifted, making way for rays of marvel to beam bright streaks through a formerly dark place as he watched. Tender sprigs of hope pushed forth.

He couldn’t turn away from this atypical scene, where the sun seemed to be shining inside his house as well as outside. Nor could he remove his vision from the source of it: this glowing, vibrant woman who’d enraptured his children faster than an F-22 takes vertical flight and who had aced the Mina test with Top Gun colors.

What was the deal? He couldn’t stop thinking about the Air Force blue of her eyes or the contagious sound of her laugh.

Laughter.

Something his home had been devoid of since Donna died. He couldn’t change the past and he wouldn’t trade his boys for anything. But his future in Pararescue and the future of quality time with his boys depended on his return to work. So did the success of community projects the Refuge city council sought for his team to bring about to heal the town after the bridge collapse. Everything rode on his ability to return to duty. Sarah seemed the key.

But things weren’t always as they seemed.

He had days to decide. And his duty was divided between his little boys and the bigger ones who understood his need to be with his children.

Overcome with emotion he hadn’t felt since he’d lost his wife and plunged himself into blind survival mode for his boys, Aaron heaved a breath and watched his children with mixed emotions and mounting wonder as they danced around with this virtual stranger.

Aaron looked away, only to send his gaze searching across the sky he loved so much.

“I need Your wisdom. Outwardly she’s beautiful, but You see inside a person, Father, to the very core of the heart. Only You can tell me if she’s the right one to care for my sons. Help me know I’m drawn to her because of the beauty You see, and not because of what I see.”