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Soldier Daddy
Cheryl Wyatt


U.S. Air Force commander Aaron Petrowski leads pararescue teams, yet can't find one nanny for his three-year-old twins? The widowed father is returning to duty, but not without the best care for his beloved boys. So when Sarah Graham applies, the young woman surprises everyone by passing inspection. Until Aaron discovers Sarah has a secret tied to a tragedy in his past.He can't keep her in his employ–or in his heart. Until his brave little soldier boys teach him a thing or two about love.












There was something refreshing and attractive about a courageous woman.


One who said how she felt and what she thought, and didn’t waver on what she wanted. Or feel the need to hide the fact from others.

And just as soon as his mouth caught up to his brain and figured out how to speak again, he’d tell Sarah so.

Aaron issued himself a mental reprimand while crunching across the loose gravel in his driveway. When she’d said she hoped he’d call, his mind took it the wrong way. Clearly, she wanted to be a nanny to his boys. And clearly her statement had nothing to do with her hoping on a personal level that he’d be in touch.

Right?

At his SUV, he turned to wave to her and caught the bolts of attraction flashing back and forth between them. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t imagined it. Maybe this connection did run both ways…


CHERYL WYATT

An RN turned stay-at-home-mom and wife, Cheryl delights in the stolen moments God gives her to write action and faith-driven romance. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. She’s convinced that having been born on a naval base on Valentine’s Day destined her to write military romance. A native of San Diego, California, Cheryl currently resides in beautiful, rustic Southern Illinois, but has also enjoyed living in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Cheryl loves hearing from readers. You are invited to contact her at Cheryl@CherylWyatt.com or P.O. Box 2955, Carbondale, IL 62902–2955. Visit her on the Web at www.CherylWyatt.com and sign up for her newsletter if you’d like updates on new releases, events and other fun stuff. Hang out with her in the blogosphere at www.Scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com or on the message boards at www.SteepleHill.com.




Soldier Daddy

Cheryl Wyatt








And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

—Romans 5:5


I would like to dedicate this book to my newsletter “name a character contest” winners and to my many research helpers for this book. Enormous thanks to:

Teresa Eaves, who won the opportunity to name one of the twins. “Bryce” so well suits this little shy guy. Congrats!

Congrats to Janna Ryan who won the opportunity to help name the heroine of this book. “Sarah” totally fit!

Marcie Sheumaker, for help with all things nanny-related. Your friendship is a tremendous blessing.

Huge thanks to E. Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, Founder and CEO, The Options News Network, www.ONN.tv, who flew military combat missions for fifteen years. Thank you, “Whiz,” for your outstanding service to our country. “Check6!”

Big Boo-ya! to Kelly Mortimer for connecting me with this research contact. You have a heart of gold, girl! You always fly above and beyond the call of duty.

To Patti Jo Moore (my squirrel-loving buddy!) and her nephew, Cpt. Steven B. Skipper—USAF. What an amazing and honorable job you have keeping our leaders safe.

To Kathy Kovack and her military family members for helping with AF lingo for every generation of servicemen. God bless your hubby and sons for serving! To Shannon McNear and Debbie Lynne Costello and their AF hubbies, Donna Moore and her AF dad, Tina E. Pinson, Carol Umberger and all other www.acfw.com members I may have missed who assisted with research. You all are the best!

Any remaining errors are my own.

Thanks to the Reynolds family for prompting the idea of an imaginary gaggle of geese. Only your house was stricken with an imaginary flock of unruly crows! Grin.




Contents


Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Questions for Discussion




Chapter One


“Ooh, Aaron, she’s so young! And pretty!” Mina Garcia, housekeeper and longtime family friend of U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Aaron Petrowski, clapped her dark hands together. She peeked out the Petrowski home window as the nanny applicant exited her car. The very young and vivacious applicant, very unlike the empty-nested grandmotherly types who’d interviewed so far.

Mina clutched Aaron’s sleeve and continued to emit strange little squeaks as the trim-but-not-too-thin blonde crunched across a calico pattern of fallen leaves carpeting the yard he really should have raked. “Aaron Michael! Shame on you for not telling me how glaringly gorgeous she is!”

Glaringly gorgeous? That hadn’t even entered his mind yesterday at the agency. What had attracted him were Sarah’s on-paper credentials and her enthusiasm and gratitude over being chosen as a candidate for the job.

Trek paused, Sarah bent to pull a punctured leaf from her conservative but classy spiked heel. When she stood and eyed the house, catching a glimpse of them watching from the window, her excited wave and ready smile rivaled September’s sun. Glaringly gorgeous?

Yeah, now that Mina mentioned it…

Aaron eyed Mina cautiously. “You haven’t acted this excited about any of the other applicants, Mina. Please tell me you’re not trying to find us something more permanent than a nanny?”

“What? Me?” Mischief twinkled from wise Hispanic eyes as she waltzed to the door with an agility and ease that told him she might have been exaggerating her “aches and pains” of late.

Though his boys could benefit from another mother, the last thing Aaron needed was another wife. The current state of his career wasn’t conducive to relationships.

So why then did his heart suddenly start skipping beats as he stretched to peer around his housekeeper for a glimpse of Miss Sarah Graham, the woman he’d met at the agency yesterday?

“Hi! Hi! Come on in!” Mina grabbed Sarah’s arm and pulled her inside, nearly robbing the young lady of her balance. Mina’s exuberance left petite Sarah looking vaguely shell-shocked.

Mina suddenly possessed the lightness of a butterfly and the speed of a cheetah. Never before had she hugged any of the other applicants. All of them she’d eyed, hawklike, and interrogated, then shooed from his home in sputters of disgust.

Onto Mina’s game, Aaron couldn’t help it. He chuckled.

Sarah stepped farther inside and lifted her head at the sound. Their gazes locked for a very electric second.

A creamy glow graced her face. Layered light blond hair with trendy dark streaks fell in luxurious locks around her shoulders with every graceful movement. Wow. Beautiful indeed. Though dressed more executively today, she still looked way younger than most other applicants.

And…he should not be noticing that. At forty, he had to be at least ten years her senior. More like fifteen.

The draw of Sarah’s lovely smile as she stuck out her hand to shake his made him forget what he was about to say. “Mr. Petrowski. Nice to see you again. This is Mina, I take it?” Sarah’s expression went from nervous to warm when Mina vigorously shook her hand. Sarah eyed her curiously, then shifted to face him.

He cleared his throat. “Please, do come in.” Major Duh, Sergeant Goof. She was already in. “Farther in, rather.” He scratched his eyebrow and straightened his mouth to keep from laughing at himself.

Sarah started to shrug out of her jacket. She paused as her head tilted up to peer around at the jewel-toned foyer as though looking for someone. The twins, maybe?

He smiled. She’d meet the two of them in all the glory of their nearly four-year-old furor soon enough.

Mina tugged at the young woman’s sleeve, helping the extraction along. “Si, take off this coat and stay a while.”

A lo-ong while, Aaron thought, then refined his smile. He didn’t need another pretty ornament around the house. He needed someone who could handle his children in their unruly moments. To safely care for them with compassion, and dare he say, love?

Aaron stuck out his hand, engulfing Sarah’s in it. “Pleasure to see you again, Miss Graham…Sarah,” he corrected and closed the door.

“You, too.” She shifted a scuffed brown-leather backpack purse farther onto her slim shoulder. The worn item seemed out of place with her crisp, modern grayish-pink business suit and dressy heels.

His breath hitched at the stark blue of her eyes. He hadn’t noticed that yesterday. “The boys are with friends until we get more acquainted, since yesterday was rushed. You can meet them another day if we move forward.”

She clasped delicate hands together, but not in an obnoxious sense. “I can’t wait.” Sincere glee on her face proved it so.

She tucked strands of stylish hair behind her ear and peered around the large, open rooms. And at the toys his sister Ashleigh overdosed the boys with. And at the groceries and laundry strewn about.

Mina rushed forward. “You won’t have to keep it clean. All he needs is someone to watch the children.”

“Mina takes care of cooking and housework,” Aaron agreed.

Sarah made a pleasant sound. Half laughter, half sigh of relief. “That’s good to know. Though I’ve no trouble with housework, I’m not that great a cook. While I’m not above trying to learn, I’m afraid there would be many kitchen disasters before I mastered more than TV dinners and microwave meals.”

“I’m fond of the microwave myself. Although I can grill a mean steak.”

Now why had he said that? Maybe she was a vegan and he’d just offended her.

Then again, according to her dawning grin, maybe not.

“I love steak. Especially from the grill, juicy and marbled. With sea-salt baked potatoes and sweet corn on the cob dripping with hot butter. And pumpkin pie so smothered in whipped cream that you can’t see the golden filling. It’s my favorite meal.” Because she was not much over five feet tall and he was well over six, she seemed to have to strain her neck to maintain eye contact.

He motioned to a chair in the family room. “Have a seat, Sarah.”

She nodded and followed Mina into the room. The way Sarah’s hands rubbed together, she was no doubt chattering out of nervousness. Her stomach growled audibly. She placed a hand against it.

He lifted his gaze from her trim middle. “Hungry?”

“I was so nervous this morning I didn’t eat breakfast. And I never skip meals.”

“Nervous?”

“Absolutely. This job means so much to me. I—I mean, should I end up being chosen.” Rocking back, she bit her bottom lip and darted her gaze to the gleaming white marble tile.

He smiled inside. Loved that her guard slipped enough to let him glimpse some carefree as well as vulnerable parts of her.

“I’m going to my office while you two get acquainted,” Aaron said to Mina and Sarah. Trying not to snicker, he retreated to his study, which also boasted a gym. Tried unsuccessfully not to feel like a total fiend for throwing Sarah to his Doberman of a housekeeper.

No nanny had passed the Mina test yet. Would Sarah?

A half-hour later, it became apparent by laughter and friendly chattering that the two were actually getting along and that there would be no bloodshed, death by spatula or shooing of the new nanny from his home today.

The new nanny. Strange that his mind would go there already. But it was true. Deep within, he felt a solid instinct that firmly stated Sarah could be it for his family.

Aaron rejoined the women. Mina rose. “I’ll take care of refreshments if you’d like to show her around,” she said as she passed by and breezed from the room.

Aaron approached Sarah. “Would you like to see the boys’ play area and where you’d sleep if things go through?”

Her smile intensified. So did his pulse.

She rose.

“Follow me. Mina’s making tea.” And probably leaving them alone to get more acquainted in ways that had no business in Aaron’s brain. Aaron led Sarah through the great room. He stopped at the wood banister. “You could choose any room other than, obviously, those occupied by myself and the boys.”

“What about Mina?”

“She sleeps downstairs in one of the guest rooms off the kitchen. She has weak knees and trouble with stairs.”

He watched her while she eyed the winding staircase. “This woodwork is absolutely gorgeous.”

This girl is absolutely gorgeous.

“Feel free to look around upstairs.” Aaron retreated to the kitchen and cornered Mina. “So, what do you think?”

Mina grinned like she’d won the lottery, though she never gambled. “I think you already know what I think.” She winked.

Heat came to his collar for no apparent reason other than the way Mina smiled and eagle-eyed him. He fled to the formal dining room to gather paperwork that would hopefully bring his other two pararescue teams to Refuge.

Moments later, Sarah returned downstairs. “The rooms are amazing and—” Rapid movement cut her words short. Nimble feet took her to the kitchen doorway. She took the heavy, decorative wrought-iron tray from Mina, and headed to the family room.

Impressive. Pitching in already. And without her knowing, he observed her from the dining room. So her helping Mina had obviously been from pure motives and not falsity to impress him.

He made himself visible, joining them. From the tray Mina had prepared, he served the women and sat across from Sarah. “Besides being a meat-and-potatoes kinda girl who’s not afraid to dive into dessert, tell me about yourself. What are you interested in and why exactly are you interested in this job?”

As Sarah spoke, her body posture relaxed.

Mina settled in a chair, forming a triangle of the three, and sipped her tea.

Every now and then he’d glimpse her mouth twitch into a privately amused grin that her dainty teacup did little to hide, as though Mina sensed his being totally enthralled by Sarah’s heart and her love for children.

Yet he distinctly recalled her telling the agency owner yesterday that having children probably wasn’t in her future.

While she was seemingly open and transparent in a bigger sense, he couldn’t pinpoint something about Sarah. She remained a living labyrinth.

Until he determined what that something was, he’d bask in the moment and gauge Mina, whose radar would undoubtedly flip to red alert at the first sign of trouble.

Sarah’s face glowed and she laughed unabashedly when Mina told of the twins’ recent antics, both ornery and sweet.

“Sure you don’t wanna run right back out that door?”

“Absolutely not. I never run from a challenge.”

Aaron didn’t doubt that.

“And the thing experts don’t tell you about the terrible twos is that they last for two years.” Sarah giggled.

He found himself laughing along with her. Stories rolled back and forth between the three. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d had an easier, more carefree conversation.

Time to ask more questions.

Aaron rubbed his chin. “You applied to a Christian nanny agency. Tell me about your faith walk. What’s your current relationship with God like?”

Aaron studied Sarah as she talked of her faith and adventures in child care. Too often he found himself smiling at the animation in her face without being sure what she’d even said. Had Mina noticed his being enraptured with Sarah? Aaron looked toward Mina’s chair. Empty.

At what point had Mina gotten up and left the room?

He cleared his throat, not liking that he had been so into Sarah that he hadn’t noticed Mina’s departure. “Tell me more about your education and experience caring for children.” He adopted a serious tone, no longer lighthearted, and far from friendly. Like something he’d use on a Taliban defector he wasn’t sure was for real.

Sarah’s normally splendid smile dimmed enough to alert him she’d noticed. But soon her expressive face dazzled again as she lost herself in communicating how much she loved children. Her gestures became more exaggerated as she talked of interning at day-care centers and preschools. He loved her rendition of children’s shenanigans, and found himself smiling, completely enthralled. Again.

Until he remembered why she was here.

Not to keep him company. Nor to entertain him or provide the female companionship that he hadn’t known until this moment he’d been missing.

She was here for one reason only. And he wasn’t the reason.

She was here to watch his precious boys. He’d do well to remember that, especially since that elusive peace he’d longed for had finally come home the very second she’d stepped inside his doorway.

Feeling a tug toward Sarah that he wasn’t accustomed to or prepared to analyze, he forced his gaze to connect with his late wife’s picture, the mantel centerpiece. The one memento of Donna that he kept in view, nearly four years after her passing.

And the one reminder of why he could not afford to entertain foolish thoughts of long-term with any lady.

His gaze switched to Sarah.

Not even the one who’d awakened something in him that he thought had gone to the grave with his beloved wife.




Chapter Two


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.”




Chapter Three


“I’ll see who it is.” Mina made her way to the trilling phone the next evening. After answering, Mina handed the cordless to Aaron. “Sarah.”

Aaron brought it to his ear. “Hey, Sarah. What’s up?”

“Hi. Hope I didn’t wake the boys by calling.”

“No, we’re just getting ready for bath time.”

“I’m calling to see if maybe I left my phone there. I’ve checked all other places I was yesterday and today and can’t find it. I don’t use it that often, so I didn’t realize it was missing until a couple hours ago.”

“Have you tried calling it?”

“Yes, but I might have left it on vibrate. I don’t remember. Strange thing is, a couple of times I’ve called, it seemed like someone answered. Then what sounds like a small snowblower runs. Then it disconnects.”

A small snowblower? Aaron eyed his boys—particularly the one with the penchant for phones and making sneak calls: Bryce. But of course there was Braden—not a day shy—who still sometimes answered the phone at times when Aaron’s voice came across the answering machine before Mina could make it to the cordless. Small snowblower did quite accurately describe Braden breathing into a phone before he spoke into it.

Aaron tuned back into Sarah.

“…then it goes to voice mail. I’m afraid the battery will die soon and I won’t be able to find it.”

Aaron rose and looked around the sitting room where Sarah had romped with the boys. “I don’t see it at first glance, but I’ll take a better look and call you back.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

Aaron hung up and moved the footstool. No phone.

Bryce approached cautiously, finger in mouth. “Whatcha doin’ Daddy? Who was on the phone?”

On his knees, Aaron angled toward Bryce. “Miss Sarah. I’m looking for her phone. She might have lost it here. Have you seen it?”

Bryce’s eyes grew wide. He faced Braden, who suddenly avoided Aaron and streaked past the bathroom.

“Son?”

“Um…” Bryce looked ready to flee or cry. He darted guilty looks toward the stairs, where Braden now half slunk, half tiptoed upward.

And suddenly Aaron knew. One of them had the phone.

He could go ahead and call it, hoping to hear it vibrate or chime, but he wanted to give the mini-criminal a chance to come clean first.

“Bryce? Do you know where the phone is?”

He gnawed his finger. “Um. Maybe.”

“Does Braden have the phone?”

Bryce shook his head with vigor. “He doesn’t have it.”

“Does he know where it is?”

“Maybe.”

“Do you?”

“No. Please don’t be mad at him, Daddy.”

Aaron rose. “Braden? Come down here, please.”

Braden had never descended stairs so slowly. “What, Dad?”

“Do you know where Miss Sarah’s phone is?”

Braden fidgeted so much the banister jiggled.

“Son?” Aaron lengthened the word and firmed his tone.

“I don’t have it!”

Aaron drew a breath, hoping to inhale patience along with oxygen.

God, help Braden want to be honest. And help me deal with this right so he learns integrity.

Aaron picked up his cell phone and typed in Sarah’s number. Seconds later a musical tune sounded from the playroom.

Bryce gasped. Braden’s eyes bugged.

“Busted.”

He must not have heard the chime before due to the solid-wood door being closed.

Aaron tilted his chin at Braden, frozen to the stairs. “Go get it. Now.” Aaron’s tone left no room to refute or resist.

He dialed Sarah back at the number in the caller ID and let her know the phone was there. “I’ll call you right back, Sarah.”

Braden shuffled like an endangered snail to the other room. His ploy when he didn’t want to do something or when he was in trouble was to feign fatigue.

“Get a move on. Or get used to no cartoons.”

Braden sped up considerably, then returned with the phone outstretched. “I didn’t mean to steal it.” Braden’s chin wobbled. At least he looked contrite now.

Aaron sat and pulled Braden onto his lap. “Then why did you take it, son?”

“I just borrowed it so she would come back and get it.”

Bryce moved close. “Yeah. We like Miss Sarah and want her to come back.”

Aaron nibbled his bottom lip. At least Braden hadn’t lifted the phone solely for the sake of stealing it. “Taking her phone wasn’t the best way to go about making her want to come back though. Was it?”

The boys shook their heads.

Aaron called Sarah’s landline again. “I’ll bring your phone by so you don’t have to use the gas. But first, I have a couple of boys who’d like to say something.”

“Okay.” Sarah sounded mildly curious.

He passed the phone to Braden.



As Sarah sat at the tiny motel-room table preparing to write one of her thrice-weekly letters, whimpers came across the line, causing her to pause.

“Mi-iss Sarah?”

Bryce or Braden? She couldn’t be sure. “Yes?”

“I—I—I—Please don’t be mad at me and not come back.”

Sarah’s heart melted. “Is this Braden?”

“Ye-heaw.”

“Do you have something to tell me?”

Sniffles. “Uh-huh.”

Shuffling came across the line. Then in the background she heard Aaron’s voice, softly coaching Braden. Then what sounded like an escalating, “I-don’t-want-to-I-don’t-want-to-I-don’t-want-to,” then a minor scuffle then sniffling back on the line.

“M-Miss Sarah, I took your phone.”

“Oh. Why? Did you just want to play with it?”

“No-oo. I wanted to play with you.”

Sarah covered the phone and turned her mouth away. Easier to quell the laugh. “You thought if you took my phone that I’d have to come back. Is that it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Aaron whispered in the background.

“Yes, ma’am,” Braden corrected in a wobbly voice.

“Well, how about if I want to come back on my own? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Uh-huh. Daddy says, wait…” The sound of a hand muting the phone but not covering it completely. “What did you say, Daddy?” Then Braden’s windlike breath came back across the phone. “He says it’s not wrong to wanna see you again. Just how I took the phone to get my way wasn’t right.”

A deep male voice from the background: “And I’m sorry.”

“And I’m…wait. Daddy, why are you sorry?”

A sigh. Then an Aaron-size chuckle. “Not me, son. You.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, Miss Sarah.”

“I forgive you, Braden. And I hope we get to see each other again, too. Your daddy loves you and your brother very much. So much that he wants to be very sure to pick the right nanny. If that’s not me, then God will send someone better. Do you believe that?”

“Guess so.”

“So you learned a lesson today. Sometimes I’ve learned lessons the hard way, too.”

“You did?”

“Yup. But you’re a good boy and I know your daddy knows that.”

“Kay. Bye.” More shuffling.

Then, “Sarah?” The deep baritone of the father whose voice should not make her want to swoon or melt. But did nonetheless.

“I’m here.” But wish I was there.

“Thanks for being so gracious with forgiveness.”

Please return the favor. “No problem.”

But there was a problem. Braden’s innocent words rang in her head like a gong.

Daddy says it’s not wrong to want to see you again.

Why did her mind question whether it was wrong to hope the boys’ father wanted to see her again, too?

“If you’ll shoot me your address, I’ll run this phone by.”

Nor could she deny the hope lifting her joy and her pulse in anticipation of seeing Aaron again.

Sarah fumbled with reciting the address. “If you want to bring the boys, that’s fine.”

“They’d love to come see you, but bedtime looms.”

“Ahh, yes. Very important to keep schedules consistent.”

“Especially since their emotional equilibrium is a little off with me returning to work.”

“Would it be better for me to come there to get my phone?”

“No, then the boys would be too riled to sleep. Besides, that’d reward Braden for taking your phone and Bryce for hiding the fact from me. Especially since they did so to force you back. I’ll just bring it by.”

“Okay.” Sarah hated for Mina to have to do the bedtime ritual alone. “If you need to wait until the boys are bathed and settled to come over, that’s fine.”

“That’d be good. I’ll help Mina put the boys down to sleep first if you don’t mind waiting.”

“I don’t have anywhere to be.”

“Great, then. See you in a bit.”

The call disconnected, but she could still imagine his voice on the line. See you in a bit. She melted at the notion.

Then she remembered she was wearing her oldest pair of snarled-leg jeans with her favorite—but falling apart—flip-flops.

She surged to her closet and searched for something nicer. She flipped through hangers, struggling to convince herself she was trying to impress Aaron her potential boss and not Aaron the drop-dead gorgeous man.

Sarah shoved down flares of attraction trying to ignite in her mind. Fended off fond remembrances of the way he said her name, of how deep and rich and soothing-suave his voice was. How intent and coordinated he looked when he walked: sure and solid yet graceful and sublime.

“That’s it.” She’d nip this nonsense right now. Sarah reached blindly and yanked a shirt, any shirt, from a hanger, vowing she’d wear whatever her hand landed on. The material slid off into her fingers, which recoiled at the feel of steely, pokey wool.

The closet mocked her like an open, laughing mouth.

Great. The ugly unisex fruitcake cardigan her family passed around at Christmas. Year after year they’d rewrap it and send it to someone else. Sarah had managed to avoid it until this year. It was four sizes too big, but oh, well. She must endure her choice and ensure her motives were pure.

After throwing the cardigan over her pink, paint-splotched T-shirt, Sarah intentionally resisted the urge to rush to the bathroom and freshen up her hair and makeup before he came.

She stood in front of the motel dresser mirror and pointed a finger at her reflection. “Don’t feed this attraction. Don’t. And it will starve into nothing.”

Deep inside, she knew she wanted this for the boys.

She sat on the creaky bed and picked up her Bible. “Please order this attraction back in its place,” she asked God and opened to where she’d started reading this morning.

Then she sat to write her letter.

I pray you always have people in your life who love and care about you. I wish you a full life. I’m sorry I might have taken that away. I pray for you every day. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about you and wonder how you are. I’m sorry for my choice beyond what words can say. With love, Sarah.

She stamped a flower on the front of the envelope and fancied it with her embosser. Sunflower this time. She rose and eyed the sparse parking lot. The clock. Paced the small room. Pondered how heavy a responsibility it would be to find the most well-suited long-term caregiver for those little cuties, who were obviously Aaron’s cherished treasures.

“And please, for their sake, let me have this job. I know I’m right for it. For them. Help Mr. Petrowski know that, too.”



“Could this be it?” Aaron stepped from his SUV into the parking lot of a run-down motel in the bad part of town. The sort of shady that had nothing to do with trees.

One of the unit doors opened. Sarah, dressed in a gaudy top and worn jeans, stepped out. “Hi there.”

“Hi.” He held out the phone and tried not to balk at the horrific attire. “Here’s the evidence.”

She laughed and stepped forward, reaching. Their hands brushed with the transference of the cell.

He paused, endeared at how her cheeks matched the color of her pink shirt beneath the V-neck of her old, Army tent-looking sweater. One that looked as if it had waged a war and lost. Still experiencing a zing in his fingers, he shoved his hands in his pockets at the same time as she fumbled her phone into hers.

“So,” they said simultaneously, then laughed.

“You live in a motel?” Aaron rocked back on his heels to view the buzzing sign, missing the first and last letters. “Or should I say an ‘ote’?”

Her shy smile faded. But only for a second. “For now. It’s a lot nicer inside than the outside looks.”

He peered around the neglected neighborhood. Same area where Celia Munez, now Peña, wife of team member Manny, lost her first husband. He was killed here during a drug bust years prior to her meeting Manny. The team had talked of ways to reach out to the area’s gang-prone teens and their families.

“This isn’t exactly the safest part of town.”

“I figured that out. I plan to get a better place. I just wanted to wait until…”

Her voice trailed but he knew her thoughts. She wanted to wait to see if she got this position as his boys’ nanny, for if she did, she’d have a place to live. But until he was one hundred percent certain she was it, he couldn’t give her false hope. Still, he hated for a young woman like her to be living in a place like this.

“I’m sure you’ll find something better soon.” He offered a reassuring smile.

She studied his face, then nodded. Yet her uncertain expression suggested she held doubt over getting the job.

Throat cleared, he hesitated a moment, deciding how best to word this. “I’m not that good at telling people how I feel. I’m better at giving orders and controlling insubordination.” He cleared his throat again. “But I just wanted to say thanks.”

“For?”

“Yesterday. I’ve never seen my children laugh that hard for that long. Ever.”

She looked momentarily disturbed. Same way he felt.

“Whatever you brought to our home that day, Sarah, don’t ever lose that in your life. No matter how things work out with us, I mean, with this job.”

She nodded. He was surprised to see moisture sheen her eyes. He stuffed his hands deeper in his pockets to keep from tending to the lone tear streaking down her face. The back of her hand swiped it away like a pesky mosquito. Fidgety, she gathered gobs of that overgrown eyesore of a sweater and twisted its hem in her small hands. Her frazzled mood matched the sweater. She didn’t seem the type to cry. So why did she?

He shifted his feet, which ached to go to her. “What did I say that upset you?”

Her shoulders rose then drooped. “It just seemed the kind of speech a person gets before they get let go, is all.”

Did she not know? Letting her go was the last thing on his mind right now. Seeing her luminous eyes and lips swollen with emotion and the way moonlight played with hair as shiny as gold…

He swallowed. “I have no reason to think you won’t get the job. But I also live under the logic that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

She gave an unexpected laugh. “In other words, you’re looking for my fatal flaw?”

“Guess so. I like your bluntness, by the way.”

“I prefer to think of it as transparency.” Her smile faded and her eyes dimmed. “I am flawed, Aaron. But I’ve learned and grown from the mistakes of my youth. Some really big mistakes.”

“We all have.” He shifted. “And you’re still young.”

“Which means I’ll make more mistakes?”

“No, I meant that…I guess I’m not sure what I meant.”

“If you choose to trust me, you won’t be sorry. But if this isn’t meant to be, then there’s someone better for your family. Trust your judgment.”

He nodded, amazed at the level of wisdom riding her young words and the power of conviction driving them. Whether she ended up being their nanny or not, this was an extraordinary woman. One he’d not soon forget if things didn’t work out.

“Now, get back to those beautiful boys and watch them sleep. Give Mina my regards.” She stepped back toward the concrete landing that ran flush with the drab units.

At the sudden proximal distance, Aaron experienced a dip of disappointment. Surprised himself with acknowledgment that once here, he didn’t want to leave her presence.

The way she paused and tapped her toe on rotting boards meant to be someone’s lame attempt at landscaping, maybe she felt the same.

September’s late evening breeze lifted silken hair off slender shoulders and swirled fallen multicolored leaves behind her. Stepping away from the wood and onto the gravel lot toward him again, she rubbed her arms. “Chilly for fall.”

“I think we’re expecting a harsh winter. I should let you get inside out of the cold. Again, sorry about the phone.”

“No need to apologize. I understand.”

He backed up a step and tried to think of something intelligent to say to exit the conversation, but his brain felt first-date awkward. Weird. “So, I’ll be in touch.”

“I hope so.”

Aaron turned to go with her softly spoken words streaming across his heart, slipping past barriers he’d spent years steel-bolting against such feminine wiles. Yet he was certain she had no idea the effect she stirred in him. How her voice melted the metal off the chains around his heart. Guileless. Words issued one breath beyond a whisper. Yet her honesty gushed. And it echoed his thoughts right now.

I hope so, too.

At the concrete bumper near the gravel lot, he paused to look over his shoulder.

And found her, arms crossed over her belly, watching him. Half hunched over, almost as though in pain.

Yet she smiled. Or tried to, with a dreamy expression she seemed pained to carry.

Why on earth would it hurt someone to dream? To hope?

He knew why.

Because dreams could die when dashed and shattered hope could slice like shards of broken glass.

And suddenly he recognized the look in her eyes.

Because he’d seen it in the mirror every day for years.

The look of a tempest-tossed person who’d been sloshed overboard by life’s most wretched waves and nearly taken out.

He knew his.

What had been her storm?

And why was he standing here staring as if desperate to draw it out of her? He became fully cognizant of how Sarah shifted beneath his gaze, as if she was growing uncomfortable under the weight of it.

Yet she didn’t look away either.

What on earth was this sea-size magnetic pull?

And would it fade? Remain the same? Or grow strong enough to weather life’s storms?

As if sensing the draw, too, Sarah shifted and stepped back—almost stumbled—until sharp edges of moonlight carved her face into shadows.

With a slightly awkward wave, she turned. Jogged up the steps.

But he remained.

She all but melted into the safety of her open door, yet didn’t close it. Nervous fingers tugging at frayed ends of the multicolored hobo sweater’s sleeves, she faced him again.

He nodded at her and turned to go. And was immediately accosted by a revelation that suggested an old war-torn Army tent never looked so good. Thoughts and images assaulted his every step. Even that bulky, unattractive sweater hadn’t been able to hide her physical beauty, which he felt guilty to find so appealing.

There was something refreshing and attractive about a courageous woman. One who said how she felt and what she thought and didn’t waver on what she wanted. Or feel the need to hide the fact from others.

And just as soon as his mouth caught up to his brain and figured out how to execute speech again, he’d tell Sarah so.

And another thing…Aaron issued himself mental reprimands while crunching across loose gravel. When she’d said she hoped so, his mind took it the wrong way. Clearly, she wanted to be a nanny to his boys. And clearly her statement had nothing to do with her hoping on a personal level that he’d be in touch.

Right?

At his SUV, he turned to wave, and caught the bolts of attraction flashing back and forth between them. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t imagined it. Maybe this fizzing connection did run both ways.

Which could be detrimental to them all. Especially his boys, should they get attached and Sarah bail if something went awry. Aaron eyed the neighborhood, then intently held her gaze.

“It isn’t safe, Sarah. Please lock your doors.”

And those of your heart.

Better for us both that way.




Chapter Four


“I can’t imagine what happened. I never leave it unlocked,” Sarah said of her car to Adorna in the nanny agency’s lobby the following week.

“Was anything taken?” Adorna asked, entering her office and flipping on the light.

Sarah followed and took her usual seat across from the agency owner. “All my CDs. But they’re mostly modern worship, Christian rock or songs with a positive message. So maybe the person who broke into my car and took them will have a change of heart.”

“We can hope.”

“We can also change the subject.” Sarah forced a laugh and stuffed the police report into her purse. “Aaron was right about the bad neighborhood.” What would he think if he knew she’d been robbed after he’d warned her?

“Speaking of, what did you think?” Adorna folded her hands.

“The boys are absolutely adorable.”

Adorna’s brows arched. “And Mr. Petrowski?”

Heat rushed her face when she remembered their last encounter, when he’d dropped off her phone, and the complete weirdness surrounding his departure. Surely it had been the full moon. And nothing more.

“Wasn’t nearly as scary as I feared,” Sarah hedged.

Adorna adjusted her glasses while she opened a manila file. “Then I have good news for you. Mr. Petrowski has requested another session with you.”

Sarah stifled a squeal. After all, she wanted to maintain some semblance of professionalism. “Awesome!”

“In addition to him conducting a more in-depth interview, you’ll need to prepare a list of questions to ask as well. With this moving into the next phase, there’s really only one final step before decision time. Did you read his contract?”

Sarah nodded. “Yes. I’m okay with everything in it.”

“Mr. Petrowski has requested that you spend time with the boys several days this week, starting tomorrow.”

“Sounds great. I’m really excited to see the boys again.”

And the dad.

Stop! She scolded herself. She needed to be all about the job and not about the man whose intense eyes and smile and radio-quality voice could snatch away a woman’s breath.

“I think you’ll be the best thing that’s happened to this family in a long time, Sarah.”

“Thank you for believing in me.”

“Of course. And so you know I mean that, I’m waiving fifty percent of the placement fee when Mr. Petrowski signs you on as his sons’ nanny.”

Sarah laughed. “Don’t you mean ‘if’?”

Adorna shook her head. “Unless something drastic goes wrong, or you’re not what he thinks, I’m ninety-nine percent sure you have this job.”

…not what he thinks…

Again, Sarah’s past tried to pull out in front of oncoming hope to slam her head-on with old guilt, shame and unworthiness.

What I did is not who I am anymore.

Growing up, she’d dreamed of having her own family someday. God would probably try to work that deflected dream back into her deflated heart. But for now, more than anything, she wanted to be there for this family.

Unless you’re not what he thinks.

Aaron didn’t know about her past yet. What about when he discovered it? But she wasn’t that person anymore.

Right?

Then why did cold hands of guilt press sharp fingernails into the shoulders of her resolve as she walked out of the nanny placement agency?

Was she still punishing and not completely forgiving herself?

Or was this feeling God niggling her to tell Aaron about her past before he made his decision? And if so, when?

Help me know.



“Did you know Mina speaks spinach?” Bryce said to Sarah, moments after she arrived for her next visit.

“Sp—” Laughter sputtered past the rest of Sarah’s word. “Spinach?”

“Yeah. Haven’t you ever heard of it?” Bryce blinked.

“Not quite that way,” Sarah said, figuring Bryce meant “Spanish” instead.

Aaron pressed his chin into his knuckles and studied her, as if to discern how she had drawn out the more withdrawn of the two boys. “Bryce has a language all his own. Hardly ever talks, much less to strangers.

“Braden is more outgoing. Definitely the extrovert. He’s usually the first to get in trouble,” Aaron whispered.

“And Bryce is usually first to let us know about it.” Mina waved a kitchen towel as she laughed.

“So, Bryce is the informant,” concluded Sarah.

Aaron grinned. “And Braden is the enforcer.”

The adults shared a laugh as the boys played across the room. Bryce picked up a plastic motorcycle and inched toward Sarah, then changed gears and stuffed himself under Aaron’s arm.

“Bryce is my shy boy.” Aaron pulled the child onto his lap. “And that’s okay, huh, buddy?”

Bryce leaned into Aaron and peeked at her between his fingers. He flashed a beautiful, bashful grin.

It heartened her that a strong military man like Aaron was okay to let his gentler, more sensitive son be himself.

Sarah leaned forward. “So, boys, besides fishing and softball, tell me what you like to do.”

“Lotsa stuff.” Making revving sounds, Braden ran the motorcycle across the air in front of Sarah.

“That’s a nifty bike.” She brushed a finger along his toy then Bryce’s. “I’ve never seen others like them.”

“Uncle Vinny gave ’em to us,” Braden said.

“Vince Reardon is on one of my military teams. Although he tends to want people to think he’s hard-nosed, tough and brooding, he’s crazy about kids and bikes. He had his sister weld those for the boys.” Aaron intercepted the bike as it swerved near a lamp. It amazed Sarah how lightning-fast his hand struck. What was he saying?

“He’s not really their uncle but they call him that.”

“Interesting.”

“Excited to spend more time with them?”

“Yes!” Sarah pulled out her backpack. “I brought coloring books, crayons and cars.”

The boys abandoned the cycles and swooped in on her.

“I want the cars!” Braden zoomed his hand up and jumped.

Bryce eyed the coloring book with reserved interest.

She tugged out some pages and a pack of crayons. “Something tells me you like to draw.” She eyed faded ink marks on Bryce’s arms and legs, which someone had obviously tried to scrub off but couldn’t completely.

Bryce took the pages.

Aaron leaned his chin toward them. “Boys, what do you say?”

“Thank you, Miss Sarah,” Bryce said in a small voice. Then he grinned. Her heart melted. He had his daddy’s slight dimples. She hadn’t noticed that before, since Bryce didn’t often smile.

“Yeah. Thanks very much!” Braden shimmied and bounced in berserk motions, like a barely coiled ball of energy.

Aaron slid Bryce off his lap. “Okay, boys. Hugs. Daddy has a meeting.”

Panic entered Bryce’s eyes. “Can we go?”

“Not this time, buddy. You get to spend time with Miss Sarah. Okay?”

His lips trembled. “Okay.”

Aaron hugged Braden, then Bryce, who clung to his father’s neck. Panic mounted on Bryce’s face and he broke down. Aaron looked torn. Pangs of compassion squeezed Sarah for them both.

Bryce clung to Aaron’s neck. “Daddy, don’t go!”

Poor thing. He was having a hard time with his dad returning to work. And getting to know her, a virtual stranger.

Aaron knelt and gave Bryce another hug. “I know, buddy. It’s hard for me, too.” He closed his eyes and swallowed, offering Sarah a glimpse of a surprisingly vulnerable side. Yet it only served to strengthen his image in her eyes.

How would he extract himself from Bryce’s crawfish grip? She could help. Use distraction.

She stood so she was at eye level with Bryce. “Hey, Bryce, can I tell you a secret?”

As Aaron tugged the boa constrictor that was Bryce from around his neck, Sarah held out her arms. Bryce inched toward her with the tip of his finger in his mouth. Tears glistened in eyes that struggled to trust and to understand.

Pulling Bryce close so Aaron could make his escape, Sarah cupped her hand around Bryce’s ear. “Want to help me make a project for your daddy while he’s at work?” she whispered.

An instant smile lit his face. She could imagine any brighter would have caused the room lights to flicker. The kid’s grin pulled a lot of juice. She hoped to see it more often. She’d prayed for God to help the boys adjust and cope with Aaron leaving for work. Thank You for answering.

“Yes,” he said. His dimples reemerged.

“It’ll be fun. I promise.”

“What?” Braden approached.

“Come here,” Sarah said.

“I want to tell him!” Bryce leaned toward Braden and whispered.

Braden jumped up and down. “I know a surprise! I know a surprise!”

“Shh.” Sarah held a finger to her mouth and gave Braden and Bryce exaggerated winks. “It’s a secret plan.”

Mina reentered. After a brief exchange of conversation with Aaron that he initiated in tones Sarah couldn’t hear, Aaron stepped toward the foyer. “See you later, boys. Ladies.” He tipped his head at them and cast Sarah an expression of gratitude. The door closed behind him.

With a quick smile, Mina eyed her watch, slipped from the room and disappeared somewhere.

Sarah settled near the boys. “I’m so excited we get to make a project for your dad while he’s gone.” The more craft items she pulled from her backpack, the wider the boys’ eyes grew. Glitter glue. Bendable pipe cleaners in every color. Scissors with differently shaped blades. Foam shapes. Washable markers and stencils.

“This is gonna be fun!” Braden exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Bryce added with more exuberance than she’d seen before.

Good. Seemed she was winning over the hearts of the little guys. Her eyes veered toward the window, where Aaron’s truck left the long, barren driveway.

What about the big guy?



What a way to win hearts. Coloring pages and crayons. A nanny’s staple.

Now he knew what she kept in that bulky backpack. She’d brought projects and toys for the boys.

“Smooth move, lady. I like you already,” he said appreciatively and eyed his house through his SUV’s rearview mirror.

Aaron had fed the boys an extra healthy meal and, as usual, had foregone any sweets this morning. So they wouldn’t be grumpy from low blood sugar today with Sarah.

Remembering Bryce’s tears tugged and tore at his heart. But Sarah had come to his rescue. Without her help, Aaron had no idea how he would have gone on to work. Unintentional or not, kids knew how to slather on the guilt.

Ten minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of the Refuge drop zone. Joel’s Expedition already sat in the lot beside the rest of the team’s vehicles. Aaron must be the last to show.

Once inside the massive brick-fronted pole barn structure, Aaron pulled Joel and Manny Peña aside. “Hey, be in prayer about this. I know there is a lot riding on whether I can come back to active duty now or not. I found a nanny who I think will work out so I can.”

“Same one you mentioned before?” Joel asked.

Aaron nodded and motioned over the rest of the seven-man team, mostly to avoid Joel’s overly curious undertones.

Scrapes sounded as Manny turned a chair around and sat, straddling it. “So, we going forward with the plans Refuge city hall asked us to participate in to try to boost the town’s morale? It really took a nosedive when the bridge collapsed.”

“Yes.” Aaron said. “We’ll move forward in the planning stages of the water and rope safety classes as well as the wind tunnel idea.”

“But, in order to do that, you need to bring more PJs to the area, right?” And in order to do that, he had to return to duty full-time.

Aaron nodded. “The nanny is with the boys now. She’s agreeable to signing on for an extended time.”

Manny shifted in his chair. “You sound hesitant, Aaron. We understand that you need to put your boys first.”

Aaron shook his head. “It’s not that I don’t think she’s safe or anything. It’s just that she’s drastically younger than other nannies who’ve applied.” He felt himself blush. By the looks of the team’s sharpening gazes as they crowded around, they noticed, too. Aaron wasn’t trying to be sexist and he hoped his hesitation with offering her the job didn’t seem discriminatory. “Truthfully my mind may just be scrambling for excuses because I feel guilty returning to work.”

Not only was he uncomfortably taken aback by her zest and beauty…“My main concern is she’ll want to start a family of her own sooner than she thinks. Then I’d be out of a live-in nanny. And the boys would have to get used to another stranger coming in and caring for them when it should be—”

Their mom. Aaron clamped shut his mouth but the respect and compassion streaming from the eyes of his men let him know their minds also finished out his thought. None of the men had blamed him when he’d pulled out of the dangers of Pararescue to care for his infant twins when their mother had died.

“Anyway, she’s willing to sign a legal document stating she won’t have another commitment during our contract that will interfere with her priority.”

“So it’s all good, right?” Manny asked.

“You’d think.” You’d also think that if he was looking for someone with no other commitments he’d want someone younger, as they’d be less likely to be attached to their own family. “But it perplexes and saddens me that a young, beautiful single woman doesn’t feel she has a future in sight as far as her own family.” Adorna, the agency owner, had mentioned that to Aaron; Sarah had alluded to it in conversation as well.

“Young?” Chance’s head whipped around.

“Beautiful?” Brock sat straighter.

Vince stepped closer. “Single?”

“So,” Brock said, “when can we meet her?”

Aaron pumped the air with his palms. “Whoa. Down, boys. She’s a respectable girl. A devoted Christian. Not your type.”

“What about your type, Petrowski?” Vince folded massive arms across his black T-shirt-covered chest. And smirked.

Aaron shook his head. “As I said, she’s young.”

“You’re not exactly a dinosaur, Chief,” Chance said.

Manny waved a vague hand in the air. “Yeah, age is a matter of the mind. Long as you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“Long as she’s legal,” Vince said. “She legal?”

Aaron shot him a withering look. “She’s legal. And off-limits. To all of us. Especially you. End of story.”

“So, back to the business at hand.” Joel rested his forearms on the tabletop.

Pivoting, Aaron faced the rest of the guys. “Here’s the plan. I’ll contact the other PJs I command. See who’s willing to transfer to Refuge Air Base. That way we’re not putting the community programs totally on a back burner when conducting regular pararescue trainings and in the event of being away on missions. Once I get all three teams here, we’ll rotate so that one team will always be in Refuge to man the community projects while another team is on training ops, which leaves the third team for emergency missions. My other two teams haven’t been together as long as you guys. Regardless, my bet is they’ll jump at the chance to have a stationary base of operations. You guys are somewhat of an icon to them. Most of them are fresh, just out of Pararescue and don’t yet have families.”

“So no baggage?” Vince said.

Manny jabbed his arm. “Hey. Watch it. I don’t consider my family baggage.”

Joel straightened. “Me neither. And you’d better hope Celia doesn’t get wind of you calling her a bag.” His mouth twitched.

“Yeah, she’ll slug you, then laugh about it,” Nolan said.

Ben snickered.

Aaron eyed his watch and cleared his throat.

The room straightened up and misconduct ceased.

Aaron grinned inside. He still had it.

Though he hadn’t been in the picture much the past few years, they still respected his authority. The teasing and razzing could be relentless, but these guys wore respect for their superiors as proudly as their crisp maroon berets.

Hard-core honor, uncommon valor and selfless bravery defined every one of them. They’d throw themselves in front of a bullet if it raced toward their teammates or their leaders. Aaron knew that was mostly because the guys knew he and Joel would do the same for them.

Aaron pressed his hands on the table. “I’ll contact non-Refuge team members one or a few at a time, have them check out the facility and observe the programs we’re instituting. Decide if they want to transfer. Until then, move forward with objectives we mapped out in the last meeting with city officials.”

“So in short, proceed as planned?” Joel asked.

“Yes.” Aaron eyed his watch. “I have another errand to run. We still on for Saturday evening at your place, Joel?”

“Need you ask?” Chance grinned. “Dude always has us over on weekends.”

Joel rose. “Yep. Same time. Same place. Cookout, my house. Six o’clock.”

“What about when you and Amber go overseas?” Nolan asked. “We’d feel weird meeting and greeting at your place without you there.”

“Not to mention Joel’s having renovations done to add bedrooms for all the kids they want to adopt,” Manny said.

Joel rose. “I’m sure you guys will find an alternate place to meet while we’re gone. Until then, we’re on for every weekend like usual. As always, everyone bring a side dish and a two-liter of soda. We’ll take care of the meat.”

“Okay. See you at six on Saturday,” Aaron said, wishing he hadn’t let his yard go. If he got it cleaned up, he could have the guys over. Plenty of space and stuff for kids to do.

The group started dispersing.

“Yo, Petrowski. You should invite the new nanny.” Brock smirked all the way to the counter, where Vince grabbed his motorcycle helmet.

“She’s not the new nanny yet, Brock.” He turned to go. “But if I do decide to get a wild hair and invite her, mouths shut. Eyes and minds off. Do I make myself clear?”

“What about hands?” Vince asked in baiting undertones.

“You so much as think about touching her, even accidentally, you’ll lose flesh courtesy of my favorite lethal weapon, Reardon. You hear?”

“Yeah. Loud and fifty-caliber clear.” Uncharacteristic humor resided in the tall PJ’s normally brooding eyes.

Brock grinned. “We get it. You just want her for yourself.”

Aaron laughed because a smile danced in Brock’s eyes when he said it. But as Brock’s declaration rang in his head, heat flashed under his skydiving jumpsuit collar.

Teasing subdued, the guys triggered fully-loaded looks at one another in semiautomatic sequence.

Aaron didn’t have to wonder why.

They’d all tried to set him up numerous times in the past several months. Manny’s fiery, outspoken wife, Celia, known for aggressive matchmaking, had gone as far as telling him Donna wasn’t coming out of the casket so he should get his heart off its broken duff and date.

But he’d always adamantly repelled their attempts at steering him toward another romance.

He didn’t want to ponder why he didn’t feel so inclined to strenuously resist, evade or negate their efforts this time.




Chapter Five


After overseeing PJ training a week later, Aaron cleaned up in the DZ shower hall and headed to Mayberry Market on his way home. Moments later, he wheeled the buggy to the meat section. An idea struck. He punched in his home number. “Yeah, Mina? Ask Sarah if she has plans for dinner. Tell her I’m asking.”

After what sounded like a scuffle, Mina came back on the phone, a little more breathless than before.

“Everything all right there?” Aaron asked.

Female shrieking sounded in the background.

Aaron paused his cart. “Please tell me the boys don’t have her locked in the coat closet.”

Mina laughed. “No, no. We’re playing hide and seek. Sarah has no plans for dinner. I tol’ her you invited her to stay and she said yes!”

“You sound entirely too enthused about this, Mina.” And the fact that her excitement caused her accent to thicken both clued in and amused him.

Aaron bit back a chuckle at another female shriek and the sound of his twins’ exuberant laughter.

“I have to go! Must move tables and chairs back before you get home, then I’ll cook for us, something nice, okay?”

Move the tables and chairs back? Never mind. He didn’t want to know.

“Mina, listen, don’t cook. You’ve worked overtime as it is lately with the boys. Take the night off and simply enjoy dinner on me.”

“You serious?”

“You bet.”

“Ah, you grilling I hope?”

“Planned on it.”

“Chicken? Shrimp? Steak? What?”

“Definitely steak. And salt-baked potatoes. And fresh sweet corn on the cob, dripping with butter.”

Across the line, Mina grew silent a moment, certainly a rare occurrence, no doubt pondering his words.

He smiled to himself as he put a package of steaks in the cart and pushed it toward the dessert section. “Although I need you to look up a recipe for me.”

“Si, anything. Just say.”

“Pumpkin pie.” After she recited the recipe, he reached for the Cool Whip topping. He wanted to make this dinner special. For at the end of it, he’d welcome Sarah on as their new nanny.

He knew in his heart this was right.

As long as her background check came back clean, his boys had their nanny.

The house was big enough that she could have all the privacy in her downtime that she desired. She’d mentioned needing every other Saturday night off. That worked well since he wanted to spend solo time with the boys, too. And Mina would remain, so their arrangement wouldn’t compromise Sarah’s reputation.

This felt right.

And if he was hearing God correctly, he was checking into Sarah’s past for nothing. He needed to call his sister. A government skip tracer, Ashleigh had open access to sensitive information and would be able to use her investigative experience to tell him. Which reminded him…Aaron dialed Ashleigh. No answer. He waited for her voice mail.

“Yeah, Ash? I’ve got someone I need you to run for me. Name’s Sarah Graham.” Aaron recited other info about Sarah that would ease Ash’s background search, then hung up. Sure, the agency would have run a check. But Ash could dig deeper.

Though he had no reason to believe Sarah was anything but safe, he had to be sure for his boys. He’d learned the hard way that looks could deceive. But rarely did first impressions. And something told him God had sent this woman as a gift. She’d be good for the boys.

Maybe good for you, too, another mind-whisper trailed.

Aaron paid for his groceries and headed home, feeling a rush of anticipation. It turned to laughter as he walked past the living-room window. All of his house’s inhabitants’ torsos tilted side to side as their feet took them in wild, wacky circles. And of course, Sarah led the pack.

Aaron viewed his furniture, pushed to the sides of the room where the foursome danced to what sounded like the Hokey Pokey. And he knew with certainty his carefully ordered life was about to unravel.

For good.



Good!

Aaron didn’t seem fazed about the misplaced furniture or up in arms over the chaos she’d created in every corner of the room. Something twinkled in his eyes and a smile dawned at the twins dancing. That was good, right? The rest of his face remained unreadable, however.

Sarah dialed down the stereo volume. “Boys, Daddy’s home.”

That’s all it took to rocket-thrust the twins toward the door. Something jolted in Sarah’s mind at her own wording. “Daddy” sounded much too much like something a wife would say to her children about their father. Maybe Aaron hadn’t noticed.

Then again, according to the way his chin slowly rose as he studied her, maybe he had. As the boys rushed across the floor toward him, he set down the grocery sacks and knelt for the impending double impact, but continued to watch her. She made herself busy picking up stray toys. After all, she far from deserved a man like Aaron.

The usual militantly focused look in his eyes softened as he nestled one twin in each arm. “Hey. Did you guys miss me or something?”

Melt!

How could they not?

She did.

Her own thoughts caused her cheeks to burn.

“Yes. You were gone a long time.” Bryce’s bottom lip quivered. “The sky tried to send a storm but Miss Sarah prayed it away.”

Aaron eyed her for a long while. The longer he looked the more his eyes sparkled with softness. “Did she now?”

Braden nodded. “Uh-huh, but I wouldn’t have been scared.”

“Why’s that?”

“She made a tent of blankets near the couch for naptime and let us sleep in the same room with her. We pretended to camp.”

Aaron held her gaze, approval evident in his eyes. “That was nice of her.”

She busied herself straightening the room, mostly to escape the potency of his mesmerizingly pleased expression.

You’re acting like a freak of nature! He’s just your boss! Well, almost her boss. Hopefully.

“Thanks for making a game of it,” Aaron said, coming close. Closer than a boss would.

She remembered to breathe. “No problem. It was fun for me, too.” Grocery sacks lifted, she headed for the kitchen.

Following, Aaron bit back a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Sarah set the bags on the counter.

“Images of you performing silly dances when I walked up. You seem quite proficient at the Hokey Pokey.”

Heat blasted her cheeks but she laughed regardless. “You can see in the windows?”

He grinned. “Very clearly.”

“Maybe we should keep the blinds closed, then.” She adjusted her collar and turned her attention to the groceries. His hand brought up a package.

Sarah blinked. Joy streaked through her. “Steak?” It came out as a squeak.

Aaron pulled more items from the sack. “And salt-baked potatoes. And corn on the cob that will drip with—”

“Butter.” She rose on her toes and clapped as he held it up. Then grew serious. “I don’t know what to say, Aaron.”

He moved close enough for her to catch whiffs of cologne that were entirely too enticing.

“Just say you’d still like to be our nanny. Because if you do, this is a welcome-to-our-home celebration dinner, complete with pumpkin pie and two tubs of Cool Whip.”

She shrieked and started to hug him, then, mortified, caught herself. She jolted inches away and stuttered nonsense. “I—I’m so sorry. I’m just so thrilled about this and I didn’t mean to nearly attack you there.”

Sarah glimpsed a part of Bryce in Aaron’s shy grin.

He shrugged. “It’s okay. Mina does it all the time. She comes from a family of huggers. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it.”

Yet his uncertain eyes said something altogether different and it scared her absolutely to death. Because the flint of longing in her heart matched the strike of yearning in his eyes the moment she’d nearly thrown herself at him in her excitement over the job.

Wait. He had mentioned Mina’s family. Yet not his own. Why?

This man was larger than life. An intentional hero. Internationally esteemed. This silly zinging and these wayward thoughts would wear off in time. They would. They had to. For no upstanding, respectable man in his right mind would want to entangle himself with a woman harboring her past.

“Sarah, one more thing.” He’d turned serious.

Her heart thudded. Oh, no. He knows.




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