The Marine's New Family. Roz Dunbar

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СКАЧАТЬ me a call on my cell phone. Caleb and I are free for the rest of the day.”

      “Are you sure?” Annie squinted slightly, the sun in her eyes as she looked up at him. “Luke, you need to let us pay you for all you’ve done this past week, helping us get Moon Gate Cottage ready for Tess.”

      After picking up the wicker hamper, he walked the ladies to the cheerful golf cart and stowed the basket safely in the back. “Yes, ma’am, I’m positive, and please don’t mention money again. It’s my pleasure to help. We’ll get the chairs and tables moved onto the screened porch and run up to the market to get provisions for your guest,” he assured them. “Where are you off to next?”

      “First stop is Praise Bee to pick up a gift for Tess, then off to the mayor’s office to put in our two cents’ worth about the Fourth of July festival.” Katie neatly positioned a pair of black-and-white zebra-striped sunglasses on the bridge of her nose as she spoke, looking at Luke over the rims.

      “You have a wonderful child there, Luke. I’m so glad you found each other.” Annie climbed into the cart as she spoke.

      Luke looked across the yard to his son, who was lying on the dock, munching cookies and watching the dolphins, which were putting on quite a show today.

      “Thank you, Miss Annie. He’s a good kid. Things have been a little rocky here and there, but like a creek going downhill, we’ll find our way. I just wish his mother had told me about him years ago.”

      “Well, you know now and that’s all that counts. I’m glad that she stipulated in her will that he was to go to you if anything happened to her. And she named him Caleb Barrett, using your last name. I think in the end, she tried to do the right thing.” Annie reached out and touched Luke’s cheek as she spoke, her brown eyes filled with compassion for the tragic death of a young woman she had never met.

      “She did. I regret not having him in my life sooner, though.”

      Katie shook her head. “You can’t live with regrets, Luke. You take the hand God deals and make the most of it. You have him now, and what a wonderful gift your child is.”

      Luke nodded, a lump forming in his throat at their kind words.

      “And don’t forget about the breakfast after church tomorrow. You will be there, Luke? Sarah is making that delicious breakfast casserole that you so love.” Katie paused, taking a breath as if considering her next words carefully. “She’s been asking about you. Since Caleb has been here, she says she rarely sees you. Is there something going on there that we should know about?”

      Luke was caught off guard by the question. “Not that I know of. But I appreciate your interest.”

      He had gone out with Sarah Fulcher a few times, long before Caleb had come on the scene, but nothing in any way that was serious. Since Jen, he had always felt that his life was too unsettled for a wife and family. That was, after all, why his wife had left him all those years ago, not even telling him that she was pregnant at the time.

      After Jen’s death, when Caleb came into his life, Luke’s perspective had taken a radical shift. Now he actively sought stability, where there had been none before. On the surface, Sarah could provide some of that stability. She was the minister’s daughter, she was well respected in town and she’d had the sort of idyllic childhood that he wanted to give his son. But there was something about Sarah that made him not want to rush into anything with her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was there. He enjoyed her company, but not enough for the serious relationship she was looking for. At least not right now.

      Both ladies nodded as if they totally understood, taking his words at face value.

      Katie pushed her sunglasses up with purpose. “Well, we’re off. I honestly do not know how this village would function without us. Three thousand people and half of them don’t have a clue!” Skillfully, she put the cart in Reverse as Annie blew a kiss to Luke, her eyes sparkling playfully behind her leopard-print sunglasses.

      “Good thing they have us.” Annie patted her sister’s hand soothingly before the golf cart bounced away from Moon Gate Cottage down the shady, sandy lane.

      Luke shook his head, smiling as he watched their departure. It’s a good thing we do have you, he thought. Looking at the list in his hand, he called for Caleb to come with him before making his way to his truck to do the shopping.

      * * *

      Tess drank in the view as she crossed the bridge that led into the charming hamlet of Swansboro. Large brown pelicans flew in lazy circles near the bridge before veering off toward a sun-bleached wooden dock to her right. Several men sat on benches in front of the boats, mending nets and throwing small silver fish to the birds from buckets sitting near their feet. To her left a number of miniature lush green islands dotted the water. She turned off the air conditioner in the car and rolled down the windows, her senses delightfully assaulted by the scent of fresh salty air combined with the vibrant perfume of the white, pink and red oleander that lined the narrow street she had just turned onto.

      She could easily see gentle, kind Livie growing up in this beautiful seaside town. The place was storybook perfect, and for the first time in months, Tess genuinely smiled, feeling innumerable layers of stress and pain begin to dissolve, at least a little. Her experiences overseas had wounded her in body and spirit. Both sets of injuries were slow to heal. But coming to this town to rest and recover was helping her already. It was a beginning and she would take what she could get.

      Her first order of business was to get directions to the house. She had told Livie she would call the aunts when she got to Swansboro, but she wanted to do this on her own. She was glad that Livie had given her a key. There was no need to bother anyone. Besides, there had been too much fussing over her and doing for her lately, and she wanted to establish her independence again—something she had sorely missed the past eight months.

      Spying the police station on a nearby corner, she pulled into an empty parking spot and reached for the aluminum cane that had been her constant companion since she had finished rehab. With some difficulty she stood up, leaning heavily on it. Her left leg was sore and stiff from the three hour drive, but she managed to keep her balance as she made her way slowly into the building.

      “Can I help you?” The bald, portly man behind the outsize oak desk seemed distracted by something on the floor as he glanced up quickly at Tess, then back to the vicinity of his feet. She couldn’t see what the distraction was, but the man seemed very anxious about something down there.

      “Yes, I’m looking for this address.” As Tess tried to hand him the paper, the man yelped and jumped to his feet. Startled, she moved back a few steps, wobbling as she grasped the cane firmly to keep from falling.

      “Are you all right?” Surprise mingled with concern in her voice.

      As he moved to the center of the room, shaking his leg, Tess spied the problem. A small turtle had attached itself to the police officer’s pant leg. Determination glinted in the turtle’s beady black eyes as the beak-like mouth maintained its firm grip, unwilling to release its prey until it had brought him down.

      “Snapping turtle,” the officer puffed, continuing his awkward dance around the little room.

      “Are you hurt?” For the life of her, Tess could not figure out how to help the poor man.

      “No, just has the pant leg, not the skin.”

      “Maybe СКАЧАТЬ