Navy Christmas. Geri Krotow

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СКАЧАТЬ downrange so long. It was just his luck that it happened to be the woman who’d upended his whole life.

      Unexpected disappointment punched him in the gut.

      Even if their shared connection hadn’t been so ugly, so life-changing, he wouldn’t stand a chance with her. Not after she’d overheard his harsh words.

      And the boy—Pepé. Jonas didn’t like the twinge of envy he’d felt when Pepé smiled and ran to Doc Franklin. He used to be the practitioner kids loved, the one who loved taking care of kids, but after the past several months of deployment, he couldn’t look at a child and not feel the immediate wash of sorrow that’d become too familiar to him.

      “Please call me Jonas. I’m sorry I haven’t contacted you yet. I’ve been home a short time, and I didn’t want to stop by the house without calling first.”

      Had she heard him stumble over the word house? Or was it just his imagination that referring to the farmhouse as anything but his or his family’s caused him pause?

      She held her hand up to stop his meager attempt at an apology.

      “I think we’ve said all we needed to in our emails, don’t you?”

      “No, not at all. Six months ago we were both in shock, and an email is never the same as meeting in person.”

      He looked over to where Doc was goofing around with Pepé.

      “I don’t want to have this conversation now, Serena—can I call you that? Not with Pepé here.”

      “I imagine it would be difficult for you to ask me to give up our home while Pepé’s within earshot.”

      Frustration made his vision blur as the goddess turned into a witch. An immediate ache in his chest opened up, spewing the ugly visions of children he hadn’t been able to save. Damn his post-deployment emotions. His ability to compartmentalize, the usual method of coping with unwanted emotions and allowing a warrior to focus on a mission, seemed to have evaporated the minute he landed back on Whidbey last week.

      “I may deserve that, ma’am, but trust me, I’m not the bogeyman. I understand that you and Pepé have been through a lot. More than your share.”

      Those brown eyes remained steady on him. Measuring him, assessing his integrity. He’d had stares from top admirals that weren’t as unnerving.

      “As have you. And yes, you can call me Serena.”

      Her tone held no recrimination, no pity. Dottie’s claim that Serena was “a gal with real class” rang through his mind. Thinking of Dottie, of her death, made him want to put his fist through the clinic wall.

      “Dottie loved you so much. She never stopped talking about you.” As if she’d read his mind. As if she knew he needed that reminder of Dottie’s love for him.

      “Funny, because she was the same way about you—she went on and on in her emails and our few phone conversations about how thrilled she was to finally have met you, to have closed the family circle by meeting her long-lost niece.”

      Her eyes narrowed and she took a step back. “You’re right, Jonas. We need to have this conversation elsewhere.”

      Her anger had melted into another emotion he didn’t want to consider. Sadness?

      “Mom, Doc Franklin says I can go back to soccer next spring!”

      “That’s nice, Pepé.” Her shoulders sagged and Jonas made a conscious effort not to offer her an arm, a shoulder of his own.

      “What’s going on with Pepé?” If he was going to check her son in and probably see more of him in the clinic, he’d better do his best to be professional.

      “He’s had a rash of ear infections. The last one took him out of the second half of soccer season. He loves soccer, as he’ll be sure to let you know any minute now.”

      Her exasperated expression reflected her obvious love for Pepé.

      “I understand. I get antsy when I can’t get to the gym. You two must have a special bond.”

      A small line appeared between her brows and Jonas swore he tasted the bottom of his uniform boots. How many times could he say the wrong words in one afternoon?

      “I’m sorry, Serena. Obviously small talk isn’t my forte any more than pediatrics is.”

      She opened her mouth to speak but Doc interrupted them.

      “Commander Scott, this is Pepé, my main man. I’ve known this kid since he moved on island last spring. He’s a champ. Pepé, this is Commander Scott, and he’s going to take care of you.” Doc raised his hand for Pepé’s high-five slap.

      “Yes, sir.”

      Jonas gritted his teeth for the fifteenth time in as many minutes. This wasn’t going to be easy. If Doc Franklin had made the connection between Serena and Jonas, he wasn’t talking. And Jonas wasn’t about to mention it now, not after already shoving his foot down his throat twice.

      Jonas walked Pepé and Serena back to the check-in station. He gestured for her to take the seat next to the computer desk as he smiled at Pepé.

      “Go ahead and scoot up on the table for me, buddy.”

      “Am I going to get a sticker?”

      “After I check your ears, sure.”

      “You sounded angry about the stickers, Mr. Scott.”

      “It’s Commander Scott, Pepé.”

      Serena’s smooth correction made Jonas smile. He had to hand it to her—she was raising the boy to show respect and courtesy.

      “If it’s okay with your mom, you can call me Jonas, Pepé. I’m not a doctor like Doc Franklin. I’m a nurse practitioner and I can take care of you, too.”

      “Mom, is it okay?”

      “Sure, mi hijo.”

      Jonas didn’t like the tired lines under her eyes. He disliked more that he cared about her parental exhaustion.

      This was the woman who Dottie had given his house to.

      Best to stick to the basics.

      “ID?”

      She handed over her and Pepé’s military ID cards.

      Jonas’s fingers flew over the keyboard as he automatically typed in Pepé’s last name, the active-duty sponsor’s social security number—

      His hands stilled.

       Delgado, Philip. Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Deceased.

      He knew Serena was a war widow. That she had a son. But to read it, in black and white, made him wish he could have been there, could have saved her husband. Anything to take the sorrow from her eyes.

      He СКАЧАТЬ