Soldier Daddy. Cheryl Wyatt
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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