SEAL's Baby (Navy SEAL Secret Baby Romance) (28 page)

  
I had moments of weakness when I was sorely tempted to call her up
and suggest that we try the long distance relationship thing but I always
backed out at the last minute. I didn’t want to complicate her life and things
always looked so different when I was over there surrounded by war and death.

  
I took out my phone and stared at it for a moment but then I
decided I shouldn’t call. I settled for writing her a text. “I’m leaving soon,
Lizzie,” I wrote. “I just wanted to thank you for the last few weeks. I’ll miss
you.”

  
A minute later I received a little beep that told me I had just
received a message. I looked down at it and read Lizzie’s reply. “I’ll miss you
too,” was all she had written.

  
I took a deep breath and wrote the thing that I most needed to
say. I knew that I couldn’t leave town without extracting some kind of promise
from her. I needed it for my own peace of mind. “I know this is probably not my
place, Lizzie,” I wrote. “But I need to know that you will make sure that Paul
stays away from you. Don’t try to protect him and don’t let him back into your
life.”

“I won’t,” she wrote
back.

“Promise?” I asked.

“Promise,” she replied.

  
I breathed a sigh of relief and put my phone away. It was time for
me to get back to my life.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

Elizabeth

Two Months Later

“Lizzie, get your butt
over here!”

  
I glanced up as Maddie’s voice reached me but I stayed where I
was. It was nice to sit beneath the shade of the trees and observe. I was
humming under my breath distractedly as I watched Maddie and Tyler splashing
about by the lake. Their relationship had developed unexpectedly, but it was
probably only unexpected to me because I hadn’t been paying attention.

  
Maddie was so much happier these days and I could see an obvious
change in Tyler too. He was less surly and much more talkative. I had never
thought to pair the two together before, but now that they were a couple, it
seemed to make perfect sense. Maddie walked up and collapsed down beside me.

“What are you doing back
here?” she asked.

“Just thinking.”

“You think too much,” she
said shaking her head.

I smiled. “You and Tyler
make a nice couple.”

Maddie’s grin grew wider.
“Who would’ve thought huh?”

“It’s crazy the way
things work out.” I said distractedly as my thoughts flitted half a world away.

“You’re thinking about
Dylan again, aren’t you?” Maddie guessed correctly.

“Has Tyler heard from him
lately?” I asked casually.

“I’m sure he has,” Maddie
replied. “But I haven’t really asked; would you like me to?”

“No,” I said quickly.
“That’s all right.”

“I thought you said he
wrote you?”

“A couple of weeks ago,”
I nodded. “Just after the deployment; he’s probably busy now.”

“Lizzie, you need to move
on.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“I thought you were done
waiting around for Dylan?”

“I thought I was too,” I
sighed. “But I can’t control how I feel.”

  
Maddie nodded and looked towards Tyler. “That’s true; it’s weird,
you know. I always thought of Tyler as this, well, this boring, straight laced,
uptight guy …”

“Well you’re not so far
off,” I teased.

Maddie laughed. “I guess
that was all I saw…”

“And now?”

“Now I can see so much
more.”

“You’re lucky,” I said.
“It’s all happening at the right time for you.”

“It will happen for you
as well,” Maddie said firmly. “You just have to be willing to do the work.”

“What work is that?” I
asked with interest.

  
“Stop all this moping introspection, stop constantly thinking
about Dylan, and go out there and meet people, have fun, live your life, and
eventually the right guy will come along.”

“You’re right,” I nodded,
but I knew I was just telling her what she needed to hear from me.

  
I sat up a little straighter as my stomach turned suddenly and I
felt a wave of nostalgia hit me. I froze for a moment wondering if I had just
imagined it.
 

“Something wrong?” Maddie
asked looking at me with concern.

“I … just felt a little
strange for a second, but I think it’s passed.”

  
Tyler joined us a few moments later and he settled down beside
Maddie while she rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed her softly on the
cheek the way that Dylan used to kiss me. I turned my eyes away from them and
towards the pristine lake in front of us.

“Today was a nice day,” I
said.

“Some of the boys are
getting drinks tonight,” Tyler said. “Why don’t you two join us?”

“You don’t mind?” Maddie
asked.

  
“Not at all,” he said. “There might be a few people from high
school that you’ll know, and anyway, I want my friends to meet my new
girlfriend.”

  
We ended up lounging by the lake for another hour before we headed
into town. The sun had just set and lights were flickering on around us. Maddie
and I stopped at one of the vintage dress stores while Tyler took a call
outside. Then we walked over to one of the newer pubs in town and got a table
in the corner. We were there for about an hour, drinking and laughing, before
Tyler’s friends showed up.

“This is Max and Lacy,”
Tyler introduced as they came up to our table.
 

  
Max was shorter than Tyler was, but he was well built and well
dressed. He had light-brown eyes and strawberry-blond hair and I saw Maddie’s
pointed expression, as she looked him over. Lacy was short with a head full of
wild, black curls and dark eyes. I remembered her from school, but Max was
completely unfamiliar to me. We shook hands and then sat down together.

  
It turned out to be a more enjoyable evening than I had
anticipated and I ended up having fun. When I excused myself to visit the
restroom, Maddie excused herself as well and followed me to the ladies room.

“Well?” she demanded the
minute we were alone.

“Well what?” I asked her
in surprise.

“Max!” she said. “He’s
cute, right?”

“I guess so. Does it
matter?”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t he with Lacy?”

  
“No! They’ve been friends forever and Lacy’s engaged to marry some
British guy,” Maddie said excitedly. “I asked Tyler already and he said that
Max is completely single and … he’s looking.”

I rolled my eyes. “This
is not a setup, is it?”

  
“No it isn’t,” Maddie replied. “It’s kismet. Come on, Lizzie, you
said it yourself: this guy is cute, he dresses well, and he went to Stanford.”

I laughed. “He seems
really nice,” I had to admit.

“I’m glad you agree; now it’s
time to kick it up a notch,” Maddie said wiggling her eyebrows at me.

“What does that mean?” I
demanded.

“Aw, come on,” Maddie
said with a sigh of frustration. “You’re not exactly turning on the charm.”

“Excuse me?” I asked
defensively.

“Flirt a little, Lizzie!”
Maddie exclaimed.

I sighed. “I hate
flirting; I was never any good at it.”

  
“That’s what happens when you have one, steady boyfriend
throughout high school,” Maddie teased. “Well, there’s no time like the present
to learn.”

  
I was about to say that I wasn’t sure if I was ready yet but I
knew that Maddie wouldn’t accept that as an answer. Plus, she would know
immediately why I was being so reluctant and I didn’t want to give her more of
a reason to be annoyed with Dylan.

“Fine, fine,” I sighed.
“Let’s get out there.”

  
We got back to the table and sat down. Maddie subtly orchestrated
out seating positions so that I was sitting next to Max. He was a good-looking
guy and I noticed that he seemed to have kind eyes. I knew that if it hadn’t
been for Dylan’s image in my head, I would have been able to muster up some
form of interest. Still, I did my best to try and focus on Max and the
conversation at hand.

  
“So, Elizabeth,” Max started as we drifted off into smaller,
individual conversations. “Tyler told us that you are a teacher?”

“He’s being kind,” I
smiled. “I’m the librarian, actually.”

“Are you hoping to teach
one day?”

  
“That’s the dream,” I replied and had a pang of sadness at how
small my dreams had become. “I’m working up to it. What do you do?”

“I’m a doctor,” Max
replied. “A surgeon actually.”

“Wow,” I said impressed.
“What’s your specialty?”

“I specialize in pediatric
surgery.”

“Geez, I would imagine
that can be difficult,” I breathed.

  
“More than you know,” Max said with a sigh. “It’s emotionally
draining, but when it works out, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

  
I smiled as I watched his eyes light up. It was obvious that he
was the kind of guy that wanted to make a difference. “I can imagine,” I
nodded. I was about to ask him a question but at the last moment I changed my
mind.

“What?” he asked, picking
up on the question I hadn't asked.
 

“Nothing.”

He laughed. “Go on,” he
said. “Ask me anything, I don’t mind.”

  
“Well, I guess I was wondering how much your work, especially your
line of work, affects you. I mean, it must be hard to see all those kids come
in everyday with all kinds of terrible problems. Does it ever sour you?”

“Sour me against the
thought of having kids myself you mean?” Max asked hitting the nail on the
head.

“Yeah,” I said. “If
that’s too personal a question, feel free to ignore it.”

  
Max smiled. “No it’s a valid question,” he said. “My mother asked
me the same thing when I told her what I was going to be specializing in. I
guess the answer is no. I mean, it does affect me sometimes and there are days
when I bring it home with me, but it still hasn’t taken away my desire to have
kids. I would love to raise a family one day.”

“That’s great,” I said,
feeling myself warm to him more and more.

  
“That was actually the reason my last girlfriend and I split up,”
Max said abruptly. “She didn’t want kids and I did.”

“How long were you
together?”

  
“Almost two years,” Max admitted. “It got to the point where we
started talking about our future and I happened to mention the white picket
fence and the kids piled up in the land rover and she … well, she had a
different image in mind.”

“That’s sad,” I said honestly.
“It must have been a painful decision to make.”

  
“It was,” Max nodded. “But the thing is, I have a stressful job
and I need something normal to come home to, you know?”

  
“I do know,” I nodded. “It’s just heartbreaking when you think
you’re at the finish line and you realize the person you’re with is not the
right one for you.”

“Are you speaking from
experience?” Max asked pointedly.

“I am actually,” I
nodded. “I’m divorced.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I said with a
shrug. “It was the right thing for me.”

  
Max nodded and we relaxed into a comfortable conversation. He was
easy to talk to and it seemed he felt the same way about me. He opened up about
his job and his past relationships and by the end of the night, I felt I knew
him as well as I knew Tyler.

  
The five of us left the bar together, but Max pulled me aside
while the others were saying goodbye to one another.

  
“Elizabeth,” he said. “I know this might be sort of a weird
question but … would it be ok if sometime in the future I ask you out.”

I raised my eyebrows and
smiled. “I … well sure … that would ok,” I nodded at last.

  
He smiled. “I would have loved to ask you out now, it’s just that
I’m doing this fellowship at the hospital that takes up all my time and I don’t
think it would be fair to you to start a new relationship and then disappear
suddenly.”