The Marine's Red Hot Homecoming (5 page)

He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’ll follow your rules. For now. But we’ll revisit them in the near future.”

“Would that be before you leave us again? Or after you come back from yet another two year absence?”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Shared custody means making decisions together regardless of my absences.”

Oh, she read the frustration in the tight lines bracketing his mouth. But she held her ground. “We’ve got this settled for the time being. Now let’s get this done so I can get back to the boutique.” And back to her life. Because the only thing they had in common was their son. Though her hormones screamed to differ.

###

One hour later, Hannah signed the contract. “Here’s the stuff about Jason’s diet,” she said, pointing to the spot in the paperwork where she’d inserted her codicil. She gave him her pen. “Sign it and date it.” Though it was a small victory, she’d come a long way from the woman who had let her ex-boyfriend in Los Angeles walk all over her.

“Sure.” Caleb scrawled his signature next to her handwritten addition. “We’ll deal with renegotiating the terms after we practice this parenting gig a little longer. Ready to go?”

“After we clean up.” She glanced at Jason as he played with his Big T truck, scrambling on the grass making vroom vroom noises. “He’s completely oblivious to the changes that are going to be a part of his life.”

“The innocence of kids. Highly underrated.” Caleb swung off the picnic bench and went to get Jason. “Hey sport. Time to get rolling.” He carried him to the stroller, then got him situated with a minimum of fuss.

She grabbed his favorite stuffed animal, a well-worn gray elephant from the table and gave it to Jason. He lifted Jason’s blankie, then passed it to him. Something stirred deep at the automatic gesture. For a big, tough Marine who had been raised by an iron fisted man, Caleb had a gentle, soft heart.

That unsettled her, and made her pause briefly before she kissed Jason’s forehead. “Love you little guy,” she said. Her heart physically hurt at the thought of anything happening to him, but this was her first step in relinquishing his care to Caleb.

“I’ll clean up.”

Oh, she could get very used to having an extra pair of hands around, but Hannah tucked that yearning away. They’d rarely be together with Jason now that they had reached a custody settlement. Still, everything had worked out for the best. He had a trust fund. He would inherit a fortune. And, if he was willing, one day he would hold a corporate position that would garner him more influence in the IT technology world than she could possibly fathom.

What Jason hadn’t gained was the promise of a father who would always be a part of his life. But then she supposed no one had that guarantee. Look at what happened after her ex boyfriend had come home from Iraq? Their relationship crumbled due to Brandon’s PTSD, and she’d seen countless other military marriages end in divorce. Assimilating back into civilian life wasn’t easy even for the strongest of people. Caleb’s drive to return to the battlefield once he’d restored his family’s company to his father meant that he’d put himself in harm’s way deliberately. Fine. She could respect that. After all, her older sister Jessie had been a war decorated Marine and would have gone back out there to fight again had she not been seriously injured in an explosive ordnance blast that had killed her team leader.

Jessie’s recovery from PTST took longer than the damage to her leg had taken, but she’d met a man who loved her enough to get her through it. Now they were married with two beautiful children. Watching her sister overcome her greatest burden with her handsome, big screen action hero husband Blake Johnston had shown Hannah that love had the power to conquer any obstacle.

Until Brandon came along.

Her love hadn’t been enough to stop Brandon from self-destructing and almost making her collateral damage. She didn’t dare put herself in that kind of situation again. Now she had Jason’s future to consider, too.

“So you’ve got the mountain house ready for him?” she asked after Caleb had tossed the remnants of their meal into a nearby trash bin.

“Yup. Got the room set up with a bed, toys, baby monitor,” he said. “I toddler proofed the cabinets and stairs. I’ve got all the kid appropriate organic snacks, kid-sized plates and cutlery, you name it.”

They strolled toward her boutique, and though they weren’t touching, every molecule in her felt as if it had been charged by electricity. But she had to keep her body under strict orders to pretend that awareness didn’t exist. Not when she had to maintain the upper hand in how Caleb would assimilate into her world.

“You move fast.”

“Money talks.”

“Be that as it may, we’re going to take this slow.” She edged away from Caleb’s heat. “He’s a happy little boy. He gets along with everyone he knows, but you’re still a stranger to him.”

“I don’t want to be,” he said.

“You’ll have to let me control this situation.” Though she admired his willingness to jump in a take charge of the situation—typical Marine. No way would she let another man be 100 percent in charge of her welfare, let alone Jason’s. “You’ll be busy overseeing your family’s business. So work will take up a lot of your time. Let’s take this slow and see where it goes.”

She looked at his profile and his mouth was razor thin as he held his tongue. Oh, she figured he didn’t like standing down, nor the overt reference to his father’s frequent absences for the same reason.

After a beat of silence, he said, “I’ll be there for him whenever I can. I won’t use work as an excuse to hide from my responsibilities.”

“Easier said than done, but I know you mean it.” Caleb spent years trying to prove he wasn’t anything like his father. The Marines had taught him to follow through on his commitments. Hannah hoped that meant he’d live up to his promise.

“Thanks.”

A scent of burning wood wafted through the air. Glancing up, she caught sight of flames flicking and dancing outside her boutique’s top floor. Her heart galloped and air whooshed through her ears. She couldn’t breathe. She wanted to run, but her legs had turned to concrete.

She heard screams in the distance to call 911 and watched the shop keepers adjacent to her store rushing out onto the sidewalk. Hannah managed a whimper. “That’s... that’s my...”
My everything. My home, my business... everything is going up in smoke.

“Holy crap.” Caleb wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her into his sheltering strength at the same time he whipped out his cell phone. “I’m dialing 911 now. Don’t worry. Looks like the fire’s contained to one room from the way the flames are licking out of the top window.”

But that room wasn’t just any room. It was Jason’s. The ramifications of what might have happened turned her blood to ice. She quickly released him from his stroller and held him close, wanting to collapse into herself but standing strong for her son. The only thing that calmed her racing heart was hearing the complete command and control in Caleb’s voice as he spoke to the emergency dispatcher.

That was the Marine in him.

The very thing that made him completely the wrong man to be with in the future.

###

“You’ll have to bring in water and fire mitigation specialists,” the fire marshal said two hours later. “Probably take at least a month to get everything back to code.”

“Already done,” Caleb said, surveying the scene inside the boutique.

The fire department had worked fast, but their boots and the hoses had caused major damage to the hardwood floors on the main level. Jason’s room had been gutted. Even the smoke detectors in the hallway outside his tiny bedroom had melted. The stench of the noxious smoke burned his nostrils. The place felt like a war zone instead of a wellness boutique and spa.

“You got any good news for me?” Caleb asked.

“Insurance should cover the repair costs.”

“You positive about that?” Because he’d pay for the entire reparation if necessary. His family’s company had given the Gibson’s more wealth than they knew what to do with, except for his father. His father had a trail of very happy mistresses draped in expensive jewelry along with paid for living arrangements.

“The inspector will have to verify my findings, but I’m 99 percent certain that a faulty wire in the boy’s lamp arced and jumped a spark to the crib’s mattress.”

Caleb’s stomach hollowed. What if his son had been asleep in that bed? And Hannah? What if she had been caught unaware, unable to escape the fumes? No way would he let anything happen to his family. Not like this. Not ever again. Now he had to find a way to show her that they meant everything to him before he left for his next tour of duty.

“How soon until you’ll know for sure?” he asked.

“Couple of days.”

“Good. I’ll tell Hannah.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Let you get back to cleaning this mess up.”

“Glad you’re here for them.” The marshal clapped him on the back. “Hannah’s a tough little egg, but this shit will crack the hardest shell.”

“As long as I’m in the picture, she’s got nothing to worry about,” he said, then exited the boutique and crossed the sidewalk to where she stood waiting with the rest of the historic district’s shop owners. “Looks like you’ll be back in business by the time the district reopens on Memorial Day weekend.”

“See.” Hannah smiled brightly at the people who had gathered around her. “I told you everything would be okay.”

Another woman might have crumbled, faltered under the weight of the new worries facing her. But she wasn’t that kind of person—not on the surface. Instead of collapsing into a blubbering mass of tears and shrieks, she had rallied as soon as the fire trucks had arrived on the scene. First calling in her babysitter Lori, then contacting the other shop owners with the news. Once she had Jason safely squared away, she’d reassured everyone with her own optimistic outlook. But Caleb knew her well enough to see through her façade. She’d fall apart later, alone or with her mother. No way was she okay with what had happened.

Neither was he. Time to make her see that there were factors she hadn’t considered when it came to being with a military guy. He always put the mission first—and right now the mission was protecting his family.

“Do we have to vacate the premises as well?” the bakery owner asked.

“No. The firewalls prevented the damage from spreading.” Caleb closed the distance between them, wanting to protect her, aching to hold her. “Only Harmony Landing has to undergo fire and water mitigation. That starts today.”

“I called my parents,” she said moments after the other shop owners had promised to give her additional assistance before they dispersed. “They’ve got a spare room for me and Jason.”

“It’s great that they offered to help out, but why stay in a little bedroom when you can have an entire house to rattle around in?” Caleb wanted to brush the tendrils of blonde hair from her furrowed brow. Instead, he clasped his hands behinds back. “Plus, I have everything that he needs set up.” He’d already assumed the responsibility of having a safe, secure home for his son whenever he returned from his overseas’ tours of duty.

She swallowed hard, her hazel eyes unfathomable. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It might send the wrong signals to him.”

He inhaled a deep breath, sucked in the sweet scent of her peaches and cream aroma and the fresh spring air to wash away the lingering toxic fumes. But he couldn’t clear out the disappointment twining through his veins. “He’s sixteen months old, not sixteen. I doubt he’ll get confused if we play house together for a month.” That might give him the time he needed to convince Hannah that she could trust him.

“This isn’t a game.” She crossed her arms. “I’ve got a life here. One that I’ve worked hard to create. Playing house might not confuse our son, but...” She looked away.

“But nothing,” he said. “We’re his parents. I can help you when you’re busy dealing with the restoration and reconstruction of your shop.” He didn’t like the feeling of desperation, or his lack of control. She held all the power in this decision. That was something he wasn’t accustomed to at all.

“When?” She snapped her head back and locked her eyes with his. “Between business calls and trips?”

Patience. Reel her in slowly. Let her see you’re a reasonable guy.
“Other couples do it all the time—it’s called cooperation.”

“That’s the problem, Caleb,” she said. “We’re not a couple. Plus, you’re more likely to give orders than work as a unit.”

“You have no idea how I’ll be because you refuse to give me a chance to prove I’m not like your ex.”

“Right. That’s why you issued an order to get married.”

God, he hated it when she was right. Only a part of him wished she was wrong, but that randy part had no business in negotiating this deal. Sex wasn’t what would bring her to see his way of thinking. “I get that this isn’t about being a real family with a marriage license and a white picket fence surrounding our house, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be partners in raising our son.” He crossed his fingers mentally.

The lines marring her brow smoothed and she let her arms fall to her sides. Her resistance was fading. He pressed on, gently, not willing to accept no for an answer when he was so damn close to getting her to say yes. “You can run your online business from the house. I’ll set up an office for you. Your babysitter can stay over if necessary. God knows I’ve got the space. It’d be good for him to spend as much time with me as possible before I ship out again.”

She tilted her head and put her index finger on her chin. After several beats of silence, she pursed her lips, then puffed a long breath. “I suppose we could stay with you temporarily.”

He reined in the desire to fist pump the air. “Absolutely,” he said. “It’s a win-win situation.”

“Don’t expect this whole partners in parenting thing to lead to anything more,” she warned him. “Because that’s so not happening again.”

“Agreed.” He nodded his head. “We’ll be friends who happen to have a great kid to raise. Deal?”

Caleb held out his hand and she clasped it. “Deal.”

Her delicate palm fit perfectly into his broad one. Her skin, so soft and smooth and silky, warmed his and sent a sizzle of heat through him. Memory flashed, the passion she’d once ignited roared through his veins. Suddenly he realized that keeping his end of the bargain wasn’t going to be easy because he was seriously getting in way over his head. Still, he’d keep his hands to himself while rebuilding Hannah’s opinion of him. Otherwise, he’d lose a shot at winning her over 100 percent.