Lakeside Hero (Men Of Millbrook Lake Book 1) (7 page)

“Thank me over dinner,” he said, wondering how he’d found the courage.

Silence. “I don’t know...”

“Just dinner, Marla. Unless you’d rather stay near Gabby.”

“My mom’s offered to cook dinner, but I’m not that hungry.”

“Then I’ll come and pick you up. If you don’t want to eat, I’ll take you home. Or we could go for a stroll around the lake.”

She didn’t speak and the seconds ticked off until Alec felt sweat popping out on his brow. “It’s okay. Never mind.”

“A stroll would be nice,” she said. “Give me a half hour to freshen up.”

“I need your parents’ address,” he said before she got away.

Marla gave him the house number. “The one with the magnolia tree in the front yard.”

“I’ll be there soon,” Alec replied. Then he stared at his phone and wondered if he’d taken the right step.

Looking down at Angus, he said, “Guess I’ll have to give the guys a rain check, huh, boy?”

Angus woofed in the affirmative.

The guys would certainly give Alec a hard time once they found out he’d ditched them for a date. But for once, he didn’t care about that.

Chapter Eight

“M
om, people are staring into the dining room window. What have you told all of your friends?”

Marla saw the flash of a grin on her mother’s face, followed by a big-eyed innocence. “Whatever are you talking about?”

And she knew that polite evasive technique, too. “I’m talking about Alec. Did you call the neighbors the minute I told you he was coming out here to get me?”

“To take you on a date,” her mother countered.

Marla saw the bevy of senior-citizen women gathering in the early evening sunshine in her mother’s small backyard. “And tell me again, what kind of meeting did you
suddenly
remember?”

Joyce eyed the clutter of females bringing their iced-tea glasses and finding seats on the porch furniture. “Well, I took a walk after we got Gabby to bed. When you were on the phone with Alec, I might have mentioned that I made a peach cobbler yesterday and I might have invited several of my closest friends to come by and have some with the homemade ice cream your daddy made this afternoon after he had his nap and now we’re having what we call a ‘sudden supper.’”

“Mom, we’ve already had supper.”

“Oh, we just call it that to make it clear that it’s nothing fancy.”

“Right.” Marla checked her hair in the hallway mirror and then waved cautiously to the half-dozen women giggling and teetering on the porch. “They must really like peach cobbler.”

“Oh, we all do. With ice cream. I wonder if Alec would like to stay and have a bite?”

“I think he would,” her dad said from the front door. “I just invited him to come on in since I didn’t think you were ready yet.”

“Arrgh! What if Gabby wakes up?” Marla hated to grunt like a pirate, but her parents were so obvious a squirrel could guess what they were up to. “I won’t show him off like some prized vegetable,” she said, only to turn around and find Alec smiling at her from just inside the front door.

“Hi,” she said, thinking this little patio home had just become even smaller. Her dad kept the front door so greased it didn’t squeak or creak enough to warn a person that someone was entering the premises. That could be dangerous.

Right now, it had become very dangerous. Her heart turned up the beats while her skin turned as pink as her mother’s prized geranium blossoms. She only hoped Gabby didn’t wake up and find him here. She’d planned to meet him outside, but now he was here, inside, and giving her a questioning smile.

“Hi,” he said back to her, looking good in a black T-shirt and faded jeans. “Somebody mentioned peach cobbler so here I am. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” her dad interjected.

“Come in,” Joyce called on a sweet note of hospitality. “Good to see you again, Alec.”

“Good to see you again, Mrs. Reynolds,” he replied, an amused grin making him look way more tempting than cobbler and ice cream.

“Nice to see you, too,” her mother responded, her eyelashes fluttering like a teenager’s.

Honestly
.

Marla wanted to run into her room and slam the door, but since her daughter was asleep in the extra bedroom, that couldn’t happen. She’d just have to make the best of this and remember to never, ever again bring a man into her parents’ home. Ever.

Alec gave her an appreciative once-over. “If you think peach cobbler will ruin my dinner, I can assure you I’ll be ready to eat again in a little while.”

“It’s fine,” she said, her own stomach too keyed up to even think about food. “Come on in, but be forewarned—this place is not for the faint of heart.”

“I think I can handle it,” he said. And then he noticed the women craning their necks at the big window by the Florida room. “Uh, am I interrupting some sort of meeting?”

“Don’t ask,” Marla said on a long hiss. “Just eat your cobbler and ice cream so we can get out of here.”

“Will they hurt me?” he whispered against her neck.

Marla almost forgot her shame and embarrassment. “I’ll stay between them and you, don’t worry.”

Alec waved to the women, causing them to scatter like a flock of colorful birds. “And here I thought retirement homes were boring.”

“Never a dull moment around this one,” Marla retorted.

“Okay, everybody out on the porch,” her father announced, his churn of homemade vanilla ice cream in tow.

“I am so there,” Alec said to Marla. And again, a shiver went down her spine—a shiver of anticipation, of some sort of awakening that both frightened and intrigued her.

“I’m going to go and make sure the door to Gabby’s room is shut,” she said. “I’ll be right there.”

Assured that Gabby was down for the count, Marla hurried back to find Alec, now oblivious to their fascinated audience of arthritic admirers. But when she got to the door, Alec was still inside. He hesitated, his hand going to his face.

The scar
.

“Do you want to leave?” Marla asked, her heart doing that thing that made her feel as gooey inside as one of her Marshmallow Marvel cupcakes.

“I don’t want to be impolite,” he said, a look of dread scattering across his features. “What should I do?”

“Smile,” she said, her hand on his. “That should do just fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I only recently starting trying to get out more. I don’t want to—”

“Alec?” Joyce stood with her hands clasped together. “It’s going to be okay.”

Marla wanted to hug her mother for being so thoughtful and sensitive. But then, her parents had learned how to deal with this kind of thing since Gabby had her own bouts of fear and shyness.

Alec gave Marla a questioning glance and turned back to her mom. “Okay, then. Take me to the peach cobbler.”

Marla breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been much worse if they’d turned and left. But somehow this big, brave marine had just taken another piece of her heart by showing his deeply anxious side twice in the same day. A side with which she could certainly identify.

After he’d been introduced to all of her mother’s friends, Alec relaxed and managed to become the charming man who put on a public persona in spite of his wounds. When one of the women thanked him for serving his country, he looked embarrassed and confused.

“Just doing my job,” he said in a low voice.

Marla’s dad changed the subject to fishing and growing vegetables. While the women got going on that subject, Marla gave him a quick glance. “Ready to get out of here?”

Alec nodded like a kid sitting in the principal’s office. “Please.”

“Let me go check on Gabby again and give her a good-night kiss,” she said. She left him talking to her parents and their friends about which vegetables they liked most.

Gabby was snuggled in with her favorite stuffed animal, a bright green grinning alligator she’d named Allie. Marla kissed her daughter’s sweet-smelling cheek and thanked God for the honor of having a child to love. She couldn’t mess with Gabby’s fragile state right now by bringing a strange man into their lives. Sure, Gabby was getting better every day and sure, Alec was so different from any man she’d been around lately—and very different from her late husband—but Marla just couldn’t see how the future would pan out right now.

She had to protect her daughter.

She also needed to accept that she liked Alec and wanted to get to know him better.

But how did she balance the two?

Standing at the door, she watched Gabby and heard her daughter sigh in her sleep. When she came up the short hallway, Alec was waiting, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He looked both out of place and completely normal, standing in the tiny room.

“Everything okay?”

“Yes. She’s out for the night.”

They thanked her parents, said goodbye to the moon-eyed ladies who stared after them and then giggled all the way to his car.

“Wow,” Alec said as he started the purring engine. “That was some kind of ambush.”

“I’m so sorry.” Marla put her head in her hands and shook her head. “I haven’t been this mortified since junior high.”

Alec drove through the crepe-myrtle-draped drive leading back to the main road, where a lighted sign surrounded by palm trees announced, Welcome to Millbrook Lake Retirement Village.

“Remind me to never bring you out here again,” Marla said.

He actually laughed but the sound was filled with relief. “Hey, your dad had me at peach cobbler, but I...I almost panicked there for a second. I mean, I didn’t want to upset Gabby or her mother.”

And Marla had thought he was worried about his scar.

“You were great,” she replied, proud of him and touched that he’d thought of Gabby and her. “And they might be overly curious, but my mom’s friends are kind and understanding, too. And very patriotic.”

“They were nice.” He glanced over at her. “Your father invited me back to help pick vegetables next week.”

“Oh, no. Don’t let them draw you in like that. They might not ever let you go.”

“Hey, I don’t mind. My buddies keep telling me I need to just be myself and quit worrying about the scar or the problem with my leg.”

Marla knew that was good advice. “Your limp doesn’t seem pronounced as it was when we met at the wedding.”

“I’m getting better every day and my doctor gave me the go-ahead on driving again about two months ago, but some days it really bothers me.” He shook his head. “And going to a wedding as one of my first big outings didn’t help matters. I was rushing to get out of there when I...ran into you.”

Marla liked the way he hesitated on that. Did meeting her have that kind of affect? The same way she felt each time he walked into a room, that feeling where she had to catch her breath?

“Do you go to physical therapy?” she asked to keep things on an even keel.

He nodded, maneuvered the car out onto the road back to town. “About two days a week at a big complex near Pensacola that specializes in PT and pain management. I visit with some of the other wounded veterans and offer them help.”

“Do you have a lot of vets who need pet companions?”

“More than we can service.”

“What can I do?” she asked, wanting to help.

He looked surprised and then pleased. “We’re always looking for fund-raisers to raise money to help pay for the high cost of adopting and training the animals. Not to mention volunteers who help with maintaining the animals.”

“I’ll figure out something,” Marla replied. “Maybe something out at the village? A cookout, or picnic.”

“Are you asking my permission?”

“Just checking to see if you ever want to go back into the senior-citizen fray.”

“Of course I do,” he replied, his eyes dark in the night. “If I can survive today—two events with a lot of females, including my Aunt Hattie, your mom, your mom’s friends—well, I think I can survive just about anything.”

Marla relaxed back against the smooth leather seat. She liked this man and that surprised her. Alec wasn’t an adrenaline junkie who lived for the thrills in life. He was an honest, good man who’d made a decision that went against the lifestyle he’d been accustomed to by joining the marines. That must have hurt his mother tremendously after she’d lost her husband to the military and Marla suspected he was still suffering from the guilt of that. But he had survived and he was home now and trying to help others.

She could so easily fall for Alec Caldwell. But she needed to remember one very important thing before she let down her guard.

Her daughter might not ever be able to accept another man in her life—or at least any man besides her grandfather.

And if that meant Marla couldn’t have a relationship with Alec, then she’d have to walk away. She wouldn’t risk her daughter’s well-being for anyone.

Not even a handsome hero.

Chapter Nine

S
ince they’d both had big bowls of cobbler and ice cream, Marla and Alec decided to forgo eating dinner and instead just bought two carry-out cups of fresh lemonade from the Millbrook Fish House.

“Still want to walk around the lake?” Alec asked after parking his car near the garage at his house and wondering if she was tired of him already. “You’ve been kind of quiet since we hit the city limits.”

“I’d love a stroll,” she said, her smile not making it all the way to her eyes. “It’s been a long day.”

“Are you tired? You had a
busy
day.”

Marla played with her straw. “Yes, but I’m also wound up so I’m hoping a walk will do the trick.”

“Okay, then.”

They started toward the circular sidewalk, which wrapped around the water like a silver snake. Up the path an ornate footbridge crossed over where the lake merged with the river that ran into the big bay. Alec did a visual sweep of the area, glad that only a few people were out tonight.

“Don’t you usually take Angus for a sunset walk?” Marla asked, glancing back toward the house.

Alec turned toward her. “Yes, but he doesn’t have to walk every time I do. I thought he’d demand all of your attention so out of pure spite, I left him behind.”

“You wouldn’t do that to Angus, right?”

She frowned her way into confusion, causing Alec to let up and give her an amused smile. “No, but he does demand a lot of attention.”

“I don’t mind if you want to go back and get him,” she said, obviously still not sure of his sincerity.

Was she looking for an excuse to stall him? No, he was probably just imagining things.

“Aunt Hattie promised to walk him around the block before she left for supper with her friends,” he said. “I’d have to keep up with him if I let him come with us. We wouldn’t be able to relax.”

“And we need to relax.” She sipped her drink and stared out at the ducks floating like boats in the shallows. “It’s a nice evening.”

Alec drank deeply from his own lemonade and stroked his scar. “Yes. I love evening time on the lake. Right when the sun begins to set it changes into this glowing yellow that changes the houses and trees. Colors everything with a soft light. Aunt Hattie calls that the pretty sun.”

“It is pretty,” Marla said, her smile real this time. “I like your Aunt Hattie.”

“She has a good heart.”

Then she asked him a question he hadn’t expected. “Do you miss your mom?”

Caught off guard, Alec had to take a minute. “Yes, I do. Of course. But we weren’t close when she died. She never forgave me for joining the marines. We had words the last time we spoke.” He stopped, stared out at the soft rays of whitewashed light hitting the lake. A sailboat glided by, slicing through the water in a silent stream. “I wish I could have told her how much I loved her.”

Marla seemed to sense the regret on his face. “She knew, Alec. A mother always knows those things.”

“How about you?” he asked, needing to shift the attention off himself because the light was too bright. “Do you miss your husband?”

It was her turn to stop and stare. At him. “Why do you ask that?”

“Because you asked me,” he said, wishing he’d stayed quiet. “If I’m being too personal—”

“No, it’s not that.” She hesitated while Alec hated his own stupidity. “I...I need to go home, Alec.”

What had he done? “Marla, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried into your marriage.”

“No.” She held up her hand. “I don’t mind, really. But...my marriage was complicated. I wasn’t always the best wife.”

Shocked, he motioned to a bench. “Let’s sit.”

She followed him, her head down. When they’d settled against the still-warm rustic wooden bench, she turned to him. “My husband and I had troubles, lots of troubles.”

“You don’t have to talk about this,” he replied, hoping they could get back to laughing and talking about mundane things. He rarely did that, but with Marla it came so easily.

“No, I should talk about this. I mean, to someone besides Preacher Sanderson and my mom.”

He smiled at that. “Do I deserve such ranking?”

“I think you might,” she said on a quiet, sweet note. “I trust you, Alec.”

She trusted him. Alec didn’t know why those words touched him so much. He knew his buddies trusted him. They talked about everything from football to their deepest fears, but they did it in man-speak, with a lot of grunts, back-slapping and teasing remarks coupled with blunt observations. But to have this interesting, pretty, quiet woman tell him that she trusted him... Alec didn’t know how to respond.

“I
can
trust you, right?” she asked, fear now solid in her eyes.

“You know that already,” he replied. “Or you wouldn’t have said that to me.”

She set down her big cup. “Okay, then. Because I need to say some things to you and I don’t want you to take them the wrong way.”

“About your marriage?”

“About that and about...you and me.”

Alec’s heart did a funny little turn. “Are you breaking up with me before we even start dating?”

“Don’t you want to know about why I wasn’t a good wife
before
we even start dating?”

“Are you saying you want to date me?” he teased, hoping to bring the light back into her eyes.

“Are you sure you want to date me?” she countered, serious.

“I trust you, too,” he retorted in an effort to bring the conversation back to a safe level. “You must have been a good wife. You’re certainly a great mother.”

“I try to be a great mother,” she replied, “but being a good wife is much harder.”

So she didn’t like being married?

Which meant she wasn’t nearly ready to return to dating, let alone getting married again to anyone. Since he wasn’t sure about either of those things, he at least could listen to her. As a friend and nothing more. He wanted to feel relieved, but instead he felt deflated.

“Tell me why you don’t think you were a good wife, Marla. You
can
trust me.”

She stared out over the water, her gaze following the mother duck and her ducklings. “I fell out of love with my husband,” she finally said. “But I didn’t have the courage to tell him that or to work on our marriage. I stayed because of our daughter.” She turned to stare at Alec, her gaze searching him as if looking for censure or judgment. “I tried to be a good wife but he was always looking for a thrill—fast cars, fast boats, fast money. He fell in with some bad people, and they used him to plan a heist at the jewelry store he owned and managed. They robbed the store and killed him.”

She stopped, put a hand to her mouth. “On the one day I was running late, Alec. The one day I’d asked him to pick up Gabby from preschool and keep her at the store. Just until I could get back there to take her home.” Marla lowered her head. “I was trying to start my bakery business and he disapproved. We’d argued that morning. He didn’t want to pick her up. Said it wasn’t his place. He had to work but I didn’t need to.”

Alec watched her face, saw the horror there and understood what she’d been hiding and why. This went deeper than just being a grieving widow. He wanted to pull her close and tell her about the last conversation he’d had with his mother, about how bitter their words to each other had been, but Marla would probably push him away right now. So he just listened.

“Gabby and Charlie came back and walked in on the whole thing, but Charlie shoved her toward the coworker who’d been alone in the store when the robbers came in. She took Gabby behind the counter and sounded the alarm, or I might have lost my daughter, too.”

Alec tried to imagine how something such as this could frighten a young girl. “Did Gabby see the shooters?”

“No, thankfully not. But she saw the men and heard the salesclerk crying. They heard the shots and...she was so scared when I got there, she couldn’t even speak. The police found her hiding under the desk with the shocked woman who’d been with her. Charlie distracted the robbers so the clerk could get Gabby away from them. They caught the men who did it, so I can at least breathe easy that they’ll be behind bars for the rest of their lives. But I don’t know if my little girl will ever be the same.”

Alec’s heart went into another tailspin. “And that’s why she’s so afraid of men?”

“Yes,” Marla said. “And that’s the reason I can’t start dating anyone right now, including you. Especially you.”

He understood a lot now. “I get why you don’t want me around Gabby,” he said. “But what about you? Are you afraid of me, Marla?”

* * *

Marla hadn’t wanted to blurt things out to Alec in such a way, but she did trust him and she knew he was a kind, decent man who’d understand her reasons for ending things with him before they ever got started. But sitting here now, she wondered if she hadn’t waited too long. Why had she encouraged him, flirted with him, hoped he’d notice her?

Because you care about him. Because he’s a good friend who’s helped you and made you laugh and made you feel alive again.

Was it so wrong of her to want to keep seeing Alec? Or was he right? Was she afraid to try again?

“I’m not afraid of you. That’s silly. I told you, I have to protect my daughter.”

He looked shocked and then resigned. “I see.”

When his hand went up to his scar, Marla knew he’d misunderstood her. “Alec, it’s not what you think.”

“No, I understand,” he said, compassion coloring his eyes. “I was around a lot of frightened children when I was in the marines. Lonely, hungry children full of fear for any American soldier. We had to be very careful with them, to get them to gain our trust. We were considered the bad guys.”

“But you’re not a bad guy,” Marla replied. “It’s just that Gabby can’t distinguish who’s safe and who’s dangerous. She’s at that age where the boogeyman can be very real.”

He stood, tossed his cup into a nearby trash can and offered her a hand. “I think we need to finish our walk.”

Confused, Marla stood. “Okay. But this doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. We can visit with each other, even go out now and then. It’s just—”

“It’s just that you don’t want me around your child,” he replied, his words cool and quiet. Or so it seemed. “I would never do anything to upset a child, Marla. You have to know that.” He shrugged. “That’s why I always wait until sunset to even venture out for my walks with Angus.”

“It’s not your physical scars,” Marla said, needing him to understand. “I’m not that cruel.”

“I know you’re not,” he replied after they crossed the bridge and rounded the curve toward the shoreline across from the Victorian house. “I wouldn’t go against your wishes, either. But this puts us in a real pickle.”

“I know,” she said, the sound of children laughing only bringing this issue home. “And I don’t know what to do.”

“You said you trusted me,” he reminded her. “Why don’t you try trusting your own instincts?”

“My instincts tell me to be careful.”

“So this isn’t just about taking care of Gabby?”

Marla saw where he was headed. “You think I’m hiding behind that? That I’d use my daughter’s fragility to keep myself at arm’s length?”

“I don’t doubt your concerns about Gabby are real, but I’m starting to think you’re the one who’s afraid of me.”

Marla couldn’t deny her fears. “I’m afraid of getting involved again, yes. It’s still too soon. We’re getting to know each other and that’s about all I can handle right now.”

Alec’s face was lined in shadows of regret. “We’ll have to do our best to stay friends, then. Close friends.” He turned when they were behind the shelter of a towering live oak. “Friends who call each other, who trust each other, who respect each other.”

“Can we do that—try to be friends?” she asked, hoping if nothing else they could make this work.

“I hope so. But sooner or later, you might get tired of hiding me from your daughter.” He didn’t say it, but she could almost see what he was thinking.
And yourself
.

She didn’t respond to that silent condemnation. “And sooner or later, you might get tired of not being able to meet Gabby. And maybe, tired of my hang-ups.”

Alec turned to face her, his hands on her arms. “If things were different, if Gabby wasn’t so scared and if I wasn’t so scarred, what would be next for us?”

Not ready to face that, she looked out at the water and listened to the sound of a couple laughing as their sailboat glided by. “I don’t know. I can’t be sure.” And then she looked up at him, her heart coming to the surface. “I’m afraid I might not ever get over my scars, either.”

He backed up to stare down at her. “Then maybe Gabby’s issues aren’t the real problem between us. Maybe it’s more about your problems and how you need to deal with them.”

His words stung Marla with the intensity of a bee’s bite. “You could be right. But I’ll have to decide how to deal with that all on my own.”

Then she saw a spark of anger in his eyes, right before he tugged her close. “Think about this while you’re trying to figure things out.” He leaned down and gave her a quick but gentle kiss that left her wanting more. Wanting to know him more.

“Alec...”

“Not a word,” he said. “Not tonight. It’s time for me to take you home. We’ll talk again soon.”

But she knew they were done for now. He was hurt and angry and still as scared as her little girl. So they walked back to his house and he drove her the short distance to her apartment over the shop.

“Thank you,” she said. “For everything.”

He nodded. “It was nice. A nice day. One I’ll remember for a while to come.”

Marla watched as he got back in his car and headed back to the big, lonely house and returned to the solitude that kept him so isolated. She decided that he needed to take a good long look at himself, too.

She might have problems and issues stemming from how her husband had died, but Alec was the one who was still afraid to come out of the darkness.