SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (135 page)

“Really?” Mia shot a look at Caitlyn he couldn’t determine. “Are you a Navy SEAL, too?”

“I was.” He gestured to his ankle. “I’ve been sidelined.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Well, the Navy’s loss is Chance Creek’s gain. Are you going to stay long?”

Caitlyn’s gaze flicked up to meet his as if she too was curious about that answer. He meant to say not long at all but the words stuck in his throat. “Maybe.”

“Oh, Pamela! Excuse me.” Mia rushed off to rescue her baby from the grip of an overly friendly toddler across the playground. Ben looked down to check on Aaron’s progress and was surprised to find that he and Lottie were sitting side by side. The babies eyed each other, their expressions serious.

He chuckled. “I wonder what they’re thinking?”

“Maybe they’re wishing they could apologize for their prior behavior,” Caitlyn said softly. “I’m sorry if I was rude yesterday. I was embarrassed.”

He hadn’t expected that admission. “Why?”

A flush spread over her cheeks like it had the day before and she pressed a hand to her face as if she could feel it. “Because of Lottie. That’s awful, isn’t it? Being ashamed of your own child?” Her color deepened. “Not that I’m ashamed of Lottie—I’m just ashamed… of me, I guess. When my aunt tried to make you ask me out I wanted to disappear. Why would someone like you want to date me?”

Ben wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. “Because you’re beautiful and you obviously care about your daughter.”

She made a face. “That’s not what men are looking for.”

“What are men looking for?” He enjoyed her discomfort as she knit her brows together as if that question was too difficult to answer. It surprised him to find he wasn’t the only one with self-doubts, even if Caitlyn had nothing to be self-conscious of.

“Something fun… and temporary.”

Ben’s amusement faded. “Maybe Lottie’s dad was looking for those things, but that doesn’t mean all men are like that.”

“Right. I’ll bet you’re looking for forever with a single mom.” Caitlyn flushed again then held up her hands to stop him from answering. “Forget it. You don’t need to answer that. I’m not interested in forever with you, either.” She picked Lottie up and stalked off.

Ben watched her speak to Mia and then stride quickly to the parking lot, dismayed to find that forever with a single mom sounded all too good to him. Especially if that single mom was someone like Caitlyn.

Too bad Caitlyn didn’t feel the same way.

“This isn’t a
good idea,” Caitlyn said as Mia parked her car. She looked up at the three-story white mansion in front them. Crescent Hall sat proudly on a rise of ground where it overlooked the rest of the ranch. With its wraparound porch and single tower it was the epitome of gothic architecture. Caitlyn had seen it plenty of times as a child but she’d never been inside.

It wasn’t the house that intimidated her, though. Nor was it the four Hall brothers or their wives. She was nervous to the point of feeling sick about seeing Ben again. There’d be no way to avoid him tonight. If she’d realized Mia’s friends were the same group of people Ben had come to visit, she would have never taken Mia up on her invitation. She’d assumed they would go to the festival with the other Mathesons, but Mia had made a date with Storm to get ready for the dance together. They had come to the Hall early, which meant more opportunities for Caitlyn to bump into Ben. She hoped the time would pass swiftly until they all proceeded to the dance.

If she disliked Ben it would be easy to simply ignore him, but she didn’t dislike him.

She craved him.

Everything about the man made her hungry to touch him. His proud features, his upright stance, his vulnerability around his injury all worked equally to make her want to get close to Ben. She couldn’t do that. He didn’t want a single mother—he didn’t even know how long he meant to stay in town. He was no better than Caitlyn’s father—a man temporarily available when what she wanted was a permanent partner.

“It’s a terrific idea,” Mia said. “You need to have fun once in a while. We can take our time getting ready and have a good chat with Storm before we head into town. She said she hopes you’re going to wear that dress she sold you, by the way.” She looked at her watch. “Luke won’t even be here to join us for nearly an hour.”

Caitlyn dutifully lifted her garment bag from the hook where she’d hung it and exited Mia’s car, but as she approached the front stairs to the house, her anxiety got the best of her. “I barely have anything to do to get ready. I’m going to take a walk first. You go ahead.”

Mia took the garment bag. “A walk?”

“I need to clear my head.” She thought she saw sympathy in Mia’s eyes.

“All right.” Mia smiled suddenly. “Have you ever seen the Hall’s obstacle course?”

“No.” She’d heard about it, though. When the Hall men were boys their father had built it for them to give them something to do. He’d made two sets of obstacles side by side so they could race each other. The course was legendary among the young people of Chance Creek, or at least it had been when she was a child.

“It’s that way. You can’t miss it.” Mia pointed toward a fringe of forest and Caitlyn nodded.

“I’ll go check it out. Be back soon.”

Mia waved and headed up the steps to the front door. Caitlyn set out across the lawn in the direction Mia had indicated. The crisp fall air and clear blue sky calmed her nerves as she walked and she was glad she’d had the idea, even if she’d have less time to prepare for the dance later.

When she found the obstacle course, she forgot everything else. She could see why every boy in their school had craved an invitation to the Hall house. This was no plaything for little children. The course was massive, and its obstacles looked impossible.

At least some of them did. The first one looked downright easy.

Caitlyn stared up at the twin sets of monkey bars, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. There’d been a set just like this in her elementary school playground and she’d waited for the day she was tall enough to grasp the bars and swing her way across.

With a glance back at the Hall to make sure she was alone, she stepped up to the nearest structure, climbed the rungs at the bottom and reached for the first bar. While she planned to dress up later for the dance, she was glad she was currently clad in jeans, a serviceable shirt and a light jacket. She grabbed the bar and swung back and forth from it to build up the necessary momentum to grab the next one. When she did, a thrill of pride shot through her and she swung again. It was like riding a bike. She crossed the rest of the bars easily, jumped down at the far end and laughed out loud to find she still possessed the skill.

Her laughter died as she stared at the high blank wall ahead of her, though. Was she supposed to go up and over that?

No way.

She walked toward it, and then around it, examining the obstacle from all angles. Maybe a man could jump up and grab the top, but she didn’t think she could. Even if she managed it, she wouldn’t be able to swing her legs over. Finally she shrugged and started to move on to the next obstacle. A voice behind her nearly made her jump out of her skin.

“You’re not allowed to skip any of them.”

“How long have you been standing there?” Caitlyn whirled to face Ben, who leaned against a nearby tree with his arms folded.

“Long enough to see you nail those monkey bars.”

“You shouldn’t spy on people.”

“I was here first actually. You just didn’t notice me.”

“You were doing the course?”

Ben made a face. “Some of it.” He stood up and turned as if to go. His frustration was all too evident and for the first time Caitlyn realized how hard it must be for an athletic man to be sidelined from his career by an injury.

“I could use some help.”

Ben stopped. “What kind of help?”

“Getting over that wall for one thing.” When he turned slowly she added, “You said I’m not allowed to skip it.”

“No, you’re not,” he agreed. He seemed to come to a decision. Squaring his shoulders, he walked to her side. Once again his limp was prominent, although Caitlyn saw he was trying to mask it. Her heart went out to the warrior who’d never get to serve again, but she swallowed her questions about how it had happened.

“How do you get over this beast?” she said instead, indicating the wall.

“I’ll help you.” He propped his cane against it, bent down and laced his fingers together. Caitlyn set one foot onto them with trepidation. “Jump,” Ben said. She did and he lifted her at the same time. She grabbed hold of the top of the wall and clung to it.

“Now what?”

“Climb over!”

“I can’t!”

“Sure you can.” Ben moved to stand beneath her and continued to brace her foot. Caitlyn lifted the other as high as it would go. She managed to hook it over the top of the wall and scramble up.

“Oh, my God! How do I get down?”

Ben’s chuckle did nothing to reassure her. “Jump.” He moved around the wall to the far side.

“Are you going to catch me?”

“No, but I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt. Swing your leg over and let yourself down.”

She did as she was told, petrified she would fall, but when she was hanging from the other side she realized her feet weren’t that far from the ground. She let go, hit the dirt, stumbled but managed to stay upright.

“You did it.” Ben held up a hand and she slapped her own against it in a high five.

“I did!” Caitlyn set off toward a bunch of tires lying on the ground. With a glance toward Ben, who hustled as best he could to keep alongside her, she began to run through them, stepping inside each one, like she’d seen football players do on television.

“Step it up! Move it!”

She stepped it up and finished the tire course. “What’s next?”

“Army crawl.” Ben pointed to an area where barbed wire was strung low across the ground. She’d seen enough war movies to know that she was supposed to lie on her stomach and inch forward as fast as she could without grazing it.

“I guess I should be thankful for small mercies.” When Ben raised an eyebrow she added, “No one’s shooting over my head while I crawl under that.”

He grinned. “That’s right. Now get to it.”

“Yes, sir.” With a regretful look down at her jeans and shirt, she flung herself to the ground and began to crawl. Immediately dirt worked its way into her waistband, and she discovered it wasn’t as easy as it looked to propel herself forward using only her elbows and knees.

“Boom! Pow! Get your butt down, sailor. It’s sticking up so high your enemy just shot it off!”

Caitlyn collapsed in a heap. “Stop looking at my butt!”

Ben made a rattling sound like cartridges running through a machine gun. “Move it, sailor! Move it!”

“What’s with the sailor crap?” Caitlyn got going again. This time dirt made its way down her neckline and nestled into her bra. “Ugh.”

“This is the SEALs we’re talking about.
Navy
SEALs.”

“Oh, got it.” She reached the end of the barbed wire and scrambled to her feet. She plucked at her shirt to clear the dirt out from inside of it and then plunged her hand into her bra to try to get at the rest.

“Sailor, what the hell are you doing?”

She laughed at Ben’s expression. “I’ve got dirt stuck everywhere.”

“You’re being timed. Get going!” He pointed down the course. With a sigh, Caitlyn got going again, but she slowed when she remembered Ben’s limp, and waited for him when she came to a rope swing near a gully.

“Don’t stop!” Ben said, catching up to her.

“But—”

“Don’t stop,” he reiterated. “Get that rope. Get going!”

She grabbed the rope and swung across, then turned to see if he was able to follow. Ben grabbed the rope on its backward swing, leaped up and sailed over the gully just as she had, landing gently beside her.

“You stopped again.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next.” She wasn’t sure he believed her lie. The next obstacle was plain to see: a huge balance beam constructed from logs.

“Move it!” He hobbled on and she jogged toward the nearest beam, but her first attempt to race up the inclined log that led to the top of it was unsuccessful.

“Damn it,” she said when she got halfway up a second time, wobbled and then fell off.

“Here. I’ll help.” Ben stepped close and braced her feet with his hands as she climbed the slippery log. When she finally reached the top she straddled the high beam and caught her breath.

“You can get across it any way you like,” Ben said. “You don’t have to walk.”

“I’ll walk.” She’d always been proud of her balance. She stood up carefully, picked a tree to focus on and took a step.

Ben shadowed her on the ground, watching her intently, but Caitlyn didn’t let that throw her. As she moved across the beam she felt a grace in her body she hadn’t connected to in ages—since before she’d become pregnant with Lottie. It was as if she’d been so ashamed of making that mistake she hadn’t let herself inhabit the body that had betrayed her. Caitlyn stopped, wondering why she still classified her pregnancy like that—as a betrayal. After all, she wouldn’t give up Lottie for the world.

“Why’d you stop, sailor?”

Caitlyn didn’t answer Ben. She wondered what would happen if she stopped beating herself up for getting pregnant and decided to look at the whole experience as a gift. She had Lottie, after all. And she was healthy, strong, young. What if instead of feeling ashamed all the time she decided to feel proud?

“Caitlyn? Are you okay?”

She blinked back the tears that suddenly stung her eyes. “Yeah, I am.” She was okay. More than okay. When her vision cleared, she strode down the rest of the beam so quickly Ben had to hurry to keep up with her on the ground. She ran lightly down the inclined log on the far end and stood in front of him. “I have a baby.”

“I know.” Ben looked at her quizzically.

“No—I have a baby. Isn’t that a miracle?”

He smiled gently. “Yes, it is.”

He didn’t sound judgmental. If anything, he sounded… envious. Caitlyn hugged herself, trying to contain the joy that threatened to overwhelm her. She wanted to laugh out loud again. Why had she been making her life so hard this past year and a half? Why not celebrate it every step of the way? So she was single. So what?