Chapter 7
Micah ran toward the parking lot on Monday afternoon. Shit. He was going to be late picking up Ben. And it was against regulations to wear his uniform in public. He guessed having his dad as the commanding officer of Camp Leon helped with some things.
Tires squealed as he pressed the gas pedal. This was the sucky part about being a single dad—having no one else to depend on, but himself. Although, he had Aunt Clara and Uncle Rick now, too. That was the great thing about living in Seaside—it came with extended family. Aunt Clara was the equivalent of Mayberry’s Aunt Bea. Uncle Rick was mostly quiet, a good listener, and Micah had fond memories of him tossing a baseball a time or two in the backyard as a kid. There were no memories of his own father doing that with him.
As soon as he was off the military base, Micah lifted his cellphone to his ear and dialed Aunt Clara’s number. She’d have no problem picking Ben up from school. She was always asking to do more for them, wanting to cook and do their laundry. She was a godsend some days—most days.
He waited, anxiety building with each unanswered ring.
Great.
After dialing Clara again with no answer, he reluctantly dialed the school.
Kat’s voice came on the other line after just a few rings. She’d avoided him this morning as he’d dropped Ben off, no doubt embarrassed about Friday night when she’d slurred and stumbled and, in the sweetest possible way, had almost thrown herself at him. Or she was mad about what could be perceived as his rejection. “Hello.”
“Kat, it’s Micah Peterson. I’m really sorry, but I’m running late. I’ll be there in ten,” he promised, speeding up to make that promise even close to true.
Her voice was soft, reassuring. “Ben’s fine. Slow down and don’t kill yourself getting over here. I was planning on working late anyway.”
His foot reflexively lifted on the gas pedal. “Of course you were. Thanks,” he said, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
“I guess I owe you after the other night. Thanks for getting me home safely. And I still haven’t repaid you for taking me home when I lost my keys. Or for finding my keys, for that matter.”
He tried to bite back his words. He’d been tossing around the idea of inviting her to the Marine Corps ball in a few weeks—ever since she’d admitted that she wasn’t engaged. Going alone this year wasn’t an option. Single people got stuck at the bar, and he hated the bar. Thanks to his father, he’d learned not to drink at these functions. The old man was adamant that he always keep a professional appearance at work and during off-hours. But there were no off-hours when you were the son of the commanding officer of the military base. Someone was always watching and, according to his father, Micah needed to be an example of exemplary behavior at all times.
The problem was that if you didn’t drink at such a function, you got stuck being designated driver for all the other guys without dates. All the guys being as many as could legally fit in his Jeep Cherokee last year.
Micah flinched at the memory, and then flinched again as the memory concluded with one of the guys losing the entire contents of his stomach in the backseat of Micah’s Jeep.
Not this year.
So he had two options. Invite Nicole, who’d shattered Ben’s heart when she’d called him a cripple a few months back. No way, no how. Or invite someone else. Kat was the only single woman he knew in Seaside at the moment. She was also attractive.
“We could call it even if you’d agree to be my date to something,” he said, only a few short minutes from Seaside Elementary now. He waited a long moment for her answer, each beat of silence punctuated loudly by his pounding heart. “ ‘Date’ is the wrong word. If you’d attend a function with me and save me from a night of prolonged, boring conservations. It’s next month. All you would have to do is wear a dress and you’d get a free meal out of it.” He’d wait to tell her it was the Marine Corps ball until after she agreed, he decided. In his experience, women either loved getting dressed up and being paraded around, or they despised it. He suspected Kat, with her workaholic ways, was in the latter group.
The silence continued on the line. At this rate, he’d be waiting for her answer while standing face-to-face with her at the school.
“Actually, if you said yes, I’d owe you,” he said, unable to stop talking.
“Really?” she finally asked.
He smiled to himself. What was he doing? He needed to ask someone who didn’t make his heart sputter all over the place every time he caught a glimpse of her. He liked Kat, which was all the more reason not to take her to the Marine Corps ball.
Except taking her almost made going sound fun. The thought of dancing with her, holding her close—yeah, I could get excited about that.
“Okay,” she finally said.
Her answer was so soft that he had to wonder if he’d imagined it.
“My sister and Val have actually been getting on me about going out more. Maybe this will shut them up.”
“So we’ll be helping each other out. Win-win.” He parked and climbed out of his vehicle, breaking into a slight jog as he approached the school’s entrance. “I’m here, by the way.”
“I’ll go get Ben. See you in a minute.” A dial tone replaced her voice.
His chest was already swelling in anticipation of locking eyes with hers. Yep, something about her had his heart pouncing in his chest like a dog after a treat. And as much as he wanted to avoid her, he also needed to see her. It’d been better when he’d thought she was engaged. At least then his attraction had promised to never amount to anything.
With her being single, attraction could only escalate to more. He wasn’t ready for more, and might never be—at least not until Ben was grown. That’s what his brief “thing” with Nicole had shown him. His son needed his parents right now, but with Jessica out in the desert, he would have to make up for her absence by being that much more involved.
He pulled open the front door of the school and came face-to-face with Kat as she walked beside Ben’s wheelchair. They were smiling and something inside him ached seeing them together. Ben needed a strong woman figure in his life, who accepted him for who he was—a boy, not a problem.
Her smile dissolved as she looked at him and her gaze traveled down his body. He remembered that he was still in his uniform, which was against regulations, but there’d been no time to change.
“You’re a Marine?” she asked, taking a small step backward, her face growing pale and accentuating those large green eyes of hers.
That’s when it hit him. She hadn’t known he was a Marine. Had she thought he just took care of people’s lawns for a living? That was the plan eventually, yeah, but not yet.
“Hi, Dad.” Ben wheeled forward, oblivious to the disapproval radiating from his principal.
“Hey there, buddy.” Micah forced a smile, keeping his eyes locked on Kat. “I guess I’ve never formally introduced myself. I’m Sergeant Micah Daniel Peterson.”
Her eyes glistened in the dark hallway. Most people were impressed by his title. Not her. She looked like she’d seen a ghost as she took another step backward.
“Dad?”
Micah reluctantly looked down at his son. “Yeah, buddy?”
“Why are you still in uniform?” Ben asked. “Isn’t that against the rules?”
Scratching his chin, Micah wished he wasn’t. “I was in a hurry to get to see you, buddy.” His gaze shifted back to Kat.
“I, um, have to go,” she said quietly.
It was an excuse. She didn’t have anywhere to go. He’d mowed the lawn here enough to know that she stayed late and was always the last person to leave. He also now knew that she had no fiancé to go home to, either.
“Kat?” He started to go after her, but she didn’t turn back.
“ ’Bye, Ben. See you tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder, her voice as shaky as the long legs walking away from him.
Turning back to his son, he hooked his head. “Come on, Ben. Time to get home.” He’d talk to Kat about her reaction later, when he didn’t have his son as an audience.
Just before they reached the double doors of the school, he turned to look at Kat once more, but she’d already slipped back into her office, hiding from him and the uniform he wore with honor. But he had no idea why.
—
Kat watched the father and son leave through the front doors of the school. Oh, boy. What had she gotten herself into? She couldn’t go anywhere with him. A Marine?
Plopping into the chair behind her desk, she cradled her head in her hands. Why’d he have to be a Marine? He was just supposed to be the sexy guy who kept the school’s campus looking pristine. Only, how in the hell had she not known he was a Marine? His hair was a buzz cut and the friend he’d been out with the other night was obviously in the Corps. She’d seen the SEMPER FI tattoo on his arm.
She hunched over her knees, feeling like she was going to be sick. How had she let herself have feelings for this man without even knowing this aspect of his life? Well, the feelings would subside, and she’d just back out of the “function” he’d mentioned on the phone earlier. Maybe one of the teachers who worked here wanted to be his date. There was a laundry list of single females at the school who’d probably claw at the chance.
A sliver of jealousy ran through Kat with the thought. Then she jerked her head upright, gasping at the sound of a loud crash on the other side of the school. There it was again, coming from just beyond the west wing. She recognized the noise. The Seaside vandals.
The heels of her shoes clicked loudly as she walked down the long, shadowed hallway. If the kids could hear her, they’d better run because she was in no mood to be understanding tonight.
The click, click, sheeesh of the spray can grew louder as she neared the school’s side entrance. She was going to march down there and collect those kids by their scruffs. Then she was going to call their parents and tell them what a bunch of spoiled, misbehaving brats they’d raised. At least that’s what she wanted to do.
Pushing through the double doors, she was temporarily blinded by the light of the sinking sun. As she crossed the door’s threshold, her heel caught on the doorframe, flinging her body forward onto the rough pavement. Omph! The wind was knocked out of her in one quick whoosh.
She didn’t move for a long second. The kids were gone, she was sure of that. She could hear their laughter trailing through the woods in front of her. She was also sure that she was going to feel like someone had beaten her with an umbrella tomorrow morning when she woke up.
“Kat?” a deep voice asked.
She lifted her head to see Micah standing there, watching her. She groaned.
“Are you all right?” He moved quickly toward her and crouched down to inspect her leg, which had bright red blood from a large gash spilling onto the sidewalk.
She shook her head. “Did you see them?”
“Who?”
“The kids. The Seaside vandals?”
Micah glanced around. “No one. Just you.”
“I heard noises. I know they were here. I heard—” She followed his gaze and cursed under her breath at the large dark letters still wet and dripping down the side of the school.
CHANDLER SUCKS.
Nice.
“Here. Let me.” Micah offered her a hand and helped pull her up, waiting to let go until she was steady on her feet, his gaze still heavy on the gash.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked numbly.
“Ben said he left his sketchbook at the picnic table.” He held up a wired notebook. When he did, a folded piece of paper slipped out. He bent to pick it up, his lips pressing into a hard line as he opened the paper and looked at the drawing inside. “Not one of Ben’s.” He handed it over.
Kat studied the poorly drawn stick person sitting inside a wheelchair. The words “dumb” and “ugly” were scrawled across the top. “Who would do this?” she asked, looking up into Micah’s dark eyes.
“I don’t know. But I’m going to go find out,” he said, turning and walking with a mission.
“Wait, I have a better idea.” She stopped following him as pain seared through her leg. “Ow.”
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, looking back at her. His brows hung low over his eyes, no longer angry, but tilting with concern.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
He walked back toward her and took her arm. “There’s a first aid kit in my Jeep. Let’s get that scrape cleaned up.”
Her body jolted with his touch, and something about his concern made her heartbeat quicken. But he was a Marine. And Sergeant Micah Peterson’s fate could end up being the same as John’s. He could die, and leave her more alone than before she’d met him.
When they reached the Jeep, Micah pointed at Ben. “You and I are having a talk tonight.” Ben’s face paled as he handed him the notebook with the drawing on top. Then he turned back to Kat. “First things first. Sit and give me your leg,” he commanded.
Her blood drained to her toes as his hands closed around her calf and he reached for a first aid kit in the glove compartment. Betraying her, her body grew warm and tingly, though it could have been from loss of blood—she hoped. She didn’t want to like his touch, even if he was only smearing an alcohol wipe on her gashed knee. She didn’t want to find his callused hands intoxicatingly sexy or let her mind wonder how his skin would feel rubbing against other places.
“How’re you doing?” His eyes met hers.
She swallowed the thick knot of pain and bone-melting lust in her throat. “I can’t go to that function with you,” she said, her voice quiet.
He watched her for several long seconds, his grasp still tight on her leg. “You’ve already said yes, Kat.” He reached for a Band-Aid. “You don’t strike me as one of those people who goes back on their word.”
“I’m usually not, but—” She shook her head.
“I normally wouldn’t press, but I really do need a date to this thing.” He placed the Band-Aid neatly on her wound, continuing to watch her. “You sent out an email this morning asking for parent volunteers for this friendship gang you’ve started.”
“Friendship Club,” she corrected. “And, yes, one or two additional adults would help.”
He raised a brow as he released her leg. “I can be your backup.”
This made her smile. He made it sound like the kids were a bunch of criminals instead of misguided students. “Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about,” she said. “Ben helped me with the after-school group today.” She glanced over at the third grader in the backseat of Micah’s Jeep. “He was a great helper. I could really use him in the afternoons, and you wouldn’t have to rush to get over here every day. Plus, when you’re doing the lawn, he’s here anyway. Why not have him do something worthwhile?”
“By hanging out with a bunch of delinquents?” Micah gave his head a hard shake. “I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.”
Kat lifted her chin. “I think it’d be good for him.”
Micah studied her. She’d expected that he’d be furious when she suggested the idea, but he actually seemed to be considering it, which surprised her. Ben had enjoyed helping her today, and she’d made sure not to treat him differently than any other kid in the group. She even thought that Ben looked happy out there working with the kids, showing them that he was just like them in more ways than not.
“You would still need another adult. And if I agree to let Ben help, I’ll have a vested interest.” He was staring at her with the intenseness of a soldier watching his target. “I’m off duty in time to be here most days.”
She smiled softly. Had he really just agreed to her request? So easily? Maybe one date wouldn’t kill her, as long as she kept her feelings in check and did her best to pretend that he wasn’t an incredibly hot, and nice, guy. Hotter and nicer every time she saw him.
“So, is it a deal, then?” he asked. “Ben and I help you with the after-school gang and you attend the Marine Corps ball with me?”
Her head pushed forward. “The Marine Corps ball? That’s your function?”
“Yeah.” He smiled, uncertainty playing in his eyes and at the corners of his mouth.
Kat started shaking her head. She couldn’t surround herself with hundreds of men in uniforms. One man in uniform was too many. “I’m sorry.” Her throat was tight and she suddenly needed air, and lots of it. “I’m sorry. I can’t be your date, Micah. The answer is no.”
Holding her gaze, he didn’t look mad, but he wasn’t smiling any longer, either. “All right,” he said easily, the tone of his voice not quite matching his rigid posture. “My loss, I guess.”
Her gaze traveled back to Ben, who looked devastated. Then, for the second time that afternoon, she lied and told Micah that she had to go, gesturing back toward the empty school. “See you tomorrow, Ben.” She waved, and did her best to walk, not limp, away as quickly as she could.
—
An hour later, Julie met Kat at the door when she got home. “Do you always work this late?” her sister asked with a slight huff.
Kat set her briefcase down and breathed in the aroma of a home-cooked meal. “You cooked?”
“Of course I did. And worked like hell to keep it warm because I expected you home over an hour ago.”
Kat inspected her sister, dressed in a tank top and yoga pants. Her hair was pulled back neatly in a ponytail. “Sorry. You didn’t have to—”
Her sister held up a hand. “No time for chitchat.” She pointed to a chair at the table. “Sit.”
Kat didn’t argue. A meal cooked on the stove beat a microwave dinner any day. If her sister kept this up, she might not mind her staying indefinitely. Which wasn’t true. They’d shared a bedroom growing up and their constant bickering had tended to escalate until they fought every night instead of having a bedtime story from their mother. “Thanks, by the way. This is nice.” And exactly what she needed after the afternoon she’d had.
Julie shrugged her thin shoulders. “Someone has to take care of you. And what else was I supposed to do while I waited for you?”
“You don’t have to stay here. You can go home, you know?” Kat’s stomach rumbled in response to the smells that swirled together in front of her. “As you can see, I’m fine.”
Her sister sat quietly and picked up her fork.
“I’m sure your job and that boyfriend of yours need you more than I do,” Kat continued, her hand nearly shaking with anticipation as she sawed the knife through the tender meat on her plate. She’d been too busy to eat lunch. And after her near run-in with the vandals, and then Micah, her insides had been too twisted to notice how hungry she was. Until now.
Julie cut her steak with all the focus and precision of a surgeon.
Watching her, warning bells began to ring in Kat’s head. “Julie?”
“We can discuss this later. I don’t want the food to get cold.”
The bells grew louder. “Discuss what?” Kat asked.
Her sister shook her head. “I might be staying a little longer than I expected, that’s all.”
“How long?” Kat steeled herself as the bells shrieked in her ear. A week? A month? Longer? How on earth would they survive living in the same house for an extended amount of time?
“I lost my job,” Julie said flatly. “And my boyfriend. Which means I also lost my apartment. His apartment,” she corrected. “So, you see, I have nowhere else to go.” She looked up and extended a wobbly smile.
“I see.” Kat’s appetite took a step off a very high building and plummeted to its demise. She loved her sister, but she didn’t want to live with her. She’d just gotten used to living alone, and it suited her. But she wasn’t about to kick her sister out on the streets, either.
Reaching across the table, she laid her hand over Julie’s. “You can stay here as long as you need to.”