Chapter 16
Apple took a step back and met her gaze. “I don’t want you to leave yet. I don’t expect anything from you. I know we’re more like strangers now, though we have a daughter together.”
“So you’ll let me live here without having to put out.”
He nodded. “You owe me nothing.”
“So what if you want to bring someone home?”
“I wouldn’t do that with Lainey here. She doesn’t need to see or hear that. I can control myself.”
She shrugged. “But you’re a guy.”
“I’m a guy who gets a paycheck and can figure things out if I feel the need to find someone to have sex with. I’m also an adult and can control my urges until I can get into the shower and take care of myself. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Amelia's cheeks were pink, and he wanted to pull her close, but he stepped away. She looked good, even with the weight loss. She’d always looked good.
He never should have walked away from her, but he'd been stupid back then.
She would have made a great wife. He never should have let her go, but he was too immature to realize how good he'd had it with her.
A shiver shook her body. “I have no desire to date anyone.”
“I get that. I want you to feel comfortable here. Think of this as your place.”
“God, Dena. I need to go see her.”
“She’s still in a coma. We’ll figure out something.”
Amelia nodded, then yawned. “I need some sleep.”
He wished they could talk more, but he understood. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” He headed to his room, glad Amelia was back in his life. Now, he would have the chance to get to know Lainey. He could have missed everything if he'd not stopped to talk to Tara. He should have thanked her, but she was the reason he didn't know.
Apple enjoyed having Amelia live with him. They weren’t together, and he doubted they’d ever be, but it felt good having her in his space. She was working with a therapist a few days a week and seemed to be improving.
Lainey was excited to be starting preschool.
He couldn't believe he had a preschool-aged daughter.
She liked testing him, but he knew which rules to be firm on and which ones to bend.
Lainey had tried going to him on things her mother said no to, but they were communicating, and she couldn't get away with it.
Sometimes, her deviousness made him proud.
Other times, it made him think she was very smart and would be able to best him in a few years if he didn't stay on his toes.
The second weekend Amelia was with him, he had to stay at base on Friday night and all day Saturday. When he got home early in the morning on Sunday, Amelia came downstairs to see him.
“Hey, you’re home.”
Her voice was thick from sleep. She wore a t-shirt that clung to her breasts and short shorts. His balls tightened as he thought of pulling her close and kissing her.
He shook off the thought. “I’m headed to bed. I didn’t get much sleep.”
She put her hand on his arm when he passed. He paused and met her gaze. “Do we need to leave while you sleep?”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but if we’re too loud, we can leave.”
“I’ll tell you if you are.”
He hit the shower first, jerking off before dropping into bed. Lainey and Amelia made noise in the main room, but it was easy to fall back asleep since they weren’t being too loud.
When he woke, he washed his face, dressed, then headed into the main room. Lainey launched herself at him when he stepped into the room.
“Hey there, little tiger.”
She wiggled out of his arms and began prancing around the room, acting like a tiger.
He grabbed a mug of coffee, laughing at her antics.
She was the reason why he had the job he did.
Well, protecting people like her. He wanted the world to be a better place so people like their daughters would never run into the same problems people around the world had to deal with.
“You doing okay? Get enough sleep?” Amelia asked.
He nodded. “I’m good.”
“Ava and Wild invited us over for lunch. Want to come?”
“Yes. Do we need to bring anything?”
She shook her head. “No, just ourselves. They wanted to catch up.”
He took a sip of his coffee. “I’d like that. I think Wild gets deployed soon.”
“Wait, what is that?”
“He’ll be gone for six to eight months, maybe more.”
“What about the girls? What about Ava?”
“They'll be fine. People pitch in, and they help out. The people left at home help each other out. The women with kids organize play dates so they get breaks. They plan dinners together and holidays together. It helps.”
“Wow, I hadn’t ever thought of that.”
“It can be tough on families, but there are resources. The military tries to help.”
“I can’t imagine not seeing you for six months.” Her cheeks turned red. “I mean, I know we didn’t see each other for years, but now that I’m here…”
Her voice trailed off, and he said nothing, not wanting to press her. He’d been thinking of her as more of a friend, but he didn’t want to push it. She needed time to heal, time to come to terms with everything that happened and somehow still live.
Amelia couldn't believe she'd said that.
Now he knew how she felt. Not that she could act on her feelings.
There was so much screwed up in her life.
It felt like the only good things were Lainey and Avery.
But could Avery be a good thing again? Could she have some sort of relationship with him, or had that opportunity passed?
Lainey wanted her attention, so she pushed the thoughts away and focused on her daughter. That was how it had to be.
“Mommy, can we get a tiger?”
“No, baby. But we can watch a documentary about animals and go to the zoo.”
“I want to go to the zoo.”
“How about next weekend?” Avery asked.
Amelia liked that he wanted to do things with Lainey. She hoped he kept it up. Being a parent for a few weeks wasn’t too hard, but having decades of being responsible for another living, breathing human was daunting.
That was the only thing that made her hesitate when she found out she was pregnant. Being a parent was a lifelong commitment. Sure, they might grow up and move out, but a good parent would always have something to do with their kids until they died.
“We can go on Saturday. I know that’s a week away, but it will give you time to read a few books and watch some shows about animals.”
Lainey jumped around, shouting her excitement. Amelia liked the way Avery smiled at Lainey's antics. She had a feeling they would be good.
And now they had something to look forward to.
A full day spent with Avery at the zoo would be fun.
It would give her a chance to work on their friendship and get over the feelings developing deep inside for him.
They were only going to be friends, nothing more.
She couldn't even contemplate dating anyone, and Avery hadn't shown any interest. It was okay, though, because she was still messed up.
The therapist was helping, but it would be a long time before she was close to being normal if she even could get there.