Chapter 6
Trevor was nervous for the first time in…he couldn’t remember when he’d ever been this unsure. Was he doing the right thing by bringing Marta to lunch?
Sure. She had to eat, and he certainly couldn’t leave her in the car while he enjoyed lunch with his children. That would be beyond rude. And the restaurant was on the way to the airport.
Then why the hell did this feel like he was sixteen years old and brought a girlfriend home for Sunday brunch?
When it came to his job, he’d always been in control of the situation as well as his emotions.
His heartbeat had increased. He was hyperaware of everything around him and extremely tuned in to his children’s reactions.
Had Linda walked more stiff than usual? Was Levi’s smile forced?
Were Sam’s lips pressed together in a straight line?
Did the other people in the restaurant believe they were family?
Then there was Carol. There had always been Carol.
After the love of his life, his wife of twenty-five years, passed away too quickly, he’d bound up his heart to fill the hole she’d left.
As though it were bleeding, he’d wrapped layer after layer around it in hopes to stop the pain.
It had worked for years, but since he’d moved to California, everything had seemed different.
Carol had made him promise that he’d move on.
She’d been so strong, especially at the end.
Trevor , my love, if you were truly happily married to me, and I believe you were, then find someone else who makes you happy.
I’m sorry I won’t be there to grow old with you.
My greatest fear is your loneliness. I want you to find a wonderful woman who makes you happy just to be around.
You need a woman in your life. Promise me you won’t stay single for very long! She’d demanded his response.
With tears running down his cheeks, he promised her. At the time, it felt like a lie. He couldn’t imagine his life with anyone else but Carol.
As she lay in that hospital bed, looking so small, seeming so frail, he would have promised her anything if it would have removed one ounce of her stress.
She needed every grain of fortitude to fight the losing battle.
They’d acknowledged from the moment of the pancreatic cancer diagnosis that her days were limited.
Carol had known him better than he’d known himself. He missed being married. He missed having someone to come home to, someone to talk with other than the men and women he worked with all day. Someone to touch other than his children. It had taken a long time, but damn it, he missed sex.
He glanced at the woman beside him with dark brown hair waving over her shoulders, silver strands glinting in the midday sun streaming through the huge picture window overlooking the water. Maybe she was a steppingstone. Maybe she was his rock. He wouldn’t know until he took that first step.
“Marta, I’d like you to meet my children.” His cheeks twinged from all the smiling he’d been doing lately. “This is my oldest son, Levi, and my twins, Linda and Samuel.” He was such a proud father when his children leaned across the table to shake her hand.
“We’ve met,” Levi chuckled. “I was just a kid when Dad was stationed on the West Coast. I think we were in the big office getting new ID cards. If I remember right, we’d only been there a day or two.” He looked to his father for confirmation.
“Could be.” Trevor shrugged. “I’m sorry, son, I don’t remember.”
“Mom was busy wrangling the twins and Dad was dealing with the paperwork. You had all kinds of pretty rocks on your desk, and I had to touch them.” Levi smiled as though it was such a fond memory.
Marta’s hand flew to cover her mouth. “Oh my gosh. I remember that. You were fascinated by the amethyst geode.”
His son’s smile grew even larger. “You gave it to me.”
“Yes, I did.” Marta went on to explain, “John, my husband, used to bring me home rocks from every mission. Sometimes it was just a pretty pebble he’d found God knows where. A few times he purchased semi-precious stones from street vendors.”
Her gaze met Trevor’s. “He bought me that malachite egg that still sits on my desk when he was in Africa.” Her attention returned to Levi.
“Although we have amethyst geodes in the United States, that one came from Brazil. The stones were his way of letting me know he thought about me while he was away. I can’t believe you remembered that.
You must have been six or seven years old. ”
“I remembered everything you told me about the rock and took it to class for show and tell the first week of school. It was always hard being the new kid, but I had the pretty purple rock.” Levi seemed extremely proud of himself.
Before the conversation could lull, the waitress appeared. “Would anyone like a drink from the bar or are you ready to order lunch?”
Trevor glanced at each of his children. They’d been there so many times, none of them needed to look at the menu. His gaze fell on Marta. “Do you mind if I order for you?”
“As long as its blue crabs, go right ahead.”
Trevor loved it when she was a little sassy.
“I already like her,” Linda said from across the table.
“A bottle of Pinot Grigio for the table please, and we’ll start with a dozen raw oysters while we’re waiting for five orders of blue crab.
” Trevor’s gaze swept the table for consent or additions.
Sometimes they added crab cakes or hot crab dip for appetizers.
When no one spoke up, he smiled at the waitress. “I think that’s all, today.”
The young woman in the black uniform smiled. “We’ll get that out to you right away, admiral.”
For a moment, he’d forgotten he was in uniform. He’d simply been Trevor Maddox, father to the wonderful, brilliant children around the table. Nothing more than a man, introducing his kids to a woman who played an important role in his life.
“Do you still work for the government, Marta?” Sam asked.
Trevor would have taken the question, but Marta spoke up.
She raised her eyebrows. “Yes. The same office where I met all three of you twenty years ago. I don’t know if I should be proud or embarrassed that I haven’t moved very far in all that time.
For over a decade now, I’ve been the administrative assistant to which ever admirals are the commanding officer and executive officer of what they now call Naval Special Warfare.
It’s had several names, a few that only lasted days. ”
“So…you’re Dad’s secretary?” Sam asked, accusation woven through the question.
“No.” Trevor quickly corrected. “As NSW Command Administrative Assistant, she’s exactly that, my assistant. She has secretaries who work directly for her on both coasts, as well as an extensive staff both in Coronado and in Little Creek.”
When Marta smiled, it was her standby, shit’s about to fly face.
He grinned and glanced at each child. “Brace.”
“Sam, you may also call me Professor Merkel, or Dr. Merkel. I’m tenured with the University of California San Diego.
One class every semester is all I can handle these days.
I also teach an extended class daily during their Senior Executive Service Masters’ Program designed specifically for the highest level government employees. ”
Trevor was shocked. “SES are the equivalent of wearing stars,” he explained to his children before he turned his attention to Marta. “I had no idea. What do you teach?”
Her eyes met his. “Intelligence and security. That’s what my doctorate is in.
” Her gaze swept back to Sam. “And before you ask, I remain administrative assistant at NSW because I love my job. I have one of the highest security levels of any civilian government employee, for obvious reasons. At least every two weeks I get an offer from someone representing the President to take an SES-level position in Washington. I love Southern California. The weather is wonderful all year round.” Her perfectly arched eyebrows raised.
“It snows in D.C. and last time I checked the surfing sucked there.” She’d become very animated near the end of her explanation.
“You surf?” Linda sounded excited.
“At least a few times a week. I live a block off the beach in Coronado.” Marta’s smile was full of pride.
“I’ve tried surfing a couple times, but I didn’t like getting trashed by the waves,” Levi confessed.
“The ocean was filled with all kinds of yucky stuff like seaweed and big fish.” Linda scrunched her nose. “I prefer my seaweed wrapped around sushi and my fish grilled with a lot of spices. I’ll take the pool any day.”
“What about you, Sam?” Marta tried to pull him back into the conversation and Trevor appreciated her social skills at that moment. “Ocean or pool?”
Trevor knew the answer and was so thrilled to see the smile on his youngest son’s face.
“Ocean. Under rather than on top.” Sam met Trevor’s eyes. “I think I was twelve when Dad took me scuba diving for the first time. I fell in love with the ocean. You know, Dad, we’re long overdue for a diving trip.”
“I want to go,” pleaded Linda. “I like to dive, too. Daddy, can we go to Turks and Caicos, again? I love that place.”
Levi’s eyebrows drew together. “Hey, squirt, I thought you didn’t like the ocean.”
His sister flashed him a smile. “That’s not the ocean. That’s the Caribbean Sea. Clear turquoise water, colorful fish that aren’t the kind you eat, and the water was so warm it’s like taking a bath.”
Trevor’s brain instantly started planning the trip.
Of course, he’d call Shakespeare, the former SEAL who owned Pop’s Place, the best dive shop on Grand Turk.
Even though he’d recently fallen in love with one of the few female special operators and taken the reins of his parents’ foundation moving its headquarters to D.C.
, he might be able to talk the former Navy lieutenant junior grade into joining them for an over the wall deep dive.