Operation: Endurance (When the Mission Ends) (24 page)

Cassie started to surge forward with congratulations, but Chris held her still and whispered in her ear, “Wait just a moment. Let him finish.”

Colton looked a little sheepish. “But Penelope isn’t the only new member that we’re going to be adding to our family.”

Cassie caught on as her gaze flew to Colton’s protective hands wrapped around Penelope’s tummy. She squealed and then ran to them to hug them both. “Seriously? When? How? Never mind, oh God, don’t answer that. I know the answer to that one.”

With an eyebrow raised, Colton glanced over at Jake. “I’d hope so or else I’d be really worried about what you all have been doing for the last week.”

“Looking at the beauty of the Austrian Alps, of course,” was Jake’s droll response.

Cassie turned to smirk at him, but as she glanced over the rest of the guests, her eyebrows lifted and she placed both her hands on her hips. “Okay, why the hell does no one else in this room look surprised at this announcement?” She turned her accusing glare to Colton, who tried to look innocent.

“We didn’t want to pull the attention from your wedding.”

“Colton Todd Robertson! Are you telling me that everyone in this room has known about this, but no one chose to share it with me?” She glared at each person individually in the room, but by the time she made it back to Penelope, she smiled as she approached her slowly reaching out to softly touch her tummy.

“You have a little Robertson in here?” Chris could hear the tears in her voice as she touched her and the lump in his throat grew.

Penelope nodded, the tears flowing down her face.

Cassie gasped. “Oh my God. It all makes sense now. Why you were so damn teary before the wedding. You have baby hormones, don’t you?”

Penelope nodded. “Please forgive us for not telling you earlier.”

“You’re the mother of my new niece or nephew. That makes you exempt. You are beautiful and perfect. My brother, on the other hand, will have to work to make up for this.” Her words sounded fierce, but her smile said otherwise.

As they began to fill in Cassie with the details for the Vegas wedding, Chris looked around for Julie. She wasn’t on the couch any more. It was probably past time to get her home and back into bed. He went to search her out and his stomach twisted when he found her sniffling in Penelope’s old bedroom.

A baby blanket was crushed in her arms and it sounded like her heart was shattering as her fragile shoulders quaked under the barrage of emotion. As he looked around the room, he realized they’d already begun the transforming it into a nursery. Needing to comfort her, he couldn’t leave her to her privacy.

He didn’t want to scare her, so he touched her gently on the shoulder before he turned her so she pressed against his chest. He rubbed her up and down her back. Was this still grief over Aaron’s death? How could Cassie question her depth of loss when just looking at baby things pushed her into this sort of breakdown? Of course, she had hopes of having babies with him before he died. She was a normal, healthy woman. It was natural for her to dream of having babies with the man she loved.

As he stood there feeling helpless with her in his arms and unable to fix her pain, it occurred to him again that he’d never be able to have a child, one Julie obviously wanted. But he’d gotten an erection and that wasn’t supposed to happen either. Were his chances at fertility better now? His eyes welled up as he placed a soft kiss on top of her head.

The sobs slowly subsided and she untangled herself from his embrace, swiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what brought that on.” She lightly fingered the tears staining his shirt.

He lifted her chin so she had to look him in the eye. “It’s okay, Julie. I understand. Babies bring out a lot of emotion. There’s nothing wrong with that. Do you want to head home? I know you have to be exhausted.”

She nodded, the relief showing in her face. “I would, but I can’t go back out there looking like this. Can you go grab my purse for me so that I can repair some of the damage?”

Ten minutes later, they all exchanged hugs on the way out.

They’d almost made it to the door, when Penelope squealed, “Wait. I almost forgot.” She rushed back to the bedrooms while they all exchanged confused glances. When she rushed back in, she carried a huge notebook which she pressed toward Julie with a grin. “My latest book. Since you’re basically bedridden this week, you could use some reading, right?”

Julie nodded and looked down curiously at the book in her hands.

“It’s the start to an all new series and I think you’ll like it. But I’m really nervous about how my readers will take it so I need you to read through it first and let me know your thoughts.”

“Okay, thanks Penelope.”

* * *

Julie awoke and blinked drowsily at the familiar sight out the side window of the truck as they stopped in front of Chris’s townhouse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to doze off.”

“It’s okay.” His voice was hushed in the quiet, dark cab of the truck. “You’re still recovering from pneumonia and it was an emotional night. It’s actually a wonder that you lasted as long as you did.”

He jumped out of the truck, went around, and opened her door before she had a chance to even think about getting out. “Thanks.”

They walked up the sidewalk to her front door. He unlocked it for her and held it open. She ducked inside.

“I’ll be back in about ten minutes,” Chris said as he turned toward his place.

Her brain was still half asleep as she frowned toward her closed door. Why was he coming back? She was just planning to go to bed and she sure wasn’t up for a midnight chat. The couch called her name, so she sank into it, pulling the blanket around her. This would work for a bed for now. She was just too tired to attempt at anything better.

The sound of the door opening startled her out of her half-sleep. She sat straight up, trying to orient herself to what the heck was happening. Glancing at the doorway, she was surprised to see Chris standing there, scowling with a duffle bag in his hand. Why did he have an overnight bag? “Chris?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. Go ahead and go to bed. I’ll just make myself comfortable in your guest bedroom.” He walked on down the hall like what he just said made perfect sense.

Julie rested her head in her hands, trying to get awake enough to make sense of what was happening here. She was pretty sure they’d never discussed Chris moving in. That’s something she would definitely remember, wouldn’t she? Slowly she stood and approached the guest bedroom. Standing in the doorway, she could see that he was unpacking his bag. Definitely moving in.

“Um, Chris, what’s going on?”

The raw vulnerability in his eyes when he looked back at her took her breath away.

“I found you unconscious and practically dead on the floor once. I can’t get that image out of my mind and it terrifies me. I don’t want you here alone until you’re completely recovered. I just can’t leave you here.”

He curled his hands into tight fists and when his eyes met hers they were pleading.

“Okay, you can stay, but you aren’t allowed to use up all the hot water.” At that moment, there was no way she could have told him no to anything.

His shoulders immediately slumped in relief as he smiled at her. “I’ll try not to. Thanks, Julie. Now you need to get to bed and don’t forget to take your medicine first.”

The next day, Chris was working in the office for a few hours while Julie napped when Colton cornered him. “Was Julie okay last night? Penelope said something seemed off with her toward the end of the evening.”

He wouldn’t break Julie’s confidence by spilling about her breakdown in the bedroom. “She’s just wiped out. Everything in the last few months has finally caught up with her and it’s going to take a little bit before she’s fully recovered.”

Colton gave a sharp nod. “That makes sense, but you need to tell us if it becomes something more. We all love her and want to be there for her, too.”

“Thanks, Colt. I’ll let her know.”

They stood in the reception area and Toni handed a file to Colton for him to sign before turning to Chris. “I plan to bring y’all dinner tonight. I haven’t gotten to see Julie since she got out of the hospital. I’ll give you a break for a little bit and buy us some girl time.”

He nodded. “That would be good. Julie would enjoy seeing you. Thanks, Toni.”

She began to walk away before she turned back around, “Oh and Colton, the guy called to verify they definitely want to use Mad Rob for that late flight on Wednesday.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Toni. Can you bring that paperwork into my office in just a minute so I can make sure that we’ve covered all of their requests?

* * *

After dinner that night, Toni and Julie were hanging out in her living room. Toni said she didn’t cook, but she had obviously mastered the art of take-out. She’d brought an amazing dinner of almond crusted salmon with pomegranate glaze on a bed of raw spinach salad. It had been perfect. They’d all three thoroughly enjoyed eating it, but then Chris disappeared to allow the girls some private time.

Julie snuggled into the couch under the blanket. “So, tell me what’s going on between you and Pete. Are you still going out? I haven’t had a chance to catch up since the wedding and you two looked very cozy there.”

She nodded with a sweet little shy smile. “We’ve gone out a few times since then. He’s just such a sweetheart and the perfect gentleman. He hasn’t even tried to make a move on me yet besides a single goodnight kiss, even though I’ve tried to send him signals that I’d be open to more.”

Julie waggled her eyebrows at Toni. “Oh, really?”

“Well, of course. Have you seen the guy? He’s super-hot. Who wouldn’t want to tap that?”

Julie laughed. “Are you sure you’re not a guy?”

“Like I haven’t heard that before.” Toni grimaced. “I think in this relationship, I definitely am. I want in the guy’s pants. Desperately. It’s been entirely too long of a dry spell and there’s only so much that
B.O.B. can do for me.”

Julie giggled. “So what is he up to tonight?”

“Detective Barnes has him working late on the rapist case.”

“Have there been any more attacks?”

“I think there was one over the weekend, but he isn’t allowed to talk to me about it, so I just kind of have to go by his work load to know when something is going down. His hours seem incredibly erratic. I had no idea cops worked such different hours every day.”

Julie frowned. “Hmm, they usually don’t at Pete’s level, but I know they really want to catch this guy so that may affect the way they normally do things. I hate it when they have to work long hours. I worry that exhaustion will cause them to make a mistake. So much of what they do could turn dangerous so easily.”

At Toni’s worried look, Julie winced. “I’m sorry, Toni. I don’t mean to scare you. It’s been a long year, so I tend to look at the negative side of things. Ignore me.”

“Okay, let’s go with positive things. Enlighten me. You and Chris?”

Julie ducked her head. What could she say? There were moments when it seemed like there was something there, but then others when it seemed like Chris was just a friend. They’d shared a few kisses, but they’d never developed into anything more. She didn’t know what to think anymore. Aaron told her everything happened for a reason. She was just trying to hold onto that, but having Chris live with her in her house? Geez, this was a special kind of torture. She wanted more and wanting was dangerous.

“Julie?” Toni prompted.

“Sorry, I must be getting tired. Chris and I are just friends.”

“Hmm, I don’t think so. He doesn’t look at you like you’re just friends and you should have seen him before you woke up in the hospital. The guy was out of his mind with worry. He cares way more for you than just friends, I promise you that.”

And there it was again, that hope.

He parked his car at an angle in front of the gang of juvenile delinquents leaning up against the chain-link fence.

“
Yo, man, you’re in our space. That could be dangerous for a man like you,” one of the punks called to him.

“Yeah, well, I’m not too worried. Go fetch your boss-man, Slade. We have some business to discuss.” As a group, the punks relaxed their stature. Knowing Slade was a shoe-in for safety within this group.

He leaned up against the hood of his car while he waited, looking over the motley group to memorize their faces. There was no telling when information about one or more of them might prove useful to him.

On the verge of losing his patience, finally he spotted Slade coming through the doorway. The cocky bastard was strolling like he had all the time in the world. It was time to disabuse him of that notion.

He flicked his thumb toward the passenger door and growled, “Get in.”

A momentary flash of wariness popped into Slade’s eyes, but then he seemed to remember that all his
homies were watching him closely. Slade couldn’t show weakness if he wanted to stay in control of these boys, so he ambled toward the car like he didn’t have anything to worry about.