SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (138 page)

She took a moment to get herself together before answering the door. “Sorry—I was… sleeping.”

“No problem. You deserve the rest,” Ellie said. “I can keep Lottie longer if you like.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m up and I have nothing else to do besides spend the day with my girl.” She held out her arms and Ellie delivered Lottie into them. Guilt stabbed through Caitlyn’s heart when she realized she’d hardly given her daughter a thought in the past twelve hours. She shouldn’t allow a man to cloud her vision that way. Distracted, she said good-bye to Ellie.

“Hold up; you’ll need this.” Ellie passed her the diaper bag Caitlyn had packed the night before. “Probably sooner than you’d like. I think Lottie might need a change.”

“Oh, right. Thanks.” Caitlyn caught a whiff of Lottie and winced, but she paused when a funny look came over her aunt’s face. “What’s wrong? Don’t worry; I’ll change her.” But when Ellie continued to stare, she turned around to find Ben had come up behind her. He’d pulled on his jeans, thank goodness, but he was still shirtless. He reached out to lift Lottie and the diaper bag from Caitlyn’s arms.

“I’ll take care of that. Hi, Ellie.”

“Hi, Ben,” Ellie said. “Good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too. Be back in a minute.”

Both women watched in wonder as he carried Lottie away down the hall, looking into rooms until he found the nursery.

“Does he know how to change a diaper?” Ellie asked.

“I have no idea.”

“You’d better go see.”

‡

“I
can do
that.”

Ben looked up from the changing table to see Caitlyn hovering anxiously nearby.

“I’ve got it.” At least he thought he did. He’d never changed a diaper before, and he hoped there wasn’t some trick to it he hadn’t anticipated.

He undid the plastic tabs and opened the diaper, frowning a little at the smell. Lottie smiled and cooed at him as he carefully extricated her from the mess.

Caitlyn passed him a container of wipes and he knew she wanted to take over, but he pressed on stubbornly. A few wipes and a shake or two of powder and the baby girl was as good as new. Caitlyn handed him a clean diaper and bit back anything she might have wanted to say while he fastened it on. His hands felt clumsy around the tiny girl, but in the end he felt he’d done a creditable job.

“That went way above and beyond the call of duty,” Caitlyn said as she took Lottie from him.

“I figure I better know how if I’m going to spend a lot of time with you two.”

“Do you plan to spend a lot of time with us?”

“You better believe it.” He kissed her on the nose. “Think you can stand it?”

“I think so.”

As they kissed again, with Lottie squashed between them, Ben knew that no injury could keep him from being with the woman he loved.

‡

Six months later

“A
ren’t you glad
I forced you to get a date for the Harvest Dance?” Mason asked Ben as they stood at the altar of the Chance Creek Reformed Church.

“You got that right. It was worth it to get that revolver. Hey!” Ben grinned when Mason elbowed him.

“You barely looked at that revolver when I gave it to you. You were too wrapped up in your new girlfriend.”

“Can you blame me?” Ben craned his neck when the music started and Mia began to walk down the aisle in a pale blue bridesmaid dress. Behind her came the woman he wanted to see—the woman he looked forward to spending his life with. Caitlyn was radiant in a classic gown as she walked by her father’s side, Lottie in her arms. The toddler wore a pretty gown of her own, and stared at the gathered crowd, her eyes round with surprise. When Caitlyn reached Ben’s side, Lottie reached up her arms to him. He took her and settled her in the crook of his elbow as he and Caitlyn turned to face Reverend Halpern.

“Dearly Beloved,” the reverend began, but Ben lost track of his words as he gazed at his bride. He’d never expected that his injury could have brought something so wonderful into his life. He’d fallen for Caitlyn almost at first sight but over the months he’d grown to cherish her—and Lottie. More than ever he thought that Lottie’s father had made a huge mistake when he’d left Caitlyn behind, but his loss was Ben’s gain and he meant to make the most of it.

“Repeat after me, Ben,” the reverend said. Ben took a deep breath.

“I, Benjamin Warren, take you, Caitlyn Cross, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

“Caitlyn?” The reverend turned to her. When she raised her gaze to his, Ben wanted to sweep her into his arms, but he wasn’t home free yet. He waited for her to speak the words that would bind her to him forever.

“I, Caitlyn Cross take you, Ben Warren, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

“Then by the power vested in me by the State of Montana, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Caitlyn tilted her chin up to meet his kiss and Ben pulled her into an embrace he never wanted to end, but when Lottie clapped and squealed they broke apart laughing.

“I think she’s as happy as we are,” Caitlyn said.

“I can’t imagine being happier.”

“Are you sure? Because Lottie and I have news for you.”

As their guests clapped and cheered, Ben leaned close to hear her. “What’s that?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Ben whooped and kissed Caitlyn, then Lottie, then Caitlyn again. “Hey everyone,” he shouted to the congregation. “I’m going to be a father—again!” he swept Caitlyn up the aisle, receiving congratulations every step of the way. When they reached the top of the aisle he stopped just long enough to give Caitlyn another kiss. “I love you, Caitlyn Warren.”

“I love you too.”

The End

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The Cowboys of Chance Creek Series

The Cowboy’s E-Mail Order Bride

The Cowboy Wins a Bride

The Cowboy Imports a Bride

The Cowgirl Ropes a Billionaire

The Sheriff Catches a Bride

The Cowboy Lassos a Bride

The Cowboy Rescues a Bride

The Cowboy Earns a Bride

The Heroes of Chance Creek Series

The Navy SEAL’s E-Mail Order Bride

The Soldier’s E-Mail Order Bride

The Marine’s E-Mail Order Bride

The Navy SEAL’s Christmas Bride

The Airman’s E-Mail Order Bride

The SEALs of Chance Creek Series

A SEAL’s Oath

A SEAL’s Vow

A SEAL’s Pledge

A SEAL’s Consent

Anne Marsh

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Ex-SEAL Luke Dawson’s new mission in life is fighting fires. When he rescues local bad girl Deelie Olsen from a summer blaze, lust isn’t supposed to be part of the equation. Nor is love—but something about the frank, tough-as-nails woman has him throwing caution to the wind. Getting her in bed may be easy, but getting to know her will be a whole lot harder… and the battle for Deelie’s heart is one fight he has every intention of winning.

‡

L
uke Dawson loved
his job. Fire roared on the other side of the hill. Although the flames weren’t visible yet, the rain shower of embers dropping everywhere and the choking smoke were Mother Nature’s heads-up that a shitstorm of destruction was barreling toward the Black Mountain hotshots. Usually, Luke would have dug his heels and his Pulaski in, literally drawing the line in the forest floor between what burned and what escaped the flames. It was the best kind of firefight and a welcome change of pace after two tours of duty as a US Navy SEAL. He’d loved that job too, but it had been time to come home. Time to put down a different kind of roots and get on with living his life.

But today had gone to shit, and it wasn’t Mother Nature’s fault. The campsite was supposed to be clear—and all the official sites were. The Black Mountain crew had rousted the last occupants over an hour ago and sent them with a police escort to a safer area. The problem was there had been nine cars at those campsites—and
ten
cars had checked in with the park ranger earlier that day. Unless a car had grown wings and flown away, Luke Dawson had a rogue camper who’d copped an illegal spot somewhere.

A
flambéed
camper if Luke didn’t find him or her.

He was unfortunately reminded of his last mission as a SEAL, storming a Somali pirate ship to rescue the hostage crew. Not only had the pirates decided to split up their captives, making a rescue effort more challenging, but some of the crew members had successfully hidden from the pirates, putting friendlies in unknown locations. They’d taken out the pirates, but clearing the vessel had taken hours of painstakingly sweeping each level.

Luke and Pick Harris were supposed to be confirming that the campground was empty. Pick ran with a local motorcycle club in the off-season. Luke had asked him once about the name and gotten a terse
Pickax
in reply. Someday Luke planned on getting the story behind the name from him, but that wouldn’t be tonight.

“So we’re definitely missing a camper. Highway patrol is running the plates to get an ID on the owner and reach out in case the driver somehow managed to leave the park without checking out with the rangers.”

Double-checking was the smart move, but they didn’t have the time to wait. The fire would crest the hill within the hour, probably sooner, and since the Northern California campground occupied fairly rugged terrain, that didn’t leave them any time to search.

“Roger that. I’ll check this road.” Luke pointed to a gravel access road.

Pick nodded, looking thoughtful. “How long until we can get the tankers in the air?”

“Two hours until sunrise. Our boys can’t fly until they’ve got daylight, but they’re gassed and ready to go. They’ll be airborne by six.”

Which would be about an hour and a half too late for Mystery Camper.

Pick cursed again. “Make your road check quick. We’re burning time.”

And ten thousand acres. Although the most common cause of wildland fires was the goddamned people who flicked a Bic, failed to put out a campfire, or did other dumbass, highly illegal shit, today’s blaze was likely courtesy of a lightning strike from a thunderstorm last week. One good hit to a dead tree could simmer for days and then explode into flames, which was probably what had happened here.