Page 33 of Unveiled

“Ma-ma-ma!” Jaclyn toddled toward Adalyn, her arms outstretched, and Adalyn scooped her up, cuddling her close to her chest.

“Wendy, this is my husband, Jaxon.” Jaclyn squirmed to be put down, and she took off toward her toys as soon as her toes touched the ground.

“Oh my, I’ve heard so much about you!” Wendy exclaimed.

Adalyn’s lips pressed into a tight smile as she felt Jaxon slide a sharp look at her. Floundering for words, she took a moment to compose herself as they shook hands. “Jaxon… um… just got home.”

“That’s right,” Wendy remarked with an appreciative nod. “Thank you for your service.”

“Thank you.” Something about Jaxon’s tone drew Adalyn’s attention to him. The words were quiet, and his shoulders were set in a rigid line, as if he was uncomfortable with the praise.

Wendy smiled. “No need to be self-conscious,” she said. “My George was a Green Beret.”

Surprise snapped Adalyn’s eyebrows toward her hairline, and she glanced at Wendy. “You never told me that.” Though she had only known them for a little over a year, she had only ever seen George putter around the garden and flowerbeds behind their house. She didn’t know why, but with George’s calm, quiet disposition, she had assumed he’d been a shopkeeper or laborer. He didn’t exude the same confidence and bearing that Jaxon did.

Wendy nodded. “It’s been many years. He came home after Vietnam when our second was born.” For a few more moments, she reminisced about the past, then turned to Jaxon. “I’m glad you made it home safe, young man. There’s no better place for a man than with his family.”

Wendy’s words slammed into Adalyn, making her stomach twist with guilt. She wrapped one arm around her waist, feeling almost sick with it. She couldn’t undo the past year and a half, but she prayed that someday he would be able to forgive her.

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

Jaxon glanced around the room, taking in every detail. The house was small but tidy. Cozy. It was the perfect place for Adalyn and the baby. The neighbors obviously watched out for one another, though Adalyn could certainly use more security. He hadn’t seen an alarm at all when they’d entered the house, nor did he see one by the door off the kitchen, where he assumed the garage was located.

“I’ll be home the rest of the day,” Adalyn said to the neighbor, “so you can go home if you’d like.”

Jaxon didn’t miss Adalyn shuffling nervously in his peripheral vision. Wendy studied them with speculation, a sly look entering her eyes. She probably thought they were eager to be alone. Poor old woman. If she only knew.

“Of course.” Wendy smiled. “You have a lot of catching up to do.”

That was an understatement if he’d ever heard one. Still, he pasted on a polite smile as the woman made her way to the sliding door.

Wendy slipped outside with one last little smile, and Jaxon turned his attention to the baby in the living room. A combination of fear and awe gripped him as he stared down at a tiny version of himself. With hair so blonde it was almost white, and a fair complexion that made those gray-blue eyes stand out, she was the most perfect thing he’d ever seen. “I can’t believe how much she looks like me,” he said.

“Yeah. I know.” Was that disappointment in Adalyn's voice?

He couldn’t help the bitterness that crept into his tone. “I should’ve known.”

He knew he shouldn’t have said it, but being there, seeing his daughter in her element, pissed him off all over again. He had a kid. She was his, yet he didn’t know a single thing about her.

Beside him, Adalyn stiffened, her chin jerking up, her eyes going flat and cold. He should want her to feel bad; he should want to hurt her for keeping his daughter from him. Instead, he regretted saying the words as soon as they left his mouth. He wanted her to feel guilty, but he didn’t want to cause her pain.

He couldn’t reconcile his emotions. Part of him was still angry—furious, in fact. At the same time, he was completely awestruck that they’d made something so beautiful, so precious.

As if she knew Adalyn and Jaxon were talking about her, his daughter turned those big eyes on him, and his heart thudded to a stop in his chest. Was it possible to fall in love in a single moment, with a single glance? Because he knew, right that second, that this little girl already had him wrapped around her finger.

Amid the toys and blocks she’d been playing with, she picked up a stuffed elephant and toddled toward him. Did she recognize him from yesterday? He sucked in a breath as she stopped directly in front of him and held her arms up. He’d held her before, but somehow this was vastly different.

It felt like a momentous occasion was occurring between the two of them, though she was too young to know it. Bending down, he slipped his hands around her tiny body and lifted her to his chest. She laid her head on his shoulder for a second, and warmth spread through his chest.

Adalyn watched silently. Her eyes were slightly misty, though she quickly blinked the moisture away. Something flitted across her expression before he could tell exactly what it was. He wished he could tell what was going through that mind of hers. As if she knew she was giving too much away, she crossed her arms protectively over her chest. He wasn’t stupid. This couldn’t be easy for her either.

The baby squirmed in his arms and held the small gray elephant up for his inspection. She chattered in her childish gibberish, and a broad smile wreathed his face. Her little body wiggled again, demanding to get down, and he set her on her feet. The moment those tiny toes touched the ground, she bolted away again, back to her toys.

He turned to Adalyn. “She’s so small. I didn’t expect her to be so…”

“Mobile?” Adalyn let out a small laugh. “She started walking at nine months and hasn’t stopped since. She must get that from your side, because I didn’t walk until I was well over a year old.”