Page 17 of Rescuing Macie

The rest of the afternoon passed relatively smoothly. Macie was surprised at how comfortable she felt with the three women, but it definitely helped to have Annie there. Her presence kept anyone from bringing up anything that might be upsetting to the little girl. They laughed, gossiped, and talked about what it was like to be an Army wife.

Before she knew it, it was quarter to four and the front door was opening and Colt was home.

Macie looked up and smiled at him. He saw her and came straight to her side. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek and straightened. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she replied.

“You look like you’re having a good time,” he observed.

Macie nodded.

“It doesn’t smell like you’ve started anything for dinner?” He raised a brow, making the statement a question.

Macie frowned. “No, I hadn’t thought about it yet. It’ll be easy enough to make something though. Grilled chicken? Hamburgers?”

He smiled and ran a hand over her hair. “I have a craving for Chinese. I can go and pick it up. I just didn’t want to bring anything home if you’d put in the effort to make us something already.”

“Chinese sounds great.”

Colt smiled at her. “Perfect. You stay and chat. I have some things I need to finish in my office upstairs. I’ll come back in a bit and you can tell me what you want. Okay?”

“Okay.”

And it wasn’t until then that he turned and nodded at the other women. “Good to see you,” he said politely.

Mary was staring at Colt as if she’d never seen him before. Casey and Emily smiled at him and returned his greeting.

“Hi,” Annie said boisterously.

“Hey, Annie. How are you? Have you been practicing the obstacle course for the upcoming kids’ contest?”

“Yes!” she shouted, and nodded her head so hard, Macie thought it would come right off her shoulders. “I can’t wait! I took five seconds off my time the last time I did it.”

Colt wandered over and put his hand on her shoulder. “I have no doubt you’re going to win that trophy,” he said seriously. “I think you can absolutely do whatever you want to.”

“I want to be a doctor,” she said. “And help soldiers when they get hurt on missions so they can come home to their families.”

Macie blinked in surprise. Most eight-year-olds she’d come across still wanted to be ballerinas or actresses. Annie’s goal was much more specific…and lofty.

“Anyone who’s in your unit will be very lucky,” Colt said solemnly. Then he turned, smiled at the others, winked at Macie, and headed upstairs to his office.

“Holy crap,” Casey whispered.

“I take everything back that I said,” Mary mused with a shake of her head.

“He only had eyes for you,” Emily told Macie with a smile. “We might not’ve existed for all the attention he paid to us.”

“He wasn’t trying to be rude,” Macie defended Colt. “He just wanted to make sure I was okay. I was nervous about today, and he knew it.”

Mary shook her head. “He looks at you like Truck looks at me. Like Beatle looks at Casey and Fletch looks at Emily.”

Macie wanted to protest. Wanted to deny Mary’s words, but she couldn’t. She’d seen the way her brother looked at Mary. She’d been at the wedding and seen how all the men on Colt’s team treated their women. It was true. She’d gotten used to being the center of Colt’s attention, and she’d convinced herself he was simply being polite. But deep down, she knew better. They had a connection. A deep one.

She didn’t respond, just simply smiled.

“How does Daddy look at you, Mommy?” Annie asked with a confused tilt of her head.

Emily tousled her daughter’s hair. “Like I’m his wife, of course.”