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“Well, no offense meant, but you look rough.”
Just what a girl wanted to hear from an old lover who was even hotter eleven years later. “I get a little achy.” Understatement of the year, but hopefully she’d kept her pulse steady enough. “I’m a tad anemic, too, which is why I seem run-down to you. And thank you very much for letting me know I’m a hag. That makes me feel much better.”
“Nice try with the diversion. Not working. Although later I’m going to want to hear what the brick was for.” He tapped her nose. “You know you’re beautiful, so don’t fish for compliments. Do you need a specialist or can any doctor take care of this?”
Beautiful?
“Mary Elise? I want an answer.”
Oh. Yeah. She shook off silly vanity.
She had a specialist, but… “This can wait until we have everything settled.”
His stubborn chin jutted. “A specialist or a regular doctor.”
“A regular doctor can handle this, but Danny—”
“Fine.” He wrenched the zipper on the green military-issue bag closed, then slid a laptop computer off the dresser to rest beside the suitcases. “We have to swing through base, anyway, to mask our tracks and make sure no one sees us trading the boys off to Wren and Spike. We’ll check in with Kathleen while we’re there. Now that I think about it, Bronco’s TDY— temporary duty—to McChord for two weeks. We can swap out my truck for his SUV when we leave base. I can clear a tail even if McRae’s got help, but changing cars wouldn’t hurt.”
While she understood he had more expertise in these things, she wouldn’t be relegated to a sick bed with her pen and paper. She could pitch in with something besides lists.
She respected that Danny was loading his gun and packing for the worst, but he didn’t realize Kent would never fight the kind of head-to-head battle that Danny must excel at. “Do I getanysay here?”
“No.”
Frustration swelled. Built. She owed him, but why did he have to be so stubborn with the whole his-way-no-matter-what attitude?
The doorbell pealed once, twice.
Daniel backed one step at a time. “You won’t be any help to me if you pass out.”
He spun away on his boot heel.
Great. He got to be bossyandright.
She should be thanking him for fixing her mess of a life, not cursing him. Except rogue thoughts of the future kept teasing her with how much these boys would need a mother’s softening influence long-term so their knuckles wouldn’t drag the ground on occasion, as well.
Compressing the stack of clothes, Mary Elise tucked Trey’s nebulizer, an extra inhaler and the rest of his asthma meds on top, and zipped the suitcase closed.
“Boys?” She crossed the hall and opened the door to find both children perched on the bottom bunk with Game Boys in hand. They’d been told about the change in plans, but with so much to assimilate in the past week, she wasn’t sure they fully understood.Shestill didn’t understand everything.
She held out her arms. Flinging aside the video game, Austin launched toward her and hopped up. He clung to her, spindly arms and chubby cheek pressed against her neck while Trey’s thumbs flew over the handheld video.
Voices drifted from the living room, Darcy and Max with Daniel. Austin’s hold tightened. Tears burned her eyes. Oh, God, she couldn’t lose it in front of the kids.
“Don’t wanna go with Wren and Spike.” Austin’s muffled voice rang with the steely resolve of a temper tantrum on the rise.
Guilt jabbed her like the unrelenting stab of endless needles.
She pushed back her tears and straightened his Winnie the Pooh shirt. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’s just for a little while. You’ll have fun playing with all of Darcy’s family.”
He shook his head against her neck. “Don’t know them.”
“But you do know Darcy and Spike.” She sank to the edge of the bottom bunk amid rumpled sailboat sheets, ducking her head to accommodate the upper bed. And you’ll get to play with Darcy’s big sister and brother and her dad. I’ll bet they even take you to McDonald’s, and Danny’s going to give them money to buy two new video games.”
Chiming bells from the device signified a leap to the next level. Trey’s fingers flew. “You might as well give it up,” he confided without pausing. “He doesn’t want to leave you and go with them.”
“Trey,” Mary Elise warned low.
