Until that last call when she'd ended with, I'm ready now.
She'd disconnected before he could answer, and he hadn't called back before takeoff. He needed to see her face to know she meant those words. Things would be complicated enough when they ended the marriage without adding another halted encounter to the mix.
Another divorce.
He stifled a curse.
One day at a time. And tonight, he had plans for his wife.
Zach pulled into the driveway, frowning over the strange car parked behind Julia's. The pizza guy maybe? If so, the pizza joint was paying big these days since the sedan looked new.
Zach sprinted for the steps, no detour to check out his bike. He wanted to see Julia.
Shoving open the door, he called, "Hey, gang, I'm home."
The kitchen gaped empty.
Where were the kids?
Julia stepped into view. "Hello, Zach."
Any other thoughts flew straight out of his head. Holy hell, the woman looked awesome.
Black velvet draped over her all the way to the floor and down long sleeves, in a regal way totally contradicted by the drop-dead-incredible flash of leg showing through the side slit.
Damned if beads of sweat didn't pop out on his forehead.
Her hair fluffed around her face in a mass of blond curls. Already he could imagine those spirals tousled from his hands plunging through while he made love to her.
Zach started toward her. "Jules, you look incredible."
Her stark expression stopped him before he finished his step or sentence. She cut her eyes toward the family room. He followed her gaze through the connecting dining area all the way to the sofa where Ivy sat with...
Her mother.
Anger simmered, roiled, threatened to fire free in a need to lash out before this woman hurt his children again. Her timing couldn't have sucked more, just when his girls finally had some stability.
One breath at a time, Zach regained control. His kids did not need to live with the memory of a scene. Rein it in and start the damage control. He wouldn't think about the past. And he definitely couldn't think about the woman standing beside him looking so hot she threatened to distract him from the mess in the making waiting on his couch.
Resolutely, he shut down everything inside him as fast as those engines on the runway.
"Hello, Pam."
Shelby glared at her mother sitting on the sofa gushing all over Ivy about their sleepover plans. Couldn't the woman give it a rest? She hadn't shut up since the Colonel had come home fifteen minutes ago.
Hopping on the floor, Shelby snapped for Aggie to join her. Julia and her father stood all stiff and uptight by the patio door, her father holding Patrick. His smile earlier when he'd come home had lasted all of four seconds, right up until he'd seen the witch sitting on the sofa. He'd gone totally tense, even worse than the time she'd cut school to go to the beach.
Her dad scowled. Julia picked at one of her curls.
One big happy extended family.
Not.
Her dad was pissed. Sure, he didn't say anything, just held Patrick and stayed silent while Julia hovered beside him looking so pretty. Shelby had hoped maybe her dad would notice.
But Germany, France, Italy had shown up.
Shelby wanted to scream. Throw things. Pierce a path up her body that would make everybody stand at attention and notice. / exist. What you do hurts me. Why couldn't you stay gone?
Why didn't you come back sooner?
"Shellie, sugar." Her mother leaned forward. "Are you sure you don't want to come along with Ivy for the night? Edward and I would love to have both of you stay."
Fat chance, Denmark.
Shelby looped an arm over Aggie and tucked closer to her dog's furry body. "I promised I would watch Patrick."
Julia released the curl to spring against her head. "I can find someone else or not go. You don't need to miss out on my account."
"No, I want to watch Patrick," Shelby said through gritted teeth, pleading with her eyes, Please don't make me go. She even included her dad in the look, not that the iceman commander seemed to notice. What a nimrod.
Begging didn't come easy, but this was extreme. She was not spending the weekend with Sweden and Eddie.
Julia cocked her head to the side, then gave Shelby a tiny nod of understanding. "Okay, hon, thanks." She turned to the other woman. "Shelby does have a band competition in the morning. It's probably simpler if she stays here."
Thank you, Julia. "Yeah, it's not like we can just drop everything because you decided to stop by. But then, if you stick around for, like, longer than a week this time, maybe I can fit you in.''
The room echoed with the ticking clock and Aggie panting. Shelby clamped her mouth shut. Why had she said that? She absolutely did not want to give that woman the satisfaction of knowing she'd hurt her kids.
Her mother pulled a smile, making nice like always. "Okay, Shellie, later then. I'll just enjoy some special time with my baby girl tonight. How about a hug before I go?'
Her mother reached. Shelby ducked away, pretending to tighten Aggie's flea collar, but she could still smell her mother's perfume, just like when her mom used to read her bedtime stories. Shelby stuffed away those thoughts that didn't mean a thing since her mother had left.
Her mother's smile tightened, and she patted Shelby's cheek instead. "I'll call you and we can schedule something. Maybe a trip to the mall."
"Sure. Whatever." Not in this lifetime. No way could that woman stroll back in with her chocolate and mall bribes. Geez, she couldn't buy them off with candy like some child.
Like Ivy.
Sucker.
Poor kid.
Ivy was gonna get her feelings stomped again. But not me. Not this time.
Shelby picked rug fuzz and listened to her mother's shoes click out the door.
"Zach," Julia's soft voice filled the room, "do you want to cancel going out tonight?"
Her dad shook his head. "We have to show, and we're barely going to make it on time as it is. I can't not put in an appearance at the Dining-Out. It's my squadron."
Shelby held back a laugh. She should have known. Nothing would stop the commander from doing his duty, not even a surprise fly-by from the Wicked Bitch of the West.
Light footsteps trod across the room. Julia's stockinged feet stopped in Shelby's line of sight, the black velvet dress swaying to a stop. "Shelby, I could stay. We'll stuff our faces with popcorn and watch a movie."
"No thanks." She forced a smile and looked up. "Patrick will be asleep soon and I can veg on the sofa with Aggie. Go. Please. I just want to kinda like, be by myself."
Julia frowned but relented. "If you're sure." She turned to pull Patrick from Zach's arms.
"I'll put him down early while you change."
Her dad watched Julia leave the room, that commander mask of his slipping a little. One good thing out of the whole rotten day.
Had he noticed how pretty Julia looked? Shelby had thought Julia and her dad would finally get around to doing it tonight. Like they really thought she bought their lame story about why he slept in the spare room.
They just had to do it soon so Julia would stay. Even thinking about her maybe leaving, Patrick too, made Shelby's chest go tight, like running an extra lap in gym class.
Sure, life wasn't great, but it was a helluva lot better now than before. It wasn't fair that Mother had to screw up everything.
Her dad crouched in front of her on one knee. "You sure you're okay with what happened tonight with your mother coming home?"
Duh, of course she wasn't. Tears stung. She blinked them back. Wouldn't want him to be even later for his stupid party.
"Yeah, sure, Colonel. I'm fine." She poured on the sarcasm so he would leave before she did something lame, like ask him to hug her. "But if you're really worried, you can always program some time into your palm pilot for us to talk about it. What do ya say?
Let's do lunch, next month maybe?"
Pushing to his feet, he sighed the whole way up. "Love you too, Shel."
She'd wanted him to leave, right?
Shelby hugged Aggie closer, burying her face against the dog's neck. She absolutely did not want to cry. They couldn't hurt her anymore. She was only mad. Totally pissed.
They all had a life, well, so did she.
Shelby shot to her feet. She grabbed the cordless phone and punched in the numbers.
Ducking out to the screened-in porch, she waited for an answer. "Hey, John. It's me....
My folks are going out tonight, Ivy, too. The baby's almost asleep. Can you come over?
We'll have the whole house to ourselves...."
She ignored the pinch of guilt at having John over while she watched Patrick, something she'd never done before. But the baby would be asleep, so what did it matter? Right?
Everything would be fine in an hour when John showed up. He knew she existed.
Chapter 11
Julia nudged her half-eaten dessert away. Sitting at the long head table, she allowed herself the luxury of watching Zach, more satisfying by far than any chocolate-cherry cheesecake. She devoured every inch of his lean body in the deep-blue uniform as he strode across the Magnolia Ballroom toward the stage festooned with red satin hearts.
She couldn't wait to get him all to herself. Julia glanced at her pearl watch to find three hours that felt like three years had passed. The evening had been a surreal bubble in time.
They'd danced and dined with each other and friends, like Grayson and Lori Clark who'd flown in from their Washington base for a family vacation.
Valentine's romanticism blended with patriotic pageantry in a haze of red, white and blue.
Silver candelabras spiraled in the middle of every table. Red roses rested above each place setting.
Julia twirled a rose between two fingers and resolved to enjoy the Valentine's holiday.
Worries from home would intrude soon enough. Surrounded by friends, she wanted to pretend that this moment could last.
From across the room, Bronco cupped his hands to his mouth. "Wolf! Wolf!"
The shout spread. "Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!"
In one of the quirky rules of the Dining-Out, no one was allowed to applaud. Spoons banged the table in a rattling din of approval like a medieval banquet of clanging utensils.
Vaulting on to the dais, Zach commanded attention for more reasons than his height and the impressive rows of medals across his chest. He carried that indefinable something within him that inspired the unwavering loyalty echoing from the room full of men and woman he led.
The calls of "Wolf" boomed. Fists pounded the tables along with the clanking silverware, all a part of the formal military Dining-Out custom that traced its roots to antiquity.
Roman legions, Viking warlords, King Arthur's knights—for centuries, warriors thrived on gatherings to celebrate their victories and achievements.
Although Viking warlords had probably done so with a few less lace-paper doilies.
More than just friendship radiated from these people. Julia recognized a deeper sense of belonging that she hadn't witnessed since her childhood.
Zach swiped the microphone from its stand. "Thanks everyone. Thank you." He let loose a piercing whistle into the mike, silencing the shouts. "Thank you. I appreciate all of you coming to our little Valentine's soiree tonight. Just want to say how great it is to have the whole squadron together stateside for a change."
A cheer roared through the room.
Zach absently patted a rhythm on his pants leg until the clamor waned. "It's my duty now to call an end to the official part of this Dining-Out."
Groans rippled like a wave from table to table. Fliers partied almost as hard as they fought.
"Hey, now," Zach groused with a grin. "Some of us have to pay off baby-sitters. But for those of you who want to hang around, I've already written a check for the band to stay on until two."