The SEAL's Second Chance Baby Read Online Free PDF Page A

since.”
    â€œHated me? I said you shook like a dog as a compliment. I used to have an old hound named Peacock, and I loved that girl something fierce. Nothing made me happier than taking her down to the swimming hole and watching her play in the water, and then shake off. Made me smile—truly. Just like your dancing.” He removed his big black cowboy hat, pressing it to his chest while making the strangest smile. “Miss Mabel, from the bottom of my heart, I give you my deepest, most sincere apology.”
    Mabel shook her head. “Boys, hurry along before we all suffocate from Mr. Stokes’s bloviating hot air.”
    â€œGrandma.” Effie shifted her baby to her other hip. “Wallace said he was sorry. After hearing his explanation, don’t you think this is all sort of funny?”
    Marsh yawned. “I don’t mean to interfere in anyone’s business, but I sure could use a nap.”
    â€œAw, now, I’m sorry,” Effie said to him. “Boys, Grandma—let’s go.”
    â€œGladly.” Mabel huffed and headed toward the door.
    The boys marched behind her, as did Wallace, smooth talking all the way out into the hall.
    When only Effie remained, she said, “I really am sorry. After what you’ve been through, you should have woken to a nice, peaceful scene.”
    â€œIt’s all right.” He cast her a faint smile. “Guess I’m lucky to even be alive.” Which surprised him. At what point had he decided living was better than dying?
    â€œYou sure are.” She came close enough to cup her hand to his shoulder. Her simple, kind touch flooded him with a sense of calm and well-being. “Since my crew isn’t exactly suitable for hospital visits, now that you’re awake, I probably won’t be back.”
    â€œSure. I understand.” Only he didn’t. Why did he suddenly want more than anything to see her and her wild brood again? “Thanks for the time you were here—and for calling an ambulance for my pitiful behind.”
    â€œIt was my pleasure.” When she smiled, the pleasure was all his.
    * * *
    â€œT HAT MUST HAVE been horrible.”
    â€œIt was,” Effie said.
    It was Sunday afternoon, and while the twins splashed in Scotty’s pool, Effie sat at the back porch table with Cassidy asleep on her lap. Scotty’s mother, Patricia, and three other moms she’d just met whose names she couldn’t remember had shared Little League gossip until the conversation turned to Marsh’s snakebite ordeal, whose injury made the local paper.
    â€œWill he regain full use of his hand?” one of the moms asked. She had big hair and wore an equally large purple sundress patterned with cows jumping over pink moons.
    â€œHope so.” Effie wished she knew what was going on with Marsh. Had he been released? It seemed strange that she’d spent so much time with him when he’d been unconscious, yet now that he was awake, she hadn’t seen him at all. How could she miss him when she didn’t even know him?
    The conversation wound to the upcoming school year that officially started in the morning. Effie excused herself to grab the boys from the pool. With all the excitement over Marsh, she hadn’t even started shopping for their supplies.
    Rounding the edge of the free-form pool, she couldn’t help but notice how luxurious Patricia’s home was. Scotty’s father, Roy, was a lawyer, and had spent more time on his cell phone than playing with the boys, but now he’d joined his wife on the porch. They shared a kiss, and when he whispered something for only her to hear, Effie fought a jealous pang.
    She didn’t miss Moody, per se, but she missed the intimacy of being a couple. Of knowing no matter what curves life threw her way, he had her back. Only in the end, he hadn’t. The fact still kept her up nights, and when the boys acted out, it made her more