The Soldier And The Single Mom. Lee McClain Tobin

had come home drunk or high. Hoping, praying he’d sleep downstairs rather than coming up in the mood for some kind of interaction, whether affection or a fight. None of it ever ended well when he’d been using. Sometimes, his rage took physical form.

      A knock on the door made her heart pound harder, but then she realized it came from the next room. She heard the clink of an old-fashioned key in a lock. A woman’s murmuring voice: “It’s okay, Buck. It’s okay. You had another nightmare.”

      It all came clear to her: the guesthouse. The unfriendly landlady. Buck’s haunted eyes.

      Sounded like he’d had a nightmare and his sister had come to wake him out of it.

      She drew in a breath and rubbed Bobby’s back, comforted by the steady sound of his breathing. She’d landed in a safe place for the moment. The edges of the sky were just starting to brighten through the window, but she didn’t have to deal with her day just yet. She could sleep again.

      There were more murmurs next door. A hall door opened and closed. A toilet flushed. Then silence again.

      Surprisingly enough, she did drop back to sleep.

      * * *

      “Good morning!” Gina walked into the kitchen the next morning with Bobby on her hip. He’d woken up hungry, and she’d nursed him and fed him her last jar of baby food. It was time to figure out her next step.

      “Hey.” Lacey’s voice sounded unenthusiastic. She wore scrubs and sat with a cup of coffee in front of her. Her eyes were puffy and underlined by dark shadows.

      No wonder, given last night’s drama.

      Lacey obviously wasn’t going to make conversation, so Gina soldiered on. “Thank you so much for giving me and Bobby a place to sleep last night.”

      “Sure.” Lacey glanced up from her newspaper and then went back to reading an article on the local news page.

      “You headed to work?” Gina asked. “What do you do?”

      The woman tried to smile, but it was obviously an effort. “I’m a CNA. Certified Nursing Assistant. And yeah, I leave in half an hour.” A large orange cat wove its way between her legs and then jumped into her lap, and she ran her hands over it as if for comfort.

      “You want me to fix you breakfast?”

      That made Lacey look up. “What?”

      “I’m a pretty good cook. If you’re going to work, you need more than coffee.”

      Lacey let out a reluctant chuckle. “Is that so, Mom?”

      Buck walked into the room, stretching and yawning hugely. He wore a plain, snug-fitting white T-shirt and faded jeans.

      Gina swallowed hard. Okay. Yeah. He was handsome. At least, if you didn’t look into the abyss that seemed to live permanently behind his eyes.

      “How’s everyone this morning?” he asked in a forced, cheerful tone.

      Lacey pointed at Gina with her coffee cup. “She offered to cook breakfast.”

      “Sounds good to me,” Buck said. “I’ve got comp time at the clinic from last night, so I’m gonna work on the house today. Could use some fuel, for sure.”

      Lacey waved a hand toward the refrigerator and stove. “Knock yourself out,” she said to Gina.

      Gina shifted Bobby and walked over to Lacey. “Any chance you could hold him? His name’s Bobby, by the way.”

      Lacey scooted away so fast that the chair leg scraped along the freshly polished wood floor, leaving a raw scratch. “No, thanks. I... My hands are full with Mr. Whiskers.”

      Buck was there in a fraction of a second, concern all over his face. “I’ll take him.”

      Gina cocked her head at the two of them, curious. She’d never met a woman who wasn’t charmed by her son, especially when he was newly fed and changed, cooing and smiling.

      Buck, on the other hand, held Bobby like a pro, bouncing him on his knee and tickling his tummy to make him laugh.

      Gina rummaged in the refrigerator and found eggs, some Havarti cheese and green onions. It was enough to make a good-tasting scramble. Thick slices of bread went alongside, and she found some apples to cut up as a garnish.

      When she placed the plates in front of the two of them a few minutes later, they both looked surprised, and when Lacey tasted the eggs, she actually smiled. “Not bad.”

      “I like to cook.” Gina cleared her throat. “Is there any work you need done today? I have to find a way to get some gas out to my car, but other than that, I’d love to spend a few hours working around here in exchange for your letting me stay last night.”

      Lacey waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. This breakfast is payment enough.”

      “Truth is,” Gina said, her face heating, “I might need to impose on you for another night. So we could consider it advance payment.”

      The other woman studied her thoughtfully. “Can you handle an honest answer?”

      “Of course.”

      “I have a hard time trusting someone who can’t afford a hotel but can afford shoes like that.” She gestured at Gina’s designer loafers.

      Gina looked down at the soft leather and felt a moment’s shallow regret. She wouldn’t be wearing shoes like this anymore, that was for sure.

      “She could work this morning while I’m here,” Buck interjected. “We need cleanup help, and anyone could do that. And this afternoon, she can work on getting her car and whatever else she needs to do.”

      Gina gripped the edge of her chair for courage. Asking for favors wasn’t her favorite thing, not by a long shot, and she hated pushy people in general. But for Bobby, she’d do whatever was necessary. “What do you think about our staying tonight?”

      Lacey’s jaw hardened. “I’m not going to throw you out into the street right away,” she said, “but you need to figure things out. Surely there’s people you can call, things you can do. I don’t want this to become permanent. The last thing either Buck or I needs is a stranger with a baby around here. You’re poison to us right now.”

      Gina recoiled, shocked by the harsh words.

      Buck held up a hand. “Lacey—”

      “What? You know that’s why you had a nightmare last night. Because she looks like Ivana and she’s got a kid. It’s too much for either of us.”

      “I’m sorry,” Gina said, her heart going out to them. Underneath Lacey’s brusque exterior was real pain that kept peeking through.

      As for Buck, he’d looked down at his plate, but the set of his shoulders told her he wasn’t happy. Something had happened to him, maybe to both of them, and Gina couldn’t help wondering about it.

      “I’ll help this morning, if you’ll allow it,” she said, “and then work on doing what I can this afternoon with my car so I can move on. Maybe there’s a police officer who can run me out to where it is. I’ll need to take some gas.”

      And she’d need to rely on God, because twenty dollars wasn’t going to buy much gas or baby food, and it was all she had.

      * * *

      Buck heaved a sigh as he put the last stroke of paint on the breakfast-room wall. Having Gina here was even more difficult than he’d expected.

      She worked hard, that was for sure. She’d single-handedly cleaned one of the guest rooms that had been finished but a mess. Carried out vinyl sheeting and masking tape, swept up nails, scrubbed the floor on her hands and knees, polished the bathroom fixtures to a shine. Now she was removing the tape from the area he’d painted yesterday.

      The only time she stopped working was