The SEAL's Valentine. Laura Marie Altom

Her aunt had raised her to always be polite, but this was one case when she’d like nothing more than to give Vivian a piece of her mind. “Hasn’t your son ever wanted something, only not to get it? Cayden’s already lost his home and father and friends in St. Louis. Would it kill you to show a smidge of compassion?”

      Leaning forward, resting her elbows on her knees, Vivian said, “Okay, whoa. You took that completely wrong. All I meant was that if you really want Cayden to play ball on Ruin Bayou’s competitive team, at the very least you’ll need to invest in a private coach.”

      “Brynn, didn’t you tell her?” Tristan stood in the open door, the full, muscular breadth of him blocking the light of the sun.

      Mouth dry, pulse racing, Brynn asked, “T-tell her what?”

      “That I’m Cayden’s private coach. And by the time I get done helping him, he’ll easily outhit any kid on that team.”

      Chapter Four

      With Vivian thankfully gone, and Tristan and his mouthwatering chest in the front yard weed-eating, Brynn had finally gotten around to hanging her small family’s clothes on the line. Mack’s grandmother who’d lived in the home before her hadn’t owned a dryer. In the winter, it’d sometimes been rough finding a warm enough sunny day, but now that she’d gotten the hang of living more simply, Brynn had started to like it.

      In St. Louis, the housekeeper had done laundry. Here in Ruin Bayou, Brynn had grown to find pleasure in the simple comfort of handling her son’s small clothes. She’d lost so much, but whenever she was tempted to abandon herself to pity, she remembered how many blessings she had left.

      “Haven’t seen a woman under seventy doing this in a while...” Tristan rounded the corner of the house, blasting her with his lopsided smile. If she asked politely, would it be wrong for her to request he put his T-shirt back on? “If you need a dryer, I’m sure Mom wouldn’t mind you doing loads at our house. Or, I could help you haul it all to the Suds & Swirl.”

      “That’s okay.” She’d come to one of her bras and shoved it beneath a sheet. “But thanks for the offer.”

      “Sure.” He folded his arms, which only exaggerated the size of his forearms and biceps. Like Vivian had earlier observed, his body was indeed ridiculous.

      “Um, thanks, too, for your help mowing. The yard looks great for Cayden’s party.”

      “Sure. By this afternoon, I should also have the fort finished.”

      “You’re amazing—doing all this for strangers.” She pinned the first corner of the damp white sheet to the line. The fresh scents of laundry detergent and just-mown grass and the wholly masculine aroma of a man who’d spent hours working hard in the sun blended into an intoxicating balm that, had it been possible to bottle and sell, might’ve been called Home. Which only compounded the situation’s awkward-factor.

      Before she’d even found the sheet’s other corner, Tristan already had it in hand, stretching it for her. “Let me.”

      “Tristan, stop.” After placing a pin in the center and another near his hand, carefully avoiding even the briefest contact, Brynn shook her head. “You can’t imagine how much I appreciate your help, but I’ve got this. I might look helpless, but I’m still getting around fine. The baby’s not due for another month and that’s far too long for me to spend every day lounging on the sofa.”

      Ignoring her request, he took a towel from the basket, folding it over the line before helping himself to her clothespin bag. “How was your pregnancy with Cayden?”

      “Different.” Her heart couldn’t bear thinking of the exquisite nursery her little boy had had. The opulent, over-the-top showers. The private room in an exclusive VIP wing at a birthing center. Friends, servants and Mack, doting on her 24/7.

      “I’ll bet.” He seemed as if he wanted to say more, but once again, didn’t.

      “It’s a special time—at least it was for me with Cayden. This go around...” She shrugged, fighting back tears. Changing the subject was a must. “What you said when Vivian was here—about you helping Cayden with his baseball? I can’t thank you enough for once again offering your help, but...” She shrugged.

      “But let me guess—you can do it yourself?”

      Steeling her grip on the wicker clothes basket, Brynn nodded. “I made the mistake of depending on Mack for essentially everything, and I’ll never do it again. For my sake, for my children’s, I can’t.”

      He laughed, which only incensed her. “My personal life might be a mess right now, but if there’s anything being in the navy has taught me, it’s that you’re always stronger surrounded by a well-oiled team.” Grabbing his T-shirt from where he’d draped it over the back of a patio chair, he shrugged it on. “Something you might want to think about as you head into battle.”

      “I’m raising a little boy and will soon have a baby girl—that’s love, not war.”

      He turned his back on her, sauntering toward Cayden’s fort. “Not sure what planet you’re living on, but pretty sure raising even one kid isn’t for the faint of heart—I can’t imagine what it’s going to take for you to handle two.”

      * * *

      TWO HOURS LATER, BRYNN finished applying the last of the cream-toned nursery trim paint.

      Even though it’d been a while since he’d been gone, Tristan’s words still resonated deep within Brynn. Though she’d refused to admit it, he was right about parenting—especially when it came to handling it all on her own. But then what made him an expert? Did he even have a child of his own? She had enough of a financial cushion to last a few weeks after her daughter’s birth, but after that, she’d juggle infant care, housework and cooking with a job.

      Did the thought scare her? You bet. But even more terrifying was the notion of once again giving up control.

      With Cayden soon to be home, Brynn popped the lid on the paint can and washed her brush in the bathroom sink.

      Her baby had been extra active and the kicks and rolls had taken a toll on Brynn’s lower back. Navigating the stairs proved tough, so she took her time, keeping a firm hold on the rail.

      By the time she’d reached the bottom, Cayden’s bus screeched to a stop, so she put on a brave face and smiled when opening the screen door to greet him. “Hey, sweetie! Have a fun day?”

      “Yeah!” He crushed her in a drive-by hug before racing through the house to bolt out the back door. “He finished! My fort’s done!”

      For all the frustration she’d felt for Tristan, watching her son climb the ladder of the fort’s slide filled her with an entirely different emotion—gratitude. No matter how much she wanted to believe she could handle every aspect of her life on her own, in this particular mission, he’d proved her wrong. And considering how resolute she felt in her belief to hold tight to her independence, she hated that chink in her shiny new defensive armor.

      “Mom!” Cayden hollered from his swinging bridge. “Come play pirate with me! We can use sticks for swords!”

      Heart melting with love for her sweet son, Brynn not only made it across the yard to grab “sabers” from the brush pile, but she managed to hold her own against the cutest pirate she knew. Her happiness in the moment would’ve been complete, save for the lingering reminder that the only reason her son’s smile shone so bright was because of Tristan’s generosity with his time, strength and above-average assembly skills.

      * * *

      “YOO HOO!”

      The next morning, Brynn was too pregnant to attempt ducking behind a bush to avoid her elderly neighbor, Georgia Booth. Having successfully dodged her for months, the effort itself had grown more tiring for Brynn than the fear of letting yet another new person into her life.

      Kneeling