Love of a Marine (The Wounded Warriors Series Book 2) Page 9

  Cluny drew a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. He’d do whatever it took not to mess this up. “Are you afraid?”

  “Yes.” She brushed sand off his knees then raised her hands to grasp his forearms. “I’m afraid because I just found you, Cluny. I don’t want to lose you. Not unless you want me to go away.”

  Stunned, he was at a loss for words. Instead of speaking, he kissed her on the ear and sighed. They sat quietly for several long minutes.

  Then he began to rock her back and forth and hum.

  * * *

  His heart beat hard against her back. He tucked hair behind her ear and began to sing You Send Me in a surprisingly beautiful deep voice, and she sucked in a shuddering breath.

  He brushed his lips on her neck, setting her on fire.

  “Cluny.”

  “Yes, baby?”

  She reached back and caressed his cheek. “You can sing.”

  “Yes I can.” He squeezed her tight. “High school musical star.”

  She’d never tell him Marvin sang that same love song to her. Growing up in Sao Paolo the song had been foreign to her, the tune before her time, but he said it was an old Charlie Daniels American classic his dad sang to his mom when Marvin was a boy. Her chest hurt at the memory and at the same time warmed with wonder that another warrior chose to sing it to her. Cluny didn’t have the lyrics quite right, but the sentiment was unmistakable. She hoped he’d sing it to her again when they were alone.

  “Mama?”

  She straightened at her son’s voice. “Yes?”

  “The lifeguard told me and Amber to stay out of the water. He’s gonna put up a red flag on the beach because the riptide is too strong for safe swimming. I said we wouldn’t go in because you told us to stay at the umbrella until you came back.”

  Cluny helped her to her feet. “It’s time to pack it in for today.” He slung a long arm over her shoulders, and they strolled back down the long stretch of warm sand. Amber had already started packing. Santos ran ahead to join her.

  “Graciella.” His hand tightened on her upper arm.

  “We can’t talk now, Cluny.”

  “I need time alone with you. When can that happen?”

  She stopped and gazed into his eyes. They were no longer vacant and cold, but shone warmly under the brim of his ball cap. “Will you call me later tonight? After Santos is sleeping?”

  “I’m having dinner with Amber’s parents. I should be home by ten, ten-thirty. Is that too late?”

  “No.” She put her arm around his waist.

  He pulled her closer. A wave of warm anticipation overwhelmed her senses.

  Amber stomped around the blanket while Santos pulled up the umbrella stake. “This rilly stinks! We were having fun, now we have to leave.”

  Cluny laughed and picked her up. He swung her around and growled into her neck until she dissolved in a fit of giggles.

  “You and my daddy got to stop treating me like a baby. I’m too big. It’s embarrassing!”

  “I keep telling you you’re growing up too fast. Grab that pile of wet towels. Time to retreat, soldiers.”

  Graciella smiled at Amber’s mercurial change of mood from angry to happy the minute her uncle set her on her feet and issued orders for his troops to pack up their gear and head back to base.

  They were almost halfway home when Amber piped up from the back of the van. “Uncle Cluny, did you ask her?”

  Graciella stopped breathing. Ask me what?

  Cluny smacked the steering wheel. “No. I forgot.” He flashed a quick grin at Graciella. “I’m under orders to invite you and Santos to Gunny Dempsey’s for their annual July 4th barbecue. It’s a bunch of former and active duty military and their families. And a few loose cannons like me. It’s next Wednesday.”

  “Oh boy! Can we go, Mama? Your studio is closed that day. Grampa and Gramma are going to the VFW party for old people.” He bounced in his seat hard enough to shake the van. “Can we?”

  “Oh, for goodness sake, Santos, settle down.” She giggled and shook her head.

  “OK, but can we?”

  Amber added her two cents. “I already invited Santos to come. Daddy said I could bring a friend, and he’s the friend I want to bring so can you come too?”

  Cluny cocked an amused eyebrow. “It’s potluck except for the barbecue. Whaddya say?”

  Had she just been steamrolled? She pursed her lips and pretended to think about it for several seconds while the other three occupants, and Queen, of course, sat stonily silent waiting for her reply. “Yes, it sounds like fun.”

  Yippees and yays erupted from the back. Queen even added her opinion with a muted huff. Cluny slid his hand across the front seat, out of view of the kids, and squeezed her wrist. This man’s touch told her she was still young and desirable and his touch was something she desired to experience.

  “What should we bring?”

  “I was thinking about those fan-tas-tic brigadeiros Santos made the other night.”

  Amber asked, “What’s that?”

  “Just about the most delicious thing you ever tasted, that’s what.”

  Graciella clamped her teeth together. Cluny had no idea how expensive they were to make, and it sounded like it would be a pretty big crowd.

  He said, “Tell you what. Write down all the ingredients you’ll need for about thirty people and I’ll buy everything, and you and Santos come to my house Sunday. I’ll even help make them, unless it’s a secret recipe you don’t want to share.”

  She sighed because he did know they were expensive to make, and he’d saved her from refusing.

  Santos said, “It’s not a secret, Macfearsome. I can teach you. Amber told me you have a big house with a kitchen and everything. Mama, can we?”

  “Can I come too?” Amber asked.

  “Everybody can come. We’ll have a party. How about it, Santos’s mom?”

  She giggled like the schoolgirl she hadn’t been for many years. “I’m in!”

  At her apartment, they trudged inside with the towels, blankets, and the cooler. “Santos, take Amber to your room and show her your collection of Transformer comic books.” Some had been his father’s and were protected in sealed plastic because of their value. Her son was very proud to own something his dad had loved.

  Cluny sat beside her at the kitchen counter while she wrote the list of ingredients she’d need to make the recipe for so many people. “This is going to cost a fortune, Cluny. Are you sure you want us to make them? There any number of dishes I could bring that wouldn’t be so expensive.”

  “Don’t worry about the cost. It will be worth it to watch the expressions on their faces when they bite into them. I can afford it. I want to do it.” He brushed his fingers through the hair draped across her shoulder. “Just having you and Santos in my house will be worth it to me.”

  She gazed into his clear blue eyes, amazed at her good fortune to have met him. Fate had a funny way of bringing people together. Was Cluny McPherson her destiny, or was she being foolish? “I think you can find everything on this list at Trader Joe’s.”

  “Graciella, I want to kiss you.” He’d stepped away from the stool and stood close to her. Very close. “May I?”

  She placed a hand on his cheek. “Cluny…I…the kids.”

  He gripped her upper arms and grinned. “They’re busy.”

  The next thing she knew, his mouth covered hers. At first the kiss was tentative, then he deepened it and put his arms around her. She moved easily into his embrace, her hands on his neck. His soft, gentle lips against hers stirred something deep inside. Breath caught in her throat. She could easily fall in love with this man.

  She drew back. “Cluny, I’m scared.”

  “Me too.” He rested his brow on hers and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs, kissed her forehead and stepped away. “Amber! Front and center. I need to get you home before your dad sends a search party.” He let his hands slide down her arms and reached for the shopping list.
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br />   “Shall I pick you up or would you rather drive yourself next Sunday?”

  “Write down your address. We’ll find you. What time?”

  “About eleven thirty? We’ll go grab lunch then start the cooking lesson when we get back. Is that OK?” He scribbled his address on her scratch pad.

  The kids walked into the kitchen. “Is what OK, Macfearsome?” Santos asked.

  “We’re talking about what time to meet at my house on Sunday.”

  “If I bring my new fielders mitt will we have time to play catch?”

  “Bring it, sailor. We’ll find time.” He put a big hand on Amber’s head. “This little trooper has a great pitching arm. Time to move out, sugar. You forgetting anything?”

  “Nope. Give me your phone and I’ll call Daddy and tell him we’re on our way home.”

  “I left it in the van. We’ll call from there.”

  Graciella and Santos stood in the open doorway and watched until they disappeared around the side of the building.

  “I really like Macfearsome, Mama.” Her boy peered at her. When did he get so tall? “Do you like him?”

  “Yes, I do. I like him very much.” She brushed a kiss on his forehead and closed the door.

  “I’m going to marry Amber when I grow up.”

  She almost laughed but caught herself when she saw he was dead serious. “What does she think about that?”

  “I didn’t tell her yet. It won’t be for a long time.”

  Not long at all the way he was growing up before her eyes. It seemed only yesterday she’d dropped him off at daycare. He’d been six weeks old, and she’d needed to find a job. Lillian and Earl had asked her to move from San Diego into their house in Chatsworth. Determined they’d be self-sufficient, she’d left her infant son and gone to work. Marvin gone, she was tired of crying and full of anger that he’d left her alone in a foreign land with no one but her baby and a broken heart.

  When he’d left for his final deployment, she’d been full of resentment. Even though her pregnancy was advanced, and he would miss the birth of their son, the SEALs came first. His job and his brother SEALs were at the top of his priority list. She and the child came second. It still hurt.

  She took charge of their lives and had never looked back.

  Until she’d met Cluny McPherson and began to dream she could have a new life with a new love. Yes, she was scared. Very scared.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Over dinner at the Dempsey’s, Amber peppered Marla and Dwayne with colorful descriptions of Cluny’s heroics. He rolled his eyes. “Enough. It was no big deal.”

  Head cocked, Amber gave him a wide-eyed stare. “The lifeguard said it was a big deal.”

  “When did you talk to the lifeguard?”

  “After you and Mrs. Jefferson hiked to the rocks. He talked to us while we were eating lunch. I gave him a brownie. He told us not to go in the water until half an hour after we ate and we told him Mrs. Jefferson already told us not to go in the water until she came back, then he put up the red flag and we couldn’t go swimming anyhow.” She wrinkled her nose. “Mom, you know I don’t like yucky Brussels’ sprouts.”

  Marla bounced Declan against her shoulder and shook her head. “How long is this ‘I hate green stuff’ going to last?” She raised her eyebrows at Dwayne.

  Before her dad got a chance to insist Amber suck it up and eat the smelly little green balls, Cluny forked them off her plate and stuffed them in his mouth. He and Amber exchanged a fist bump.

  “I love you, Uncle Cluny.”

  “I’ve got your six, sugar.” He wrinkled his nose at Marla who’d cast a sour look in his direction, and then she rolled her eyes as if to say I give up.

  She stood and handed the baby to him. “Here, Uncle Cluny, do something helpful for a change.”

  Dwayne dropped his napkin on the table. “Amber, help Mom clean up. Cluny and I are going to have a cigar outside.” He raised his hands at Marla’s skeptical look. “Relax, we won’t exhale on your son.” He lifted the empty baby carrier and led Cluny outside.

  Cluny wet a finger and held it up. “Breeze going this way. We’ll put the bruiser upwind. While I wouldn’t object to a wrestling match with your gorgeous wife, I’m not sure you’d come to my defense, Gunny.”

  Pulling two fat stogies out of his shirt pocket, Dwayne said, “Nah, nah, don’t sweat it. I’d step in to save your sorry ass at the last possible second. Got these from Brad after Dec was born.”

  Cluny held up the cigar and pointed at It’s a Boy!! on the wrapper, “I never saw a prouder grandpop. Marla’s dad must have bought a carload of these and passed them all over town.”

  Dwayne nodded and lit a match. They fired up the cigars. It took several long drags to get them glowing, then they sat back in the two Adirondack chairs on the porch to enjoy the cooling evening breeze. Cluny caught Gunny’s surreptitious, proud glances at the baby boy snoozing at his feet.

  Cluny blew a perfect smoke ring, watched it float then dissipate. “I met a woman.”

  “What else is new? You’ve had more women than any man has a right to.”

  “This time it’s different.” He slid back in the chair and propped his feet on the porch railing. “Amber didn’t tell the whole story. Shit hit the fan today. I nearly went nuts when I hit the water to pull that guy out. I thought he was you.” Sharp chagrin lingered over the public spectacle still fresh in his mind. “I was back in the Sandbox in full combat mode.

  “Amber jumped me after we dragged the guy out of the water, and told me he wasn’t you. I heard enemy fire and landed on her and told her to stay down.” He sighed, and thought the foul curse word rather than saying it.

  “Whoa. What did she think of that?”

  “She got up, brushed the sand off her face, and suggested we go sit on our blanket away from the action. Not much ruffles our Amber’s feathers. You’re a great dad, buddy.”

  “I won’t take all the credit. You were there from day one. Two young, torn-up vets without the first clue what to do with a newborn girl.” Gunny smiled ruefully.

  In Cluny’s opinion, Francine Dempsey hadn’t been good enough to scrape shit off the bottom of Gunny’s boots. She’d deserted him three days after Amber’s birth because she refused to tie herself down to a cripple and a baby she never wanted.

  Cluny pointed his cigar. “We figured it out though.”

  “We did. Now I have Marla, the love of my life, and a son I know how to be a father to.” He turned his head and blew a big puff of smoke away from his baby. “You were telling me about a woman. Not that you ever share any juicy details, but different, how?”

  “Instead of freezing up and backing away, she followed me down the beach and sat with me. She asked me to talk about what had happened.”

  “Would this be the widow of Marv, the SEAL?”

  “Yep.” Cluny nodded. “Graciella Jefferson. I asked her if she was afraid, and she looked me right in the eye and said, ‘Yes.’ Honest, straightforward, no hesitation. Then she stuck right by my side. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m scared shitless I’ll mess up before we get a chance to know each other. Her kid is something special too.”

  Dwayne was quiet for several seconds then asked, “When are you going to bring her to meet me and Marla?”

  “I invited them to the July 4th barbecue.” He propped one ankle over the other and puffed the cigar. “I sang to her, Gunny. She made me feel so damn good that I sang a love song to her. Jesus, the last woman I sang love songs to was Esther Grossman when I was seventeen, back in Wyoming.”

  Dwayne chuckled and punched his arm. “Sounds serious, McPherson.”

  Serious, yes, but he told himself to slow down. Slow down.

  Around ten thirty that night he asked Queen, “What do you think, girl? Is it too late to call?” He paced for a moment then stared at the phone. Queen offered no opinion. He pressed call and heard the smile in Graciella’s voice the moment she answered. His chest expand
ed with a heady mixture of desire and hope.

  “Am I calling too late?”

  “No, I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Her words sent his heart racing. He’d rather have been holding her hand than the phone, but this would have to do for now. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

  “Marvin’s mother and father are coming for dinner.”

  Disappointment burned in his gut. He needed to hold her. “Do you like them?”

  “Yes, very much. They think of me as a daughter. Santos loves Grandpa Earl. I asked Lillian if they’d come without Krystal. I want to talk to her, find out if she has any idea what’s going on with my sister-in-law. I could tell from the tone of her voice she’s troubled too.”

  “I hope you’re not walking into a minefield.”

  “I’ll take my chances. I can’t have Krystal influencing Santos with her racist rants. I have no idea what’s changed her. She was a sweet child Santos’s age when Marvin brought me to California.”

  “Dwayne’s mom told me family was both a blessing and a curse, when I lived at their cattle ranch. She was Mom to me when I needed one. She did a great job raising three good men, especially Amber’s dad.”

  “I’m anxious to meet this paragon.”

  “You’ll meet him and his wife the day of the barbecue. You’ll like them. They’re good people.” He gave her some details about the annual party and who would be there.

  “Oh, my, do you have any idea what time it is?”

  “Midnight. I don’t want to, but I’ll let you go.” How was it possible they’d talked for so long? “Queenie is wearing out the carpet in front of the door. I didn’t take her for a walk when we got home.”

  His chest expanded at the sound of her sexy, smoky laugh.

  “Early classes tomorrow, Cluny, and then house cleaning and laundry. I’ve let a lot of things slide the past couple of weeks. Santos and I’ll see you on Sunday morning. You probably have plenty of pots and pans, but I’ll bring my double boiler.”

  “Good. I don’t have one of those. Thanks for staying up so late to talk.”