The Soldier's Forever Family

“For what it’s worth, I think he meant it when he promised he wouldn’t do it again. But watching him is probably a good idea for a while.”

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know how he found out about you. I was so sure he didn’t overhear any of our conversations...”

Adam rubbed his neck as if she wasn’t the only one dealing with the threat of a migraine. “We weren’t giving him enough credit, I guess. Every time someone commented about how much he looked like me, or assumed we were father and son, he was paying attention. He might not know much about relationships yet, but he can put two and two together.”

She crossed her arms tightly over her chest as she faced him. “I’m sorry,” she said, keeping her voice low. “I know you didn’t want it to be like this. You were still trying to decide whether you even wanted to tell him.”

She couldn’t quite read his expression when he muttered, “He’d have figured it out eventually. Unless you planned to hide those pictures you took of us.”

“No. I told him I would make a photo book of our vacation. He’d have had even more questions if I hadn’t taken shots at the fun center or on horseback.”

“Like I said, Simon’s a smart kid.”

“So what now?” she asked, half to herself.

“Now...” He glanced around as Simon bounced out into the room, then finished in resignation, “Now you call your sister and we’ll go have a nice family dinner.”

* * *

EVEN A FIVE-YEAR-OLD had to be aware of the tension lurking beneath the very civil conversation at the table that evening, but Simon chattered as easily as ever, recapping everything he’d done during the week. They saw a few other people they’d met in passing and exchanged greetings and farewells with some of them, but there were a lot of new faces in Torchlight this evening. Joanna figured that many of the guests who’d chosen this same week for vacation had already headed back to their homes and routines. Just as she and Simon would be doing the next morning.

Once again she saw Adam in his professional role as resort employees acknowledged him with respectful nods and genuine smiles that proved he was well-liked here. Guests greeted him with equally telling warmth. He made it clear that he was there to make their stay pleasant and trouble-free, along with the rest of the obliging and thoroughly prepared staff.

Maddie kept looking at Joanna from across the table, as if to gauge her state of mind. She was sure Maddie, too, was still processing this newest development. She’d been visibly gobsmacked when Simon had skipped up to her in the courtyard where they’d assembled before heading to the restaurant and asked with innocent directness, “Did you know Mr. Adam is my dad, Aunt Maddie?”

Maddie had recovered fairly well, considering, telling Simon after a moment that she’d just found out herself. And then she’d given Adam another look that silently threatened his well-being if he did anything to hurt her nephew. Which wasn’t, perhaps, the most auspicious beginning to a friendly meal, but for Simon’s sake, Maddie made an effort to be her usual vivacious self.

Joanna figured Adam was having as difficult a time as she of staying engaged in the child-centered conversation. Though he did a decent job of holding up his end, she was certain that he was thinking about tomorrow—and beyond—just as she was. She made a concentrated effort to keep the topic focused on the past week rather than the future, and Simon followed along. Perhaps he was still so intrigued by having Adam as his father that he hadn’t yet thought about what that might mean. With a child’s enviable ability to live in the moment, he probably didn’t even want to think about leaving.

She wished she had that ability, at least for an hour or so.

During dessert, Simon looked at Adam with a smudge of chocolate on his face. “Mom and Aunt Maddie promised to play minigolf with me after dinner. We haven’t played at night yet, and some of my friends from Explorers Club said it’s really cool when all the lights are on. You’ll come with us, won’t you? We’re going to beat Mom’s score bad, aren’t we, Aunt Maddie?”

“That’s not really all that hard, Si-bot. Your mom is, like, the worst minigolfer ever.”

“Right?” Laughing, Simon grinned at his mother, who merely shrugged and smiled back.

Simon turned to Adam again. “So will you? I bet you’re good at it.”

“You might as well say yes now and save time,” Maddie advised Adam wryly, the most sociable overture she’d made to him yet. “You know you’re going to give in.”

Adam swept her with a glance, then glanced at Simon. “I was just trying to save your mother’s pride. Now she’ll have three other players humiliating her, rather than just two.”

To amuse her son, Joanna feigned indignation. “Hey!”

She was rewarded with a peal of happy laughter. She felt warmth surge through her as she eyed Simon’s glowing face. Let him have his fun tonight, she told herself. The challenges that faced them all could wait a few more hours.

They were on their way out of the restaurant when they encountered two more familiar faces. Trevor and Walt had just entered. They paused inside the doorway when they saw the foursome headed their way.

Walt, she noted, seemed to be focused solely on Maddie, which Joanna tended to expect from men when her sister was around. The exception, of course, was Adam, and she felt a little thrill at remembering his sincere-sounding murmur that Maddie wasn’t his type. What she found interesting at the moment was the way her sister reacted to Walt, with a slight flush of color on her cheeks, a certain look in her eyes, the restless movement of her fingers. Joanna wouldn’t have thought Walt was her sister’s type, but there was definitely something going on here. She told herself she had too many issues of her own to worry about Maddie’s love life, but she still hoped, of course, that Maddie knew what she was doing. As for Walt—well, if Maddie had decided to set her sights on him, the guy didn’t stand a chance.

“Well, hello,” Trevor said to them all. “I hope you had a nice dinner.”

“It was good,” Typically, Simon answered for the group. “And now we’re going to play minigolf.”

“And who do you think will win?” Trevor asked with an encouraging smile.

Grinning, Simon glanced up at Joanna. “Not my mom, that’s for sure.”