and set his hand along the angle of her jaw, stroking his thumb across her smooth cheek. “I’ll be okay.”
Eyes closed, she pressed her head into his palm for a second, then stepped away. “We’d better get inside.”
“If you say so.” Matt followed her toward the kitchen door, carrying the potato salad and appreciating the chance to watch Kristin from the back. Bright sunlight did great things for her soft tan and shiny hair. Her dark-blue sleeveless shirt showed off her arms, while white shorts and sandals left a nice length of her legs in view. The first time he’d seen her, he’d known she was the prettiest, sexiest girl he would ever meet. More than ten years later, he’d never encountered another woman who could make him change his mind.
His mother looked up in surprise as they stepped through the kitchen door. “I wondered what had happened to you. It’s after four-thirty.” She brushed at her silver bangs with a fingertip and stared at Kristin expectantly.
Matt stepped forward to run interference. He bent slightly to kiss Elena Brennan’s cheek. “Sorry, Mom. Sometimes the girls need more time than we think they will. How are you?”
“Well, thank you.” She took the bowl of potato salad out of his hands and placed it precisely on the counter. “Your father is on the deck with Luke and Sarah.”
Kristin came closer. “Where shall I put the cake?”
Elena arched her eyebrows. “Oh, I didn’t think you’d have time to make dessert. Let’s put yours over here beside mine.”
Kristin squeezed her eyes closed as she relinquished the plate. Matt didn’t see a problem with the nice, smooth icing…until his mother set Kristin’s cake next to her own berry-laden version. Suddenly, the white cake looked a little drab.
He put a hand on Kristin’s shoulder. “Anything else we can do, Mom?”
His mother smoothed her red slacks over her still-slim hips. “No, dear. I believe everything is just about ready. Why don’t you start the grill?”
“Sure.” He moved Kristin ahead of him. “Don’t worry about it,” he whispered in her ear as he opened the door onto the deck.
Looking back over her shoulder, she gave him a rigid smile. “Worry about what?”
Matt stared at her back as she walked outside. As difficult as his mother could be, Kris would never admit to being upset. That she couldn’t share something so obvious, so basically harmless, indicated a significant lack of trust.
Or was Kris hiding something so terrible she couldn’t share anything with him, in case the worst slipped out? What the hell would “the worst” be?
“Well, Matt, it’s about time you showed up.” Across the deck, his father sat beneath an umbrella, filling his pipe. “Your mother’s been wondering.”
“Getting two little girls ready for a party doesn’t always go smoothly, Dad.” He reached out to shake the Colonel’s hand as Kristin sat down on the glider nearby.
“Isn’t that the truth?” The man sitting in the chair to the Colonel’s left set down his drink.
Matt turned to face his brother’s wide grin. “Yeah—I’m always amazed at how long it takes.” They shook hands amiably enough, then Matt looked to Luke’s right and smiled at his new sister-in-law. “Hey, Sarah. How are you?”
“Wonderful.” Her clear, sunny expression reminded him of Kristin…back in the old days. “When I called this morning, your wife said you’d gone to work. It’s a holiday, remember?”
He eased down on the glider beside Kris and put his arm along the back, behind her shoulders. “Just paperwork. I get a lot done with nobody else there.”
The Colonel snorted as he lit his pipe. “It’s about time you gave up this recruiting nonsense, isn’t it? Get back to the real Army?”
“I’m still thinking things over, Dad.” Matt relaxed his clenched fist. “It’s a big decision now that I’ve got a family.”
“I’d imagine your commanding officer is wondering what you’re waiting for.” His father wouldn’t let go of his point.
“I haven’t heard anything from him.” Matt tapped Kristin on the shoulder. “Where’d the girls go?”
“They’re playing in the sand at the bottom of the steps,” she said, without meeting his eyes.
Luke sat forward in his chair. “Do I have time to take them for a walk before we eat?”
Matt pulled in a deep breath against the resistance he couldn’t extinguish. “Since I haven’t started the grill yet, I’d say you’ve got about twenty minutes.”
“That’ll be great.” Luke and Sarah crossed the deck arm in arm and descended the steps. “Hey, munchkins.” His words blew back on the wind from the sea. “Want to walk down by the waves?”
“Sure, Daddy!” Erin loved the ocean.
“Can you carry me, Daddy?” And Jenny loved her father.
The voices faded as the foursome approached the water. Matt sat still, waiting for feeling and function to come back to his brain.
After the bath fiasco this afternoon, he should know what to expect. As far as Erin and Jenny knew, Luke was their father. The hard part for them was understanding what had changed, why their mother had divorced him and married another man.
The hard part for Matt was being that other man.
SUDDENLY UNABLE to sit still, Kristin got up and walked to the deck railing to stare out toward the ocean. Usually the sound of the waves and the warmth of the sun made life seem simpler, easier to manage.
Not today. Not with Matt closed off from her by a wall of hurt and misunderstanding. Not when she just kept making mistakes, each one more destructive than the last. Like getting pregnant nine years ago without being married. Then getting married to Luke because her baby’s father—Matt—was dead. And, finally, divorcing Luke and marrying Matt.
Out by the water, Luke and Sarah chased the girls. Jenny squealed as Luke caught her around the waist and lifted her high in the air. They made quite a picture—the handsome black-haired man and his precious silver-blond daughter.
Erin outran Sarah, then kept on running, just for the sheer joy of moving. She loved being outside, like her father. And she moved with the same easy stride, the same long-legged grace Kristin had always adored in Matt. Erin would be tall one day, with Matt’s blue eyes and his serious, considering stare. Luke was tall, too—cops had to be a certain height—but his eyes were a laughing gray and his body more compact than his brother’s.
When would Erin notice the differences? When would she ask to be told the truth?
“Is the grill ready, Matt?” Mrs. Brennan stepped out onto the deck.
“Yes, ma’am. Whenever you are.”
“Where are the girls?”
“On the beach with Luke and Sarah.”
Even
