she couldn’t deprive her daughter of knowing her father. Oddly enough, in having two fathers, Pia had been given a sort of do-over, in that if Ellie chose to let her, she could now begin a new life, with Deacon playing a starring role.
* * *
“WOOO!” cried the bosomy redhead Friday night when Deacon dipped her on the dance floor. “You’re wild!”
“I do my best, darlin’.” While the woman giggled as he twirled her to the honky-tonk song, he couldn’t help but think of the time he’d held Ellie on this very spot. The fact that he could even remember such a thing was a sign he hadn’t drunk nearly enough.
Four quick shots later and Deacon’s head swam pleasantly.
It wasn’t often a man commemorated the loss of his best friend, then learned he was the father of that friend’s child, only to have said child snatched from him, all in the same week.
Worse yet, each time he touched the redhead’s hips, in his mind’s eye he saw Ellie naked and sprawled out before him, her blue eyes hazy with pleasure, her long inky hair playing hide and seek with her full breasts.
“Mind giving someone else a turn?” From behind him, a beer-bellied local copped an attitude. Ordinarily, Deacon would have graciously stepped aside, allowing a fellow dude the pleasure of a trip around the dance floor with a pretty lady. But as Deacon had already noted, there was nothing ordinary about this night, which was why he swung around to give the guy his best right.
“Hey, whoa!” Before he could launch another punch, Garrett grabbed Deacon’s swinging arm, while Tristan took his left.
“Please forgive him,” Tristan said to Deacon’s victim, whose eye was already starting to bruise.
Garrett took the liberty of tugging Deacon’s wallet from his back pocket and fishing out a few twenties. “Here,” he said, handing them over as a peace offering. There was nothing Base Commander Duncan hated more than hearing one of his men had started trouble—especially SEALs. “Our friend would love to buy your drinks for the rest of the night.”
“The hell I would,” Deacon snapped.
Tristan smacked the back of his head. “Would you shut up already?”
By the time his so-called friends shoved him into the backseat of Garrett’s Mustang, Deacon needed another few shots. “I was all right back there. I hardly need you two finishing my fight.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Garrett made a sharp left that sent Deacon flying. “Put on your seat belt.”
“Did he eat any of that pizza back at the apartment?” Tristan asked.
“Don’t think so. Makes sense. He didn’t eat lunch, either. Explains why he was such a lightweight.”
“I’m right here,” Deacon said to the two guys up front gossiping like old maids. “I hear everything you say.”
Garrett asked Tristan, “He ever tell you why Ellie was driving away in tears as we showed up?”
“Nope. I was too hungry to ask.”
Garrett nodded, glancing into the rearview mirror. “How about it? What was she even doing at our place?”
“I’ll tell you,” Deacon said, “but then I’ll have to kill you.”
“Fair enough.” Tristan angled to face him. “What’d you say that had her so upset and you drunker than I’ve seen you since finishing hell week?”
“You know Pia?” Deacon asked. “Tom and Ellie’s baby girl?”
“Well, yeah.” Stopped at a red light, Garrett glanced in the mirror. “She all right?”
“Oh—” Deacon had to laugh “—she’s just hunky-dory. Especially since I’m supposed to be her dad, only not around Tom’s folks.”
“What?” Garrett had just accelerated from zero to sixty, only to slam on the brakes, fishtailing into an empty grocery store lot. “Please tell me you didn’t just claim to be the father of your dead best friend’s kid.”
* * *
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, he’s not here?” Ellie felt bad enough about her last conversation with Deacon that guilt had driven her to ask Helen to watch Pia so Ellie could find him on base. She’d failed to tell Helen the true nature of her urgent errand.
The base security officer checked a computer screen. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Hilliard, but Chief Petty Officer Murphy isn’t available.”
“He should be. Do you know where his team is?”
“Mrs. Hilliard, you know I’m not allowed to disclose that information.”
It took every shred of Ellie’s patience to thank the man and make an unhurried U-turn in the space so thoughtfully provided.
Damn the navy. Double damn all SEALs.
How many times had she needed Tom, only to be told he was unavailable? And then he’d show up days later, unable to tell her where or why he’d been gone. As much as she’d loved him, that portion of their relationship had been unnerving. All the pretty Virginia Beach barflies dreamed of snagging a SEAL. Little did they know that even after closing the deal, their lives would never be perfection. As much as she’d loved Tom, she’d equally missed him.
Where was Deacon?
Was he as upset as she was about the way they’d left things? Of course she wanted him to be Pia’s father in every sense of the word; she just wasn’t ready for Helen and John to know. Not yet. Deacon had to understand.
Why? a tiny voice prodded. Pia is his daughter. A flesh and blood part of him. Once Deacon got over the initial shock of learning he was a father, he would never back down. Not until the whole world knew Pia was his. Unfortunately for Ellie, he morally and legally had that right.
* * *
“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE you just walked away.”
“From what?” At 1930 hours, Deacon glanced across the belly of the C-130 transport hauling them south to the Congo, where a U.S. ambassador and his family were being held for ransom by representatives of the wannabe government du jour.
From on top of an equipment crate, Garrett popped a sunflower seed in his mouth, snapping the shell open with his teeth. “Your daughter.”
“Stay out of it,” Deacon warned, his head still throbbing from his earlier activities at the bar. He had to cut back. Last thing he felt like doing was shouting above engine noise.
“No, seriously. You know what Tristan’s been through, missing his son. He tries hiding it with partying, but you don’t wanna end up hurting like him.” Garrett tucked the sunflower hull into his already bulging shirt pocket before grabbing another seed, then hopping down to join Deacon on one of the few rows of seats installed for their journey. “I never told you this, but I had a kid.”
One eye open, Deacon snorted. “You’re full of crap.”
“For
