Page 108 of A Soldier's Return

They were quiet for several moments as they watched the delighted dog and equally delighted child romp across the sand.

“Did you say you expect to be done with The Sea Urchin purchase in a few days?”

It was an obvious play to change the subject but he didn’t argue. They were both probably better off pretending to ignore this heat they seemed to generate.

“I have to be,” he answered. “I’m due in Tokyo by Tuesday of next week.”

She gave him a piercing look as she pushed a strand of wind-tossed hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Are you planning to take Chloe along?”

He couldn’t contain a little shudder at the idea of letting Chloe loose in a foreign country. The havoc she could wreak boggled his mind.

“While we’re here enjoying the beaches of Oregon, my assistant has been busy interviewing new nanny applicants. She e-mailed me with the names of a couple of possibilities. I’ll try to choose one when we return home this weekend.”

He wasn’t completely surprised to see storm clouds scud across her dark-eyed gaze. She stopped stock-still on the sand and stared at him.

“Let me get this straight. You’re going to dump your daughter on a stranger picked by yourassistantwhile you go out of the country?”

Despite her deceptive calm, she certainly knew just how to raise his hackles and put him on the defensive.

“I said I was choosing the nanny. My assistant is merely offering me a list of possibilities.”

“Are you planning on actually meeting any of these worthy applicants before you fly out of the country and leave your daughter with them?”

“Yes. I’m not completely irresponsible, contrary to what you apparently think.”

“But you won’t stick around to see how she gets along with Chloe?”

“My plans can’t be changed at this late date.”

“So why don’t you just take her and the new nanny with you?”

“Haul Chloe halfway across the world to Tokyo so she can sit in a hotel room with a stranger for a week?”

“Why not? At least then she wouldn’t feel completely abandoned. You’re the one stable thing in her life right now. You’re all she has, Eben. Can’t you see that?”

“Of course I see that!” He was astonished how quickly his own much-vaunted calm seemed to be slipping away with the tide. “I live with the responsibility of it every moment of my life. I love my daughter, Sage, despite what you might think.”

“I know you do. I can see it. But I’m just not sure Chloe is quite as convinced.”

“What do you mean? I’ve never given her any reason to doubt it.” At least he didn’t think so.

“Children are resilient and bend with the wind like that seagrass over there, but they’re not unbreakable, Eben.”

“I have to go to Tokyo next week. Taking her along sounds perfectly reasonable in theory. But have you ever tried to keep an eight-year-old happy on a ten-hour flight?”

“I’m sure it’s not easy. But isn’t your daughter’s sense of emotional security worth a little inconvenience?”

“It’s more than inconvenience! It’s impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible for a man like you. You have the money and the power and the resources at your disposal to make anything happen. You just have to want to make it work.”

He started to lash back at her—what the hell did this do-gooder know about his life?—then he took a good look at her. She was angry with him, unquestionably, but there was something else in her eyes, something deeper. An old hurt he couldn’t begin to guess at.

He opened his mouth to ask why this seemed so important to her. Before he could formulate the words, Conan raced to them, with the driftwood in his mouth, and dropped it at their feet.

He was followed immediately by Chloe, wind-whipped color on her cheeks and her hand outstretched.

“Look at this cool thing I found. What is it?”

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