Page 10 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy

“Yep.”

“Huh,” Ginger grunted. “Interesting. I guess processing my emotions is a good thing, then.”

“Now you’re getting it.” Rae grinned as Fawn came back to the living room.

“Hey, sweet girl. Everything good?” Ginger asked as Fawn came up beside her.

“Perfect.” The ache around Ginger’s heart eased when she heard the excitement in her daughter’s voice. Fawn turned her attention back to her mother. “Can we go see daddy again? I need to hear his voice. I’ve missed it—him.”

She had no reason to tell her child no, but before she could answer, Rae spoke up. “Your father was released from my care a couple of hours ago.” She flashed Ginger a grin. “He immediately began arguing with Asher about where he would be stationed in either the unmarried barracks or down here next to you in the family wing.”

“Who won that argument?” Ginger asked.

“Who do you think?” Rae laughed.

“Daddy?” Fawn asked.

Ginger chuckled. “I don’t think so, sweet girl. Commander Asher was your daddy’s boss. He runs the entire base.”

“Is,” Rae added. Ginger cocked a brow at the other woman. “Asher reinstated him the second Jake called asking for help. He’s officially back on the books and a member once again of R.O.O.T..”

“Good for him,” she said, hating how she couldn’t keep the hint of sadness from her tone.

She should feel happy for him. Jake was getting back everything important to him. Maybe now he’d stop stalking her and their daughter. Not that she wasn’t grateful he had been. Obviously. There were a plethora of other reasons she should be happy for the asshole, but right now she didn’t feel an ounce of that. Instead, a wave of sadness washed over her. Any thought or hope she had of them rekindling a relationship went right down the drain. Which didn’t make a lick of sense.

Ginger mentally shook her head.What the hell? Rekindle?Didn’t hernowhusband die less than a week ago?Must be a new record of how long a widow mourned her departed husband.That right there was the problem. She wasn’t mourning Oscar; she was relieved he’d died. And didn’t that just make her a horrible person? Guilt filled her mind and soul.

“Mom?” Fawn asked, pulling her from her thoughts. “Can we?”

“I’m sure we can. I’ll need to find out where your dad is or how to get a hold of him, and we can go from there.”

“Coolness,” Fawn said before going back to her room where her iPad was.

Rae cleared her throat, and Ginger’s gaze flickered to the other woman, watching her intently. “You know, you shouldn’t give up on Jake. Things are different now.”

Ginger snorted before she admitted. “I’m not even sure if Jake ever loved me. There are days I think he used R.O.O.T. as an excuse to get out of being a husband and a father.”

“Listen, Jake O’Malley is an asshole, but I don’t think he’s that big of an asshole,” Rae said, and Ginger laughed, startling Declan, who had fallen asleep while eating. Not wanting to disturb the little boy, any more than she already had, Ginger stood up then laid the sleeping boy in the pack n play that had miraculously arrived for him.

“I wish I could figure out how to do that with Knox as effortless as you just did with Declan,” Rae said; a hint of envy in her tone.

Ginger chuckled. “It’ll get easier—more like second nature with the second one. Plus, every kid is different.” Ginger hooked her thumb toward Fawn’s room. “I swear she would use me as a pacifier. Nursing for two hours at a time, and if I tried to remove her, she’d wake up crying and screaming for more. I almost gave up on breastfeeding after the third week.” She’d felt like a failure when she cried to Jake about how she couldn’t do it anymore and how going forward she was going to give Fawn formula.

Jake had been the calm, cool, and collected one of them. He told her it was fine. Food was food, and he didn’t care if his daughter got it from a bottle or if she was breast fed. His simple yet kind acceptance had given her the gumption to try again, and again. Until she got it right. Because of the compassion Jake showed her, getting Declan to latch on had been a breeze.

“Knox likes to be on the move. Constantly.” Rae was exhausted. Ginger could see it in her eyes. Couldn’t be easy being the base doctor while also having a newborn, and a husband who had a stressful—to say the least—job. “The only time he isn’t moving is when he’s sleeping. And it isn’t always easy to get him to get to sleep.”

“That’s no surprise. Like father, like son.”

“This is true.” Rae stood before walking over to the small desk where a phone sat. She picked up the pad beside it and the pen and scribbled on the pad. “That’s Jake’s extension. I should forewarn you; he was a bear this morning. He complained about everything.”

Ginger shrugged, cocking her head to the side. “I could be wrong and correct me if I am. You don’t like my ex-husband, do you?”

Rae rubbed her hands together and got pensive. “Honest, I don’t really know Jake all that well, even though we have history. He said some things… Some not nice things.”

Huh, that’s what landed his ass in hot water with Asher, and then on leave.Ginger knew it was more than that, even though Jake hadn’t been all that forthcoming. “Yeah, Jake’s always had massive cases of foot in the mouth syndrome. I’m still waiting for his filter to kick in to tell him not to always speak his mind.”

Rae laughed. “There is still hope.”

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