Page 1 of Spring UnVeiled
Chapter1
“Couldthat kid be old enough to be a sailor or am I just getting that fucking old?”Devlin Culver, better known as Slick, asked as he and the other five men in his squad trotted down the steps of their SEAL Team’s headquarters building.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re bitching about.You’re the baby here.”At thirty-five, Alister Roosevelt a.k.a.Teddy, was the oldest man in their whole platoon of sixteen.Slick was only twenty-nine, but the ten years difference in chronological age between his teammate and the yeoman who just processed their leave requests was filled with classified experiences.
As SEALs, their up close and personal contact with bullets was at the opposite end of the spectrum than that of the administrative assistant who would never hold a weapon outside of qualifying on the range.The places his team had gone, the things they’d done to accomplish the mission, were beyond the comprehension of the fresh-faced yeoman.
But Slick was right.It seemed new recruits got younger every day.It had been seventeen years since Teddy held up his hand and swore to support and defend the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.He’d done a hell of a lot of defending on foreign land that was for damn sure.
“Christ, he looked like he was twelve,” Eddie, the handle they used for Travis Pierce because of his uncanny resemblance to Eddie Munster, added as they headed down the sidewalk toward the parking lot.
“I’ll bet this is his first stop out of boot camp.”Bryce Magnum, known to them as Trojan, then corrected himself.“Okay, he had an A school somewhere, but this is his first permanent duty station.”
“Meridian, Mississippi,” Ox announced.His real name was Walter Smith, but his girlfriend, MariBeth, was the only one who dared call him that.“I’ll bet he went back to the bayou every weekend for his momma’s home cooking while he was there.”
Paul Huntley, who they called Shadow, chuckled.“You got that one right.His accent was so thick I had to keep asking him to repeat shit.”
“Petty officers.Chiefs.”A thick Cajun accent added several syllables to the two ranks.
Everyone stopped at once and slowly turned toward the young voice.
Fuck.Teddy knew his men had overwhelmed the young admin who seemed to take forever to submit their paperwork, but since they wanted it pushed through immediately so they could leave right away, they’d tolerated the snail’s pace.If he’d forgotten to do something, it wouldn’t surprise anyone on the team.
While they waited for the young man to catch up, Teddy checked the bright April sun, which promised a gorgeous day in the California mountains.They needed to get on the road.
“I didn’t want to say anything inside…” The kid shuffled his feet before he tilted his head up at the tall men staring at him.The shortest at six feet, they towered over the skinny seamen apprentice.“See, I hate to ask this of you…but I don’t know anyone who…”
Teddy had enough of this slow speech.“Just spit it out.”
“Would any of you be needin’ a nanny?”The young man looked up at them, hope filling his eyes.
Well, that was the last thing Teddy had expected.His gaze swept over his teammates.Slick had kids but his wife, Rozelle, had them handled.Nobody else had children.
“Sorry, but no.”Teddy couldn’t help himself, so he asked, “Why?Does your wife or girlfriend need a job?”
“Kinda.Jasmine, she’s my…roommate…wants to get out of the party business.”He hurried on to say, “She’s real good with kids.She comes from a big family back in the Philippines, so she’s been taking care of babies and li’l ones all her life.”
“I thought the catering business paid pretty well.She’s not going to make that kind of money babysitting,” Slick pointed out.
“Oh, she makes good money, but the parties are long hours.She just wants to get out of…thatbusiness and away from her cousin.”He then added, “but I’m not sure Miss Nami is really her cousin.”
All the men froze at the well-known name of one of the most popular madams in San Diego.
What the fuck?The SEALs exchanged another glance.
“Well, let me get this straight.Your roommate works for Miss Nami?”Teddy clarified.
Seamen Apprentice Fontanelle smiled hugely.“Yes.And if I can find her a different job, then I can move her out of my place and sponsor another girl.See, they come from a really bad place.Miss Nami showed me pictures.Their homes are dirt floors and wood from shipping pallets nailed together.We had poor back in Louisiana but nothin’ that bad.”
“Sponsor?”Ox’s baffled eyes met Teddy’s.
“Yeah.The girls are like a foreign exchange student but instead of comin’ for just one year, we can sponsor to bring them over forever ‘cuz they’re adults.”He grinned as though they all shared a secret.“So, we get adult privileges for helping them out by bringin’em here.”
Whoa.Teddy didn’t like the sound of this.“Tell us how thesponsorshipworks.”He spread his feet and crossed his powerful arms over his large chest, settling in for the explanation.
Excitedly, the young man explained as if they were interested in obtaining a girl.“There’s a bunch of other SEALs who are doing this so you wouldn’t be the only ones.Actually, that’s how I got involved.When I first got here, a couple petty officers, not on your team,” he reassured, “on another SEAL team, found out that I was…” The kid actually blushed behind his acne scars as he lowered his voice just above a whisper.“A virgin.I wasn’t real popular back in high school, and I never had a girlfriend.Heck, I’d never even been on a real date until I got here.Ma wanted me to take this girl from church to the prom, but her father wouldn’t let her go ‘cuz she was only in eighth grade.”
The slight shift in Shadow’s step spoke volumes to the men.They’d heard more than enough of this kid’s heartbreaking story.
