Page 4 of SEAL's Surprise Daughter

A mark offamily.

God, I missed them so much.

Stuffing all those emotions down deep, I got on with it. I managed to get Charlotte into her office and settled at a small table there with the baby before closing the door and taking a seat across from her.

“I’m sorry for falling apart on you like that,” she said, sniffling into a tissue from a box she pulled out of her desk drawer. “It’s been a hell of a night.”

“I understand.” In situations like this, I found letting the other person talk, in their own time, was best, so I waited.

Finally, after blowing her nose and sipping from a bottle of water, Charlotte gave me a rundown of what had happened earlier. “After I tried to get ahold of Alexis for hours, I finally went and picked Savannah up at the sitter’s myself. When I took her home, I found the cops swarming the place and…” She swallowed hard and looked away, pulling another tissue from the box before continuing. “The police said they think she was a victim of a break-in gone wrong, but that doesn’t sit right with me. Not after some of the stuff she told me.”

I started to ask her why, but the baby started fussing.

Charlotte reached over to shush her, soft and sad. “She’s going to miss her mama. Aren’t you, baby girl?” She straightened and met my gaze. “They put Savannah in my care for the time being. I was Alexis’s birthing partner, and I’m Savannah’s godmother.” She cleared her throat. “I’m also a registered foster mother. Alexis encouraged me to do it.” She threw her hands up, one still clutching her tissue. “God, it’s like she’d been setting all this up since she arrived or something. Like she knew this was going to happen.”

Her pretty face dissolved into tears again, and I stared at the floor until she collected herself, not wanting to embarrass her. Then the baby wailed and Charlotte focused on rocking Savannah in her carrier, easing the awkwardness between us at last.

“I need to get her home soon,” she said, not looking at me. “So I can feed her. But first, she needs to be changed.”

“Right.” That was my cue to leave. “I should go too. I need to find a hotel room.” I pushed to my feet and picked up my duffel bag, slinging it over my shoulder and giving a self-conscious laugh. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t even sure I was going to get on the train and come back here, before you called.”

“Really?” She looked up at me, her hazel eyes bright in the dim room.

“Yeah.” We looked at each other for a second, and something passed between us before I turned away. “Anyway, I’ll call around for a reservation. We can hash the rest of this out in the morning.”

My hand was on the door handle when she said from behind me, “Don’t be silly. You can stay at my place tonight. I’ve got plenty of room, and that way you can spend some time with Savannah too.”

I turned, opening my mouth to decline, but noticed that she was hugging herself tightly and still seemed to be shaking a little. She wasn’t crying anymore, so it couldn’t be that. Then I thought about what it must’ve been like for her to discover her friend had been killed, violently.

As if confirming my thoughts, she said, “I’d feel better having someone there, just in case.”

That did it. She’d uncovered my kryptonite, hinting that she felt like she needed protection. Staying in a virtual stranger’s house wasn’t my usual MO, but we had known each other as kids, so it wasn’t totally random. And it would be nice to have more time to get to know my daughter.

“Okay, then,” I agreed. “I’ll stay with you. Just for tonight.”

“Good.” Charlotte smiled, and I felt like done my job. I swallowed hard. “Let me get the baby ready, and we can go.”

THREE

Poor Savannah was screaming by the time we pulled into my driveway. I’d been chattering on for what felt like forever, trying to fill the conversational void between me and Gabe as we drove toward my house, but now the baby took precedence.

“Is she hurt?” he asked, looking back over his shoulder at Savannah, his expression a mix of worry and wariness. “She’s screaming like she’s hurt.”

“She’s fine. It’s late, and she’s hungry and exhausted, that’s all,” I assured him. I cut the engine, then got out and opened the back driver’s side door to get Savannah’s car seat. “If you could grab the diaper bag and carry it inside for me, that would be great.”

“Sure thing,” he said, gathering his duffel bag and her diaper bag. I handed him the keys too, since my hands were full with Savannah’s carrier. Gabe let us into the house, and I switched on the lights, glad that I’d managed to pick up a little this morning before work, so the place was less messy than usual.

“Make yourself comfortable,” I said, walking toward the makeshift nursery I’d set up in a corner of my bedroom, down the hall. I was glad for the baby care to keep my mind off everything else for a few minutes. “Let me get her into a fresh onesie, and then we can talk.” As I went, I flipped on lights in all the rooms, feeling better when the shadows were gone. I knew it was silly, but after what happened to Alexis…

I shuddered. Once in my room, I lifted Savannah out of her carrier and held her in front of me. She gave me one of her adorable, wobbly baby smiles, and a tsunami of emotion washed over me again. Holding Savannah close, I walked the perimeter of the room, murmuring to her and telling her it would be okay—as much for myself as for her. “We’re going to be fine. Yes, we are.”

Now, if only I could make myself believe it, we’d be all set.

I’d never lost anyone like this before. So sudden. So wrong. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. Then a hint of a dirty diaper made that decision for me.

It was good. Routine. Stopped me from thinking so much. I quickly got Savannah cleaned and changed, then dressed in a fresh onesie for bed. Now, time for a bottle.

I turned to head back out to the kitchen, only to freeze.

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