Free The SEAL's Valentine (Operation: Family) by Laura marie Altom Page B

looking, so why couldn’t her body get the memo that the man was only a friend?
    The meeting wound on for an hour and at the end, Brynn found herself writing yet another check.
    To Tristan, she tried lightening her mood by quipping, “Think I liked baseball a lot better back in the days when the team paid Mack to play, rather than the other way around.”
    “Yeah, it’s crazy how much all of this costs, but the kids sure do enjoy it.”
    Brynn winced, clutching her lower back.
    “You okay?” His tender look of concern was too much. Made it damn near impossible to stick to her rule of being a self-sufficient island—not that she’d done such a great job at it lately. “You’re due pretty soon, aren’t you?”
    She nodded, forcing a smile through more pain. “In a couple weeks.”
    “Think you might be going into back labor? My ex went through it with my son. We kept watching for all the usual signs—water breaking and stuff, only none of it ever came. Finally, her pain was too much and we ran her to the E.R. Good thing—” his sharp exhale was followed by a smile “—she ended up having Jack two hours later.”
    “Yikes.” Gathering her lightweight jacket from the back of her chair, Brynn said, “You got lucky. Otherwise, you might’ve been one of those couples you hear about being forced to deliver their babies on the side of the road.”
    Hand on the small of her back, he ushered her into the warm night. The fresh air did wonders for clearing Brynn’s head. It made it possible to ignore the pleasant tingle still humming from Tristan’s briefest touch. He was her friend. And Cayden’s. Nothing more. They were lucky to have had him enter their lives.
    As for the surprise she felt over him opening up to her about his past? She chose to ignore that, too. Far from him keeping illegal activity from her the way Mack had done, Tristan was only keeping a tight rein on his own pain.
    He said, “I helped deliver a baby in Botswana.”
    “Really?” Her eyebrows raised.
    “There were midwives and stuff,” he said, turning red, “but they sent me on lots of missions—fetching fresh water and clean cloth. For lying on a mat in a dirt-floored hut, the mother brought whole new meaning to the expression ‘grace under fire.’”
    Brynn shuddered to think of having her baby girl anywhere other than the specialty birthing wing of the small regional hospital where she’d already made arrangements. It bothered her that she’d be alone, but it wasn’t as if her aunt and uncle would be able to make the trip all the way from Maine. Even if they would, Brynn had this handled.
    “Hey, Mom!” Cayden rounded the building’s corner, ambushing her in a hug. “While you guys were meeting, we’ve been doing catching drills. I caught three balls!”
    “That’s awesome, baby!” She kissed the top of his head.
    “I’m not a baby!” His pout returned. “That’s the baby.” Pointing at her stomach, he added, “And she’s gonna ruin everything.”
    Thankfully, Cayden ran off to be with his friends, which gave Brynn a chance to regroup.
    “Not to get in your business,” Tristan said alongside her, “but seems like I felt the same about my sister. Once I saw how cute she was—all those tiny fingers and toes—I figured the whole baby sister thing might not be so bad. Want me to talk with him?”
    “Thanks,” she said with an exhausted sigh, “but somehow I have to believe everything’s going to work out.”
    * * *
    “Y OO - HOO !”
    Brynn’s stomach tightened. After receiving the morning freeze from her son, who’d climbed on his school bus without even a verbal goodbye, let alone a kiss or hug, the last thing she needed was a visit from her neighbor. All Brynn wanted was to be left alone with her thoughts and plants—which thankfully, never talked back!
    “Hi, Mrs. Booth.” Out of common courtesy, Brynn waved.
    Charging across the street, Georgia was all smiles. “Great news!”
    “Oh?” Brynn