Free A Navy SEAL's Surprise Baby by Laura Marie Altom Page A

Pandora—Calder’s SEAL team had been practicing counterterrorism drills by entering a suspected terrorist compound and securing the perimeter in under a minute. After three hours of running a simulated rat-hole maze, they’d finally gotten times down to a minute thirteen seconds, but that wasn’t good enough. In a real-life situation, those seconds could mean the difference between successfully completing a mission and being shipped home in a body bag.
    Over and over Calder ran the drill with the rest of his buddies—his team. The men had become his family. He’d do anything for them and knew they’d return the favor.
    The harder he worked, the more he focused on the reasons he did what he did. He had always thought he’d become a SEAL for the cool factor. There was no denying the title carried with it incalculable bragging rights. But the longer he wore his Trident, the more he realized it meant so much more.
    Now not only did he want to be of service to his country but he also wanted to protect his son. Before having Quinn, the seedier portions of the world had been his warrior playground. Now he recognized the world’s danger zones hid terrorists intent on not only harming his son, but every man, woman and child in America and beyond.
    In short, like it or not, Quinn had given Calder a maturity he hadn’t before possessed. He used the newfound drive to keep his kid smiling to dig deep, finally busting through the mental wall that had held him back all day.
    “Fifty-seven seconds! Good work!” His CO patted his back.
    While Heath splashed bottled water onto Calder’s overheated face, Calder dropped to his knees. Damn glad the ordeal was over, but also proud. If the team could accomplish the task here at home, then overseas, with adrenaline pumping, there would be no question about them performing like a well-oiled machine.
    While the last few on their team completed time tests, Heath and Calder sat against the base of a mock concrete-block Iraqi apartment building.
    After gulping more water, Heath asked, “How’s it going with the nanny?”
    “Good and bad.”
    “Yeah?” Calder’s friend raised his eyebrows. “How so?”
    “On the one hand, the house has never been cleaner, my laundry’s always done and as you’ve probably noticed, I’m headed out early to eat home-cooked meals every night.”
    “Sounds good so far.”
    “This is where things get dicey. I pay her for the basics, but the longer she’s with me, the more I look forward to more. To just seeing her. And then there are those awkward late-night meetings when she’s all mussed and forgets her glasses...” Calder shook his head and sighed. “I have to keep reminding myself she’s my employee. Worse, when it comes down to it, I know nothing about her. Sure, her work references checked out, but I’m still wondering where she disappears to sometimes on Saturdays.”
    “Have you asked?” Heath tugged an energy bar from his right sleeve pocket, tore the wrapper and took a bite.
    “Hell, no. It’s none of my business.”
    “Then why are you whining to me about it?”
    Calder snatched a pebble from the ground beside him and pitched it at his “friend.”
    *
    F RIDAY MORNING , P ANDORA fed Quinn and his father. Once Calder headed off to work, she tidied the kitchen and the rest of the house—a task that took a whopping fifteen minutes, considering she didn’t have much to work with.
    She hadn’t forgotten that Calder had told her he’d paint her bedroom, but she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject without sounding greedy. Most days, in presenting her with the opportunity to save a generous amount of money while at the same time living in a safe, quiet, fresh-smelling environment seemed like blessing enough. Sure, walls the shade of lemon sorbet would be lovely, but they were hardly a necessity when she’d once relocated from a highway underpass to a crack house to a jail cell.
    With chores finished, she said to Quinn, “Looks