Military Daddy

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“So?”

He pressed his hand to his chest, his expression earnest and intense. “I’d like to change that. I’d like to get to know you and I’d like you to get to know me. Someday the kid is going to ask about me. I’d like you to be able to tell him something about what I do and what kind of person I am.”

“What are you suggesting? That we start dating?” She didn’t bother to hide her sarcasm.

“That’s an excellent idea. What are you doing Saturday afternoon?”

Chapter Four

“Annie, you seem awfully quiet tonight. Is something bothering you?” Marge diced another carrot and added it to the large kettle of vegetable soup simmering on the back burner of her stove.

At the long pine table nearby, Annie closed the book she wasn’t actually reading. Since she couldn’t come to a decision about what to do by herself, perhaps Marge could help. “When Shane Ross brought me home yesterday…he asked me out.”

“Like—on a date?” The astonished inquiry came from Marge’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Olivia, as she breezed into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge door. With her sleek chin-length dark hair and dark eyes, she and Annie could have passed for sisters.

Marge turned and scowled at her only child. “Get out of the fridge. Supper will be ready in half an hour. And what is so surprising about Annie being asked out on a date?”

Olivia rolled her eyes and took a container of flavored yogurt before she shut the door. “It’s just that she never goes out.”

While it was true, it was embarrassing to have a teenager point out her total lack of a social life.

Annie said, “He didn’t exactly ask me for a date. He asked me to come and watch his unit perform on base Saturday afternoon. It’s some kind of community appreciation day.”

“Oh, oh, is he the one with the horses?” Olivia’s eyes widened with interest.

“Yes, he’s in the mounted color guard. How did you know that?”

“Crystal told me about him. Heather, one of my friends from school, saw them ride last year. She said they were awesome. She’s going with her family. I heard that there’s going to be a carnival and tons of stuff to see and do. I wish we could go. Could we, Mom? Please?”

Marge shook her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but I’m working at the clinic on Saturday.”

Olivia’s excited expression turned to disappointment. She plopped into a chair beside Annie. “You’re always working at that clinic.”

“Which is exactly why you have a roof over your head and food in the refrigerator, young lady.”

“It’s not much of a roof. It leaks like a faucet in the corner of my room when it rains.”

Annie nudged the pouting girl with her elbow. “Your mom does important work at the mental-health clinic. If she hadn’t been there for me, I wouldn’t be here today. She saved my life.”

“I know, but I’d really like to see the Army’s horses.”

Leaning forward, Annie winked at the girl. “Plus a few good-looking guys dressed in romantic cavalry uniforms sporting sabers and pistols.”

Olivia’s frown changed to a conspiratory grin shared between the two of them. “That, too.”

After seasoning the pot with salt and pepper, Marge put the lid on and lowered the heat. Wiping her hands on a paper towel, she turned to Annie. “What did you say when Shane invited you?”

“I said I’d think about it.”

“And have you?”

Far more than she cared to admit. With his deep-timbred voice and slow Texas drawl, his bright blue eyes and soft, enchanting smile, Shane was almost all she had thought about these past few days. Her plan to tell him about her pregnancy and then dismiss him from her life wasn’t exactly working out. “I don’t think I should go.”

“Why not?”

Annie shrugged. “I don’t know.”

She didn’t really have a reason, at least not one she wanted to talk about. She didn’t want to go because she suspected that the more she saw of Corporal Ross the harder it would be to ignore his request to be included in her baby’s life—their baby’s life.

“Why don’t you go and take Olivia with you? That way you won’t have to go by yourself. Plus, Olivia won’t have to spend the next two days giving me those deep sighs and pitiful looks that mean I’m the world’s worst mother because I’m not letting her do something she wants.”

Olivia’s face brightened. “Yeah, that would be great! And I don’t think you’re the world’s worst mom.”

“That’s not what you said when I wouldn’t let you get your belly button pierced.”

“Mom, that was weeks ago—and so not fair. Heather got hers pierced.”

“Just because Heather does something doesn’t mean you have to do it, too.”

“She’s not the only one in my class that has a belly-button ring.”

“That still doesn’t make it right. Besides, while you’re—”

“I know, I know. While I’m living in this house I have to live by your rules.”

“That’s right, and I’m tough on you because…why?”

“Because you love me and you want me to grow up to be a responsible adult.”

“Right!”

Listening to their exchange, Annie wondered if she would be as good a mother as Marge was. In spite of having lost her husband in a car accident when Olivia was a toddler, Marge’s faith and courage never seemed to waiver. Making a home for herself and her child must have been hard enough, but somehow Marge found the strength to do more. She had reached out to other young women in need, opening her home to some of them and offering hope and compassion to everyone who came asking for help.

Olivia gave up arguing with her mother and turned to Annie. “Please, can I go with you to the base? I promise not to be a pain. We’ll have fun and you can meet some of my friends.”

Annie didn’t have the heart to say no in the face of Olivia’s wide, pleading eyes and excited demeaner. Or maybe she really did want to see Shane again. “Sure, I’ll take you.”

“Sweet!” Olivia jumped up and threw her arms around Annie’s neck. “Thanks. You won’t regret it. I’m going to call Heather. We have to decide where to meet.”

Scooping up her yogurt and pausing only long enough to pull a spoon out of one of the drawers, Olivia hurried toward the phone in the living room.

Marge drew out a chair and sat down beside Annie. “Maybe I shouldn’t have suggested that you take her. Sometimes I let my own guilt about being a poor mother cloud my judgment where Olivia is concerned.”

“You aren’t a bad mother.”

“Perhaps not, but I’m one that doesn’t get to spend as much time with my child as I would like. If you decide you don’t want to go, I’ll make other arrangements for Olivia.”

“I won’t regret having Olivia’s company, but I might regret going at all.”

“Why is that?”

“I’m so confused about what I should be doing. When I found out I was pregnant, everything I hoped I could do with my life came to a grinding halt. I agreed to tell Shane about the baby because I honestly thought he wouldn’t care. But he does care. At least I think he does. He says he does.”

“Do you like Shane?”

Annie took a long time to form her answer. “Maybe, but what’s the point?”

Marge tilted her head slightly. “What’s the point of exploring your feelings for the father of your child? I think that’s pretty obvious. The two of you have a lot to work out.”

“Marge, I’ve never had a relationship with any man that wasn’t based on alcohol, including the night I met Shane. By the time I was a junior in high school I was already keeping a bottle stashed under my bed so I had something to help get me started in the mornings. I don’t remember half the dates I went on because I got smashed as often and as fast as I could. Once my parents kicked me out, I lived with one guy after another. Some of them, I barely remember their names, but if they were buying me booze…I thought I loved them.”

“That isn’t your life now.”

“No. I’ve been sober for eighty-eight days, and in that time I haven’t so much as looked at another guy. I have no idea how to judge Shane’s sincerity or how to act around a man who doesn’t have a drink in his hand.”

“You told me that Shane wants you to keep the baby and he wants to be involved in the child’s life. Do you have a reason to doubt that he’s sincere?”

“No, but I can’t see what he has to gain by it.”

Shaking her head sadly, Marge said, “Not every man commits to a purpose because he has something to gain. Some men commit because it is the right thing to do.”

“None of the ones I know.”

“Then perhaps you should get to know Shane better. Find out if he is the kind of man you want your child to know.”

Sighing, Annie picked up her book and opened it. “Maybe I’m making a bigger deal out of this than I need to. He only asked me to come watch his unit perform. It’s not like he asked me to marry him or something.”

Why that comment had popped out of her mouth, Annie had no idea. She shot a startled glance at Marge in time to see her hide a smile behind her hand. Sitting up, Annie said, “That didn’t mean that I’ve been thinking about him as husband material.”

A quick grin curved Marge’s lips, but she pressed them into a firm line. “No, of course it doesn’t mean that.”

“It doesn’t!” Annie shot to her feet. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”

She stomped out the door, determined not to give Corporal Shane Ross another thought. Her determination lasted only as long as it took her to reach the backyard and look up into the cloudless blue sky.

Shane’s eyes were bright blue. What color eyes would the baby have? Annie hoped they would be brown. Otherwise, she would be reminded every day that her child was his child, too.

Shane pulled his saddle cinch tight and checked the grandstands again. The colorful crowd was growing by the minute as the time for his detachment’s demonstration neared. Twice he had seen women with long dark braids climbing the steps of the bleachers, but when they’d turned around to take their seats, neither of them had been the woman he was looking for. His faint hope that Annie would come today faded a little more.

“Do you see her?” Avery asked as he finished saddling his mount, Dakota.

Shane resumed checking Jasper’s tack. “No, but I’m not surprised. I didn’t really think she would show.”

Adjusting his flat-topped trooper’s hat, Avery said, “If she doesn’t, there are plenty of other women out there waiting to be impressed. I’m ready to shock and awe those two blond beauties at this end of the bleachers.”

Shaking his head, Shane said, “If you hit even one balloon with your sword, we’ll all be shocked.”

“Very funny. You know I’m better at sabers than you are.”

“I don’t know any such thing. You’ll be breaking your neck trying to see if the pretty girls are watching, and I’ll be cutting down targets. I think I’ll hit four for every one that you get.”

“Dream on!”

“We shall see.”

Smoothing the coat of his dark blue wool 1854-style cavalry uniform, Shane stepped into the stirrup and swung into the saddle. “The crowd is a lot bigger than I was expecting. It’s good to see so much support.”

Avery spent another few seconds making sure his saddle and girth were secure, then he mounted Dakota. Prancing in eagerness, Dakota sidestepped into Jasper and then let out a loud whinny.

Sudden static filled the air as the loudspeakers on the reviewing stand came on. Avery tapped Shane on the shoulder and pointed to a woman with short auburn hair climbing the steps to the platform. “Hey, it’s Sergeant Mandel.”

Shane reached over to pat Dakota’s neck. “You recognized her, didn’t you, fella?”

“Lindsey’s not a sergeant anymore,” Shane reminded his friend. “She left the service and works in public affairs now.”

“She’ll always be Sergeant Mandel to me.”

“Yeah, I miss her, too.”

Until recently, Lindsey had been a member of the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard, and her brother had once owned Dakota. Lindsey’s skills and her dedication to the unit and the Army were something rare. Even after leaving the service, she had found a way to promote public awareness of the many and varied jobs the Army performed.

Lindsey, dressed in a dark blue dress with a red-and-white scarf draped around her neck, leaned close to the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fort Riley’s Community Appreciation Day. I hope you’ve been enjoying the festivities so far. I understand the obstacle tent where you get to wear night-vision goggles has been a big hit with the kids.”

A dozen isolated shouts of agreement went up from the stands. She smiled in response. “If you were impressed with our latest gadgets, I’m sure you’ll be even more impressed with the demonstration you’re about to see here.”

Music poured out of the loudspeakers around the field, and the muted but stirring strains of the Battle Hymn of the Republic filled the air.

“Long before we had tanks, planes and Black Hawk helicopters, the U.S. Army relied on another method of moving troops quickly into battle. I’m talking about the horse. While mechanization has made the use of the horse obsolete on the battlefield, we here at Fort Riley have not forgotten the contributions the horse soldier has made to our history. Once called the Cradle of the Cavalry, Fort Riley housed the Cavalry Training School until the cavalry was disbanded in 1943.”

Captain Watson rode up beside the eight troopers waiting with their horses at one end of the parade ground. “Corporal, form up the detachment.”

“Yes, sir.” Saluting smartly, Shane called out the order and the men and horses moved into a column of two. Another soldier on the ground handed Shane the unit banner. When the colors were unfurled, he gripped the staff and awaited his orders.

“In 1992,” Lindsey continued, “the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard was reestablished to honor that long tradition. These men train from the same cavalry manual used to train soldiers during the Civil War. This unit serves as ambassadors for the Army, as well as a living history exhibition. It is arduous work, but the level of horsemanship these soldiers attain is nothing short of remarkable. Please give a round of applause to both the men and the horses of our own Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard.”