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Soldier Daddy
Cheryl Wyatt
U.S. Air Force commander Aaron Petrowski leads pararescue teams, yet can't find one nanny for his three-year-old twins? The widowed father is returning to duty, but not without the best care for his beloved boys. So when Sarah Graham applies, the young woman surprises everyone by passing inspection. Until Aaron discovers Sarah has a secret tied to a tragedy in his past.He can't keep her in his employ–or in his heart. Until his brave little soldier boys teach him a thing or two about love.
There was something refreshing and attractive about a courageous woman.
One who said how she felt and what she thought, and didn’t waver on what she wanted. Or feel the need to hide the fact from others.
And just as soon as his mouth caught up to his brain and figured out how to speak again, he’d tell Sarah so.
Aaron issued himself a mental reprimand while crunching across the loose gravel in his driveway. When she’d said she hoped he’d call, his mind took it the wrong way. Clearly, she wanted to be a nanny to his boys. And clearly her statement had nothing to do with her hoping on a personal level that he’d be in touch.
Right?
At his SUV, he turned to wave to her and caught the bolts of attraction flashing back and forth between them. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t imagined it. Maybe this connection did run both ways…
CHERYL WYATT
An RN turned stay-at-home-mom and wife, Cheryl delights in the stolen moments God gives her to write action and faith-driven romance. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. She’s convinced that having been born on a naval base on Valentine’s Day destined her to write military romance. A native of San Diego, California, Cheryl currently resides in beautiful, rustic Southern Illinois, but has also enjoyed living in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Cheryl loves hearing from readers. You are invited to contact her at Cheryl@CherylWyatt.com or P.O. Box 2955, Carbondale, IL 62902–2955. Visit her on the Web at www.CherylWyatt.com and sign up for her newsletter if you’d like updates on new releases, events and other fun stuff. Hang out with her in the blogosphere at www.Scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com or on the message boards at www.SteepleHill.com.
Soldier Daddy
Cheryl Wyatt
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
—Romans 5:5
I would like to dedicate this book to my newsletter “name a character contest” winners and to my many research helpers for this book. Enormous thanks to:
Teresa Eaves, who won the opportunity to name one of the twins. “Bryce” so well suits this little shy guy. Congrats!
Congrats to Janna Ryan who won the opportunity to help name the heroine of this book. “Sarah” totally fit!
Marcie Sheumaker, for help with all things nanny-related. Your friendship is a tremendous blessing.
Huge thanks to E. Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, Founder and CEO, The Options News Network, www.ONN.tv, who flew military combat missions for fifteen years. Thank you, “Whiz,” for your outstanding service to our country. “Check6!”
Big Boo-ya! to Kelly Mortimer for connecting me with this research contact. You have a heart of gold, girl! You always fly above and beyond the call of duty.
To Patti Jo Moore (my squirrel-loving buddy!) and her nephew, Cpt. Steven B. Skipper—USAF. What an amazing and honorable job you have keeping our leaders safe.
To Kathy Kovack and her military family members for helping with AF lingo for every generation of servicemen. God bless your hubby and sons for serving! To Shannon McNear and Debbie Lynne Costello and their AF hubbies, Donna Moore and her AF dad, Tina E. Pinson, Carol Umberger and all other www.acfw.com members I may have missed who assisted with research. You all are the best!
Any remaining errors are my own.
Thanks to the Reynolds family for prompting the idea of an imaginary gaggle of geese. Only your house was stricken with an imaginary flock of unruly crows! Grin.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Questions for Discussion
Chapter One
“Ooh, Aaron, she’s so young! And pretty!” Mina Garcia, housekeeper and longtime family friend of U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Aaron Petrowski, clapped her dark hands together. She peeked out the Petrowski home window as the nanny applicant exited her car. The very young and vivacious applicant, very unlike the empty-nested grandmotherly types who’d interviewed so far.
Mina clutched Aaron’s sleeve and continued to emit strange little squeaks as the trim-but-not-too-thin blonde crunched across a calico pattern of fallen leaves carpeting the yard he really should have raked. “Aaron Michael! Shame on you for not telling me how glaringly gorgeous she is!”
Glaringly gorgeous? That hadn’t even entered his mind yesterday at the agency. What had attracted him were Sarah’s on-paper credentials and her enthusiasm and gratitude over being chosen as a candidate for the job.
Trek paused, Sarah bent to pull a punctured leaf from her conservative but classy spiked heel. When she stood and eyed the house, catching a glimpse of them watching from the window, her excited wave and ready smile rivaled September’s sun. Glaringly gorgeous?
Yeah, now that Mina mentioned it…
Aaron eyed Mina cautiously. “You haven’t acted this excited about any of the other applicants, Mina. Please tell me you’re not trying to find us something more permanent than a nanny?”
“What? Me?” Mischief twinkled from wise Hispanic eyes as she waltzed to the door with an agility and ease that told him she might have been exaggerating her “aches and pains” of late.
Though his boys could benefit from another mother, the last thing Aaron needed was another wife. The current state of his career wasn’t conducive to relationships.
So why then did his heart suddenly start skipping beats as he stretched to peer around his housekeeper for a glimpse of Miss Sarah Graham, the woman he’d met at the agency yesterday?
“Hi! Hi! Come on in!” Mina grabbed Sarah’s arm and pulled her inside, nearly robbing the young lady of her balance. Mina’s exuberance left petite Sarah looking vaguely shell-shocked.
Mina suddenly possessed the lightness of a butterfly and the speed of a cheetah. Never before had she hugged any of the other applicants. All of them she’d eyed, hawklike, and interrogated, then shooed from his home in sputters of disgust.
Onto Mina’s game, Aaron couldn’t help it. He chuckled.
Sarah stepped farther inside and lifted her head at the sound. Their gazes locked for a very electric second.
A creamy glow graced her face. Layered light blond hair with trendy dark streaks fell in luxurious locks around her shoulders with every graceful movement. Wow. Beautiful indeed. Though dressed more executively today, she still looked way younger than most other applicants.
And…he should not be noticing that. At forty, he had to be at least ten years her senior. More like fifteen.
The draw of Sarah’s lovely smile as she stuck out her hand to shake his made him forget what he was about to say. “Mr. Petrowski. Nice to see you again. This is Mina, I take it?” Sarah’s expression went from nervous to warm when Mina vigorously shook her hand. Sarah eyed her curiously, then shifted to face him.
He cleared his throat. “Please, do come in.” Major Duh, Sergeant Goof. She was already in. “Farther in, rather.” He scratched his eyebrow and straightened his mouth to keep from laughing at himself.
Sarah started to shrug out of her jacket. She paused as her head tilted up to peer around at the jewel-toned foyer as though looking for someone. The twins, maybe?
He smiled. She’d meet the two of them in all the glory of their nearly four-year-old furor soon enough.
Mina tugged at the young woman’s sleeve, helping the extraction along. “Si, take off this coat and stay a while.”
A lo-ong while, Aaron thought, then refined his smile. He didn’t need another pretty ornament around the house. He needed someone who could handle his children in their unruly moments. To safely care for them with compassion, and dare he say, love?
Aaron stuck out his hand, engulfing Sarah’s in it. “Pleasure to see you again, Miss Graham…Sarah,” he corrected and closed the door.
“You, too.” She shifted a scuffed brown-leather backpack purse farther onto her slim shoulder. The worn item seemed out of place with her crisp, modern grayish-pink business suit and dressy heels.
His breath hitched at the stark blue of her eyes. He hadn’t noticed that yesterday. “The boys are with friends until we get more acquainted, since yesterday was rushed. You can meet them another day if we move forward.”
She clasped delicate hands together, but not in an obnoxious sense. “I can’t wait.” Sincere glee on her face proved it so.
She tucked strands of stylish hair behind her ear and peered around the large, open rooms. And at the toys his sister Ashleigh overdosed the boys with. And at the groceries and laundry strewn about.
Mina rushed forward. “You won’t have to keep it clean. All he needs is someone to watch the children.”
“Mina takes care of cooking and housework,” Aaron agreed.
Sarah made a pleasant sound. Half laughter, half sigh of relief. “That’s good to know. Though I’ve no trouble with housework, I’m not that great a cook. While I’m not above trying to learn, I’m afraid there would be many kitchen disasters before I mastered more than TV dinners and microwave meals.”
“I’m fond of the microwave myself. Although I can grill a mean steak.”
Now why had he said that? Maybe she was a vegan and he’d just offended her.
Then again, according to her dawning grin, maybe not.
“I love steak. Especially from the grill, juicy and marbled. With sea-salt baked potatoes and sweet corn on the cob dripping with hot butter. And pumpkin pie so smothered in whipped cream that you can’t see the golden filling. It’s my favorite meal.” Because she was not much over five feet tall and he was well over six, she seemed to have to strain her neck to maintain eye contact.
He motioned to a chair in the family room. “Have a seat, Sarah.”
She nodded and followed Mina into the room. The way Sarah’s hands rubbed together, she was no doubt chattering out of nervousness. Her stomach growled audibly. She placed a hand against it.
He lifted his gaze from her trim middle. “Hungry?”
“I was so nervous this morning I didn’t eat breakfast. And I never skip meals.”
“Nervous?”
“Absolutely. This job means so much to me. I—I mean, should I end up being chosen.” Rocking back, she bit her bottom lip and darted her gaze to the gleaming white marble tile.
He smiled inside. Loved that her guard slipped enough to let him glimpse some carefree as well as vulnerable parts of her.
“I’m going to my office while you two get acquainted,” Aaron said to Mina and Sarah. Trying not to snicker, he retreated to his study, which also boasted a gym. Tried unsuccessfully not to feel like a total fiend for throwing Sarah to his Doberman of a housekeeper.
No nanny had passed the Mina test yet. Would Sarah?
A half-hour later, it became apparent by laughter and friendly chattering that the two were actually getting along and that there would be no bloodshed, death by spatula or shooing of the new nanny from his home today.
The new nanny. Strange that his mind would go there already. But it was true. Deep within, he felt a solid instinct that firmly stated Sarah could be it for his family.
Aaron rejoined the women. Mina rose. “I’ll take care of refreshments if you’d like to show her around,” she said as she passed by and breezed from the room.
Aaron approached Sarah. “Would you like to see the boys’ play area and where you’d sleep if things go through?”
Her smile intensified. So did his pulse.
She rose.
“Follow me. Mina’s making tea.” And probably leaving them alone to get more acquainted in ways that had no business in Aaron’s brain. Aaron led Sarah through the great room. He stopped at the wood banister. “You could choose any room other than, obviously, those occupied by myself and the boys.”
“What about Mina?”
“She sleeps downstairs in one of the guest rooms off the kitchen. She has weak knees and trouble with stairs.”
He watched her while she eyed the winding staircase. “This woodwork is absolutely gorgeous.”
This girl is absolutely gorgeous.
