Page 3 of SEAL’S Baby Surprise (Lanes #2)

LEE

The front seat of Austin’s van is surprisingly comfortable. It reclines back into a sort of niche, and there is a footrest that folds out, so it makes a complete, narrow bed. There is a little curtain you can pull across to separate it from the driver’s seat.

Controls on the dash show that you could heat it, or even set it to vibrate. Those features are pretty standard in most cars, but it is interesting in a seat that folds into a bed.

I guess the vibrating is new too.

I want to try that out, but I figure that would be somewhat inappropriate.

Austin leaves the curtain open, and Ark flops down beside me. I’m not sure if he is intended to guard the van or me, but I don’t care. I like big dogs, and I don’t plan to rip off anything from Austin.

I close my eyes and am just starting to drift off when I hear Austin leave. So trusting, and so kind. Or naive.

I mean either way he’s right. I’m not going to steal his van or his dog, or even his super soft and comfy clothes. He was right about the shower, right about the food, and he’s definitely right about this.

Someone else might consider stealing it, sure.

Not me.

The thing is, I feel safe. Really, truly, safe like I haven’t felt in ages. Which is an odd thing, tucked into a foldout bed in a van on the beach. You would think it would be scary, but it’s not.

It’s way better than the situation I was in previously, that’s for sure.

I must have made a sound, because Ark sticks his nose in my ear. I pet him, and he settles down beside me again. Sleep catches up with me then, on that narrow bed, with my fingers tangled in Ark’s thick fur.

I dream. It’s one of those crazy-ass lucid dreams, the kind where you know you are asleep, but it seems so intensely real.

Part of this had been kind of real, I guess.

I’m in a room, being fitted for my wedding dress. My friend, Rosalee, is going over a catalog of flowers and bouquet holders, trying to get me to pick one.

I don’t like any of them. They are all too stiff, too formal. There’s not a speck of real emotion in a single one of them.

Just like there’s no emotion and no love in the wedding dress. There’s no love in the whole thing, only... business. My brother is paying for it.

He doesn’t know that this is a loveless, sham of a marriage. He’s so happy with his family, that he doesn’t suspect that I’ve drifted into a mess.

Suddenly, an evil face looms in front of me. It has a wicked grin, just like the Joker in old Batman comic books — the ones where he looks like a leering clown. “You look so good; I could just gobble you up!” the face said. And it opened its mouth wide and lolled out its ugly red tongue.

I try to shrink into the dress. But there isn’t enough of it to hide me. A door closes, and the face is gone.

Rosalee has left the room. There is a pair of sewing scissors on a table. The seamstress has also gone on some errand.

I hop off the fitting stool, grab up the scissors and cut away the bottom half of the skirt. Then I tiptoe out the sliding glass doors at one side of the room, and I run and run, until I get to the ocean.

The ocean opens her arms wide and enfolds me in her arms. I am warm. I am loved. I am free. The ocean will keep me safe, and no one can make me go back, no matter how many prenuptial agreements I have signed.

Then, I am rocked in the ocean, and I am safe. A big seal whuffles a sigh, and I know that he loves me with loyal and unconditional love. He swims beside me. The ocean washes over me, and I am happy.

I awake to the aroma of hamburgers and fries. I blink, the van around me slowly coming in to focus.

I’m safe.

I’m in Austin’s van.

I think I’ve probably been asleep for a while. The light has shifted, and even though I just ate a delicious breakfast just a couple of minutes ago, my stomach rumbles.

Ark isn’t beside me any longer, so Austin must be home. I hear a child’s small voice say, “Is she a princess? Will you marry her and make her my new mommy?”

“Not a princess, Judy-Rudy,” Austin says. “Just a lady down on her luck and in need of a place to stay while she figures things out.”

“Oh. What kind of things, Daddy?”

“I don’t know,” Austin replies. “That isn’t really my business. I found her on the beach and brought her home so she could be safe while she thinks things through. If she wants us to know, she’ll tell us.”

Wow. I mean, just wow. Is this guy some sort of saint?

Ugh.

Maybe he’s not a saint, but he thinks he is one. Oh, I know the type well. When I go out there, he’s going to start preaching some kind of redemption talk at me.

Like, Jesus will save you from all your troubles. Or follow the teachings of the Dalai Lama, and be full of peace, love and harmony.

I sit up and place my bare feet on the floor. It has carpet, the cheap kind that’s easy to clean. There’s a pine air freshener swinging from the rear-view mirror.

The air is cool and comfortable. An air conditioner whispers somewhere. In a van? Really? How can you have AC in a van when the motor isn’t running? How wild is that?

I go around the partition that makes the little niche thingie. There’s a ladder down the back of it, and it’s across from the itty-bitty shower I used earlier. Next to that is a small sink, and beside it is a tiny stove with a cooktop and oven.

Across the van from that is a curtain made out of plastic strips, like you sometimes see in department stores. That must be what is keeping the cold air inside the van.

There’s a brocade curtain across the back of the van. When I turn and look up the ladder, there’s a tiny loft at the top of the ladder. A rag doll is falling half out of the loft. That must be the little girl’s bedroom.

I can see shadowy shapes through the plastic curtain. I push it aside and look out. Austin is at the grill, cooking hamburgers and frying potatoes.

The cutest little girl I’ve ever seen is sitting in a child-sized camp chair. Her short blond hair is a mass of curls all over her head. She has bright, blue eyes which seem amazingly light in her tanned face.

When she grins at something her father says, she has the most adorable gap-toothed smile I’ve ever seen. She looks a lot like Austin, if you pared him down and changed genders.

I mean, I suppose she would, if this was his kid. They have the same hair color. His blond hair, however, is buzzed short on the sides and allowed to grow long on top and down the back, giving him the effect of having a battle crest on his head.

The top part of it is caught back with a hair-tie to keep it smooth, but where it cascades down his back it is a riot of curls.

He’s wearing a navy-blue sleeveless t-shirt that shows off his biceps, and broad shoulders. His narrow hips are encased in a baggy pair of Hawaiian print shorts, while his feet are thrust into a pair of sandals that look like honest-to-Kalso genuine earth shoes!

That negative heel is so hard to find, and interesting to get used to wearing, but so healthy.

“Daddy!” the little girl shouts. “She’s awake!”

“So she is,” Austin says. “I think Introductions are in order. Lee, this is my daughter, Julia. Judy-rudy, this is my ocean foundling, named Lee.”

Julia stands up, comes over, and holds out her hand to shake, “Pleased to meet you, Lee.”

“Likewise, I’m sure,” I say automatically giving a relaxed, southern lady handshake.

“Did you get washed up out of the ocean?” Julia asks, practically quivering with excitement.

I shake my head. “No. I was unhappy, and I had walked a long way. The sand was warm, and I thought maybe the tide would wash me away.”

“That’s silly,” Julia says. “If it did that, you would drown. I almost drowned once. It wasn’t very much fun. I got water up my nose and in my eyes. But Daddy saved me before I could drown all the way.”

“Were you learning to swim?” I ask, glad to take the attention away from things I really don’t want to think about.

Julia shakes her curly head. “Nope. We were looking for beach glass, and I found a spot with lots of pretty bits. But a big wave came along and grabbed me. Your daddy saw and got me before the ocean could.”

“And that,” Austin says, “Is why no one should walk along the beach alone, especially if you are not a strong swimmer. How do you feel about hamburgers, Lee?”

“I would love one,” I reply. The aroma from the grill is making my tummy rumble, a reminder that the lovely breakfast Austin had cooked must have been hours ago.

With a few deft movements, Austin plates a hamburger on a bun with a pile of home fries. “Condiments on the usual table,” he said. “I picked up a chair for you, and a pair of flip-flops. They aren’t fancy, but they will protect the soles of your feet.”

“Over here, by me!” Julia crows. “I picked out the flops. I hope you like pink.”

“I love pink,” I reply. “It is my favorite color.”

“Mine, too,” Julia says, holding out her hands as her father hands her a plate with a smaller burger and smaller mound of fries.

“Remember,” Austin says, “You need to eat the burger, not just the fries. If the bun is too much, then you can take the meat out of it.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Julia replies, promptly fishing the patty out from between the buns. I wonder why he hasn’t just given it to her naked, since he clearly knows she isn’t going to eat the bread.

Austin brings over his own plate, and we sit in a sort of circle in the gathering dusk, and eat hamburgers and home fries, just as if we’ve known each other forever.

There are cups filled with ice, and our pick of root beer, coke, or sprite in two-liter bottles. It’s a weird feeling to be so free and easy with strangers, but I think I like it.

Ark-Ark comes bounding up from somewhere and receives a plate with a hamburger and a patty of something that looks sort of like a rice cereal. He wolfs it down, then flops in the sand.

“Tell us the story of Ark-Ark,” Julia begs.

“You’ve heard it before,” Austin says.

“But Lee hasn’t heard it,” Julia protests. “You would like to hear the story, wouldn’t you, Lee?”

“Of course, I would,” I agree.

Austin tips back in his chair, takes a big bite of hamburger and chews thoughtfully. Then he says, “Well, you see it was like this . . .”