Part 12 (1/2)
He smiled at her. ”Thanks, but I'm not leaving for another few weeks.” He reached down and gently squeezed Haley's foot. ”Be good for your mommy, sweetheart. But I'm sure you are, aren't you? Aren't you? Yeah, I bet you are.” He looked up at Mary Lou. ”Need some help carrying that entire shelf of the library out to your car?”
She laughed. ”No. Thank you. I wouldn't dream of imposing.”
He gently shook Haley's foot, making her smile. ”Your mommy thinks that spending a little more time with two gorgeous women would impose on me. She's crazy, isn't she?”
Haley laughed out loud. Baby laughter was such a pure, clean sound. Even the grumpy librarian smiled.
And the man looked up at Mary Lou again. He was smiling, but she could see pain in his eyes. ”Your husband is a lucky guy. My wife filed for divorce and moved to New York, taking my two-year-old son with her.” He straightened up. ”I haven't seen him in three months and it's killing me. I used to put him to bed every night, tell him a story, take him to the park every Sunday afternoon after church ...” He shook his head. ”I even miss changing his diapers. Believe me when I say it's really no imposition if I help you carry a couple of books to your car.”
It was unreal. Who in their right mind would walk away from a man like this? An attentive, handsome man who obviously loved children? Whoever his ex-wife was, she was completely addled.
He was determined to help, scooping up her books before Mary Lou could take them herself.
”Thank you,” she said.
He followed her outside and over to her car. ”It's unlocked,” she told him, and he put the books on the floor of the front pa.s.senger's side while she strapped Haley into her car seat.
When she straightened up, he was attempting to fold her stroller. And getting it completely wrong.
”Sorry,” he said, with a laugh. ”The one we had was a different model.”
She closed it with a snap. ”It couldn't have been that different.”
”My wife was into things from Europe. If it didn't cost a thousand dollars, it wasn't good enough for Ethan. That's my son.”
”That's a nice name.” Mary Lou tossed the stroller into the trunk.
Because the trunk was brokena”anyone could open it by sticking their finger in the hole where the lock used to bea” she had to lean on the lid a certain way to get it to latch.
Lately it had been popping open by itself. She'd come out of work just this past week to find it not quite closed. It was annoying, but not worth the money to get it fixed.
She took out her keys and turned to the blond man. ”Well.”
”Well,” he said.
”Thank you.”
”You're welcome.” But still he didn't move.
She jingled her keys. ”I have a meeting to get to.”
”Ah,” he said. ”Of course. Okay. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. ... ?”
”Starrett,” she said. ”Mary Lou Starrett. And that's my Haley in the car.”
He held out his hand and she took it and they shook. He had hands that were a lot like Sam's. Long, masculine fingers, slightly work roughened, with a warm, firm grip.
”Bob Schwegel. Insurance sales.” If he'd been wearing a hat, he would have tipped it. ”Enjoy your evening, Mrs. Starrett. You've certainly brightened up mine.”
And with that he walked away, blond hair gleaming.
Mary Lou got into the car and looked at Haley in the rearview mirror. ”He wants to sell us life insurance, Hale,” she said, forcing herself to laugh because she would not cry in front of her baby girl. ”Suddenly it all makes sense, doesn't it?”
”We're calling it Operation Black Lagoon,” SEAL Team Sixteen's commanding officer, Tom Paoletti, told them from his perch on the desk at the front of the room. ”We're currently scheduled to go wheels up in about fourteen days.”
”Fourteen days? Four-f.u.c.king-teen days!”
”You got a problem with that, Mr. Collins?” Lt. Jazz Jacquette had been sitting next to the*CO, but when Joel Collins couldn't keep his mouth shut, he slid down off the desk.
Muldoon was leaning against the side wall with Wildcard Karmody and Sam Starrett.
Ensign Collinsa”also known as TNG, or the new guya” stood up, shoulders back, head high, looking for all the world like Davy to Jacquette's G.o.dzilla. ”Yes, sir, I do. And so does every other man in this room. We want to get back out there now, not in two weeks. Sir.”
”The new guy p.i.s.ses and moans more than you do,” Sam muttered to Wildcard in a voice meant to be overheard.
Everyone in the room laughed. Including the CO.
”I hear you, Mr. Collins,” Paoletti said. ”But we've got this little thing called a presidential citation to accepta”trust me, we can't just call up the White House and say, 'Sorry, Allen, we don't want your medal.'
”Now, with that said, you should know that we're doing the best we can to try to convince the visiting White House staffer that a presidential dog and pony show here on the base isn't a wise move right now, considering potential terrorist threats.” Paoletti looked at Muldoon. ”How's that going, Lieutenant?”
”I'll be having lunch with Joana”uh, Ms. DaCostaa” tomorrow. We'll be talking about that specifically.”
”Good work,” Sam murmured.
”Thanks,” Muldoon murmured back.
”Joan, huh?” Izzy speculated. ”I'd like to be a.s.signed to have lunch with someone named Joan. Although, waita”you say she's from the White House? I think I'll pa.s.s.”
”I've met her,” Cosmo spoke up. Cosmo, who never said a word in these briefings. ”She's all right. She looks you in the eye when she speaks to you.”
”Well, then she can't be from the White House,” Izzy countered.
”I've met her, too,” Jenk said. ”And I'm in love. Hey, Lieutenant, can I come to lunch with you?”
”Let's keep this on track,” Jacquette intoned. ”We've got a long night ahead of us. Sit down, Collins.”
Collins sat as Jacquette turned back to the commander.
”We're going out tonight to do the first in a series of night dives,” Paoletti told them. ”There's a certain cave in an as-yet-undisclosed location that's a big favorite of a high level al-Qaeda leader due to its proximity to an underground source of fresh water. A lot of fresh water. As in an entire lake's worth.
”We've found what we think is an access route into that cave, via that underground lake. At least one seven-man team is going to swim in and get a read on how many al-Qaeda fighters are inside this cave. If the numbers are small enough, they'll rise out of the lake like creatures from the Black Lagoona”hence the op's namea”and secure the cave from the inside out. If the numbers are too large, they'll stay invisible and plant explosives.”
”In addition to night dives, we're going to be spending a serious chunk of prep time over the next fourteen days spelunking,” Jacquette added.
”As well as practicing everyone's favorite: close quarters combat,” Paoletti said. ”Are there any questions?”