Headed for Trouble - By Suzanne Brockmann Page 0,64

his mouth.

This past month, particularly the week-plus that Jules had been in Afghanistan, had been very hard on Robin.

And Maggie, who loved her mom, would be facing similar fears and worries—for far longer than a month.

Taking the girl to California with them wouldn’t merely be a diversion. It also was, on Robin’s part, a conscious effort to grow Maggie’s support group. It would help her, immensely, to let her spend some significant time with Jane, whose Navy SEAL husband constantly went into dangerous hotspots. It would be priceless for the girl to meet the entire group of SEALs’ wives, who would share their methods for coping. Plus, Maggie would return to Boston with a whole long list of new friends to email and call—friends who knew exactly what she was going through while her mother finished up her current tour of duty.

In his head, Jules ran quickly down the list of SEAL wives who, along with Jane, lived out in California: Kelly, Meg, Teri, Savannah. Joan came and went, and would probably make a point to show if a gathering was planned. They were all intelligent, funny, compassionate, strong, determined women—great role models for a teenaged girl. Better yet, they would see a bit of themselves in Maggie and be proactive in maintaining contact by reaching out to her and making sure she knew that she wasn’t alone.

It was a brilliant idea—thoughtful and generous and kind.

And Robin was sitting there with trepidation in his eyes, at the idea of asking Jules to sacrifice his hard-earned vacation days. Forget about the fact that Robin was willing to donate some of his own rare days off, as well.

“I love you,” Jules told Robin. “Madly. Let’s plan this thing.”

Robin smiled his delight back at Jules, but then asked, “Are you sure, babe? Somehow we always seem to spend our vacations doing what I want to do.” He corrected himself. “I mean, sure, we do little things that you want, like right now, like go for a run, but—”

“Wait a minute,” Jules interrupted. “You don’t want to go for a run? I thought you wanted to go for a run.”

“No, we’re definitely going for a run because you want to go for a …” Robin’s voice trailed off. His eyebrows went up as he realized … “Whoa, really?” He laughed then added, “What part of Hey, babe, let’s stay in bed a little longer so I can rock your world did you think I wouldn’t want to hear?”

Jules laughed, too. “I don’t know. You got up. I thought—”

“I had to pee. I come back, you’re already getting dressed. I figured, okay, I’d have to wait until after lunch, at which point, by the way, I was very definitely planning to talk you into taking a nap.” As Robin spoke he kicked off his sneakers and pulled off his T-shirt and … Yup, his shorts went, too.

“Let’s run later,” Robin added as he grabbed Jules and pulled him back with him into their bed.

“You’re full of good ideas today,” Jules pointed out after Robin kissed him quite thoroughly.

And then they both stopped talking as Jules got to do exactly what he wanted to do on this, his vacation day.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lunch was lovely.

The Baldwin’s Bridge hotel had outdoor dining on their patio, and Arlene’s view of the ocean was spectacular. Especially since it included Jack Lloyd sitting across the table from her. She’d always found him to be extremely easy on the eyes.

He looked up, smiling his thanks as the waiter delivered their check, and she used the opportunity to study him as he read the bill.

His pretty brown hair moved in the warm breeze, and his eyes were more green than golden brown today, matching the faded sage color of his nicely fitted T-shirt.

He’d delivered exactly what he’d promised—conversation that was carefully minefield-free. They’d bounced from a variety of lighthearted topics—including the plan she and Maggie had made over breakfast, to throw a Friday night party at the local laser tag amusement center. The idea being for Arlene to meet Maggie’s friends in a low-stress, high-fun social situation. And since Will’s apartment was too small for a party of any size …

Jack agreed that it was a good idea and a good location, and then suggested that the party was the perfect time and place for him and Will to have a few private words with Mike-the-high-school-junior.

The conversation had moved, then, to other subjects, skimming across them with lightning speed before landing, with both feet,