Navy Husband

Once Ali’s reserve was down, not a night passed without Jazmine’s asking about Peter. As a young child, her daughter had loved bedtime stories and listening to Ali read. At nine she suddenly wanted her mother to put her to bed again. It was so out of character for her gutsy, sassy daughter that it’d taken Ali a couple of nights to figure out what Jazmine really wanted, and that was to talk about her father.

In retrospect Ali recognized that those months of closeness had helped prepare Jazmine for this long separation. Ali didn’t think she could have left her with Shana otherwise.

Shana. An involuntary smile flashed across her face as she leaned back in the desk chair. These next six months would either make or break her strong-willed younger sister. She’d taken on a lot all at once. Buying this restaurant on impulse was so unlike her. Shana preferred to have things planned out, down to the smallest detail. Not only that, this new venture was a real switch for her after her sales position.

If there was anything to be grateful for in Shana’s sudden move to Seattle, it was the fact that Brad Moore was out of her life. Ali had only met him once, during a brief visit home, but he’d struck her as sleazy, and she hadn’t been surprised to hear about his duplicity. Ali wondered how he’d managed to deceive her sister all this time, but whatever charms he possessed had worked about four and a half years longer than they should have. She supposed that, like most people, Shana had only seen what she’d wanted to see.

Before she returned to San Diego, Ali and Shana were able to spend a few hours together. Jazmine was asleep and the two sisters sat on the bed in Shana’s room talking.

She’d seen how hurt Shana was by Brad’s unfaithfulness. In an effort to comfort her sister, Ali had suggested Shana try to meet someone else as quickly as possible.

Her sister hadn’t taken kindly to the suggestion. In fact, she hadn’t been shy about sharing her feelings with regard to the male of the species. Shana claimed she was finished with men.

“You’re overreacting,” Ali had told her.

“And you’re being ridiculous.” Sitting with her knees drawn, Shana shook her head. “The absolute last thing I want to do now is get involved again. I was ‘involved’ for the last five years and all I got out of that relationship, besides a lot of pain, is two crystal champagne glasses Brad bought me. He said we’d use them at our wedding.” Not that he’d actually given her an engagement ring or set the date. “Those glasses are still in the box. If he’d thought of it, he probably would’ve asked for them back.”

“You feel that way about men now, but you won’t always.”

Shana frowned. “You’re one to talk. I don’t see you looking for a new relationship.”

“Okay, fine, neither of us is interested in men.”

“Permanently,” Shana insisted.

Ali had laughed then and said, “Speak for yourself.”

Funny, as she reviewed that conversation, Commander Dillon came to mind. It was unlikely that she’d see him on a regular basis; with a crew of five thousand on this ship, their paths wouldn’t cross often. Ali wasn’t entirely sure why, but she felt that was probably a good thing.

Chapter Five

The next few days were intense for Shana. She insisted on driving Jazmine to school, and every morning she joined the long line of parents dropping off their kids at the grade school. If Jazmine appreciated her efforts to build a rapport between them, she gave no indication of it. The most animation she’d witnessed in the girl had been after Monday’s lengthy telephone conversation with her uncle Adam.

Shana, her aunt, a blood relative, was simply Shana, but Adam Kennedy, family friend, was Uncle Adam. The uncle part was uttered with near-reverence.

Okay, so she was jealous. Shana admitted it. While she struggled to gain ground with her niece, Jazmine droned on about this interloper.

Tuesday afternoon, the school bus again let Jazmine off in front of the ice-cream parlor. Her niece had dragged herself into the shop, as though it demanded all her energy just to open the door. Then she’d slipped onto one of the barstools and lain her head on her folded arms.

Wednesday afternoon, Shana watched the school bus approach and the doors glide open. Sure enough, Jazmine was there, but this time she leaped off the bus and hurried toward the restaurant.

Shana stopped and stared. No, it couldn’t be. But it was. Jazmine had her backpack. From the size and apparent weight of it, nothing seemed to be missing, either.

The instant Jazmine stepped inside, Shana blurted out, “You’ve got your backpack.” It probably would’ve been better to keep her mouth shut and let Jazmine tell her, but she’d been too shocked.

“I know.” Jazmine dumped her backpack on the floor and hopped onto the barstool with a Bugs Bunny bounce, planting her elbows on the counter. “Can I have some ice cream?”

Taken aback, Shana blinked. “Who are you and what have you done with my niece?”

“Very funny.”

Shana laughed and reached for the ice-cream scoop. “Cone or dish?”

“Dish. Make it two scoops. Bubblegum and strawberry.” She paused, her face momentarily serious. “Oh—and thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Bending over the freezer, Shana rolled the hard ice cream into a generous ball. “Well,” she said when she couldn’t stand it any longer. “The least you can do is tell me what happened.”

“With what?” Jazmine asked, then giggled like the nine-year-old she was. “I don’t know if you noticed or not, but I was pretty upset Monday afternoon.”

“Really,” Shana said, playing dumb.

“Two girls cornered me in the playground. One of them distracted me, and the other ran off with my backpack.”

Shana clenched her jaw, trying to hide her anger. As Jazmine’s legal guardian, she wanted these girls’ names and addresses. She’d personally see to it that they were marched into the principal’s office and reprimanded. On second thought, their parents should be summoned to the school for a confrontation with the authorities. Perhaps it would be best to bring in the police, as well.

“How’d you get it back?” Shana had given up scooping ice cream.

Looking more than a little pleased with herself, Jazmine straightened her shoulders and grinned. “Uncle Adam told me I should talk to them.”

Wasn’t that brilliant. Had she been asked, Shana would’ve told Jazmine the same thing.

“He said I should tell them it was really unfortunate, but it didn’t seem like we could be friends and I was hoping to get to know them.” This was uttered in the softest, sweetest tones Shana had ever heard from the girl.

“They fell for it?”

Jazmine’s eyes widened. “I meant it. At first I thought they were losers but they’re actually pretty cool. I think they just wanted to see what I carried around with me.”

Frankly Shana was curious herself.

“Once they looked inside, they were willing to give it back.”

“You’re not missing anything?”

Jazmine shook her head.

“Great.” Muttering under her breath, Shana dipped the scoop into the blue bubblegum-flavored ice cream. The bell above the door rang, but intent on her task, Shana didn’t raise her head.

“I’ll have some of that myself,” a male voice said.

“Uncle Adam!” Jazmine shrieked. Her niece whirled around so fast she nearly fell off the stool.

Hearing his name was all the incentive Shana needed to glance up. She did just in time to watch Jazmine throw her arms around a man dressed casually in slacks and a shirt. From the top of his military haircut to the bottom of his feet, this man was Navy, with or without his uniform. His arm was in a sling and he grimaced when Jazmine grabbed hold of him but didn’t discourage her hug. From the near-hysterical happiness the girl displayed, a passing stranger might think Shana had been holding Jazmine hostage.

“You must be Ali’s sister,” he said, smiling broadly at Shana.

She forced a smile in return. She’d been prepared to dislike him on sight. In fact, she’d never even met him and was already jealous of the relationship he had with Jazmine. Now he was standing right in front of her—and she found her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. He seemed to be waiting for her to reply.

“Yes, hi,” she said and dropped the metal scoop into the water container, sloshing liquid over the edges. Wiping her wet hand on her white apron, she managed another slight smile. “Yes, I’m Ali’s sister.”