The Soldier's Legacy

“Mr. Trevor is fine with me.” He set his crutches aside, slipped out of his sandals, and lowered himself carefully to the side of the pool, letting his feet dangle into the water. Smiling at Jade, he added, “I’m sure Mary Pat has told you we’re very informal here.”

Caleb swam up to paddle nearby, peering at Trevor’s legs as if assessing the damage to them. Jade knew that without his glasses, Caleb’s vision was somewhat fuzzy, but he was only mildly nearsighted, fortunately.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Trevor?” he asked with the careful manners Jade had tried to instill in him.

“I’m better, thank you, Caleb. How’s the water?”

“It’s a great pool,” the boy answered enthusiastically. “I like the slide. And the waterfall.”

“Did you check out the grotto behind the waterfall?”

Momentary silence followed Trevor’s question. And then Caleb asked, “There’s a grotto?”

“What’s a grotto?” Erin demanded.

“It’s like a cave, right, Mr. Trevor?”

Trevor chuckled. “That’s right, Caleb. And having watched you two swim, I’m sure you can find it, if your mom says it’s okay.”

He glanced at Jade then to add, “It’s safe as long as we’re here to watch them.”

She gave a nod to Caleb, who started swimming toward the waterfall with Erin right behind him. During their one previous swim, they’d been too entertained by the slide and the diving board to pay more than cursory attention to the waterfall itself. Now Jade watched as they peered behind the falling water and grinned in delight at what they discovered.

“Can we go in, Mr. Trevor?” Caleb called out.

“Of course.”

Seeing them disappear through the fall, Jade looked up at Trevor with a lifted eyebrow.

“It’s a small cave room,” he explained. “There’s a curved rock bench and colored lights embedded in the walls. Mary Pat turned those on when the swimming started. You can swim in, hoist yourself onto the bench and relax while you watch the waterfall in front of you.”

“Sounds lovely. Did you design it?”

“With help from a pool architect,” he admitted.

Tilting her wet head, she asked, “And how many times have you been in there just to relax?”

He cleared his throat. “A couple, maybe.”

“That’s what I thought.” Everything she’d heard about Trevor from his family and his housekeeper—not to mention her own observations during the past few days—led her to believe he was quite the workaholic. His idea of relaxing with strenuous sports was significantly different from her own more languid pursuits. She shook her head, her wet hair tickling the back of her neck with the movement. “How’s your leg?”

“It really does feel better. Ice and anti-inflammatories have been helpful. Thought I’d get some water exercise while everyone else is out here.”

“Swimming is an excellent way to keep you active while you recover,” she agreed, sliding automatically into nurse mode. “The water helps support your weight so you don’t stress your knee. Just be careful not to twist it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His tone was good-naturedly teasing, his mood obviously much improved. “I won’t do any flip turns off the ends of the pool.”

“Wise decision.”

They shared a laugh as Trevor gave a light kick to ripple the water around her. Smiling up at him, she resisted the impulse to splash him back, though his grin let her know he was aware of her temptation.

“Do you want a lemonade, Mr. Trevor?” Bella asked, interrupting the cozy exchange as she approached with a glass she carried carefully in both hands for him.

Drawing his gaze from Jade, he turned to accept the glass with thanks, probably more to be nice to Bella than because he wanted the lemonade. And then he patted the tile beside him as he smiled up at the child. “Want to sit here beside me and put your feet in the water?”

Bella backed a half step away. “I don’t like to swim.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you put your whole body in,” he countered. “Just your feet. Like this.”

Holding his injured right leg still, he kicked lightly with his left foot, making the water splash. “Feels good.”

He took a sip of his drink then, looking unconcerned about whether Bella chose to accept his invitation. Seemingly emboldened by the lack of pressure, the child settled cautiously at his left side and let her feet dangle into the water. Trevor kicked up another spray, making her giggle softly and imitate him. He kicked again, and some of the water splashed on Jade this time, which led to both Trevor and Bella kicking more enthusiastically to make sure they showered her.

Laughing, she swung a hand to splatter them back, making sure most of the spray hit Trevor. Bella blinked, as if trying to decide whether to protest, then grinned and kicked more vigorously with Trevor’s encouragement. Jade noted in satisfaction that Bella seemed hardly aware that she was getting liberally splashed now. In fact, the child squealed in delight.

“Mom, you should come see this. It’s so cool!”

Looking around in response to the hail, Jade saw Erin sticking her head out from behind the waterfall. “On my way,” she called back. “Bella, do you want to go with me to see the grotto? We can put your floaties on, if you want, so you won’t go under the water.”

Bella looked tempted for a moment as she gazed toward the waterfall, but then she shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“How about if your mom and I both take you?” Trevor suggested. “Between the two of us, you’d barely be in the water. The grotto’s worth the trip, I promise. One of my young visitors told me it was like a fairy cave.”

Bella’s lower lip quivered. She wanted to see the cave, Jade interpreted, but was afraid.

Trevor slid into the pool and held out his arms to the child. “C’mon, Little Bit. Anyone who can do three cartwheels surely isn’t afraid of a little water.”

Bella scooted back rapidly, looking very close to tears now. “No. I don’t want to.”

“It’s okay, Bella, you don’t have to this time,” Jade said quickly. She needed to make it clear to Trevor that she didn’t want Bella pressured or embarrassed by her fear. “Maybe another day before we move into our house. But only if you want to.”

Catching on quickly, Trevor smiled at the child, though Jade wondered if she detected just a touch of disapproval in his expression. Did he think she should have pushed the child harder to overcome her fear—or was Jade merely being overly defensive? Either way, decisions like that were hers to make, she told herself firmly. She’d been doing just fine on her own, and she needed no advice from an overconfident bachelor.

“It’s fine, kiddo,” Trevor said, and there were no such thoughts mirrored in his tone. “Maybe you’d like to play in that patch of grass over there? You can practice your cartwheels or look for ladybugs.”

Looking relieved, Bella jumped to her feet and rushed away from the pool.

Jade had probably overreacted to the very brief exchange. Was she a little worried that Bella seemed so enamored with Trevor? She didn’t think that was an unfounded concern. Bella had recently seemed very aware of the lack of a father in her life, maybe from observations of friends who lived with two parents. Jade didn’t want her most emotionally vulnerable child to weave unrealistic fantasies that would only leave her disappointed.

Trevor looked at Jade, his expression somber. “She’s really afraid of the water, huh?”

Trying to put her possibly overblown misgivings from her mind, Jade nodded. “She is. I considered enrolling her in swim classes, thinking it might help, but the very suggestion upset her so much I didn’t have the heart to make her go. I thought maybe I’d try again next summer.”

“Your other two certainly aren’t afraid,” he observed, watching Caleb and Erin frolicking in the waterfall. “They swim like dolphins.”

“Yes, well, that’s because their father had them in the water as soon as they could walk.” Jade pushed a drying strand of hair from her eyes and glanced around at the kids. “Both of them could swim well before they were Bella’s age. She wasn’t quite a year old when he died, so he never got to spend time with her. I guess I fell down on the swimming training with her. Stephen was the athlete in the family, while I’m more the bookworm. It’s been a challenge to fill both roles since.”

“As busy as you are now, I’m sure you had your hands even more full for a while after he died,” Trevor replied.