Her Adoring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 3) Read online

  Beth looked from Jack to the horse and bit her lip. Jack was worried and she hated it. Hated she needed to be treated like spun glass.

  “If you tell me what you’re going to do I should be fine.” She tried, but she couldn’t stop the tremor in her voice.

  “Sweetheart, your courage amazes me.”

  “Well it shouldn’t. I should be past this.”

  “Ah Beth, you need to be kind to yourself. This takes time and patience, and I think all things considered you’re doing amazingly well. Now put your foot into the stirrup. I’m going to put my hands on your waist and help you into the saddle, okay?”

  Beth held her breath and nodded. She did what he instructed, and he gave her an encouraging smile before settling his hands around her waist, plucking her off the ground, and putting her on top of the horse.

  “Dios.” The man was strong.

  “Are you okay?”

  She was having trouble catching her breath.

  “Beth, are you okay? Do you need to get down?” His hand hovered over her leg as he looked at her.

  “I’m all right,” she whispered. He waited. “Really. I’m fine.”

  He gave her one last look and winked.

  “Okay, here are the reins. I’m going to help put your other foot into the stirrup.” He did as he said with an economy of motion. Soon, he took back the reins, and was on the other horse and leading her around the corral.

  She was riding a horse! She had handled his touch!

  He looked back at her.

  “That’s an awfully big grin, Miss Beth. Care to share with the class?”

  “I’m having a great time.” She leaned over and patted Bay. He nickered.

  “I think your horse likes you.” Jack kept them going at a slow and consistent pace around the corral.

  “Shouldn’t we drive faster?” He laughed.

  “I think we’re driving fast enough, sweetheart.” Jack easily rode his horse, as well as held the lead for Bay so he could guide him around the paddock. She admired how the man looked in the saddle. She might be nervous around men, but it didn’t stop her from noticing handsome works of art. Jack’s butt in a saddle was definitely a work of art.

  Bay made an odd step and she gripped the saddle horn and squeaked. Jack’s head whipped around.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” But he must have heard the tremble in her voice.

  “I think that’s enough for one day.”

  For an instant she considered protesting, kind of like as a child when her parents wanted her to come in from riding her bicycle. But she subdued the thought and nodded. They made their way back to the stables, and she didn’t have a panic attack when he helped her off the horse.

  She helped Jack brush Bay and fed him some carrots. When she got back to the ranch house, she realized she’d actually ridden a horse. It was like she was floating on air.

  ****

  “Chica, what are you doing in here?”

  “I was wondering if I could come and help cook dinner.”

  “Help or cook?” Rosa asked. Beth blushed.

  “That’s what I thought. You like to cook, don’t you?”

  “I love to cook, bake, and clean. I’m weird,” Beth admitted.

  Rosa laughed.

  “No, you’re not weird. Most women these days wouldn’t admit they like caring for a home. I like doing those things. So does Grace. She’d do more if it weren’t for her hip.” Rosa bustled over to the refrigerator and opened it. “I have pork, chicken, and beef of course. What would you like to make for tonight’s meal?”

  “What kind of apples do you have?”

  “Come and look.” Rosa invited.

  Beth peered into the crisper and was delighted to find some Fuji apples.

  “Herbed pork and apples, and apple crisp for dessert.”

  “Let’s get to it.”

  Beth rubbed her hands together. This was going to be fun. They had the pork roast in the oven when Grace came in the kitchen.

  “I see you ladies have been busy. I was coming to get some sweet tea, but I think this calls for a glass of wine.” Beth giggled at the thought of the three of them having wine in the afternoon.

  “I’ll pour. Chablis?” Rosa asked.

  “Is that what you want to drink?” Grace asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Well okay then. How about you, Beth?” It all seemed so naughty and she loved it. She measured out the brown sugar and said Chablis sounded wonderful.

  “You know we’ll have to taste test this before the men can have any for dessert,” Grace warned her.

  “As a matter of fact we might have to do a lot of taste testing. You should probably double the batch, Chica.” Beth giggled as she took a sip of her wine.

  “So even though you’re undercover, what can you tell us about yourself?” Grace asked.

  “I’m not sure.” Beth continued measuring out ingredients.

  “Can you tell us how old you are?”

  “I’m almost twenty-three.”

  “You have a sister, right?” Rosa asked as she pulled out more apples for Grace to cut up.

  “Yes, Lydia. She’s brilliant. She’s working on her master’s in computer science. She wants to work in criminal justice.”

  “In Mexico? Madre de Dios. They’ll eat her alive!” Rosa exclaimed.

  “It scares me to death. But there are animals who need to be brought to justice.” Beth stirred the mixture so hard some flew out of the bowl. She looked up and found both women looking at her oddly.

  “Are you okay, Beth?” Grace asked.

  “Oh,” she looked down at the mess, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not a problem.” Rosa used a paper towel and scooped up the splatter. “There, all fixed.”

  “Beth, I agree, there are some bad people. Is there anything you want to talk about?” She looked at the kind faces of the two women, and gave a small smile.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Well, if you ever do want to talk we’ll be here for you. In the meantime, I think you need a refill,” Grace said.

  Beth giggled. The two women looked at one another.

  “That’s a nice sound, Beth,” Grace said.

  “What sounds nice?”

  “You giggling. You don’t do it enough.”

  “My sister Lydia said the same thing to me. She said I’d gotten too serious.”

  “You should listen to her, she’s older,” Rosa said knowingly. Beth snorted.

  “My sister might be book smart, but for the last year she’s needed a keeper. She doesn’t take care of herself and it’s my job to make sure she does.”

  “I wish I had a sister,” Grace said quietly. “Lydia sounds lucky to have you.”

  “Not that she thinks so. Most of the time she thinks she needs to protect me. But trust me, it’s been the other way around. She’s had pneumonia three times in the last six months. She would have let herself die instead of asking for help.”

  “No, really?” Rosa gasped.

  “Yes! The only reason I agreed to leave her side is because the man who is with her is in love with her and he’ll make sure she’s taken care of. Of course, she’ll fight him every inch of the way.” Beth giggled. Both women grinned, and Grace poured more wine.

  “What do you do besides run roughshod over your sister?”

  “The school I tutor at is connected to an orphanage. A lot of the kids have been abandoned by their parents because they were mentally disabled. I work with some of them.” Beth took the cut apples from Grace and spread them over the mixture at the bottom of the pan.

  Grace nodded to Rosa, who refilled Beth’s glass.

  “How do you work with them?”

  Beth took another couple of sips of her wine as she put the dessert into the oven. “I spend almost forty hours a week as a teacher’s aide. I’ve learned a lot from the international volunteers who have come in to help. Besides being a wife and mother, I alw
ays wanted to be a teacher for the learning impaired.”

  Beth hiccupped, and they all laughed.

  “I’m curious. Why haven’t you gone to school?”

  “I didn’t want to be alone on a campus,” Beth said in a sad voice. “Can we not talk about me anymore?” Rosa and Grace looked at one another.

  “Have I told you about my boyfriend Chuck?” Rosa asked in a bright tone.

  By the time the first dessert was ready to test, they each had three glasses of wine. Beth got to hear about Rosa’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Chuck. They giggled at the numerous ways he managed to work his way back into Rosa’s good graces. Beth hadn’t had such a good time in forever.

  “Ladies, are you holding out on us?” Richard and Jack filled the doorway of the kitchen, and they had matching smiles on their faces.

  “It’s Beth’s fault,” Grace quickly said.

  Beth felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and shot the woman a mortified glance.

  “Easy Beth, she’s just teasing you,” Jack said as he sauntered into the kitchen.

  “What smells so damn good, and what has you all giggling so hard?” Richard asked as he grabbed a spoon out of the silverware drawer. Jack followed suit, and both men took large scoops of the dessert.

  “I think they figured out what smells so good, don’t you Rosa?” Grace asked.

  “And what else could have us laughing this hard? It’s mi amor, Chuck.”

  “That’d do it,” Jack said as he shifted to stand next to Beth, his hip touching hers.

  “Rosa, you’ve outdone yourself with this apple crisp, and if the roast tastes as good as it smells, dinner will be outstanding,” Richard said as he went to stand next to his wife.

  “That’s all Beth’s doing. She offered to cook tonight.”

  “Is that right?” Jack said as he looked at her. “Aren’t you just full of surprises?”

  “I think she is, Jack. I think she is,” Richard said. Rosa and Grace thought it was hysterical, and Beth laughed as well.

  “I’m going to lock up the wine until dinner,” Jack went to get the bottle and found it empty. “Well, I guess I’m too late.” That just made the three of them laugh harder.

  “I think dinner might be late tonight, Dad.”

  Chapter Four

  The day in the kitchen was a bit of a breakthrough for Beth. She continued to help Rosa, and his mother joined in where she was able. The three of them became thick as thieves. Beth also totally took over the kitchen garden responsibilities from Rosa. It was clear Beth was in her element around the house and the ladies, but the men still made her somewhat nervous—David and Richard especially.

  She didn’t tremble every time Richard or David came into the room. Of course, both men were aware of the fact that they made her uncomfortable and were careful to always have Grace or Rosa with them.

  Jack worked every day to ensure that she was more and more at ease with his touch. He did little things like brushing up against her or making sure they sat close enough on the couch their legs touched. It’s the same kind of gentling technique Richard had taught him years ago with horses.

  Jack was looking around the big house for Beth when he finally found her in the library folding up a thick wad of paper and putting it into an envelope. He smiled. In his mind’s eye he could picture the children who received these letters and he was positive that they made the kid’s days brighter.

  “Here’s my latest bunch of letters to be mailed out.”

  Jack looked at the envelopes with the block letters on them.

  “There’s not as many as last time, why not?”

  Beth’s eyes went wide. “You noticed?”

  “Where’s Carmen’s letter?”

  “In the last letter that came through via the courier, they said Carmen had been moved to another school with no forwarding address.”

  “Does that happen a lot?”

  “No, not very often at all. I’m hoping in this case her parents might have taken her back to live with them.”

  “I don’t understand, isn’t this like a school? Don’t they live with their parents?”

  “All of the children I work with live in the orphanage. In most cases, their parents aren’t dead they left their children there, because they couldn’t take care of them on their own.”

  “Ah damn, and you were worried they would think you were one more person who had abandoned them.”

  “That’s it! It’s so important for them to have continuity. No matter what, I write a letter every week.”

  “How come when I’ve asked you about this, you haven’t wanted to tell me about it?”

  “It’s just a little volunteer thing I do during the week.”

  “That’s not the way Mom tells it.”

  “Oh, your mom told you about what I do?” Beth looked uncomfortable.

  “Well, I’ve asked you a couple of times and you’ve brushed it off. When mom explained it to me I realized what an undertaking it is.” Jack thumbed through the six thick envelopes.

  “I guess.” She watched his hands.

  “Mom said you’re not a teacher.”

  “I’m more of a teacher’s aide. I don’t have the credentials to be a teacher.”

  “But you wanted to be. You said so.” She looked at the floor, and then finally back at him.

  “You’ve seen me, I’m not good around people. Being on campus makes me uncomfortable. I was thinking about taking some on-line courses.” Her voice trailed off. She looked so sad. He tried to think of something to put a smile back on her face.

  “Tell me about your favorite student.”

  “Viola. Definitely, Viola. She still can’t speak much, but when I first met her she didn’t have any language at all. Everybody had given up on her, they didn’t think she was capable of communicating. But you could see it in her eyes that she understood things and she was frustrated we couldn’t understand her grunts and gestures. Now she has about one hundred words.” Beth was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Can she read the letter you sent to her?”

  “I drew some pictures and someone will read the rest to her.” Viola’s letter had definitely been the thickest.

  Jack wondered if he could figure out a way for Beth to take some on-line classes while she was here at the ranch.

  Jack’s phone buzzed. “I’ll make sure these get out.”

  “Thanks, Jack.”

  ****

  “You’re looking stressed.” Jack stared at her.

  “Not stressed,” Beth said as she hung up the phone. “Worried? A little angry? Concerned?” She walked around the library and touched the bronze horse on the book shelf. Then turned, and stroked her hand against the leather of the chair.

  “Concerned. Maybe worried?” She struggled to find the right word as she finally stopped next to the desk where she had hung up the phone. She looked at Jack, who had a bemused expression on his face.

  “What?” she asked crossly.

  “I think the word you’re looking for is stressed.”

  “Fine, I’m stressed,” she snapped.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “No.” Beth walked around the library again. She touched the horse, and then stroked the chair, and was finally in front of Jack one more time.

  “I need to get out of the house,” she told him.

  “Your wish is my command.”

  Did he have to be so agreeable all of the time?

  Instead of going through the great room and out the front door, he took her out the mudroom in the back of the house, and they ended up near the kitchen garden. Boone came trotting up, and she bent down to give the hound a thorough petting. Beth breathed a sigh of relief. She loved it there. He opened the little gate and they went inside.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the plants take off when Rosa was in charge of this garden.”

  Beth swung around and looked up at him.

  “For God’s sake, never say that to her.” She
knew it was true. The garden had been in desperate need of care and attention when she had first taken over. Now the plants were thriving. But the last thing she needed was for someone to make comparisons between her abilities and Rosa’s.

  “Beth, Rosa would be the first person to say you’re doing a better job than she was.”

  “Jack, you just don’t understand. Never say anything, okay?” She watched him finally nod in agreement, and she sighed in relief. For God’s sake, men could be so dense. The last thing she wanted was to have Rosa’s feelings hurt.

  “Do you want to tell me what had you so upset in the library?”

  “I thought we agreed I was stressed.”

  “Okay, stressed. What has you so stressed?”

  “Nothing new.” Beth blew the bangs out of her eyes. “My sister.”

  Jack looked perplexed. “I thought she was your big sister. From everything you’ve told me she always protects you. Why would you be stressed about her?”

  “Yes, Lydia would take a bullet for me. Hell, she’d shove me out of the way, and wave ‘take me, take me’. But at the same time she doesn’t have the sense God gave a gnat when it comes to taking care of herself.”

  Beth saw the confusion on Jack’s face.

  “Look, I know I talk about her being all computer science, and ‘I want to be a cop’ one day girl. But this is the same woman who needs to be told to go to the hospital or you will die. This is the same girl who will forget to eat because she’s studying too much. This is the same girl who will put herself in danger and damn the consequences. She needs a keeper, and it’s been me. I was hoping it would be Clint, but now I’m not so sure.”

  Jack still looked confused, and now she was getting angry at him. The man needed to keep up. “So what happened on your call to make you stressed?”

  “She won’t tell me what’s going on! She’s lying to me. I can tell. I can always tell when she’d glossing over the truth to make me feel better about something so I don’t worry. Doesn’t she understand it makes me worry more?”

  “Beth.” Jack started carefully. “Your sister sounds like a really capable lady. What’s more she’s with one of the deadliest men on the planet. I don’t think you need to worry.”