A SEAL's Vow (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 2) (14 page)

“It’s… six. I need to change. Can you be ready by then?” he said instead, cursing himself the minute the words left his mouth.

His father relaxed a fraction. That made it worth it.

Almost.

“Sure thing. I’d better go shave.” Dell strode off toward his tent. Clay got out and slowly brought the bags of groceries and the hamper they’d picked up at the Five and Dime store into the bunkhouse kitchen. He started unloading the bags, lost in thought.

This was bad. Real bad.

He was taking his father along on a date.

Something had to give.

It’s only a
picnic, Nora reminded herself as she made her way up to her bedroom to get ready late that afternoon, Savannah and Avery close at her heels. She was grateful they’d offered to assist her. It wasn’t that she had a lot of dresses to choose from, but she needed help to change and do her hair. Plus, if she was honest, she was a little spooked to be alone anywhere in the house right now. Riley had returned to Base Camp. Soon her friends would head down there, too, for dinner. Nora was glad she’d be with Clay rather than here on her own.

She’d convinced herself her friends were right, and the glass had fallen over on its own. Maybe she’d taken another sip at the last minute and hadn’t put it down as carefully as she thought. She could have set it near to the edge—half on, half off the stack of notes she’d left there earlier.

It was the rational explanation.

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling it wasn’t the right one.

Avery helped her change into her other gown, and Savannah got to work on her hair. She brushed it out, gathered it together high on her head, then braided and pinned it into a complicated bun.

“You look beautiful. You’ll knock his socks off,” she said, turning Nora toward the mirror.

Nora touched her hair. “But is that what I should be doing?”

“You like him, don’t you?” Avery asked, hanging her work dress back in the closet.

“I shouldn’t.”

“But you do.”

Nora nodded. “I can’t help it.”

“Would marrying him be so bad?” Savannah asked softly.

“Would you marry Jericho?” Nora countered.

Savannah was thoughtful. “Maybe I would. If—” She broke off and smiled sadly. “Who’s to say he’d want to marry me?”

Surprised, Nora glanced at Avery, who was looking at Savannah in as much confusion as Nora felt. “Why wouldn’t he want to marry you? He’s always been interested,” Avery said.

“People change their minds.”

“Savannah—”

A loud knocking at the front door interrupted them.

“That must be Clay.” Savannah urged Nora toward the door. “Hurry up.”

“We’ll finish this conversation later,” Nora told her, but she hurried down the two flights of stairs, and when she opened the front door she forgot all about Savannah and what she’d said about Jericho.

Clay had obviously showered recently, his short, dark hair still damp. He wore jeans, a black T-shirt and a nicer pair of boots than he normally wore working around Base Camp. His broad shoulders strained the fabric of his shirt, and there was something so appealing about a man all cleaned up for a date she had to hold back from leaning in, wrapping her arms around his neck and going up on tiptoe for a kiss. He wore his cowboy hat tonight. She loved him in that hat; another thing that had surprised her. She was a city girl, after all.

How ironic to know she’d like to ambush him in the same way he’d startled her the other day. She had a feeling Clay wouldn’t conk her with a paperweight, either.

If he did, she’d be in a lot of trouble, judging by those biceps.

Nora smiled at the frivolous thought. Since when had she stopped being an intellectual and started lusting after six-pack abs and big muscles?

Since she’d started living with a bunch of Navy SEALs, she supposed.

She knew Clay would never hurt her, no matter how strong he was. If only she hadn’t hit him, he might try to kiss her tonight. She figured he’d need a lot of encouragement before he did that again.

Could she offer him that kind of encouragement? The edgy panic she’d felt earlier had taken second place to the warm glow Clay’s presence always stimulated within her. Still, she couldn’t help but worry the desire that twined within her now would disappear if Clay touched her. What if he kissed her and she overreacted again?

Best to keep things civil and platonic, she decided. For a number of reasons.

He smiled back and Nora’s intentions melted away. “Evening. Hope you’re hungry. I’ve got a lot of food.”

“I could eat something.” She drew on her gloves, put on her bonnet and tied the strings into a loose bow under her chin, grateful for a moment to pull herself together. She noticed Clay looking at her fondly when she was done.

“What?”

“You’re really something, you know that?” He reached for her hand, and she stepped onto the front stoop with him, shutting the door behind her. She heard the bolt slide home and knew either Avery or Savannah had locked it behind her. She hoped they remembered to lock the other door, as well.

“No,” she said truthfully. She’d never felt like much of anything. Certainly not in this last year. She hadn’t accomplished much in her life. Her father had left her without a second look. She hadn’t been able to prevent her mother’s death. She’d run away from the only job that had ever mattered to her.

“You are. It’s your eyes. And that smile you don’t flash around much. And your graceful hands. And the way you put it all together.”

She was sure she was blushing. She wasn’t used to praise like this. People either liked her or disliked her. They tolerated her plain speaking or hated it. They approved of her work ethic or thought she was a prude. No one thought anything of her eyes. Or hands, for heaven’s sake. The flutters in her stomach were getting the best of her, especially when she caught his eye and saw the desire there.

Nora looked away again, finding it hard to meet his gaze when he talked like that, but she couldn’t look at the cameras, either. She looked behind him—and noticed an older man waiting a half-dozen paces away.

“Who’s that?”

Clay sagged a little. “That’s my dad. I hope you don’t mind, he’s coming on the picnic with us.”

Clay knew without
a shadow of a doubt that any headway he had made in those first few moments after Nora had opened the door were long gone. As the three of them trailed back down the dirt track past Base Camp toward Pittance Creek, he felt like he could have been on a picnic with the Pope, for all the flirting that was going on. Instead of smiling at him the way she had back at the house, Nora was walking beside his father, asking polite questions and making chitchat about the weather. He was stuck behind them with the cameramen.

He lugged along the heavy basket and cooler his father had insisted on packing as if Armageddon was coming. He put in a word or two when he could hear enough of the conversation to comment on it, but by the time they reached the creek, he thought he knew exactly how this evening would play out.

The cameramen fanned out and took up fixed positions. Clay set down the picnic basket and spread out the blanket he’d brought. He wasn’t sure what irritated him more—the cameramen’s presence on his date or his father’s.

“Is the fishing good here?” Dell asked, surveying the running water while Clay and Nora began to unpack the food.

“Haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but it was good when we were kids.”

“I remember the way you always came running over here back then. I figured you liked that pretty little girl who used to spend her summers here. What was her name? Riley?”

Hell. That wasn’t going to help his case with Nora. “It was the money I liked, Pops, not Riley. Riley just married Boone Rudman, remember?”

“I remember Boone. That boy always did end up on top when you two scrapped.”

“We never scrapped over Riley.” Clay would be ready to scrap with Dell in a minute, though.

“Oh, you say that now.” Dell turned, caught sight of Nora and seemed to remember her presence. “I mean, well, that’s all in the past now, of course.”

Clay touched Nora’s hand when Dell turned back to the water. “He’s got it all wrong.”

She nodded, but he wasn’t sure if she believed him. Or maybe she didn’t care. She seemed preoccupied tonight, like something other than their date was first and foremost in her mind. Maybe she’d decided there was someone else at Base Camp she liked more.

“Walker’s been to see you a couple of times.” He couldn’t seem to help himself. Mentioning it was a chump move, but he had to know the truth of the matter.

“He found me a job.”

Dell caught that and came back. “What’s that you say about a job?”

“Walker found me a curriculum writing job. I start tomorrow.”

His father lost interest again and went back to studying the creek. “I thought you were supposed to be writing a novel.” Clay was confused. That’s why she’d come to Chance Creek, after all. That’s why he’d been making it a point to leave her alone during the afternoons.

She nodded. “It’s only temporary, but maybe it will help me get my foot in the door of the local school administration. I miss teaching.”

“And Walker found the job for you?”

“I’ll be helping his grandmother. I was as surprised as you are. I don’t know why they’d want me to help. Surely someone on the reservation is far more qualified.”

Clay thought he knew why Walker would get Nora a job: because he wanted her to stay. He had some newfound fascination with her.

Clay didn’t like that one bit.

Dell chose that moment to return, drop to his knees on the blanket and open up the picnic basket. “I’m hungry. Which one is the pastrami?”

“I thought you said you wanted roast beef.” Clay pointed to a sandwich that was clearly marked. Maybe he was making too much of this. Maybe the job was innocent and Walker was just looking out for his grandmother.

“I said everyone likes roast beef. I didn’t say I wanted it.”

“For God’s sake.” Clay turned to Nora. He needed to connect with her the way Walker had. What could he do for her, to let her know she was on his mind and he was worried about her welfare?

“Riding lessons,” he said out loud. “We’ve got a half dozen horses down at Base Camp now and you said you don’t ride. It’s time to learn, don’t you think? I could teach you.” She blinked and he realized he’d turned the conversation awfully suddenly.

“You’re right, I don’t know how to ride,” Nora admitted. She sat down gracefully on the blanket. “I’m not sure I want to learn, though. I don’t really like horses.”

Dell finally found the sandwich he was looking for and pushed the basket nearer to her. “I recommend the roast beef.”

“Do you have turkey?”

Clay crouched down and helped her find it, relishing the chance to be close to Nora. He wished they were alone. “You’d like them if you got to know them. Horses are intelligent, just like you.”

She smiled a little lopsidedly. “I’m not sure I can ride in something like this.” She indicated her dress.

Another excuse. Clay wondered if it was because she really was afraid of horses, or if she just didn’t want to spend time with him.

She’d agreed to this date, he reminded himself.

“You’d have to ride sidesaddle, I guess. I don’t know where you find one of those. It’s more difficult than regular riding, too. Can’t you wear pants for part of the day?”

“That would be breaking my vow.” She didn’t sound too enthusiastic.

“Let’s think about it,” he said.

“Sure.” She took a bite of her sandwich. Disappointed, Clay found one for himself and took a bite.

Pickled beets.

Figured.

The picnic wasn’t
turning out at all like she expected. Nora couldn’t understand why Clay had brought along his father. He didn’t seem to want him there, which made everything uncomfortable. If he’d been happy about Dell’s presence, she could have settled in for a nice meal and gotten to know more about his family. Between Dell’s comments and Clay’s barely civil answers, however, she felt like she’d stumbled into a battle. And that didn’t even include the annoyance of being surrounded by cameras.

She had found Dell to be a thoughtful man on the walk down to the creek when she’d done her best to keep the conversation flowing. It was only when they’d stopped moving and the two men had begun to interact that things fell apart.

“Dell, have you lived your whole life in Montana?” she asked when the current silence lasted too long.

“Sure have. Right here in Chance Creek.”

“What made your parents settle here?”

“My great-great-grandparents, you mean? Probably came looking for a new start. My great-great-grandfather hailed from Rhode Island, but he was a hunter and a fisherman and liked the outdoors. Montana’s got room to roam, if you know what I mean.”

“That’s for sure. You’re in construction?”

“I was.” Dell frowned. “Been laid off.”

Clay made a noise she couldn’t decipher. Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. If Dell had been laid off—or maybe fired, judging by Clay’s bad attitude—was that why he’d come to stay with Clay?

Was there trouble at home, too?

If so, time to move on to a new topic. “Do you know how to ride?”

“He taught me everything I know,” Clay said, and for the first time she heard pride in his voice. Encouraged, Nora went on.

“Who taught you?” she asked Dell.

“My daddy, of course. All the Picketts ride. We know our horses, too. Clay here could teach you everything you need to know when you’re ready to learn.”

“As soon as I find a sidesaddle,” Clay reminded him.

“Hmm. Ought to be one somewhere.” Dell looked thoughtful.

At least the tension between the two men had diffused. Nora finished her sandwich, enjoyed some potato salad and a slice of cherry pie, then helped Clay pack up the extra food.

“Take your girl for a stroll,” Dell said, settling back on the blanket. “I need some shut-eye.”

Nora’s spirits soared. Judging by the alacrity with which Clay got to his feet and pulled her to hers, he was enthusiastic about this turn of events, too. Her happiness lasted until she realized two of the cameramen meant to come with them. They weren’t going to be alone.