Forever's Promises (Forever In Luck Series Book 1) (13 page)

“What?
She said that?” Nate asked, incredulous. “She listened to what I had to say,
but when I tried to talk with her about it, she silenced me, said she needed to
think on it.”

Jake
took a drink of his coffee. “She did some detective work, and after putting two
and two together, she believes Naomi’s prom date is the father. Nik said he
remembers it being Erik Eklund.”

Nate’s
silverware dropped with a clang. “Jake, that’s whose party I went to, the party
was at Erik Eklund’s place in West Sweden.”

“I
don’t know,” Jake said, shaking his head, “but I smell a rat. I can’t help but
feel you may have been set up. Or maybe someone was trying to undermine Naomi’s
credibility, making it look like she’d been sleeping around. I’m not sure, but
I’m with Linnie, I’m leaning towards you’re not being the father. Time will
tell though.”

Nate
wanted to shout from the rooftops, he was so damn happy. Two of the most
important people in his life were on his side. She believed him. Smiling
widely, he knocked knuckles with Jake. “I can’t wait till she comes home. Let’s
get this room put together, fast.”

When
Linnie pulled in, Nate was out of the house and at her car door in a flash.
Opening it, he pulled her out and lifted her up, kissing her soundly on the
mouth. Carrying her to the hood of the car, he set her down and looked at her.
“I love you, Linnea.”

Linnea?
Hmmm, what brought this on, she wondered. With a little laugh, she answered, “I
love you too, Nathan.”

“Quit
being sassy, you know I hate being called Nathan, and as a result of your impertinence,
you will be punished.” He started kissing her neck, then her ear.

“Ohhh,
Nathan, please stop,” she exaggerated.

“There’s
no one here by that name, so no stopping,” he mumbled between kisses.

She
laughed a little more. “Ahhh honey, as much as I’m enjoying this punishment as
you call it, the hood’s pretty cold, and I need to get stuff carried in. Then I
need to get dinner started.”

He
stopped and put his forehead to hers. “Tonight, after dinner, I want you and me
time, okay?”

“Mmmhmm,
I like that idea,” she answered, giving him an Eskimo kiss. “The sooner I get
dinner started, the sooner it’ll be over,” she offered optimistically.

Lifting
her down, he gave her a swat on the rear. “Get goin woman, whatcha waitin fer,
I’m hungry,” he paused, then finished with, “for dessert.” Then he wiggled his
eyebrows at her.

Blushing,
she gave him a little shove. “Well, look at who’s being cheeky.”

Laughing,
and wanting to tease a little more, he grabbed her from behind and hugged her tight,
while nibbling on her ear. “How about you bring the whip cream, and I bring the
chocolate,” he whispered.

Blushing
more, she pushed out of his hold and looked around to see if anyone was
watching them, then gave him a smack on the chest. “Stop it you beast, or you’ll
get us kicked out.”

“Nahhh,
but I’ll behave. Head inside, I’ll carry everything in.”

Later,
Nate lie on the bed watching Linnie as she sorted and folded a mountain of
clothes, forming neat stacks on the floor in the process. In between loads at
the Laundromat, she’d been to his parent’s house and picked up a bunch of his
clothes. “Can I help you finish with that?”

Stopping,
she looked up at him, then smiled a knowing smile. “You really want to help
with this? Or, could it be your way of saying I’m ignoring you, and you want me
to stop?”

“Ahhh,
the first one for sure,” he answered, lying through his teeth. “Come up here,
that can wait till tomorrow, you’ve been working hard all day.”

Getting
up, she came and sat in front of him. Looking at him straight on, she asked, “Did
you sleep well last night, get enough rest?”

“I
did, I woke up early in the morning and looked around me. I remember liking the
color you picked for the room, and feeling content with you snuggled up against
me, then I drifted back to sleep. I haven’t done that in a long, long time.”

“Are
you having a hard time sleeping?”

Looking
at her, he contemplated his answers and said, “Sometimes.”

“I’m
thinking you’re not sleeping much, when you faint dead away, and sleep for twenty
hours. You were out. We laid you down, cleaned up the mess, carried in the
mattress, undressed you, and then the guys lifted you onto it. You didn’t so
much as flinch.”

Panic
stirred in him. “They saw me without my clothes on?”

Staring
back at him with compassion, she said, “So we have two issues here, you not
sleeping, and you not wanting people to see your scars.” He turned away, and she
turned his head back to her, then said quietly, “Wear them proudly, Nate. They’re
a testimony to what you were willing to sacrifice for all of us.”

Not
wanting to talk about it, he said, “Sometimes I can’t get to sleep until early
morning, and at other times I only sleep an hour or two, then I’m up. Hopefully,
I won’t disturb you, but I can always go to another room if I am.”

“Any
particular reason why you’re not able to stay sleeping?”

“No.”

She
slowly nodded her head. “My sleep pattern’s disrupted too,” she explained, “from
shift work at the hospital. So, I may be the one up in the middle of the night.
I imagine there were a lot of night shifts, and then some, for you in the last
five years.”

“Being
next to you helps, it calms me,” he said, trying to divert the conversation to
the here and now.

“So,
you’re up because you feel anxious?”

She
was too damn smart. “I didn’t say that. Hey, Jake told me what you’re thinking
about Mikey, I…well…thank you for believing in me.”

“Hmmmm,”
she said, narrowing her eyes. “Your deflecting, but I’ll let it go for now.
Just make me one promise, and then we’ll change the subject.”

“What?”

“Promise
me the next time you’re up in the middle of the night, you’ll wake me.”

“Linn—”

“Promise
me,” she said, brooking no argument.

Feeling
caught and uncertain, he looked at her. She was rock steady, solid. “I promise.”

“Alright.
So, yes, I believe you’re right in thinking he’s not your child, but if it
turns out he is, he’ll know the love of a father, and a mother. I will love him
as my own. We will love him as our own.”

Whoa,
he was stunned. This is just not how he expected things to go. If Mikey was
his, he’d fully expected to have to work to keep these two aspects of his life
apart, maybe even choose between them. “You mean it, don’t you?”

“Yes,
I do. He’s a child, innocent in all this. He’s deserving of a mother, and a
father. I could never hold this against him, against you. I could never harm
that which is part of you.”
 

Staring
at her, not moving, he tried processing everything that’d happened in the last
two weeks. He didn’t know what he’d ever done to deserve her, but he was damn
thankful anyways. Every time he was convinced he couldn’t love her more, she’d
do something, or say something, that would make him do just that. She’d taken
on her father, making it okay for them to be together. She’d agreed to stay,
giving them a chance at a future. And now, she’d just absolved him of his past,
while accepting the consequences that could follow.

She’d
waved the white flag. No matter the results, she was willing to stand by him
through it all. He couldn’t help but see her differently. This tiny woman, this
beautiful, quiet, tiny woman was so incredibly strong. He didn’t know what to
say, the words “I love you” and “thank you” being wholly inadequate. And quite
frankly, the time for talking was done. So he just opened his arms to her, and
knew beyond a doubt, that she’d come.

CHAPTER 12

Linnie
was startled awake when Nate jumped from the bed in the middle of the night.
Turning over, she couldn’t see where he’d gone. Grabbing the intercom Jake insisted
she keep by the bed, she pressed the call button once. They’d decided one push
meant she needed help, while two pushes meant it was an emergency, and Jake had
made her promise she’d call no matter how trivial the situation. In all
honesty, she didn’t think he really believed this could be happening to Nate,
and needed to see it for himself.

Getting
out of bed, she could hear Jake coming up the stairs from his bedroom in the
basement. Peering through the dim glow from the nightlight she’d placed across
the room, she found Nate on the floor. Jake came in quietly, and she motioned
him over. Nate was lying on his stomach, in front of the line of clothing piles
she’d made earlier in the evening. His head was slightly off the floor, and his
hands were out in front of him as if he was holding a gun. He was very still,
very quiet, almost as if he was frozen. Then after a few minutes, he began to
talk in a whisper.

“Yankee
Tango Cobra Three to Falcon Four.”

He
paused…

“Falcon
Four, target in range moving west by northwest six clicks, copy.”

Another
pause…

“Affirmative
Falcon, I see three targets with weapons clearly visible.”

…

“Copy
Falcon, standby.”

…

“Falcon
Four, Cobra Three, Cobra Six is down, copy.”

…

“Kyle’s
been hit, he needs a medic!”

…

“Affirmative
Falcon, I have clear visual.”

…

“Copy
Falcon, standby.”

The
muscles in Nate’s hands and arms contracted, as he shot and aimed his gun, his
mind recreating the events, one, two, three, his presence calm, his aim exact.

“Falcon
Four, Cobra three, target neutralized.”

Pause…

Then
he pulled himself across the floor with one hand, his gun being in the other, to
the body pillow Linnie had left on the floor.

“Kyle,
you okay man?” he whispered, shaking the pillow. “Kyle?” He shook the pillow a
little harder. “Kyle, open your eyes, man, come on, open ‘em.” Stopping, he
waited, then put his head on the pillow and started whimpering.

Linnie
felt his pain. Jake put his arms around her and held her. Then, as if nothing
had ever happened, Nate got up, turned his back on the pillow, and went over to
the bed, lying down with his forearm resting over his eyes. Taking a deep
breath, she wiped away a tear, and gave Jake a reassuring squeeze. Going over
to the bed, she carefully slid in next to Nate, lying on her side. As if aware
of her presence, he rolled towards her and pulled her in close, hugging her
tight, and just like before, he trembled from head to foot.

Several
hours later, in the haze of the early morning light, Linnie felt Nate placing tiny
kisses on her shoulder. Smiling, she wiggled closer. Continuing with his
endeavors, he went to her ear, and she giggled because it tickled. Teasing him,
she pretended to be sleeping by snoring loudly. Reaching under the comforter,
he gave her a playful swat on the rump, then immediately massaged it away. Rolling
toward him and onto her back, she put her arms around his neck and pulled him up
close. “Good morning.”

Kissing
her long and deep, he stole her breath, then answered, “Not yet, but it will be
once I’m done.”

She
laughed. Then he paid particular attention to her neck and everything downward.
She couldn’t help it, she moaned. Yes, she was really going to like this new
arrangement.

Lying
in his arms after having made love, Linnie asked, “How’d you sleep last night?
You seemed a bit restless.”

“Really?”
Nate asked, looking puzzled as he pulled back and looked at her. “I don’t remember
that. I feel good, slept well. Did I keep you up?”

She
shook her head. “Not particularly, you just got up, and were out of bed for a
few minutes, then you laid back down. So, I just wondered if you were having a
hard time sleeping.”

“I
did? I don’t recall that,” he said, with a shake of his head. “Are you sure you
weren’t dreaming, because I don’t recall getting up.”

“No,
I was awake, but that’s okay. What’s important is that you slept well. I’m
going to go make breakfast. You hungry?”

“Yeah,”
he answered, as he sat up. “Hey, what happened to the piles of clothes? They’re
a mess.” Staring at the floor, he looked around in confusion, then after a few
moments, his demeanor sobered. Without looking up, he said, “I’ll fold them
while you’re making breakfast.”

“That’s
fine, either that or I’ll do it latter, no big deal,” she said, grabbing some
clothes to put on. Leaning over the bed, she kissed him before leaving.

Linnie
placed a platter loaded with sixteen thick cut French toast pieces and half a
ham, sliced, on the table, along with a dozen and a half scrambled eggs. Then
she added a large bowl of fresh cut fruit, and a huge pitcher of milk.
Naturally, the guys polished it all off, and wanted to know why she was
starving them.

“There
is no way you guys can still be hungry. You ate enough for twelve people.”

“We’re
not just some wimpy boys, Linnie, we’re
men
,”
Kris added, flexing his arm muscles and sticking out his chest. “We need food.”

“Aha,
right,” she answered, clearly unaffected.

“Linnie,
there’s a half a jug of syrup left, and nothing to put it on,” Nik teased.

 
“That’s a gallon sized jug, Nik. There better
be some left.”

“So,
what’s on the agenda today?” her dad asked of no one in particular.

When
nobody chimed in, Linnie sat up, and started gathering dishes. “Well, I guess
I’m going grocery shopping.”

Placing
his hand on her arm, her dad stopped her. Looking at her brothers, he said, “You
three clean this up.” Then turning back to her, he asked, “You need money?”

“No,
I can cover it,” she said, sitting back in her chair.

“Buy
everything you need, and when you get home, I want the receipt, okay?”

She
nodded.

Then
looking at Nate, he asked, “Will you drive her in, help her out?”

“Was
already planning on it,” he answered, with a nod.

Getting
up and going to the freezers downstairs, Linnie started moving stuff around.

“You
about ready?” Nate asked, coming up behind her.

“Yeah,
I just don’t know how old some of this stuff is, and a lot of it isn’t marked,
so I want it all in one freezer where I can go through it.”

He
nodded and helped her move some stuff. “Should we go to Rice Lake?”

Huh?
She never went to Rice Lake, ever. “Mmmm, no, St. Croix.”

“I
thought Rice Lake would be nice,” he continued.

“Maybe,
but it’s an hour away, and St. Croix’s only twenty five minutes, so St. Croix
works better. Plus, they have a Super Walmart, and I want to check it out,” she
answered, closing the freezers.

“You
sure, Rice Lake has a Super Walmart?”

What
the hell? This was weird. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay,
if you say so,” he answered, like she was going miss out on the best shopping
experience of her life by going to St. Croix.

“Hey,
you two mind if I tag along?” Jake asked, on the way to his room.

“No,
that’d be fine,” she answered quickly, not sure what was going on, and thinking
it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have him along just in case.

“Alright,
let me get my wallet. I’ll meet you outside.”

Riding
in Nate’s new truck, the day only became more interesting as it went on. Heading
south on Wisconsin 35, and almost to the turn off for Highway 8 into St. Croix,
Nate turned off the pavement, and started traveling the back county roads.

“Ahh,
hun, where we going?” she asked from the back.

“Walmart.
That’s what you said, right?”

“Yep,
but Highway 8’s a straight shot, and this…isn’t,” she said, looking out the
window.

“Yeah,
I thought I’d take Jake by Kopellah,” he answered, as if it made perfect sense.

Jake
looked back at her and shrugged. “Ahh, the Speedway is closed now, hun. They
closed in September, the last race was in August.”

“Mmhmm,”
he answered, while continuing to drive on.

After
twenty minutes of driving round and around, Linnie decided they’d officially
entered the Twilight Zone. Nate had managed to geographically twist and weave
his way to the very back of the Walmart building, then parked in the farthest
corner of the lot, beyond the automotive center and loading docks. The three of
them just sat in the truck looking at the back of the building. Nate pleased as
punch that he’d found it, Jake and Linnie confused as hell.

“Ahh
Nate, buddy,” Jake said, pausing a little, “you, ahhh, need to go up a block,
and then turn left, and go another block to get to the front of the store.”

“Yeah,
I want to park here though, so no one scratches up my truck.”

She
and Jake looked around the pickup, vast emptiness, except for the piles of
excess snow plowed to the back recesses of the lot. “Weeelll, yeah, it looks
like you found a good spot then,” Jake answered bewildered, scratching his head.

And
just because why the hell not, Nate finished up by saying, “I figured we could
just go in and out through automotive.”

Swinging
their heads around, she and Jake looked a half a block down and across the
empty lot, to the cordoned off automotive center located next to the closed up
garden department. He couldn’t be serious, Linnie thought.

“Well,
we better get moving,” Nate said, opening his door and getting out.

She
and Jake looked at each other, with little option but to follow. Walking in
silence as they trudged their way across the icy, snow laden lot, they jostled
their way through the narrow corridor of the automotive department, before
finally making it into the store. There was no way a cart would ever go through
there, she thought. In fact, she was certain it was made that narrow so people
couldn’t go through there stealing things.

“Welcome
to Walmart,” a young kid said as they entered the store. “How may I help you?”

“Yeah,
she wants to grocery shop,” Nate answered, like this was a natural event in the
automotive department.

Staring
at them for a moment, the kid started looking around like he was being pranked.
Looking back at them like they were nuts, he said, “Dude, you’ll like wanna go to
the front of the store for that. It’s like, all the way on the other side of
the building, man.”

“Thanks,
but we’re good here,” Nate said. “You got any carts around?”

“Ahhh,
well, we usually keep a few around,” the kid answered, uncertain. Pointing, he
said, “Check around that corner.”

Moving
that direction, Nate disappeared, then returned a few moments later pushing a loud
thumping flatbed with only three working wheels on it, stopping it in front of
her.

“No
carts, just this. I’ll stay here and look around, maybe go over an aisle or two
to sporting goods. Just call if you need help, I’ve got my phone on me.”

Flabbergasted,
Linnie looked to Jake, and he nodded, indicating he’d stay with Nate. Grabbing
the flatbed because she didn’t know what else to do, she headed to the front of
the store to get a cart. Rounding the corner, she pulled out her cellphone and
called Bev. It just wasn’t like him to behave like this, at all.

**********

Early
Monday morning Linnie saw Nate off to work, then headed out the door. She’d called
a family conference, including Nate’s parents, and they were all meeting at
Bean’s restaurant in Frederic because it had ample seating, good food, and
would be less conspicuous and unlikely to feed the rumor mill. After finishing
shopping yesterday, Nate insisted they load two heaping carts worth of
groceries through the automotive department, which meant carrying their items
out bag by bag. He’d meticulously loaded the groceries in the back of his
truck, taking extra time and care to “make sure nothing broke,” but she knew
his real motive was to personally inspect each and every bag before they left.

Fortunately,
they‘d made it through the night without another incident, and Nate seemed genuinely
pleased when she told him she was going to meet his mother for breakfast, with
plans to relax for the rest of the day. Walking into the restaurant, everyone
was there. Linnie removed her hat and jacket, then sat, as her dad poured her
coffee. Glancing at the menu, the waitress took her order. Grabbing the cream
and sugar, she looked up to see them all staring at her.

“How
was Nate this morning?” Bev asked.

“He
was in good spirits,” she answered, “behaved as if nothing out of the ordinary
happened, and was happy when I told him I was meeting you for breakfast.”