The SEAL's Valentine (Operation: Family) by Laura marie Altom Page B

long as it took to get the smile back on his mom’s pretty face.
    “Sorry about the pizza.” He took her long-abandoned plate, setting it on top of his to toss in the trash. “What this place lacks in cuisine, it makes up for in fun. Wanna play minigolf?”
    Her faint grin came nowhere near meeting her eyes. “You’re a dear to try cheering me, but I’m afraid between my surprise call and aching back I’m not the best company.”
    “You’re fine.” He finished off his cola. “I am worried about that backache, though. Wasn’t it nagging you last night, too?”
    “Think it pretty much comes with the territory.”
    “Just to be on the safe side, how about checking it out with your doctor?”
    “Sure, Dad, ” she teased, in what he assumed was her way of trying to lighten the mood. He appreciated her effort, but didn’t want her thinking she had to perform for him like a trick pony. They weren’t on a date and neither was trying to impress the other. Along with being friends came a certain freedom he found comforting.
    “Ha-ha.” He made a funny face. “But, really, you hardly ate a thing. Want me to stop off on the way home and pick up anything else? Burger? Chicken sandwich—”
    “Uh-oh...” In under thirty seconds, her expression morphed from wide-eyed surprise to wrinkled-nose displeasure to thin-lipped fear.
    “What’s wrong?” He looked to Cayden, but the boy was still going full force on his bumper car.
    “Look.” Her gaze dropped. Not only was she suddenly sitting in a puddle, but liquid had spilled off the edges of the bench seat to pool onto the red vinyl floor.
    “Is that what I think it is?”
    She nodded. “Pretty sure my water just broke.”
    “But we’ve got plenty of time, right?” How many combat situations had he been in? Yet during none of them had his pulse surged quite so fast.
    “This is mortifying. With Cayden, I was at home when this happened. Mack was on the road, but at least I had our housekeeper to help. I’m soaked. And I can’t leave this mess for—”
    “Woman,” he said with a growl, “you worry about the damnedest things. Right now, let’s get you to a hospital.”
    “But I’m wet.”
    Think, Tristan . Think.
    At the sports shop main entrance was a souvenir store featuring everything from T-shirts to purple faux Mohawk hats. Surely, they’d have something in there that was dry enough and large enough for Brynn to wear?
    “Sit tight,” he said to her. “I’ll be right back.”
    He purchased oversize sweatpants and a Batting World T-shirt, then handed the manager a few twenties to not only keep an eye on Cayden, but have Brynn’s water mopped up before she left the restroom.
    Back with the mom-to-be, he took gentle hold of her elbow, helping her from the bench. “Stick with SEALs and your every problem will vanish.”
    “Oh, yeah?” Her watery-eyed smile tugged his heartstrings. He never wanted to see any woman cry, but something about Brynn’s tears in particular threatened to crumple his usual steely calm.
    “Come on.” He steered her toward the nearest restroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up and dry. Then we’ll worry about what comes next.”
    “But Cayden...” She looked over her shoulder. “And the mess?”
    “Handled and handled. For at least the next few minutes, all you need to worry about is you.” He held open the women’s room door, offering the bag with her fresh clothes. “The store had everything but...unmentionables, so you’ll have to go commando.”
    She winced. “That’s one way of putting it.”
    “Need help?”
    “I think I’m good.” Apprehension showed in her quickened breaths and occasional winces from pain. “But if you wouldn’t mind, please hang out by the door—just in case.”
    “You got it.” Though Brynn could’ve only been in the restroom for a minute, time had a funny way of stretching when you didn’t have a clue what the next seconds might bring. Odds were, they had plenty of time to get