Conviction (Consolation Duet #2)(54)

“Ma’am?” A woman in her early forties places her hand on my shoulder.

“Yes?” I ask.

“Are you okay?” The concern in her voice is soothing.

I look around and nod. “Yes, why?”

“You’ve been standing here for a few minutes and I don’t . . .” she trails off, and I look in the cart.

I’ve been just loading jars of peanut butter into the cart. There must be about fifteen of them. “I didn’t . . .” Embarrassment is laced in my tone.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she explains.

I’m definitely not okay. I’m back almost two years ago to when my world crumbled around me. Sure, I made it through and I can do it again, but I’ll never recover. I won’t ever love again. There will be no healing, just being a mother to my two children. I’ll give them everything of me because they will be all that matters.

My hand presses against my small bump, and I pray this baby will know their father.

“He doesn’t even know,” I say aloud.

“The father?” The woman is still standing here concerned.

Tears flood my vision, and I nod. “He doesn’t even know I’m pregnant,” I say as they fall.

Her Navy Wife t-shirt lets me know she probably understands in some way. She doesn’t say a word as she pulls me into her arms. This stranger I’ve never met before comforts me in aisle three. I couldn’t cry before, and I don’t want to now, but I lose it. She rubs my back and lets my tears stain her shirt.

“Is he over there?” she asks and I tilt back.

I nod and look at her shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” I say and wipe under my eyes.

“Don’t be.” The kind woman smiles and waits a second before I nod. “Do you want me to stay for a minute?”

“No,” I smile. “I’ll be fine.”

She pats my hand, “I think I’ll just check this shelf out, I’m Lisa by the way.”

“Natalie,” I try to smile but it won’t come.

Lisa stands with me for a few minutes and helps me unload my cart of the jars. If something happens to him, I need to be prepared.

“Thank you,” I say hoping she knows it’s for more than helping restock the shelf.

“Sometimes we all need a little help,” she smiles and heads down the aisle. I watch, wishing I could say more. But she helped me more than she can imagine.

I arrive home with bags of God knows what, and Aaron is in the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”

He takes one look at me and his face falls. His brown eyes shimmer with fear, as he knows I went to get answers.

“What happened?” he asks worriedly. “I got a call from Reanell asking if I’d seen or heard from you. She told me I should talk to you.”

“They’ve lost coms,” I say with no emotion in my voice. I can’t muster anything. I’m a blank canvas on the easel. One call will define the color that gets painted and whether it’s filled with joy or sorrow. “I don’t want to think about it. I need to put this away and clean the house.”

Aaron begins to pace and it does nothing for my nerves. “Lee, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I can’t tell you how many times SEALs go dark for one reason or another. Sometimes it’s for safety and other times it’s because the equipment goes bad. It could be nothing.”

Something in Aaron’s eyes tells me he doesn’t think it’s nothing. “But you don’t think so, do you?”

“What did Rea tell you?”

“Just that Mason knew I’d be there and that was all she would say. You should go. I should probably make some meals, maybe get his car detailed, and start to get his stuff together.” I make a mental list.

There’s a lot to be done as I learned the first time.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Just wait it out. This is the choice you made, and you have to be ready to deal with it. If something didn’t happen to his mom, you’d never have known this.” He looks away.

“I did. I chose him. It doesn’t mean that if I lose him, I’ll regret anything. It means I’ll hurt and grieve all over again. Now, I need to make some meals and be ready.”

I start to walk away, but Aaron grabs my arm. “Goddammit, Lee, don’t you see? Don’t you see the life that you have to endure again? I can give you and Aarabelle the life that you deserve. I won’t leave again. You’ll never have to worry about any of this.” Aaron’s voice softens. “I won’t leave you. I’ll never hurt you again.”

“You’re doing it right now.” I rip my arm from his grasp and walk away.

Aarabelle runs into the kitchen to me, and I hoist her up. I hold on to my lifeline and anchor myself. I have to be strong. I need to believe that Liam is okay and that it’s only a problem with the equipment. Aara grips my face and gives me a kiss.

“It’ll be okay,” I say to her. “Mommy will be fine. Liam will call soon and then we’ll be okay.”

She lays her head on my shoulder, and I rub her back. I rock her back and forth, almost as if we’re dancing. “I love you, Aarabelle.”

“Yuv you,” she says in her tiny voice.

I inhale and memorize the baby smell that’s starting to leave her. This moment, in all my turmoil, Aarabelle is the light. I press my lips to her head and she sighs.