She'd done so much for his girls during a year when most would have holed-up with their grief. She'd put him first today with that kiss of hers.
And what had he done for her?
He hadn't even changed out of his damned flight suit.
"Sorry there wasn't time to put together more of show for today's ceremony."
"No need to apologize. I had all of that first go-round." Julia twirled her fork through the food on her plate. "Actually, I prefer it this way. The fewer memories of the past the better."
"I can understand that." Yet he could see those memories misting through her eyes anyway and kicked himself for resurrecting them.
"At least with the children, you and I actually have more in common than Lance and I ever did." A grin teased at her lips. "He was my great rebellion."
"Run that one by me again?"
"I'd just finished college and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
Like most people starting out, I was convinced that whatever I chose, it would have to be the complete opposite of my parents." She paused waving a fork at him. "Now don't laugh, but believe it or not, I was ready to leave behind the Julia-Moonglow name from my childhood."
He smiled back, all the while thinking how the name fit.
"And into that coffee shop walked Lance with all his military bearing and conservatism at a time when I planned to be an architect and build the perfect house for myself. Man, were both of us in for a shock a couple years later when we realized what a mess we'd made."
She stared down at her rice until the faraway haze faded from her eyes. With a sigh and smile, she shrugged off the past. "Maybe there's your answer with Shelby. Let your hair grow and join a heavy metal band so she'll do the opposite."
Her slightly wicked laughter skipped across the few inches separating them, enticing him to make this wedding night real. He cleared his throat and wished his thoughts were as easily controlled. "Do you think I'd look good with a mullet?"
"On second thought," she said, reaching to smooth back hair that never grew long enough to fall out of place. "Leave it just like it is. Shelby will eventually come to the same conclusion I did. My parents are people who did the very best they could and maybe I should learn a few things from them after all."
"They brought up a great daughter." Who spent her life making perfect doll houses for other people. Who'd taken on him and his daughters to make a home for them.
And he'd pulled her out of the first real house she'd ever had. But his job mandated he live on base. He didn't have a choice on this one if he wanted to keep paying his bills.
"Your house will still be there for you at the end of the year."
She shook out a napkin. "I put away those home-and-hearth dreams a long time ago."
Gripping her wrist, he stopped her restless motion, wanting her to listen. The napkin draped from her fingers like a white flag of surrender.
"Julia, this was the right thing to do."
"I know." She gently tugged her arm free and nudged his plate toward him. "Quit thinking so hard and eat."
She savored a bite of an egg roll with a contented sigh, taking the typical Julia-Moonglow joy from every experience. A real sensualist.
He stifled an entirely different kind of moan.
It was going to be a long night.
For once, he was grateful for his killer schedule. He did not need time on his hands to think about how natural Julia looked sitting cross-legged in his dining room. And he absolutely did not need more nights alone in the house with Julia, a big bed and an attraction that didn't show any signs of letting up.
Zach shoved aside the persistent voice telling him for once he should have thought twice before launching into this plan of action.
* * *
"Measure twice, cut once, girls." Julia lined up the slim oak planks along the sawhorses under the carport in her makeshift workshop. If only she could be as cautious in life as she was with her woodworking. The past four weeks of marriage had proven how perfect the solution could be for the children— and how frustrating as hell for the adults.
Julia gave herself a mental shake. She wouldn't let doubts ruin this beautiful afternoon and the rare opportunity to indulge her creative muse. By the end of the week, she would have Zach's Christmas gift complete. A glider for the screened-in porch, the latest in her string of never-ending attempts to teach the man to relax.