The teenager skulked toward the refrigerator, ten pounds of attitude dragging her steps.
How had life become so complicated for all of them in the span of one year?
A truck rumbled on the street.
Julia curled her toes, tucking their painted tips out of sight. Her eyes shot straight to the window over the sink. It could be anyone's vehicle. Lots of people drove trucks. Red trucks. Slowing.
And pulling into the driveway.
No time left to wonder if Zach's reaction to her after Patrick's birth had been a fluke.
Time to find out.
Zach shut off the engine, stared at the porch light and wondered when he'd turned into a coward.
Geez, why couldn't he do something simple, like fly combat, dodge some missiles, deliver enough supplies to feed a third-world nation? But no. He had to walk into that house and find out if the rogue attraction to Julia had an anomaly, and the timing couldn't be any worse.
Flying always left him restless, pumped with excess adrenaline, in need of the very best release for all that testosterone slugging through him, in need of a bed and a woman for a few uninterrupted hours. And for the past six weeks, the only woman who came to mind was Julia. One hint of that mind-blowing image would send her long legs sprinting away from him and his girls again.
Of course, who said he had to let Julia know how he felt? He wasn't some teenager ruled by his libido. Although he felt damned close at the moment.
She might not want the military in her life, but she needed him as much as he needed her.
Time to set their friendship back on its old path.
Zach slammed his truck door closed just as the side door to the house swung open.
"Daaady!" Ivy sprinted out the kitchen door, one of Patrick's pacifiers clutched in her hand. Sailing from the porch step in a leap that would have made her ballet instructor proud, she flung herself at her father.
"Hey, kiddo. I was only gone for a couple of weeks."
"Missed you."
"I missed you too." He hugged her, amazed for probably the millionth time at how much he could love another person. Until Shelby was born, he'd never had a clue. He glanced through the open door. His older daughter buried her head in the fridge.
"Hey, Shel."
Not even bothering to turn toward him, she waggled a wave over her shoulder, already headed for the hall with a soda can in hand. '"Night, Colonel."
Okay, so it wasn't enthusiastic, but at least she'd kept the normal Shelby-zinger to herself.
Zach swung Ivy to his back. She looped her arms around his neck, hanging like a monkey as she'd done countless times. He lumbered up the steps and into the house.
Tossing his helmet bag and radio onto the counter, he lowered Ivy to the ground and prepped himself to face Julia for the first time in six weeks. He turned, not a hundred percent sure if he wanted the attraction to have been an aberration or not.
She sat at his table.
Just sat. No special or seductive pose. Just Julia in khaki overalls sitting cross-legged, her tangled curls pulled back from her face by some kind of band behind her ears. Chocolate smudged her cheek, exhaustion smudged her eyes.
She was a mess. She was gorgeous.
Then she smiled.
Ah, hell. Beyond gorgeous. Not even a full-out smile this time, just a half grin pulled at her full lips, lips trembling it the corners.
Something shifted inside him, something he'd cemented into place years ago out of a need for survival so strong nothing should have shaken it loose. The hell of it was, he could swear he saw an answering attraction in her eyes.
"Colonel?"