Cheryl Wyatt - Soldier Daddy

One who said how she felt and what she thought, and didn’t waver on what she wanted. Or feel the need to hide the fact from others.

And just as soon as his mouth caught up to his brain and figured out how to speak again, he’d tell Sarah so.

Aaron issued himself a mental reprimand while crunching across the loose gravel in his driveway. When she’d said she hoped he’d call, his mind took it the wrong way. Clearly, she wanted to be a nanny to his boys. And clearly her statement had nothing to do with her hoping on a personal level that he’d be in touch.

Right?

At his SUV, he turned to wave to her and caught the bolts of attraction flashing back and forth between them. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t imagined it. Maybe this connection did run both ways…

CHERYL WYATT

An RN turned stay-at-home-mom and wife, Cheryl delights in the stolen moments God gives her to write action and faith-driven romance. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. She’s convinced that having been born on a naval base on Valentine’s Day destined her to write military romance. A native of San Diego, California, Cheryl currently resides in beautiful, rustic Southern Illinois, but has also enjoyed living in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Cheryl loves hearing from readers. You are invited to contact her at Cheryl@CherylWyatt.com or P.O. Box 2955, Carbondale, IL 62902–2955. Visit her on the Web at www.CherylWyatt.com and sign up for her newsletter if you’d like updates on new releases, events and other fun stuff. Hang out with her in the blogosphere at www.Scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com or on the message boards at www.SteepleHill.com.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

—Romans 5:5

I would like to dedicate this book to my newsletter “name a character contest” winners and to my many research helpers for this book. Enormous thanks to:

Teresa Eaves, who won the opportunity to name one of the twins. “Bryce” so well suits this little shy guy. Congrats!

Congrats to Janna Ryan who won the opportunity to help name the heroine of this book. “Sarah” totally fit!

Marcie Sheumaker, for help with all things nanny-related. Your friendship is a tremendous blessing.

Huge thanks to E. Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, Founder and CEO, The Options News Network, www.ONN.tv, who flew military combat missions for fifteen years. Thank you, “Whiz,” for your outstanding service to our country. “Check6!”

Big Boo-ya! to Kelly Mortimer for connecting me with this research contact. You have a heart of gold, girl! You always fly above and beyond the call of duty.

To Patti Jo Moore (my squirrel-loving buddy!) and her nephew, Cpt. Steven B. Skipper—USAF. What an amazing and honorable job you have keeping our leaders safe.

To Kathy Kovack and her military family members for helping with AF lingo for every generation of servicemen. God bless your hubby and sons for serving! To Shannon McNear and Debbie Lynne Costello and their AF hubbies, Donna Moore and her AF dad, Tina E. Pinson, Carol Umberger and all other www.acfw.com members I may have missed who assisted with research. You all are the best!

Any remaining errors are my own.

Thanks to the Reynolds family for prompting the idea of an imaginary gaggle of geese. Only your house was stricken with an imaginary flock of unruly crows! Grin.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Questions for Discussion

“Ooh, Aaron, she’s so young! And pretty!” Mina Garcia, housekeeper and longtime family friend of U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Aaron Petrowski, clapped her dark hands together. She peeked out the Petrowski home window as the nanny applicant exited her car. The very young and vivacious applicant, very unlike the empty-nested grandmotherly types who’d interviewed so far.

Mina clutched Aaron’s sleeve and continued to emit strange little squeaks as the trim-but-not-too-thin blonde crunched across a calico pattern of fallen leaves carpeting the yard he really should have raked. “Aaron Michael! Shame on you for not telling me how glaringly gorgeous she is!”

Glaringly gorgeous? That hadn’t even entered his mind yesterday at the agency. What had attracted him were Sarah’s on-paper credentials and her enthusiasm and gratitude over being chosen as a candidate for the job.

Trek paused, Sarah bent to pull a punctured leaf from her conservative but classy spiked heel. When she stood and eyed the house, catching a glimpse of them watching from the window, her excited wave and ready smile rivaled September’s sun. Glaringly gorgeous?

Yeah, now that Mina mentioned it…

Aaron eyed Mina cautiously. “You haven’t acted this excited about any of the other applicants, Mina. Please tell me you’re not trying to find us something more permanent than a nanny?”

“What? Me?” Mischief twinkled from wise Hispanic eyes as she waltzed to the door with an agility and ease that told him she might have been exaggerating her “aches and pains” of late.

Though his boys could benefit from another mother, the last thing Aaron needed was another wife. The current state of his career wasn’t conducive to relationships.

So why then did his heart suddenly start skipping beats as he stretched to peer around his housekeeper for a glimpse of Miss Sarah Graham, the woman he’d met at the agency yesterday?

“Hi! Hi! Come on in!” Mina grabbed Sarah’s arm and pulled her inside, nearly robbing the young lady of her balance. Mina’s exuberance left petite Sarah looking vaguely shell-shocked.

Mina suddenly possessed the lightness of a butterfly and the speed of a cheetah. Never before had she hugged any of the other applicants. All of them she’d eyed, hawklike, and interrogated, then shooed from his home in sputters of disgust.

Onto Mina’s game, Aaron couldn’t help it. He chuckled.

Sarah stepped farther inside and lifted her head at the sound. Their gazes locked for a very electric second.

A creamy glow graced her face. Layered light blond hair with trendy dark streaks fell in luxurious locks around her shoulders with every graceful movement. Wow. Beautiful indeed. Though dressed more executively today, she still looked way younger than most other applicants.

And…he should not be noticing that. At forty, he had to be at least ten years her senior. More like fifteen.

The draw of Sarah’s lovely smile as she stuck out her hand to shake his made him forget what he was about to say. “Mr. Petrowski. Nice to see you again. This is Mina, I take it?” Sarah’s expression went from nervous to warm when Mina vigorously shook her hand. Sarah eyed her curiously, then shifted to face him.

He cleared his throat. “Please, do come in.” Major Duh, Sergeant Goof. She was already in. “Farther in, rather.” He scratched his eyebrow and straightened his mouth to keep from laughing at himself.