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5
“Gavin!” Ian said when his son picked up the phone the next morning. “So, you’re up and about, yeah?” Did his son’s grunt in reply to that mean yes? “Okay. So—”
“I know you’re calling me on the landline to check I’m still in the house,” Gavin interrupted.
“I absolutely am,” Ian agreed. No sense in lying about it. Gavin should know that his father would be keeping a close eye on him. “And to check you know what you have to do today. Schoolwork first.” The meeting with the principal had gone well, and Gavin was cleared to return to class on Monday—but first he had a little to catch up on after his hospitalization and suspension. The assignments were all available online—Gavin had no excuse not to do them.
“First? What’s after?” Gavin’s tone held suspicion.
“I left a list of chores.”
Gavin’s sigh came heavy across the air and into the car. “I can’t stay cooped up all day and night. I need fresh air, Dad. Where are you?” he demanded.
“Running a few errands.” Ian checked the oncoming traffic and made the turn to Sofia’s road. “Hey, talking of running, how about when I get back, we go out, get some exercise, if you get everything done?” His son was right about one thing—he did need to get outside.
Gavin wasn’t keen on that.
“Well, you’re helping get the groceries, then,” Ian said firmly. It wasn’t the best father-son bonding activity ever but… “I have to go. I’ll check in later, give you my ETA.”
With a “You mean what time you’re going to get home. I’m not in the Army,” and the curtest of goodbyes, Gavin cut the call.
Ian exhaled, wishing Gavin was in the military…in Ian’s unit. The kid’s attitude would get adjusted, and he’d be so much easier to deal with if Ian could make him drop and give him twenty every time Gavin mouthed off. No, he’d have the boy doing the basic two-two-two fitness run-through: two minutes of sit-ups, two of push-ups, and a two-mile run. Then any grunt Gavin gave would be from exertion.
But that wasn’t an option, so he was going to have to find another way to get through to his son. Tension had just been building between them since the hospital, and he knew that the two of them were going to get into it sooner or later. It was there, on the horizon, like a storm front gathering out on the bay. Well, could be a big blow-up was the best. Get it all over and done. Until then, Ian would do everything he could to stay strong for Gavin, just as he was for Sofia.
And as he’d soon have to do for the baby on the way.
Compartmentalizing, Ian switched tacks to what he was here to do. He stationed his car and exited. “Hi,” he greeted Sofia, who opened the door to her one-story before he could knock on it. He scanned her, checking for fatigue or signs of a sleepless night. She did look tired, but he couldn’t be sure of the cause. Maybe it was a pregnancy thing? He hadn’t been around for much of Allison’s. “Ready to go security camera shopping?”
Sofia laughed, taking him aback. “Is that the SEAL way?” she asked. “Whereas other men plan picnics or, say, a bike ride for a date…” She turned bright red. “Oh. I didn’t mean to imply that we, that this—”
“I know.” Ian smiled. “It was funny.” He gestured for her to go ahead of him along the sidewalk.
Sofia was wearing jeans that showcased her pert rear and those toned, supple legs he still remembered in that short dress the night they’d met. Her long-sleeved tee wasn’t low-cut or tight-fitting, but managed to be incredibly sexy all the same. No, she was sexy, Ian acknowledged. Well, he knew that.
“Ian?” Sofia shaded her eyes against the sun.
“Yes?” Her tone told him she was repeating his name, and that he must have missed her question while he was ogling her.
“I asked if Gavin was doing better?”
Ian gave a Gavin-worthy eye roll and sigh in answer, and Sofia broke into a peal of laughter. He loved that sound.
“It’ll be okay, you know,” she told him, her face sympathetic. “You’ll both come out the other side of this.”
“I’ll have to take your word on that,” Ian replied as they settled into the car. On the drive to the big-box store, they maintained easy, casual conversation, but her eyes went wide when they arrived at their destination and she saw how many options there were in the home security aisles. “I have to admit I’m a little lost.”
An assistant was hovering, blatantly checking out Sofia where she stood, twirling her finger into the end of her ponytail, until Ian’s scowl sent him away.
“This is a whole new world,” Sofia continued, oblivious to the attention she garnered. She indicated a shelf. “Outdoor security or doorbell camera? Then when you decide that, the next step seems to be a power source. Batteries, solar energy, or plug-in equipment?”
Ian grinned. “And if battery, what sort and what life?”
“Don’t mock me!” Sofia pretend-pouted. “Just because I don’t know the advantages of motion-activated over continuous recording!”
“And if motion-activated, do you want floodlights or sirens or both? And why just motion-activated? Why not sound-triggered?” Ian threw in, pointing to a selection when Sofia whirled on him in disbelief. “And person detection or face recognition?” he added, all in one breath on a fake cough into his hand.
“I give in!” Sofia threw up her hands. “I didn’t even know this many options existed! And hey, how do you know all this? I thought Charlie was… Oh, I see. You picked his brains.” She prodded him in the chest.
