Page 7 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
I’m safe.
I’m in Austin’s van.
I think I’ve probably been asleep for a while. The light has shifted, and even though I just ate a delicious breakfast just a couple of minutes ago, my stomach rumbles.
Ark isn’t beside me any longer, so Austin must be home. I hear a child’s small voice say, “Is she a princess? Will you marry her and make her my new mommy?”
“Not a princess, Judy-Rudy,” Austin says. “Just a lady down on her luck and in need of a place to stay while she figures things out.”
“Oh. What kind of things, Daddy?”
“I don’t know,” Austin replies. “That isn’t really my business. I found her on the beach and brought her home so she could be safe while she thinks things through. If she wants us to know, she’ll tell us.”
Wow. I mean, just wow. Is this guy some sort of saint?
Ugh.
Maybe he’s not a saint, but he thinks he is one. Oh, I know the type well. When I go out there, he’s going to start preaching some kind of redemption talk at me.
Like, Jesus will save you from all your troubles. Or follow the teachings of the Dalai Lama, and be full of peace, love and harmony.
I sit up and place my bare feet on the floor. It has carpet, the cheap kind that’s easy to clean. There’s a pine air freshener swinging from the rear-view mirror.
The air is cool and comfortable. An air conditioner whispers somewhere. In a van? Really? How can you have AC in a van when the motor isn’t running? How wild is that?
I go around the partition that makes the little niche thingie. There’s a ladder down the back of it, and it’s across from the itty-bitty shower I used earlier. Next to that is a small sink, and beside it is a tiny stove with a cooktop and oven.
Across the van from that is a curtain made out of plastic strips, like you sometimes see in department stores. That must be what is keeping the cold air inside the van.
There’s a brocade curtain across the back of the van. When I turn and look up the ladder, there’s a tiny loft at the top of the ladder. A rag doll is falling half out of the loft. That must be the little girl’s bedroom.
I can see shadowy shapes through the plastic curtain. I push it aside and look out. Austin is at the grill, cooking hamburgers and frying potatoes.
The cutest little girl I’ve ever seen is sitting in a child-sized camp chair. Her short blond hair is a mass of curls all over her head. She has bright, blue eyes which seem amazingly light in her tanned face.
When she grins at something her father says, she has the most adorable gap-toothed smile I’ve ever seen. She looks a lot like Austin, if you pared him down and changed genders.
I mean, I suppose she would, if this was his kid. They have the same hair color. His blond hair, however, is buzzed short on the sides and allowed to grow long on top and down the back, giving him the effect of having a battle crest on his head.
The top part of it is caught back with a hair-tie to keep it smooth, but where it cascades down his back it is a riot of curls.
He’s wearing a navy-blue sleeveless t-shirt that shows off his biceps, and broad shoulders. His narrow hips are encased in a baggy pair of Hawaiian print shorts, while his feet are thrust into a pair of sandals that look like honest-to-Kalso genuine earth shoes!
That negative heel is so hard to find, and interesting to get used to wearing, but so healthy.
“Daddy!” the little girl shouts. “She’s awake!”
“So she is,” Austin says. “I think Introductions are in order. Lee, this is my daughter, Julia. Judy-rudy, this is my ocean foundling, named Lee.”
Julia stands up, comes over, and holds out her hand to shake, “Pleased to meet you, Lee.”
“Likewise, I’m sure,” I say automatically giving a relaxed, southern lady handshake.
“Did you get washed up out of the ocean?” Julia asks, practically quivering with excitement.
I shake my head. “No. I was unhappy, and I had walked a long way. The sand was warm, and I thought maybe the tide would wash me away.”
“That’s silly,” Julia says. “If it did that, you would drown. I almost drowned once. It wasn’t very much fun. I got water up my nose and in my eyes. But Daddy saved me before I could drown all the way.”
