Page 9 of Colvin
Colvin hugged her. “Same, beautiful girl. I’m so grateful to whoever that woman was, the no-show, because she cleared the way for me to meet you. If I were a fanciful man, I’d say I was dreaming right now. Fortunately I’m a hardheaded soldier and I know you’re my reality. My future, I hope.”
Struck by guilt, she blinked and shifted position.
“Too soon?” he asked. “I’m willing to take this at whatever speed you need to go but you need to know I’m all in.”
She took his hand and placed it on her silvery stretch marks. “I have a son. His name is Darien and he’s three. He’s the light of my life and I—I have to be very sure before I let someone new into my world. I’m sorry I haven’t been completely open with you.”
“No, I understand,” Colvin’s deep voice rumbled through her and she knew he was being truthful. “I admire you for protecting him. Is he here, on Resort Planet?”
“Yes. IDA is a family friendly employer so there’s an excellent childcare facility and one of his favorite teachers is staying with him while I’m on this…date.” She bit her lip and fidgeted. “How are we going to make this work? You’re leaving in three days and you’ll be deployed and I won’t see you again for what, a year? I can’t introduce you to Darien and then three days later you’re gone. Kids form attachments fast?—”
Colvin chuckled and dropped a kiss on her hair. “Beautiful girl, don’t get yourself all twisted up. I can extend my leave a few weeks and if IDA will let me stay on the planet, we can take things one step at a time. I’d be honored to meet your son and let him get to know me. My next assignment isn’t a place where I’d want to have my family but we could arrange to meet somewhere in between here and there for a visit. And if this connection between the two of us is as rock solid as I believe it’s going to be, I’ll leave the military and find other employment on Ardana Prime.” He gave her a wry smile. “There’s a market for has been generals, believe it or not, in several fields from defense industry to high level security.”
Ivy was rocked to the core to hear he’d leave the military for her but now it was time for more true confessions. “I can’t travel,” she said in a low voice.
He was silent for a moment. “May I ask why not?”
“My ex, Darien’s father. He’s a threat to my son and to me. We’re safe here—he doesn’t know where we are and IDA has security forces on the planet—but I can’t take a chance of going offworld.”
“You’d be safe anywhere I am,” Colvin said. “And no one is gaining access to Ardanna Prime who’s a threat to the woman I love.”
Now she sat up and reached for her clothes, not wanting to discuss the subject naked. The breeze from the ocean made her shiver, away from Colvin’s warmth. “It’s complicated.”
He watched her until she was fully clothed and then he tugged on his jeans. “Do you still have feelings for him?”
Ivy gave him a horrified look. “Lords of Space no. He terrifies me. Any affection between us died years ago.” Reaching a decision, she sat cross legged on the blanket and took a deep breath. “Ronn and I grew up in the same neighborhood on Old Earth. Not to be refined about it, it was a slum. My mother was a single mom like me, working as a waitress and she constantly stressed education was going to be my way out. I was a good student and I got scholarships and mentorships and she was right about my path to a better life. But I was close to Ronn from the time we were young kids. He protected me when I was at home and on the streets and treated me like a princess.” She swallowed hard. “I kind of idolized him and I was so proud of my bad boy—other girls envied me for being his girlfriend. I thought I was in love with him so even after I graduated from college and got an internship and then a job at IDA, we dated and eventually we moved in together. My mother had died and Ronn took care of everything for me and was there for me. In retrospect I can see it was all part of his obsession with me but at the time I had him on a pedestal as a special guy. My diamond in the rough” Her smile was rueful.
“And he lived on what you brought home?” Colvin asked with scorn.
The idea startled a laugh from her. “On the contrary, even as a kid he ran with the local gang and had pockets full of credits but then he hooked up with the Amarotu Combine—you’ve heard of them?”
“The interstellar crime syndicate? Who hasn’t?”
“He took the blood oath and moved up the ranks, making more and more illicit credits and I began to be afraid of him but he’d isolated me from everyone I knew except at work and controlled my life in every respect except at the office. What I wore, what I ate…” She blinked away tears. “I think in hindsight he might even have had my mother killed because she was so opposed to me being with him and was trying to break us up. When I got pregnant, it wasn’t planned but he was ecstatic. He boasted about how he was going to raise his son in the Combine and how Darien would become his heir. He was obsessed with both of us but especially my son. I couldn’t let Darien grow up in a criminal, harsh environment. Ronn got physically abusive to me and I finally broke down and confessed my fears to my mentor at work and she helped me get the job I have now and take Darien and escape from Earth to here, where Ronn can’t find us. But I know the Combine is spread throughout the Sectors and I can’t risk traveling and leaving a trail Ronn could uncover. Knowing him, he probably has a bounty out on our heads.”
Colvin pulled her in for a hug and she relaxed into his comforting embrace. “I think the situation can be handled but not today. I’m glad you chose to confide in me.”
“Are you disgusted?” she asked. “I was such a fool for so long.”
“You were a woman who thought she was loved and who trusted an old friend. And when it came to your son’s life and welfare, you acted, at great risk to yourself, no doubt. I admire your strength. Disgusted would be the last word to ever cross my mind in relation to you. We’re together now—you don’t have to handle it all on your own.”
“Did you mean what you said, that you love me?” she asked.
“I’ve never said the word to any other woman and I never will. I know it’s only been a short time but I know my heart and my heart wants only you. I’ve waited a long time to say that to the right woman. Too long a time probably. I’m at least fifteen years older than you are in calendar years and probably two centuries older in lived experience, being at war and seeing the sights I’ve seen. The things I’ve done. I can understand if you have reservations about the age difference between us.”
Astonished, Ivy moved so she could see his face. “Our ages are irrelevant to me. I’ve fallen in love with you too and my only hesitation about introducing you to Darien is the issue of your departure.”
“Which I’ve told you I can delay to a limited extent.”
“But what about my career? I’ve worked so hard to reach the level I’m at and I love what I do.” The idea of quitting her job and becoming a stay home mother on a planet where she’d never set foot before was frightening. She’d love to have more time with Darien and she’d find plenty to occupy her time but she wasn’t done climbing the corporate ladder and achieving her goals for herself.
“I’d never ask you to abandon your professional life,” he said. “We have businesses on Ardanna too you know, even some with more intergalactic reach than IDA. Come to think of it, IDA has a big liaison office on Ardanna Prime, to handle this matching operation. It might be possible for you to simply transfer. But what I think we should do right now is go for a swim in the beautiful ocean right over there and then have a relaxing lunch. There’ll be time enough for us to be serious and make our plans for arranging the future we both want later.”
Ivy slapped her forehead lightly and groaned. “I was so busy thinking about the AGcycle and the picnic this morning I forgot to pack a bathing suit.”.
“This is a nude beach,” he informed her with a grin, shucking the jeans he’d just put on. “We set the standard earlier. Race you to the water!”
Colvin took off like a kid, dashing toward the waves. Ivy giggled and pulled off her garments, dropping them in a messy pile on the blanket before dashing across the sand to join him. Her heart was full and she was happy and even if there were a lot of challenges ahead to make this whirlwind relationship work, she wasn’t facing them alone.
