Stolen Moments (And Then Came Love Book 2) (22 page)

“You knew her as a kid?”

“We grew up together. We were high school sweethearts. Everyone always said we’d get married and spend the rest of our lives together. I thought we would too, but it didn’t happen that way. She resented the fact I went into the military and wasn’t around.”

Arianna glanced at the picture again. “You were stationed in Germany.”

“Two years we were supposed to be there. Greta, Lin, and the boys were there. Ulrik was born in a German hospital not long after that picture was taken.” Dustin stopped. “I fell in love with Greta the moment I saw her. There was this chemistry ... and I knew. It was nothing like with your mother.”

“And the affair?”

“Didn’t start until after Lin died. I never would have done that to my friend and mentor. And she never would have done that to her husband.”

“You're damn right I wouldn’t have.” Greta leveled a glare at him as she walked into the room holding a broom and dustpan. “And if I had known you were married it never would have happened, and you can take that knowledge to the bank!”

“He was your friend, but didn’t know you were married?” Dustin shook his head.

“I didn’t talk about Juliet. She wasn’t with me. I was faithful until Greta. I was looking for a way out and chose the wrong way.” Dustin looked down at his hands. “Our assignment took us into the desert. I won’t say much about the time, place, or the operation name, because I don’t know how much has been released. I’d been drafted into special forces, they found I had a proficiency with the tow missile system.”

Trevor laughed. “Who knew the military drafted people into things?”

Dustin looked over at him. “You served?”

“I did my time. I got out about two months ago.”

“Thank you for your service.”

“Thank you for yours.”

Dustin turned back to Arianna. “We were in a plane, behind a helicopter. No one was supposed to know we were there. It was a covert operation. The helicopter was shot down, no survivors.” His eyes glossed over, and for a moment, he was in another time and place. “ Our plane was hit bad enough we needed to evacuate. Lin told me if he didn’t make it out to take care of Greta. He then strapped the last parachute on me and said he’d be right behind me. Another round hit the plane shortly after and it went down.”

Arianna’s eyes widened. “You’re sure he didn’t make it out?”

“I-I found his remains a few hours later. I brought the dog tags back to Greta.”

Greta cleared her throat. “Don’t you think you should tell her the rest?”

Dustin let out a sigh. “The military refused to acknowledge our presence. Our team hiked out of the desert. Seven of us landed that day, four of us made it out. We hiked through enemy territory to another country and straight to the U.S. embassy before we were able to contact the military and get ourselves out. I won’t say which one.”

“That’s something we didn’t read about in history class.”

“You wouldn’t.” Trevor shook his head. “That would have been a classified operation that no one would have heard about.”

“It took us two weeks to reach the embassy, we were sick, dehydrated, and exhausted. It took us another three weeks to recover and going through debriefing. I spent the next six months holed up at Greta’s, recovering my sanity.”

Arianna shook her head. “Were you off duty for that time?”

“They gave me a desk job, more of a nine to five kind of thing for that period. I ended up going back to the states after that. They stationed me in Georgia for the next year and a half. Your mother was with me then. I tried to forget about Greta and work it out with your mom, but she didn’t make it easier either.”

“I don’t think she ever made anything easy.”

“No.” Dustin smiled. “When they transferred me the next time, your Mom refused to go. I ended up in Minnesota for a short time and ran into Greta again. That’s when the affair happened. Once I saw her, I knew I’d never be able to be without her. I decided the next time I went home I’d file for divorce from your mother.”

“But when you got there she was pregnant with me.”

Dustin nodded. “She told me she was pregnant. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t abandon her and you, but knew I wasn’t going to be happy. I went back to Minnesota and broke the news to Greta, finally told her I was married. I believe she slapped me.”

“I did.” Greta nodded. “I don’t handle cheating well, especially when I take part in it unknowingly.”

“That’s when she told me she was also pregnant. She said she wouldn’t be with me unless and until I divorced my wife.” Dustin sighed. “Greta had family around who could help her with the baby. Your mother didn’t. I stayed when I shouldn’t have. I was transferred a couple times after that and made your mother come with me. She refused the last time and you two went back to Omaha. I ended up on another year long mission overseas. And then I retired. I took a job as a private investigator through Kurt’s firm. Your mother still thought I was in the military. I split my time between Omaha and Roselv, trying to take care of both my children.”

“What made you give up on Mom?”

“I’d had enough of her lies and guilt trips into making me stay with her. I came home the last time and told her that I was done. We were getting a divorce. She told me she was pregnant and I told her I’d send child support. I was going back to Minnesota and there was nothing she could do about it.”

“Why didn’t you take me with you?”

“Because I was a terrible father and didn’t realize your mother wasn’t taking care of you right. Half the time I spent taking care of my son in Minnesota, sitting right next to the woman I loved and not being able to do anything about it. I was more concerned about me than I was about my daughter and you unfortunately paid for that.”

Arianna looked down at her lap and let the tears fall.

“I’m to blame. I made the mistakes too. I never wanted you to be hurt, but again, I was concerned with me, instead of you.” Dustin clenched his fists. “I’ve kicked myself every day since I received that email saying you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“You didn’t care about me any more than Mom did.” Arianna handed the photos to Dustin and stood. She wiped a tear from her eye and walked toward the door.

A hand caught her arm.

She spun around. “What?”

“Wait.” Trevor put his arm around her.

“Why should I?” Tears ran in streams down her cheeks. “No one cared about me. I was caught between in two love affairs. One that never should have been and the other that couldn’t be. Neither of my parents could get over themselves enough to take care of a fifteen-year-old who needed them.” She twisted out of his arm and ran to the car. This was a bad idea. A terrible idea even. Instead of thinking that maybe one of her parents cared, but he didn’t.

She climbed into the passenger’s seat to wait.

Dustin sat in the driver’s seat.

She reached for the door handle.

“Please stay and listen?”

Arianna rolled her eyes. “So you can convince me more you don’t care.”

“I do care, Arianna. I want to be in your life. I want to be in your sister’s life. I talked to your sister all the time on the phone until your mother moved and I lost contact. I visited her frequently. I always asked your Mom about you. I wanted to see you, but by that time, I was convinced you didn’t want to see me. Your mother lied every time I saw her.”

“Go.” Arianna stared out the window.

“I love you, Arianna.” Dustin touched her shoulder before getting out of the car.

Arianna waited.

When the car door opened again, she turned expecting Trevor. Instead it was Greta.

“Honey, you don’t know me and you think I’m part of the problem, but do you mind if I talk to you for a bit?”

Arianna shrugged. “You’re the only one who seems to genuinely care.”

“I do, honey, I do. You’re my step-daughter and despite everything you’ve heard today I care, deeply.” Greta put her hand on Arianna’s shoulder.

Arianna turned to look at her. “Did you ever do what he did? Did you ever get to the point that you didn’t care about your own children?”

“He always cared about you. He wanted to be with you. We know your mother sent that e-mail, but that tore him up inside. If you could read what it said, I’m sure a part of you would understand.”

“I have a fifteen-year-old daughter, Greta. She is my world. As much as I love Trevor, I would give him up if it meant my daughter’s safety.” Arianna stared across the yard to where Trevor stood on the porch. “I can’t imagine my life without him, but my daughter comes first.”

“Your Dad had two kids to think about. He thought you were in good hands with your mother. He did the wrong thing in not trying to take you with him, but courts don’t give custody to fathers. Do you think they would have back when you were fifteen? Mothers received custody unless you could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a mother was abusive or unfit.”

“All my life I’ve wanted to be able to say that one parent cared about me.”

“Your father does care about you. He may not have shown it as well as he should have, but he does care. Talk to Trevor, he’ll understand that military end of it more. Your Dad was screwed up from that mission in the desert. More than you’ll ever know. I knew a lot more about the military and what was going on with him. My family helped him recover from what he’d been through.” Greta patted her arm. “My mother was a nurse in the war.and you know all about Uncle Kurt. My father was part of the Norwegian resistance.”

Arianna nodded. “Candace lives with me in Indiana. She’s due in about a month if you want to come see her. She has her whole life ahead of her, we’ve discussed it and I’m going to be the baby’s guardian until she gets to the point she can handle raising a child.”

“That was quite a change of subject.”

“I don’t know what else to say.” Arianna shrugged. “I need time to think.”

“You take all the time you need. We’ll be here if you need us and you better believe we’ll be making our way to Indiana to see your sister. I’ll gladly be of any help you need with that baby too.”

“Has Candace met you?”

Greta nodded. “We’ve met quite a few times. I’m not sure what she thinks of me, but we’ve spent some time together.”

“I think I’ll call my sister.” Arianna frowned at the word. It felt strange rolling off her tongue. “I’ve been an only child for thirty years and now I find out I have a sister.”

“One full sister, a half-sister and a half-brother, and two step brothers.” Greta corrected.

Arianna laughed. “I went from having no siblings to five in one afternoon.”

“It gets a little confusing for them too.” Greta smiled.

“Thank you.” Arianna squeezed Greta’s hand. “I would like to meet them at some point, my siblings.”

“Oh you will, honey. Even if I have to leave your Dad at home, I’ll make sure you meet your siblings.”

Arianna grinned. “You’re more of what I always thought a mother should be.”

“Didn’t you say you had someone to take care of you?”

“Mina’s grandparents, took care of me when I was pregnant and through school and all. Scott was a change of life baby and an only child. They were in their fifties when I came into their life. They treated both Mina and I more like grandchildren than like their child.”

“That’s sad. I wish I would have persuaded Dustin to find you.” Greta sighed.

“Tell my Dad I’m trying to figure out how I feel.”

Greta nodded. “Gladly. And if you need anything you give me a holler. I’ll be your ear to bend or your shoulder to cry on any day of the week and any time of the day.”

Arianna leaned across the console, hugged Greta, let her go quickly, and sat back in her seat. Why was it easier to feel a connection to the one person she wasn’t blood related too?

Greta smiled as she climbed out of the car. She gave Trevor a hug as he came over to her. “You have a good woman there and you take good care of you, hear? Or you’ll have to deal with me.”

A smile crept across Arianna’s face. She felt loved.

“I have every intention of taking care of her. No problems from me.” Trevor waved as he got in the car. “Did you get everything worked out?”

“I have some thinking to do, but in the end, I think I may end up having a decent relationship with my father.”

“Glad to hear.” Trevor nodded as he started the car.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For urging me into something I didn’t think I wanted to do.”

“You’re welcome.” Trevor winked as he turned the car around and headed down the driveway.

*****

Arianna moved the food around on her plate. It was excellent, but her appetite was gone since the conversation with her father.

There was a gentle tap on her shoulder as the plates were cleared from the table.

She turned to see Kurt’s blue eyes fixed on her, a concerned frown creasing his face.

He motioned with his head toward the back porch. “You look as if you need an ear to bend.”

Arianna nodded and followed him outside.