Marty smiled. “As a Martha myself, I have to agree with you. All right. Missy it is. That sounds lovely.”
He gazed from his daughter to his wife. “She’s going to be just like you. I know it. An activist. Fighting injustice across the globe.”
She let out a sniff. “After what happened to me? No. I won’t allow it. She’s going to stay home and be safe.”
“I can’t disagree with you on that point, although I have to say I’m a little surprised. I honestly expected a lecture from you on how women can do anything.”
Marty snorted. “Women can. As long as they’re not my child.”
“Ah. Got it.” He enjoyed Marty wasn’t above a little hypocrisy when it came to her maternal instincts about their daughter.
“Mrs. Greenwood. These just arrived for you.” The nurse was barely visible as she entered the room burdened with an enormous flower arrangement. She set them on the windowsill.
“How beautiful. Thank you. Peter, can you see who they’re from?” Marty asked.
“There’s a card.” He stood to retrieve the small white envelope from amid the blooms. “Let’s see. It looks like it’s from that couple from your father’s country club. George Alexander and his wife.”
“That’s nice of them. And it’s not just my father’s country club. We’re there more than he is.”
“We sign in under your family’s membership so it’s theirs and we’re guests.” He scowled.
“For now. And one day, when you’re elected senator, we’ll apply for our own membership.”
Peter drew in a breath. “About that. I was thinking. With the baby and all, maybe I should reconsider running next year—"
“No. You are running for that senate seat next election. And I'll be by your side whenever you need me. We'll make it work. Together we can do anything.”
He swallowed hard, loving this woman more than he’d ever thought possible.
“I believe that.” He leaned low and pressed a kiss to her lips so she wouldn’t see the mist in his eyes her words had brought on. When he leaned back, as a distraction, he handed the card to her to read. “There’s a nice message from the Alexanders.”
She opened it and read aloud, “Congratulations on your new bundle of joy. We look forward to our family and your family sharing many years together at the club. Love, Mary, George and Zane.” Marty shook her head. “That son Zane of theirs is going to be trouble.”
Peter snorted. “Why do you think that? He’s only five.”
She put the card down. “Doesn’t matter. I can tell already.”
“It might be nice for little Missy to have another child to play with at the club. There’s not exactly a lot of children there.”
She scoffed. “Handsome boy like that. Five years older than her. I know what will happen already. She’s going to fall in love with him and he’s going to break her heart.”
Peter let out a full belly laugh. “That’s quite the romance you’ve predicted for our little Missy and the Alexander boy. Especially since she’s only a day old.”
“Pfft. Believe me. I hope I’m wrong. But you’ll see I’m right. Zane Alexander is going to be trouble. And Missy is going to like him all the more for it. Girls like bad boys.” She remained looking confident.
Peter’s brows rose. “I was never a bad boy and yet here we are. You found something in me to like, I suppose.”
“Smart girls quickly learn that bad boys might be fun for a little while, but it’s the good guy who is the keeper.”
His lips twitched, choosing to take that as a compliment, rather than be insulted it alluded to him not being fun.
He glanced at the baby again, putting the tip of his finger inside her little fist for her to squeeze. “I don’t know about your predictions for the Alexander boy. I have a good feeling about Zane. But only time will tell. We'll see.”
“Yes, we will.” She nodded, just as Missy’s eyes flew wide and she treated him to two pools of blue so like her mother’s.
He couldn’t wait to see what the future held for all of them. He also couldn’t wait to kiss both of his girls. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Missy’s forehead, then he delivered a much different kiss to the lips of the woman who’d stolen his heart from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her thirteen years ago at the Post Pub.
It seemed a lifetime away. So much had happened, both good and bad, but all he could do was focus on the lifetime ahead of them, together.
That, he was sure, would be perfect.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed my little flashback to the seventies. It was a blast to write in that time period, a time when people had to navigate life without a cell phone and a computer. And it was just as fun to delve deeper into the Greenwoods. As a married couple, they’ve appeared in two of my Hot SEALs series standalone books that feature their daughter Missy and Zane Alexander (who, as predicted, did turn out to be a bit of trouble and a bad boy). But it was so much fun to ponder how the Greenwoods met and fell in love during the turbulence of the nineteen-seventies.
Make sure you don’t miss Zane and Missy’s love story in SAVED BY A SEAL, available now in eBook, paperback and audiobook. And read about their wedding in SEAL THE DEAL. In both you’ll get to check in on Martha and Peter Greenwood decades later!
XOXO
Cat
MORE FROM CAT JOHNSON
Find all of Cat's titles available on Amazon at
Amazon.com/author/catjohnson
HOT SEALs
Night with a SEAL -Jon
Saved by a SEAL -Zane
SEALed at Midnight -Thom
Kissed by a SEAL -Chris
Protected by a SEAL -Rick
Loved by a SEAL -Brody
Tempted by a SEAL -Mack
Wed to a SEAL -Rocky
Romanced by a SEAL -Jon & Ali
Rescued by a Hot SEAL -Grant
Betting on a Hot SEAL -Dawson
Escape with a Hot SEAL -Thom & Ginny
SEAL the DEAL -Zane & Missy
Hot SEAL in Hollywood -Rick & Sierra
Desire in D.C.-Peter & Martha Greenwood
HOT FOR HIRE
a Hot SEALs series spin-off
Hot Billionaire for Hire
Hot Chick for Hire
Hot Spy for Hire
Hot Hero for Hire
SEALS IN PARADISE
Hot SEAL, Dirty Martini
Hot SEAL, Tijuana Nights
Hot SEAL, Runaway Bride
Hot SEAL, Heartbreaker
SILVER SEALS
SEAL STRONG
ABOUT CAT JOHNSON
Cat Johnson is a top 10 New York Times bestseller and the author of the USA Today bestselling Hot SEALs series. She writes contemporary romance featuring sexy alpha heroes and the sassy heroines brave enough to love them. She is known for her unique marketing. Cat has sponsored pro bull riders, owns a collection of camouflage and western wear for book signings, and has used bologna to promote romance novels.
Learn more at CatJohnson.net
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