"Daddy, marry Sandra so I have a mom."
Out of the mouths of innocents. Whatever spark Charlotte saw when Wyatt glanced at Sandy couldn't be helped. She was his past, but there was no way he could explain to his daughter that Sandy Marshall thought he was the worst sort of devil. He changed his shirt to a light blue button-down that contrasted with his dark hair and eyes, and then figured out how to answer. "It's not that easy."
Charlotte rummaged through her bag and found a coloring book as Candy Cane sat beside her, calm and peaceful. She plopped onto the bed and kicked her feet in the air. "Why not? She likes you."
"Like" was probably more like "despise," or even worse, "forgotten." There was no way Sandy Marshall had thought about him for more than a second these past few years. He was the one that ruined his chances with her. He shook his head as he buttoned his shirt. "That's not possible."
Charlotte's head popped up from the coloring book. "Why not?"
Too much water under the bridge—not that he needed to explain that to his five-year-old. He combed his hair and avoided her direct stare. "The last time we saw each other, I hurt her."
"How?"
She found another woman in my apartment when she came to visit me. That wasn't something he could explain to Charlotte. He picked up a paisley tie and held it to his neck. "I never said I was sorry."
Charlotte petted her dog. "So say sorry and then ask her to marry you."
He tossed his tie into the closet. He'd do without it. He might be giving Penny away, but he didn't need to be confined yet. "Right now, I need to go help your aunt Penny. We'll talk about us when I get back."
His parents were coming to watch Charlotte. He paced.
Then he flexed his muscles in the mirror and wondered if he had melted from being near Sandy Marshall earlier. He'd avoided the vanilla with colorful sprinkles scent since he returned to Miami a few weeks ago. Now he couldn't. His half-sister's wedding meant he'd be in close quarters with her.
A knock sounded on the door, and he went to open it. He stepped out of the way to let his father inside. "Dad, I'm sure Penny is glad you're here."
His father waved at Charlotte as he said, "Your mom came to babysit Charlotte, but at least we get to be united for once."
"Penny's mom is giving her a hard time." His mother wouldn't want any of them involved, but Penny was both a friend and his sister. Penny's mom had tried to break up his parents years ago when she tricked his father with her pregnancy, but his mother was also pregnant. His father had begged his mother to forgive him, and they were still together. However, Penny was still his half-sister, and they'd gone to school together. He'd not trade his sister for anything.
"We'll do what we can for your sister. Any solution to the lawsuit?"
After Jessica died, the man Jessica feared might be Charlotte's father, whom she had run from years ago, had threatened to take his daughter. It was clearly a money suit, but his parents never had to know all the details about his "marriage." "No. But Jessica was my wife, and I won't let a stranger take Charlotte from me now."
"Is there any woman you can marry fast to show the court your traveling around the world for the Marines is over and that you can provide a stable home?"
This conversation should not be happening near her Charlotte, and they needed to not let her hear any more of this conversation. He walked out onto the balcony, waited for his father, and then closed the door. "I've already had one loveless marriage, Dad. Can't I want what Penny and Jay seem to have for once?"
"First make an alliance, but have the lawyer ensure you have an 'out' clause. Then, once your family is secure, and no one can take our Charlotte, you can look for love."
"Dad, I get it." He didn't expect the type of love that caused fireworks to go off inside his stomach from one touch of her skin. He had that that summer after high school, with Sandy. Then he ruined everything.
He tugged his shirt. "Penny's getting married. We'll talk about this later."
He slid the balcony door open and kissed his daughter on her cheek. "Charlotte, stay with your grandpa. He's taking you to Grandma's, and I'm going to meet your aunt Penny to see if she needs me."
"Okay, Daddy," Charlotte said without worry. Candy Cane barked, like she was there for his daughter too.
She was the best part of his short-lived marriage. Even if she wasn't his genetically, he'd proposed to Jessica to protect his daughter. Before she died, she had admitted she set him up to be her father's child, knowing he would provide Charlotte with security and protection from her abusive ex. He promised her he'd guard Charlotte with his life, and no one was going to take her away.
As he walked through the corridor of the ship and headed up the stairs for the spa, he focused on his surroundings. The ship rocked gently in the Caribbean Sea as they sailed toward Cozumel. The blue waters would be soothing to see. Soon the ocean would surround them, and for the next few days, he had no worries. Penny was marrying Jay, whom he also knew from high school, and they made a sweet pair.
As he rounded the last flight of stairs to the door of the spa and gym, he held his breath. Wyatt wondered if he'd see Sandy inside, and if she had any idea that his hands had a pins-and-needles sensation from his "not touching her" fight. She should hate him. Opening the door, he made his way to his sister, who was alone in one of those cone dryers reading a magazine. She stood, and he hugged her. "Penny, I got your text."
"My mother is driving me crazy," she said. She frowned, clearly unhappy with something as she checked her makeup in the mirror, though she looked great.
Geneva, Penny's mom, was now happily married, from what he understood. "What's going on?"
"She keeps insisting I'm pregnant, when, thankfully, I'm not."
Pregnant? "Why would she do that?"
Penny gave the attendant who'd walked in to check her hair a tip, and then returned to his side. "She thinks it will keep Jay close to me so he won't cheat."
Jay wouldn't cheat on Penny when he'd clearly spent years in love with just the idea of her. But if he did, Wyatt would have to threaten him. "If you think Jay will cheat on you, then don't marry him."
"I don't think that at all."
Her calmness relaxed his muscles, though he'd still find Jay later and have a man-to-man. Penny went to the cashier and pointed at something on her face, and the cashier nodded as Penny paid. Once she returned, he asked, "Why would Geneva say that?"
"Because she couldn't get everything she wanted in life, so she uses me to live the life she wanted."
"I know the feeling." Jessica had done the same to him. She hadn't loved him, but she had loved the life he could provide for her. It was why his own wishes were thrown out the window of a speeding car. He put his hand in his pocket. "What do you need me to do?"
"Why the sudden…" Penny arched her eyebrows at him, but then stopped. Her eyes widened as she glanced over his shoulder. "You're here, Sandy."
He turned and stared at her.
Sandy blushed as she looked away. "Am I interrupting? I got your frantic texts to meet you here."
Penny took his hand and then reached out to take hers. "No, I'm glad you're both here. I'm hoping for two things from you both."
Sandy avoided eye contact with him, but nodded. "What do you need, Pen?"
Penny took a deep breath and sucked in her bottom lip. Once she was ready, she said, "One, I want you both to work together to ensure Geneva keeps her distance from both Jay and myself."
He hadn't missed the drama of family relations while he was serving. He could recruit his own father to help. It was the least they could do. He nodded and asked, "Second?"
Penny turned to Sandy. "Second, I want you both to pay attention to anything Kate might do or plan. I don't want either mother ruining this wedding."
"Got it." Sandy was Jay's cousin, so she'd have more insight into whatever his mother intended than he ever would. This left him time to speak to Jay about his sister and avoid Sandy.
Some woman at the spa waved for Penny, who said, "I have to go. I'm counting on you both."
Right. He'd do whatever he could to ensure his sister was happy. She deserved to follow her heart. He waited until she left, and then pivoted to leave.
Sandy brushed against his arm for a second. The wave of warmth that descended from her fingertips as she touched him turned him on. He turned away. "Wyatt, do you have a minute?"
"Yeah, Sandra?"
"Sandy's fine from you."
It was impossible to even think she'd forgive him or they could go backward in time. They might be very different people as adults, but one glance into her blue eyes made him wish for those summer nights again. Besides Charlotte, Sandy was the only one who ever made him feel soft and gooey in his heart.