Page 16 of Viking Unchained

“What? The air conditioner is on, and you’re nude.” At his grin, she added, “Oh.” And lifted her nightshirt over her head, exposing her body, which was also nude.

“Oh, dearling,” he whispered and began to make love to her in the heated fashion she liked most. When he had aroused her to a fever pitch, and himself, as well, he began the long, hard strokes that would lead to their mutual peaking.

But a loud pounding erupted on the wall behind the headboard of the bed, and a male voice shouted, “The lunkhead can hear you.”

Torolf looked at her in the dark and repeated her earlier comment back at her: “Get rid of him.”

Like father, like son . . .

Mike was suspended. From preschool!

Lydia sat on the beach with her son that weekend and tried to explain why it was inappropriate to punch the lights out of a little boy, a fellow classmate, who’d made the mistake of saying Navy SEALs were buttheads. Apparently, Joey’s father was a marine.

“Fighting is not permitted, Mike.”

“Never?”

“Never.” She didn’t entirely believe that, but she wasn’t about to attempt an explanation of the exceptions to a four-year-old boy.

“Betcha my dad would say it was okay.” His chin went mulish, just like Dave’s had when he’d given in to his stubborn streak. In fact, he was a miniature version of Dave with his short hair and gray eyes.

“Sometimes,” he added.

Lydia’s heart about broke when Mike mentioned Dave. She knew he missed having a dad, and she worried that the hole in his life would only get bigger the older he got.

She squeezed his shoulder, and they both watched the surfers, who were out in force this morning. It was a beautiful day, it was a beautiful beach, and she was fortunate that Dave’s insurance had paid off the mortgage of the house so she could stay here. Although the house was modest, any waterfront property was worth a mint . . . way out of her price range.

“How can I let you go to Nana and PopPop’s farm once school lets out next week? I need to be able to trust you, Mike. No more fighting.”

“Moooooom! I hafta go. PopPop said I kin ride a horse this year.”

Her parents, Mary and Travis Hartley, owned a dairy farm in Minnesota, called Mill Pond Farm, where they also raised some chickens, turkeys, and goats, and boarded a half-dozen horses. Dave’s parents, Julie and Herb Denton, raised beef cattle nearby on Green Meadows Farm. Usually, they took turns with Mike, one week at each place with get-togethers in between. A kid paradise!

“A pony,” she corrected.

“That’s what I said. Pleeaaaasssse! ”

She knew she should punish him, but withholding this much-awaited trip would be punishment for the grandparents as well as for Mike. “Okay, if you behave, you can go, but there will be no TV for the next seven days, and that includes DVDs.”

He started to argue, then stopped himself. Smart kid! Instead, he jumped up and hollered, “Last one in is a loser!” He made an L-shape on his forehead with a thumb and forefinger.

“You’re on.” She jumped up and raced after him. Of course, he won, having had a head start.

Her heart swelled with pride as he dove into an oncoming wave and swam to the smooth waters on the other side of the breakers. Mike had taken to the water practically since he could walk. Like a seal.

Like his father.

In that moment, Lydia decided to stop looking for a replacement for Dave. There was none.

But then she recalled a conversation she and Dave had had one time after they’d made love, knowing he was leaving on a mission the next day. He’d told her that if something ever happened to him, he wanted her to find someone else. When she’d avowed that he would be the only one for her, he had growled and promised, “Well, then, I would just have to send someone for you.”

“From beyond the grave?” She had laughed.

The eeriest premonition swept over her then, a premonition that something was about to happen . . .

something related to Dave.

Curb your enthusiasm . . .