Page 12 of Her Forever SEAL

Angie laughed and then sat. They set down their menus almost immediately. Neither of them needed them.

“How are you holding up?” Sophia asked.

Angie shrugged. “I'm fine. You?”

“Fine.” A beat. “Lisa asked me this morning if Mason was going to miss her school play.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That he would be back as soon as he could.” Sophia folded her hands on the table. “Which is the only true thing I could say.”

Angie nodded. That was the whole of it, really. No timeline, no destination, no estimated return. Just the waiting, which had gotten easier over the years in the way that carrying something heavy got easier… not lighter, just more familiar. The hum of it was always there underneath everything. You just learned to talk and laugh and eat lunch right on top of it.

“I’m guessing Evelyn’s been over more,” Sophia teased.

“You got it in one.”

“Butter cookies?”

Angie nodded.

“She still hasn’t given me that recipe,” Sophia pouted.

“She promised to leave it to you in her will.”

“She and her son are just alike.”

Angie grinned. “They are at that. So is Nora. Evelyn brought Nora home from school twice this week,” Angie continued. “Which Nora considers a gift from God because her grandmother is apparently the only person on earth who takes the dog campaign seriously.”

Sophia laughed. “Is Captain still the frontrunner for the name?”

“Captain has been the name since March. It is non-negotiable.” Angie shook her head. “Finn doesn't know she's named it yet. I'm saving that for when he gets home. I want to see his face.”

“He's going to cave immediately.”

“Immediately. The man cannot say no to that child and he knows it and she knows it.” Angie's expression shifted into something warm and slightly helpless. “She made another chart this week. With data.”

“She's eight.”

“She's eight and she made a chart with data. Lydia helped her with the formatting.” Angie pointed at her. “Do not laugh.”

“I'm not laughing.”

“You're doing that thing with your mouth.”

Sophia pressed her lips together more firmly. “How's Declan?”

The warmth in Angie's face stayed but took on a slightly more complicated quality. “Declan has informed me he's going to be a SEAL.”

Sophia looked at her steadily. “How long has this been going on?”

“Officially, about three months. Unofficially, I think since he was nine and your husband let him try on his vest.” She picked up her fork. “He's twelve. He's playing lacrosse and now apparently that isn't enough, he needs to be swimming competitively as well, because SEALs swim. He told me this like I might not be aware that SEALs swim.”

“Kayla wants to know if women can try out for⁠—”

“I heard.” Angie pointed at her again. “From Rebecca, actually. Apparently, Kayla texted her about it.”

Sophia felt a flicker of delight at that. Rebecca was Evelyn’s foster daughter and Finn’s foster sister, but as far as the Crandalls were concerned she was blood family. And having Kayla and her texting each other shouldn't have surprised her. “How is she? I haven't talked to her in a couple of weeks.”