Page 17 of Her Forever SEAL

Their dads were connected to the same world. It had never been a point of friction between them.

So why had Mandy looked at her like that, in the middle of the hallway, with those too-bright eyes, and said what she'd said?

It made no sense.

Kayla turned it over and looked at it from a few different angles the way she did with complex math problems, and it still made no sense from any of them. Something was wrong with Mandy. Something real. And whatever it was, it was big enough that Mandy had gone somewhere she'd never gone before.

She was still thinking about it when her mom's voice came up the stairs.

“Dinner, Kay!”

She unfolded herself from the floor, left the sketchbook where it was, and went downstairs.

5

The morning rush at the bakery had been relentless in the best possible way. By nine-thirty they'd sold out of the cardamom rolls entirely, which was a problem Sophia was happy to have. Now it was eleven and she’d earned the twenty minutes she was currently stealing to walk five blocks down and get a coffee that someone else had made. Plus, she’d really needed the walk.

The shop was busy but not slammed when she pushed through the door. She got in line, and when she reached the counter she smiled at the woman running the register. She was new, college age, efficient, but slightly harried. Sophia placed her order. Whole, organic milk, latte, medium. The woman typed it in, took her card, and Sophia moved to the side to wait.

She meandered down to the waiting area where there were two baristas. One was pulling orders with efficient hands and the kind of calm that made the whole operation feel unhurried even when it wasn't. The other was leaning slightly forward, her voice low talking to a customer. Sophia couldn't hear the words over the noise of the espresso machine. She didn't need to. The body language was enough.

With a start, Sophia realized the barista was talking to Lettie Bowman.

She started to raise her hand to wave and then stopped. Lettie wasn't looking around. She was locked in, her head slightly down, listening to whatever the barista was saying with an intensity that had nothing to do with a coffee order. Her free hand was gripping the strap of her purse, her knuckles white. Her shoulders were up nearly to her ears.

Sophia bit her lip. It didn’t look good, but she turned. It wasn’t her business.

She studied the chalkboard menu to see if they’d come up with some new pastry she should consider for her shop.

Nope, nothing.

Behind her, someone's toddler announced at full volume that he didn't want the muffin. She checked her phone. A text from Rylie about dropping by, which she'd answer later. Another from Lisa's school about an upcoming field trip, which she started to answer now.

She was halfway through typing when she heard Lettie say harshly, “I told you I was trying.”

Sophia looked over. The barista was smiling as she looked around the shop. “It’s okay, honey. Of course you’re trying.” Her sweet tone was pitch perfect, but Lettie shuddered.

“I’ve got to go,” Lettie muttered.

“We have a new flavor the day after tomorrow. Be sure to come in,” the barista called after her. Then she held up a cup with Lettie’s name on it, but Lettie was already out the door.

“Lettie, you forgot your coffee,” the barista said.

Sophia walked over and picked up Lettie’s drink. “I’ll take this to her.”

“That would be great.” The barista smiled.

Sophia was already moving.

She caught up to Lettie just outside, on the sidewalk, where the morning sun was doing its best and the street was warm and ordinary and nothing at all was wrong.

“Hey.” She held out the cup. “You left this.”

Lettie looked at her. Then at the coffee. Then back at her, and the expression she'd had in the coffee shop was completely gone, replaced by something easy and familiar. “Oh my gosh.” She let out a breath of a laugh. “Sophia. I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you in there.”

“You seemed like you were busy with something.”

Lettie turned and looked back in the window, her expression tightened.