Page 63 of Her Forever SEAL

She lay back on the bed without taking off her shoes, one arm across her eyes, and she was asleep before she finished the thought she'd started.

20

Kayla stepped over Lisa and Gracey on her way to the kitchen where Aunt Beth was making coffee.

“Lisa loves it over here. I don’t think she’s ever going to want to come home,” Kayla said to the pretty woman who was one of the Midnight Delta women.

“Your sister is hiding it pretty well, but she’s been worried. Hearing that Bree is home from her grandmother’s made her feel a lot better.”

Kayla gave Beth a hard look. “Do you think she suspected something?” Kayla whispered.

“Kayla, every kid in this house has a Navy SEAL for a father. All of them pick up on things, even my Joey who is only six.”

Kayla bit her lip.

“Did you get a chance to talk to your friend?”

“She texted me this morning. Well, she texted all of us on the group chat. She and Mandy won’t be at this morning’s game.”

Beth frowned. “What game?”

“My lacrosse game.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that, Kayla. My kids aren’t into lacrosse. I forgot. What do we need to do for this?”

“Can you give me a ride?”

“Gracey has swim lessons this morning, but Kathleen can. In the meantime, why don’t you sit down and I’ll make you some waffles. I hear Joey coming down the stairs. I’m betting pretty soon the whole crew will be up.”

Kayla grinned. “Waffles sound great, Aunt Beth.”

“I’m really sorry I’m not coming to your game,” Lisa said again.

“No worries, Li-Li. The pool sounds way more fun than sitting on the sidelines. Plus, it’s supposed to rain this morning.”

Lisa hugged her, right before she followed Kathleen Preston out the door of what Kayla privately considered the Preston ranch mansion. It was on the far edge of Chula Vista, and actually had stables with horses, fencing, and a gate with a speaker that you had to talk into before you could come onto the property.

She got into Kathleen’s white Corolla.

“Thanks, Kath.”

“It’s not a problem. I called my boyfriend. He’s going to be able to make it to the last half of the game. It’ll be fun. You need to stop by your house before the game, right?”

“Yeah, I need to suit up and get my gear.” Kayla nodded as they started down the driveway.

“Okay. This shouldn’t take too long. We left in plenty of time to get you there early. Because…”

“Early is on time,” they both said in unison and started laughing.

“God, our dads are so the same,” Kayla said.

“You got that right.”

“How often do you get to the ranch in Texas?”

“At least three times a year. Our grandparents are the bomb. My number one school pick was UT Austin, but Trevor was accepted to NYU. Now I’m on the fence.”

“Were you accepted to NYU?”