Page 18 of Her Forever SEAL

“It’s been a long week.” Lettie took the cup and shook her head. “Tom's been on crazy hours and I'm basically single parenting at this point, so.” She smiled. Practiced around the edges. “You know how it is.”

“I do.” Sophia studied her for a second. “Are you okay?”

“Completely fine.” She said it easily, the way someone said something true. “Just tired. You know how it goes, everything kind of lands on you all at once.”

“Tom's not deployed though, right? You said he was on crazy hours⁠—”

“Extra hours at the base. Same thing, basically.” Lettie waved a hand.

“Who’s the new barista?”

Lettie straightened. “Who?”

“The woman you were talking to. I haven’t seen her around before,”

“Oh she’s been here for a couple of months,” Lettie said quickly. “Her name is Mary. Listen, I should run. I've got to get back before Bree gets home from school.” She squeezed Sophia's arm with her free hand, warm and quick. “Tell Kayla hi from Bree, even though they see each other everyday. And save me one of those cardamom rolls next time, I heard they sell out fast.”

“I'll put one aside for you.”

“You're the best.” She was already moving, unhooking her keys from her purse, heading for the small lot around the corner with the particular efficiency of a woman who had somewhere to be. She didn't look back.

Sophia stood on the sidewalk and watched her go.

Nothing was wrong. Lettie had said so, and she'd said it well, and she'd even made a joke at the end, which was very Lettie. Everything was fine.

Except.

Except Lettie Bowman never forgot things. In the four years Sophia had known her, she'd never once shown up somewhere without exactly what she needed, never lost track of a school pickup, never let a detail slide. She was the woman other mothers called when they'd forgotten what time soccer started, because Lettie always knew.

But she'd forgotten a coffee she'd just ordered.

Sophia turned it over once, then tucked it somewhere in the back of her mind.

She went back inside to get her own coffee.

Mary was already holding it out as she approached. “Sophia Gault,” she called out, warm and easy, and set the cup on the counter with a smile.

Sophia took it. Smiled back. Started for the door.

And then stopped.

She turned the cup in her hand. Only Sophia was written on the cup. She hadn't used her card for the pickup order. She’d paid cash.

So how did Mary know her last name?

She grinned. Now she was just being paranoid. If Mary had been working here for months like Lettie said, of course she would know her last name. She owned the bakery for goodness sake.

She pushed through the door and headed back to the bakery. She really needed to walk.

Sophia heard the knock and the door opened in the same second, which meant it was either Rylie or a very polite burglar.

“In the kitchen!”

She pulled the last tray from the oven and set it on the rack, and a moment later Rylie Stanton swept in carrying a large Amazon box like she was delivering something sacred. Her dark eyes were lit up the way they got when she'd done something she was very pleased about.

“Don't move,” Rylie said, and whipped out her phone.

“What are you⁠—”