Page 19 of Her Forever SEAL

The shutter sound. Sophia reached up and found the flour on her cheek at the exact same moment she heard the whoosh of a text being sent.

“Mason will appreciate that,” Rylie said, entirely unrepentant. She set the box on the kitchen table with a thump. “Now. Come look at this.”

Sophia set down her oven mitt and came over. Rylie was already tearing into the packaging, and what she lifted out made Sophia lean in before she'd even decided to.

A Viking longship. Wooden, intricate, magnificent, high curving prow, a row of shields along each side, and a mechanical gear system that looked like something out of a museum.

“I found this online last week,” Rylie said. “I bought two. Dropped one off at Georgie's on my way here.” She looked up. “And I bought one for Dare. For when he gets home.”

Sophia felt her heart turn over a little. That was so purely Rylie, already thinking about his homecoming, already planning the gift. “He's going to love it.”

“I know, right?” Rylie was practically vibrating. “It's called a drakkar. That's what the Norse called their longships. It literally means dragon. Eight to eleventh century.” She pointed to the back of the box. “Two hundred and twenty-nine laser-cut wooden pieces, and when you plug it in via USB, the flywheel drives all twelve oars at the same time. They actually row, Sophia. Like it's sailing.”

“That's incredible.” Sophia turned the box in her hands, genuinely charmed by it.

“Hell, if Sawyer weren’t on some assignment for the agency-that-shall-not-be-named, and I knew where he was, I would have bought one for him too!”

“How is Sawyer? The last time Billy told me anything, he said that he was on a liquid diet of coffee and protein drinks and trying to save the world.”

“I worry about him, Sophia. Ever since he, Billy and Austin left the SEAL teams, and Sawyer went to work for the CIA, he’s changed. He’s closed up. He’s gone dark.”

“I understand. Billy seems to be floundering. I think Sawyer has found something to do, but it’s eating him up inside, but Billy hasn’t found a cause,” Sophia said.

“At least according to Kenna, Austin has his shit together.”

“There is that. So, what did Georgie think of his gift?” Sophia asked, changing subjects.

“Georgie lost his mind.” Rylie's voice shifted, went somewhere softer. “In the best possible way.” She set the box down and pressed a hand flat against her sternum. “He hugged me. Real hug. Both arms. Ten full seconds.” She paused. “I counted.”

Sophia thought back to when she’d first met Georgie, the little seven-year-old boy who Rylie fiercely loved and she had just been twenty-two and trying to keep a rag-tag group of foster kids together. Now Sophia looked at Rylie, at the brightness in her eyes she was trying to blink back, and felt the full weight of what that meant. Eighteen years. Eighteen years of patience and fighting and showing up, and a ten-second hug was the trophy. “You're a good mother, Rylie.”

“Don't.” Rylie pointed at her. “I'll cry and I just decided not to.” She straightened and looked at the cooling rack. “Are those ready?”

“They need ten minutes.”

“I'll wait.” She pulled out a stool, then picked up the box again and turned it over, scanning the back.. “Why didn’t you get one for Tanisha or Marcus,” Sophia asked referring to the brother and sister that Rylie and Dare had adopted.

Rylie set down the box in front of Sophia and tapped the corner without a word.

Sophia read. Recommended for ages 14+. Strong mechanical aptitude required.

“They could do it. They’re smart.”

“They’re eight and ten. You couldn’t do it. She set the box down.

“I bet I could,” Sophia said.

“Mm-hm.”

“I'm not unintelligent.”

“No one said you were.”

“I'm very capable with my hands. I bake. Baking is precise.”

“Sophia.” Rylie's voice was gentle in the way it got right before she said something devastating. “You called Mason home from base because the childproof lock on the cabinet was stuck.”

She opened her mouth. Closed it. “He was already on his way home.”