Page 23 of Romancing Summer

“Hey!” Bo shouts from the kitchen in an equally warning and defensive tone. He reallydoeshear everything that happens in this diner.

“No offense to the military,” I say, raising my hands slightly in surrender. “You know my brother’s in the Navy. But worrying about Harris is enough for me. I have no interest in adding to that.”

My phone rings in my back pocket and when I slide it out, I see my brother’s picture on my display.

I smile as I answer the call. “Hey, Harris! I was just talking about you.”

“Hey,” my brother greets me.

His voice sounds… off. He’s a pretty easy-going, contented guy ordinarily, and even more so since he got married last winter. So the tension in his reply is uncommon.

But even more odd was the simple, one-word response he just gave me. It makes my brow crease.

With my brother and sister, I can pretty much predict what they’ll say next. That just comes with being siblings, I suppose. And me saying to Harris, “I was just talking about you,” would usually earn a response of something like “And nothing good to say about me, I’ll bet”or“My reputation precedes me.”

But today? Nothing. No witty repartee.

Immediately, I’m on edge.

“Everything okay?” I ask, my tone guarded.

“Of course,” he answers automatically.Tooautomatically. “How are things down there?”

I pause a moment to look at the bright sunshine peering through the windows. “Perfect day for the beach. You, Ava, and Nicholas should totally come down here sometime,” I suggest.

“Sounds great. I’ll tell her. I, uh…Iprobably won’t be able to for a while though.”

That’s when I recognize his tone.

It’s been a good handful of years since I’ve heard it, but I still can’t mistake it. The way he sounds now takes me right back to those conversations we’d have before he was deploying as a SEAL, asking me to check in on Mom and Dad a little more often than I usually would.

I get a lump in my throat just thinking of it, a million memories rushing back to me like the tide coming in from the ocean.

“You’re deploying.” I say it in a hushed tone.

But standing at this counter, I sense several sets of eyes nearby snapping to me.

And I don’t even mind because I like the people around me.

Then, before he can even answer, I suck in a breath and add, “For how long?”

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