Page 7 of Eight Years (The Trident Trilogy 1)

“Hey, is it time for us to have ice cream yet? I’m getting hungry,” he said in his best attempt to distract her.

“Yes!” Millie was suddenly up and spinning around in the sand. “I want strawberry!”

“I know you want strawberry,” Mack said, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. “It’s all you ever eat. You’re going to turn into a giant strawberry.”

As they got close to the ice cream shop, Mack saw a girl a little older than Millie running toward them at breakneck speed.

“Millie!” she screamed. The two girls collided with an ear-splitting series of squeals.

“You must be Millie’s dad.” Mack turned to find a woman staring at him.

“Yeah, Mack Marsh,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m guessing you belong to the other one.”

“I’m Carol Blake, Chloe’s mom. Would you like to share our table?” She pointed over toward the corner. Mack didn’t really want to, but Millie and Chloe were already over there whispering aggressively to each other.

“Sure, that’s nice. Thanks. Let me go grab her a cone.”

He came out to find Millie and Chloe playing in a nearby fountain.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Carol said. “It’s just so hot out today.”

“No worries. We just got back from the beach. She’s already in need of about a hundred baths.”

Millie’s cone began to melt on his hand, so he started licking.

“You’ve got a little in your beard,” Carol said, pointing.

“Yeah, it’s one of the hazards of having a beard,” he said, trying to wipe the ice cream out with his hand.

“Camille tells me you’re a SEAL.”

Mack’s mind snapped back to the conversation he was going to have with Camille. It wasn’t going to be pretty.

“You know Camille, huh?” he said, ignoring her comment.

“Does anyone not know Camille?”

Mack rolled his eyes and smiled a little bit again. “Yeah, my mom has never really been shy.”

Millie and Chloe had made it back over to the table.

“Daddy, you ate all the fluffy ice cream top,” Millie said, crossing her arms and pouting her lips.

“It was melting, sweetie. I’ll buy you a new one,” Mack said as he stood up. “We should really be getting back home. I need to head back to the base tonight.”

Carol looked disappointed. “Why don’t I give you my number if you need anything while you’re away? Millie and Chloe are really close. I’d be happy to keep in touch with you.”

Mack smiled and pretended to type her number into his phone. “Say goodbye, Millie. We need to go.”

Mack bought Millie another cone, but she declared very dramatically she was too tired to eat after only two licks. So, Mack downed another strawberry cone as he carried her sleepy body in his other arm.

Mack barely got her out of the bath before she was fast asleep. He tucked her in and headed back downstairs. Camille was just finishing her lunch.

“There’s some left if you want any before you leave,” she said in his general direction.

Mack walked up behind her and pulled her chair out swiftly from the table, so she was facing him. He leaned down until his face was even with hers. “If you ever talk to Millie or anyone else about my job again, I swear I will kill you while you sleep. Do you understand me?”

Camille nodded immediately. She had never seen his eyes look like that or heard that tone in his voice.

“I have to head back to the base. I’ll be back in a few days,” he said as he walked away. “If that child isn’t the happiest she’s ever been when I get back, we will have a problem.”

Camille didn’t move until she heard his car pulling out of the driveway.

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