The SEAL's Secret Heirs

Clare bustled through the door, her long blond hair still twisted up in her characteristic bun, likely because she’d just come from work at Royal Memorial. Grace waved, and then realized she wasn’t alone—Clare had her arm looped through another woman’s. Violet McCallum, who co-owned the Double M Ranch with her brother, Mac.

Wow, Grace hardly recognized her. Violet looked beautiful and was even wearing a dress instead of her usual boots and jeans. It had been a while since they’d seen each other. Not since they’d all met at Priceless, the antiques and craft store owned by Raina Patterson, to indulge in a girls’ night of stained glass making, which had been so much fun that Grace had picked it up as a new hobby.

“I had to drag her out of the house,” Clare said by way of greeting, laughing and pointing at Violet. It was a bit of a joke among the three ladies as Violet and Grace had done something similar for Clare when she’d been going through man troubles. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t. Hi, Violet!” Grace jumped up and embraced the auburn-haired woman. Violet gave her a one-armed hug in return and scuttled to a seat.

Grace and Clare settled into their own seats. Grace signaled the waitress, then leaned forward on her forearms to speak to Violet across the table. “What are you using on your skin? Because I’m investing in a truckload. You look positively luminous!”

Violet flinched and gave Grace a pained smile, which highlighted dark shadows in her friend’s eyes. “Thanks. It’s, um...my new apricot scrub. I’ll text you the name of it when I get home.”

“Sure,” Grace said enthusiastically, but it felt a little forced. Something was off with Violet but she didn’t want to pry. They’d been friends a long time. If Violet wanted to share what was up, she would. “Give me your hand, Clare. Dinner can’t officially start until we ooh and aah over your ring!”

A smile split Clare’s face, and she stuck her hand out, fingers spread in the classic pose of an engaged woman. “Stand back, ladies. This baby will blind you if you don’t give it the proper distance.”

Clare had recently gotten engaged to Dr. Parker Reese, a brilliant neonatal specialist at Royal Memorial, where they both worked. Their romance had been touch and go, framed by the desperate search for Maddie’s mother after the infant had been abandoned at a truck stop shortly after her birth. Margaret Garner had then gotten into her car and given birth to Maggie a little farther down the road, ultimately dying from the traumatic childbirth. So the twins had ended up separated. When Maggie ultimately went home with Liam and Hadley, they were unaware she had a sister. Thankfully, they’d eventually realized Maddie and Maggie were twins and thus both belonged with the Wades.

Of course, that had all been before Kyle had come home.

And that was a dumb thing to start thinking about. Grace pinched herself under the table, but it didn’t do any good. The kiss popped right back into her mind, exactly the thing she was trying to avoid thinking about.

Kyle was a difficult man to forget. She should know. She’d spent ten years trying to forget him and had failed spectacularly.

“Tell us about the wedding,” Grace insisted brightly. Anything to take her attention off Kyle.

Clare gushed for a minute or two until the harried waitress finally made her way over to the three ladies. The ponytailed woman in her early twenties pulled a pen from behind her ear and held it expectantly over her order pad.

“Sorry for the wait, ladies,” she apologized. “We’re short-staffed today.”

“No problem,” Grace tossed out with a smile. “This Chardonnay is fabulous. Can you bring two more glasses?”

“No!” Violet burst out, and then her eyes widened as all three of the other women stared at her. “I, uh, didn’t bring my driver’s license, and I know you have to see my identification, so no drinking for me. Water is fine anyway. Thanks.”

“It’s okay, Ms. McCallum,” the waitress said cheerfully. “I know you’re over twenty-one. You were two years ahead of my sister in high school and she’s twenty-four. I’d be happy to make an exception.”

Violet turned absolutely green. “That’s kind of you. But water is fine. Excuse me.”

All at once, Violet rushed from the table, snatching her purse from the back of the chair as she ran for the rear of the restaurant toward the bathrooms. In her haste, she knocked the straight-backed chair to the floor with a crash that reverberated in the half-full café. Conversations broke off instantly as the other customers swiveled to seek out the source of the noise.