The SEAL's Surprise Son (The Admiral's Seals, #1) - Leslie North Page 0,10

peaceful.

At dawn, he drove home to grab a few hours of sleep before work.

4

Carolyn hung up after a thirty-minute conversation with her insurance company. A representative had come the previous evening while Charlotte was at the store, but a million questions remained to be asked about the robber, the damage, and when All That Sparkles could reopen.

“Everything okay?” her mother asked from the office doorway. She and Charlotte had beaten Carolyn to the store that morning. They’d been helpful, of course, but she was tired of their concern. It was smothering her.

“As okay as it’s going to get today,” Carolyn responded.

“You must have been terrified.” Her mother stepped closer. “In all the years I owned this store, we were never robbed. I can’t believe this happened.”

“Me either.” And the timing couldn’t be worse. She’d taken out a new loan and refinanced an existing one to cover the remodeling costs. Insurance would pay for the damages, but she was losing money and business with every day the store was closed.

On top of getting the front of the store cleaned up enough to reopen, police tape still stretched across her back door. She didn’t want to think about what had happened in the mantrap. She was leaving Charlotte to deal with having that piece of equipment checked out and recertified. It had saved her life. But she didn’t want to look at it.

“Maybe you should take some time off,” her mother suggested gently.

“Not necessary. I’ll be okay.” The truth was she’d been up most of the night, reliving the events of the day—from her fear the robber would harm Austin to Zach’s sudden reappearance in her life.

“Did you see this?” Charlotte came into the office, her phone clutched in her hand. “I was scrolling through review sites. I’m obsessed with looking at them from that marketing and presentation class I took last fall—but anyway, look.”

Carolyn took the phone and held it so Faith could see it, too. A review site on which they’d had a five-star rating for the past two years was suddenly down to two stars, with some scathing comments: “got ripped off here,” “not real diamonds,” “crappy service.”

“What the heck?” Carolyn muttered. As if her life wasn’t complicated enough. “It’s like the ones I saw on the Jewel Rater last week. All lousy and not true. I wonder…” She let the word dangle as her mind processed her thoughts.

“What?” Faith asked, studying her.

“Does it feel like someone could be sabotaging us? Bad reviews? An armed robber?” Her mind returned to the things the robber kept saying about how this wasn’t part of the plan. Did someone have a plan to damage All That Sparkles? If so, they couldn’t have launched it at a worse time.

“Don’t forget about the canceled orders,” Charlotte added, getting onboard with the idea.

“Those could be connected, too.” Three shipments had been mysteriously canceled or delayed in the past month, and as a result they’d been unable to fulfill orders on time. They’d compensated the customers, who’d been understanding, but it was bad for business. Carolyn had a sinking feeling in her stomach…but why would someone want to do this to them? They competed with the store down the street, which was currently trying to buy them out, but the relationship between the businesses had never been malicious. “If you two can handle things here, I’m going to the police station. I want to run the idea past them.”

“Do that. And then go home. You need some time off.” Her mother pulled Carolyn’s purse from the drawer where she kept it and handed it to her. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I will,” she promised.

“Hey.” Charlotte caught her before she could leave the office. “What about Zach?”

Her mother’s eyes widened. She had loved Zach. “Zach’s home?”

Carolyn hadn’t mentioned it because she couldn’t explain how she felt about seeing him again. She needed time to process his return and what it would mean for her life. “He was here yesterday as part of the response team.”

“Austin?” Faith didn’t have to form the full question.

Carolyn sighed. “Zach didn’t know he had a son until yesterday.” Faith and Charlotte had been there for her throughout her pregnancy, the birth, and the first year of Austin’s life. They had been as upset and disappointed as she had when it appeared that Zach was ignoring her attempts to communicate with him.

“Oh, baby,” her mother said, giving her a hug. “You did have a tough day. Do you want me to come