The SEAL's Surprise Son (The Admiral's Seals, #1) - Leslie North Page 0,31

disappeared from their lives.

“Those were challenging years.” Her mom managed a smile. “But I wouldn’t trade them. Although I’m enjoying semiretirement and my grandson very much.”

An idea occurred to Carolyn. What if Marta was bitter enough to be causing the trouble at All That Sparkles? The woman might be harboring some seriously sour grapes over losing her stake in a business as well as, eventually, the man she cheated with. She might blame both those things on Faith and be jealous of her success.

“Whatever happened to Marta? Do you know?”

“I had no interest in her once it was over,” her mother said. “Other than hearing that she and your father split, I haven’t a clue, and I want to keep it that way.”

“Mom, could she be behind the sabotage?” Carolyn asked.

Her mother was silent for a minute. “I wouldn’t think so. It was a long time ago. If she’d wanted revenge, I think she would have taken it by now. Besides, she wasn’t all that smart, as I quickly learned. She could smile and show off merchandise, but when it came to transactions and orders, she couldn’t handle it. I think she liked the idea of being in business but knew nothing about running one. I can’t imagine her masterminding a plot like the one you believe is happening.”

You believe? Did her mom not see the recent problems at the store were connected and intentional? Carolyn let it go, not wanting to argue with her mother after she’d revealed the emotionally draining story. At least Zach seemed to believe her. She focused her eyes on him again. It was so good to have him in her corner, her house, her bed. She could enjoy all that goodness a whole bunch more if she knew for sure what was happening with her business and the attempted sabotage.

12

“I’m glad you took today off,” Zach said to her the following Saturday morning.

“I wanted to spend time with my two guys.” She had Austin on her hip as she walked around the kitchen, putting items in a day pack they’d take with them on a hike later. “And Charlotte can handle the store, even if it is busy.”

“How do you know it’s busy?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“I may have called her to check,” she admitted. He laughed and shook his head. “I have to be involved. It’s my business.” She’d promised to take the entire day off, but it was hard when she was worried about All That Sparkles and making her bottom line. Saturdays were usually high-profit days, what with the weekend shoppers. She reminded herself that customers would make purchases even if she wasn’t in the store, and that Charlotte knew nearly as much about the business as she did.

“I might as well tell you that I heard from Steve earlier.” Zach leaned against the counter.

She’d seen him take a phone call as he checked the backyard after breakfast. “You planned to conceal information from me?”

“No, I just didn’t want our day to get overshadowed by anything, but I feel guilty not conveying what he said. I don’t want to keep secrets from you.”

She was glad he added that sentence. If their relationship was going to survive, honesty had to be at the heart of it. During the week, he’d moved some more items into her house, and he was sleeping in her bed, which made her happy. They were working toward being a family, but they weren’t there yet. She studied him. He looked deceptively casual, one foot crossed over the other. “I’m not going to like it, am I?”

“Afraid not, sweetheart.” He walked toward her, took Austin, and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for her to sit.

“I’m really not going to like this,” she concluded.

He sat across from her, bouncing Austin on his knee. “Steve has serious concerns about your current tech company. He spared me the geek details, but he says their security systems are outdated, meaning that malware and other evil stuff can get through. Some elementary—in his opinion—steps to secure your account were just not taken. And, worst of all, alerts triggered on your email and other systems were suppressed or ignored.”

She gasped. “I pay them a small fortune every year, and they seem so efficient when I talk with them on the phone,” she said, sitting back in her chair.

“They may seem that way, but they aren’t working for you. Steve recommends you dump them,” Zach said. “He gave me the