THE CRAZY GOOD SERIES - Rachel Robinson Page 0,300

lost her first husband, also a SEAL, to a tragic accident during a deployment. She remarried Steve, another SEAL, and now lives happily ever after. “What if Stone came back before you married Steve?” Not many people are brave enough to bring up his name in casual conversation. I’m one of the few who can get away with it.

I watch Morganna swallow. It forces her to raise her chin. Chloe hops off the bed and busies herself in my kitchen, because honestly, who really wants to be in this conversation. I’m sure she didn’t know what she was doing when she invited Morg over. Morganna turns her face toward the window facing the ocean. “I don’t know what I would have done.” Her hundred yard stare grows sad.

“Exactly,” I mutter. Lightly I pull on one of the diamonds on my new bracelet. “I loved Cody first. The reminder of his love haunted me when he was gone. What do you think it does now that he’s here? In front of me, touching me, holding me, kissing me, loving me? I’m coming apart at the seams, Morganna. Dax’s love saved me from being haunted. It’s real now. I don’t need saving. I know how selfish and awful that sounds, but even Dax wouldn’t accept that as a reason to call off the wedding. He’s being odd lately. He knows where my heart and mind are, yet he’s holding out failing hope.” The diamonds on my wrist catch the sun and cause a rainbow to shine against the wall.

She sees the colors and follows them back to my wrist with her gaze. “Of course,” Morganna says, voice clipped. “You’re in a position most can only dream of. Difficult, yes, but lucky still the same.” She traces my wrist with her fingertip. I wince when I think of what Morganna went through when Stone died. It’s hard not to dwell on the awful. She has a beautiful, full life now, but she carries her losses well. Interrupting my thoughts, she asks, “It’s pretty. New?”

“Yes. He’ll be here any moment to pick me up for a few days. Chloe was supposed to help me pack and give me an illustrated sex talk, I’m sure.” Morganna laughs and goes through a stack of blouses I have on the bed, unfolding and refolding a different way.

“You don’t need clothes. I think that’s the obvious answer. Pack a toothbrush and your stamina,” she says, grinning from ear to ear. Her demeanor changes completely now. “He hasn’t gotten laid in a while,” Morganna explains. I laugh, but the joke causes my stomach to flutter. Am I truly the last person he’s made love to? “When you get home from your trip you really need to deal with Dax, though.”

I promise to give it my best effort and we talk a little more about her son and Steve, her horses, and how busy she is with a toddler and her law career. I tell her about several of my design clients and how my mother is going to have a fit over the cancelled wedding. She laments, tells me she’ll help me get deposits back if I really want, and then tells me a funny story about her and our friend Windsor. Morganna walked in on her getting her bikini line waxed on a dining room table the night she planned on doing the deed. I obviously reject Morganna’s offer to do the same for me. I took care of that a few days ago, like you’re supposed to, not the day of. We make our way into the living area to find Chloe waiting patiently for us with a teakettle whistling in the kitchen.

Morganna leans back into the sofa and takes the tea Chloe offers. I make myself a cup and begin pacing. Do I want my friends here when Cody arrives? Will that be awkward because they’ve been used to seeing me with Dax? I know Morganna’s torn about what I’m doing with both of these men.

“Oh, by the way,” Morganna says over her shoulder. “I finally sold the house next door. An investment group bought it. Hopefully tenants from hell don’t move in and throw eggs at your expensive front door.” We all laugh and then Chloe starts chattering away about Morganna’s shoes. Hm. That’s news. Pulling my gauzy curtains aside, I peek out to catch a glimpse of Morganna’s old mansion. She’s taken care of it, so it looks the same as it did before