The woman was laughing. Of course she would laugh—she laughed at the most inopportune times.

“What’s so funny?” Sophie asked.

“I just… I can’t believe this. I mean, thank goodness I didn’t have to cancel a catering client. And that I have my mom and Logan to take care of Miko. Not cool, Ad.”

Adelaide sidestepped so she blocked the front door. “Please, don’t go, either of you. My gallbladder needs to come out. I’m in a lot of pain. Matt’s family is in Taiwan, and they’re too old to travel here. My mom’s caring for my dad full-time now. And yes, there are folks I know in the area who could make me meals, who could check in on me.” Fear flashed in Adelaide’s eyes. “But I don’t trust anyone else with Genevieve, or to come into my home and really know my business. You are the only two I trust in this whole wide world besides my husband. When I go under the knife tomorrow, I won’t be worried at all if I know you’re both here.” The last of her words echoed through the house, and it was answered by Genevieve’s faint cry. The little girl had been so quiet, Sophie had forgotten she was in her arms.

Genevieve wiggled and reached out to her mother, like she knew Mama needed a hug.

Adelaide slung her daughter on her hip, wincing a little, and Genevieve buried her face into her mother’s neck. All at once, Sophie’s heart relented. There were only a few family members left in her life, and Adelaide was family by choice. Reggie had been, too, once upon a time. For family, Sophie would have spared no expense or time to ensure they were okay. Old beef or no old beef.

She wasn’t the kind of woman who walked away.

Or am I?

Her own words speared her.

No, no, she wasn’t.

CHAPTER FOUR

Regina

“This is… I can’t do this.” A swirl of anger swept Regina up like the beginnings of a tornado, and it threatened to upend her. Grappling with the handle of her suitcase, she leaned against the wall to get her bearings.

When a military spouse called for an SOS, the answer was always yes. The reason was clear and undeniable: milspouses didn’t rally the troops for the small things. They’d endured too much, forged by over two decades of conflict, stemming from 9/11, when lives had been divided into before and after. Before, in the post–Desert Storm calm, the most inconvenient duty station for families had been a tour in South Korea. But in the after, everything changed. In the after, deployments were a given. In the after, families had to bend in new ways.

What rose from the constant ash of a long war were families who learned to survive. It meant single-parent families; it meant children displaced from their parents. It meant bolstering oneself for the worst-case scenario despite maintaining positive thinking. It also meant saving your help tokens until you needed to cash them in.

Once upon a time, Regina, Sophie, and Adelaide had agreed to always show up when an SOS was called. And Regina, despite having left the milspouse life via divorce, still held fast to this rule. In fact, being an Army veteran was part of her identity, and she was proud that she’d been a part of something bigger than herself.

But she hadn’t anticipated Adelaide taking advantage of her loyalty and bring in Sophie, too.

Sophie, a woman she hadn’t seen in a decade. The only other woman in the world who had made as good a friend as Adelaide, close enough to be sisters.

No, this wasn’t part of the agreement.

“I’m leaving.” Regina’s gaze darted between them, and she turned toward the front door. Twelve hours she’d been on the road, and her body was bone-tired, but she’d endure another twelve rather than face Adelaide’s attempt at playing peacemaker.

Adelaide’s face fell. “No, please.”

“Excuse me,” Regina said firmly, quietly.

Seconds passed, and finally, Adelaide moved away from the door.

Regina stepped across the threshold. She didn’t look back. Although she felt the heat of Adelaide’s pleading stare, she put one foot in front of the other.

Outside, she allowed the anger to well up within her. She loaded her suitcase forcefully—she knew she would be mad at herself later on if either the car or the suitcase ended up with a scratch—but she didn’t care at the moment. Then she rounded the vehicle and slipped into the driver’s seat, where she struggled to fit the key into the ignition. The keys fumbled in her hand as she frustratedly banged and pushed the key against the ignition, but everything seemed to work against her. “Damn it.”

The sharp echo of her voice startled her, and it gave her pause. She put her hand against her chest, feeling the familiar pound of her heart, of it breaking, again.

Regina took a deep breath and methodically stuck the correct key into the ignition. She turned it with a click, and Baby growled to life.

How foolish she had been to so easily have jumped into the car just days after that debutante party, without asking Adelaide any pertinent questions. She’d scrambled and made plans with Logan and her mother for Miko’s care, which had been a cobweb of coordination.

With shaking hands, she set the map of her phone back to Columbus, Georgia, 550 miles.

The phone buzzed, and a text flew in.

Henry

You’re prob stuck on I95 but just wanted to say welcome to VA!

Disappointment added to Regina’s anger. Meeting Henry was supposed to be a bonus. She’d imagined a You’ve Got Mail scenario but without the power imbalance and the drama. A romantic first meeting.