Page 22 of Married to a SEAL

“The CO,” he said, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

“Come again? No, let me guess, she laid into him for eating a couple of burgers and proclaimed that the entire SEAL team should convert to vegetarianism. Or maybe the entire Navy….”

“She did lay into him,” Patrick smirked. “As in, he walked out of the kitchen and startled her, so she threw a few punches his way in self-defense.”

Rebecca burst into laughter. “That happened last night? You’ve got to be kidding me. How did I miss it?”

“You were in the backyard,” Patrick said, his eyes alight with humor.

“Well that’s…different. Not exactly the type of treatment Ryan is used to getting, I’m sure. What did he say?”

“If she wasn’t my own sister—my only sister—I might have to kill her,” Patrick said with a chuckle. “The CO never comes to our barbeques, and the one night he does, my sister nearly decks him. Fortunately, he seemed more amused by it than anything.”

“He’s a Navy SEAL,” Rebecca reminded him. “I’m sure he can hold his own against Sarah.”

Patrick chuffed out a laugh. “Have you met my sister?”

“Good point.”

Abby came back into the kitchen a few minutes later after getting dressed, and they all sat down to have bagels. An hour later Patrick, Rebecca, and the kids were piled into Patrick’s SUV, driving down Atlantic Avenue to the realtor’s office.

“Are you sure we can’t go to the beach today?” Abby asked from the back seat. “We always do that on the weekends in the summer.”

Rebecca exchanged a look with Patrick. “Not today, sweetie. We have some errands to run. But maybe we can go to the playground and get some ice cream later on if we get everything done.”

“Oh, I hate errands,” Logan muttered.

Patrick eyed him in the rearview mirror. “But you like ice cream.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ll be good.”

“What’s a realtor anyway?” Abby asked.

“Remember how I told you we might be moving soon? A realtor helps you sell your house.”

“We’re selling our house?”

“Maybe. I don’t know yet for sure, sweetie. We might just rent it to someone else. It depends on a lot of different things. But you and I are planning to move in with Patrick and Logan, like we talked about.”

“Will I get my own room?”

“Absolutely,” Patrick said. “We can set it up just like your room now or even paint it a different color if you want.”

“Can I paint it?” she asked. “I’m so good at painting. My teacher even said so.”

“I could use some help,” Patrick said, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a smile.

“I want to help, too,” Logan said.

“You can both help,” Rebecca replied.

“Are we moving tomorrow?” Abby asked. “After you meet with the real person?”

“Realtor. And not tomorrow, honey. We still need to pack up our things and make room in Patrick’s house. We’ll move over the summer.”

“Is it summer now?”

“It is, but we have to get our things ready before we can move.”

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