Navy Husband

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On closer inspection, she saw that he was tall and apparently very fit. Some might find his looks appealing, but Shana decided she didn’t. Brad was just as tall and equally fit—from spending hours in a gym every week, no doubt admiring himself in all the mirrors. Adam’s hair was a deep chestnut shade, similar to her own. No. Not chestnut, she decided next, nothing that distinguished. His was plain brown. He might’ve been considered handsome if not for those small, beady eyes. Well, they weren’t exactly small, more average, she supposed, trying to be as objective as she could. He hugged Jazmine and looked at Shana and—no.

But he did. He looked at Shana and winked. The man had the audacity to flirt with her. It was outrageous. This was the very man Jazmine wanted her mother to marry. The man whose praises she’d sung for two full days until Shana thought she’d scream if she heard his name one more time.

“I’m Adam Kennedy.” He extended his free right hand.

She offered her left hand because it was dry and nodded politely. “You mean Uncle Adam.” She hoped he caught the sarcastic inflection in her voice.

He grinned as if he knew how much that irritated her. Okay, now she had to admit it. When he smiled he wasn’t ordinary-looking at all. In fact, some women—not her, but others who were less jaded—might even be attracted to him. That she could even entertain the remote possibility of finding a man attractive was upsetting. Wasn’t it only a few days ago that she’d declared to her sister that she was completely and utterly off men? And now here she was, feeling all shaky inside and acting like a girl closer to Jazmine’s age than her own. This was pathetic.

In an attempt to cover her reaction, Shana handed Jazmine the bowl of ice cream with its two heaping scoops.

“Uncle Adam wants one, too,” Jazmine said excitedly, and then turned to him. “What happened to your arm?” she asked, her eyes wide with concern. “Did you break it?”

“Nothing as dramatic as that,” he said, elevating the arm, which was tucked protectively in a sling. “I had a problem with my shoulder, but that’s been taken care of now.”

Jazmine didn’t seem convinced. “You’re going to be all right, aren’t you?”

“I’ll be fine before you know it.”

“Good,” Jazmine said; she seemed reassured now. Taking Adam by the hand, she led him across the restaurant to a booth.

Shana could hear Jazmine whispering up a storm, but hard as she strained, she couldn’t hear what was being said. Working as fast as her arm muscles would allow, she hurriedly dished up a second bowl of ice cream. When she’d bought this business, no one had mentioned how hard ice cream could be. She was developing some impressive biceps.

She smiled as she carried the second dish over to their booth and hoped he enjoyed the bright teal-blue bubblegum ice cream. After she’d set it down in front of him, she waited. She wasn’t sure why she was lingering.

Jazmine beamed with joy. Seeing her niece this happy about anything made Shana feel a pang of regret. Doing her best to swallow her pride, she continued to stand there, unable to think of a thing to say.

Her niece glanced up as if noticing her for the first time. “I was telling Uncle Adam about my backpack. He’s the one who said those other girls just wanted to be friends. I didn’t believe him, but he was right.”

“Yes, he was.” Shana might have been able to fade into the background then if Adam hadn’t chosen that moment to turn and smile at her. Ignoring him would be easy if only he’d stop smiling, dammit.

“The girls gave it back?” Adam’s gaze returned to Jazmine.

Her niece nodded. “Madison asked me to sit next to her at lunch today and I did.”

Adam reached across the table and the two exchanged a high five. “That’s great!”

“Can I get you anything else?” Shana asked, feeling like a third wheel. These two apparently had a lot to discuss, and no one needed to tell her she was in the way. Besides, she had a business to run. Several customers had come in; at the moment they were studying the list of ice-cream flavors but she’d have to attend to them soon.

“Nothing, thanks.” He dipped his plastic spoon into the ice cream. Then, without giving her any warning, he looked at Shana again and their eyes met. Shana felt the breath freeze in her lungs. He seemed to really see her, and something about her seemed to catch him unawares. His brow wrinkled as though he was sure he knew her from somewhere else, but couldn’t place her.

“How long can you stay?” her niece asked.

Adam turned his attention back to Jazmine.

Shana waited, curious to know the answer herself.

“Just a couple of hours.”

“Two hours!” Jazmine didn’t bother to hide her disappointment.

“I’ve got to get back to base for a meeting.”

“Right,” Shana said, diving into the conversation. “He has to go back to Everett. We wouldn’t want to detain him, now would we?” She didn’t mean to sound so pleased about sending him on his way, but she wanted him out of there. Shana disliked how he made her feel—as if…as if she was on the brink of some important personal discovery. Like she’d told her sister, she was off men. For good. Okay, for a year. It would take that long to get Brad out of her system, she figured. Now, all of a sudden, there was this man, this uncle Adam, whose smiles made her feel hot, then cold. That wasn’t a good sensation for her to be having. It contradicted everything she’d been saying—and it made her uncomfortable.