Free Heart's Desire by Catherine Lanigan

face-to-face with Nate.
    He stared at her, his blue eyes matching her lilting green, fire for fire. He started to smile, but his lips stuck to his teeth.
    Maddie balled her right hand into a fist and with every ounce of her strength, she delivered a blow to his midsection.
    “Ooomph!” Nate grabbed his middle and doubled over.
    “So,” Maddie growled. “Not a ghost.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
    “D ID YOU SEE that?” Timmy asked Annie, bug-eyed and lips parted in awe.
    Annie nodded silently, not understanding Maddie’s actions at all. Annie was confused and dismayed. Her mother and her father had taught both she and Timmy that violent means only begat more violence. Annie went out of her way to be friendly to the kids in her school, though some of them didn’t deserve her kindness. She avoided the aggressive and mean kids she’d seen on the playground, but they were older and didn’t even notice her. It wasn’t that she was afraid to fight anyone. If someone ever tried to hurt Timmy, she knew she could get angry enough to hit them. But she had never actually seen a woman hit a man. Her mother never had, that was for sure. And even though her dad had been in the navy, and fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, he never talked about his experiences. He always told her and Timmy that a person had to have “provocation” and “good cause” to resort to violence.
    For Annie to see Sarah’s best friend, Maddie, hit a total stranger for no reason at all was totally bizarre.
    Annie didn’t know what to do. Her first instinct was to seek shelter. She scooted over to her father and grabbed his hand. “Are they going to fight some more?”
    “No,” Luke answered quickly.
    “It’s okay, sweetheart,” Sarah said uncomfortably.
    “But he’s a stranger,” Annie said to Sarah.
    Sarah lifted Annie’s chin. “No, sweetie, she knew him a long time ago.”
    “He must have done something to make her mad,” Annie offered.
    “I’m guessing he had it coming,” Luke said. They watched Maddie storm out of the lodge, her victim still rubbing his stomach.
    Luke scrunched his eyes as he scrutinized Nate. “Hey. Wait a minute! I know that guy.”
    Sarah whirled to face Luke, her blue eyes flashing with surprise and disbelief. “You know Nate Barzonni? How?”
    Luke smiled, scratched his head and nodded. “Yeah, I know him. We were in the navy together. We were really close—for a while.”
    “He ditched you, too? Must be a character flaw,” Sarah muttered.
    “Hmm. I better see if he needs some help.” Luke patted Sarah’s shoulder.
    Luke rushed off, leaving Sarah dumbfounded. “Did he say they were in the navy together?” she asked the others at the table.
    “He most certainly did,” Mrs. Beabots confirmed with a smart snap of her head.
    “So that’s where Nate has been all this time,” Aunt Emily said. “I always knew we’d figure out the answer to that mystery someday.”
    “Mystery is right,” Sarah said, looking at Olivia. “One gets solved and then another is presented in its place. How is it possible that Luke and Nate knew each other, and now they’re both here at the Lodges?”
    “Kismet,” Mrs. Beabots said. “It takes a lot of angelic intervention to bring this much combustion into a single room on an Easter Sunday, wouldn’t you say?”
    “That’s as good an explanation as any,” Sarah replied. “Olivia, can you manage to get Mrs. Beabots to Maddie’s car? My guess is that she’s still outside waiting for us. I’ll take the children and meet up with Luke.”
    “No problem.” Olivia offered her arm to Mrs. Beabots. “She’s the best date I’ve had in a long time.”
    “The only date, you mean, don’t you, dearie?” Mrs. Beabots asked in the honeyed tone she took when she was stating the blunt truth. “Now, I think I can help with that kind of thing,” Mrs. Beabots said.
    “You think... how do you know...” Olivia shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “I mean, I see guys all day