Free Contemporary Romance: Passage of Arms - A Military Romance Novel (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Military Romance, Romance Novel Book 1) by Nancy Adams

with a den half a floor beneath the main floor which held the kitchen and living rooming. The bedrooms were located on the top half floor. Leaving her room, Sarah passed by Ruth’s door and knocked.
    “Ruth, are you in there?”
    “Down here, Mom,” Ruth answered back.
    Sarah moved to the edge of the short set of steps and spied her daughter drinking a glass of orange juice by the countertop in the kitchen. She was completely dressed with her shoes on.
    “Ruth, are you ready?” Sarah asked, a bit stunned.  Ruth grinned back at her, but continued drinking the orange juice. Sarah glanced at the time. “Oh my gosh, we’re early,” she blinked, and Ruth simply shrugged her shoulders.
    “That’s huge, sweetie. We should celebrate.”
    Ruth set the glass down and looked towards her mother. “Ice cream?”
    “Before school?” Sarah laughed, but Ruth’s face fell. She quickly tried to backtrack. “Sure. Dairy Queen has cones and sundaes, don’t they?” When had her daughter become so opinionated with thoughts and preferences?
    “Okay,” Sarah continued with an empty blink. “I don’t think they’re open in the morning though,” Ruth’s face twitched, “I’ll stop there after school, though, okay? We’ll go to the one off the interstate.”
    Ruth smiled. “Okay,” she moved towards the table where her backpack was resting and picked it up. Ruth slung it over her shoulder in the next step and together, she and Sarah headed for the front door.
    Leaving early didn’t seem to ease much of the stress and aggravation Sarah felt with the morning traffic. The only difference was less anticipation at the traffic lights.
    She dropped Ruth off without incidence and drove towards her shop. Her stomach was already starting to bubble with excitement. She wasn’t sure why that was though. Bruce had always been a friend, nothing more.
    They had always talked about meeting up, but that had been years ago; and with the infrequent contact, she eventually just forgot about him, if that was possible. Her days had become nothing but work and Ruth. She didn’t do anything else.
    She arrived close to twenty minutes early to open. That made her feel good. There were a couple of early risers waiting in their cars. They waved at her as she parked and passed, but her morning crew hadn’t yet assembled by the front door. She was grinning now. Today was off to a great start.

Chapter Nine
    The Backup
     
    Sarah stared at the text on her phone and frowned. She bit her lip and read the message one more time. It wasn’t going to change. She locked the screen and glanced up, looking around the shop. They had been open for two hours and it was filled with a healthy flow of individuals coming, going, and some choosing to stay and relax. No one looked in her direction, or even seemed to notice that her breath had become stuck in her throat.
    All morning her stomach had been a bubbling cauldron of feelings. Now, it had simply gone flat. She felt deflated, empty, and a bit stupid.
    “Hey, boss,” it was a peppy voice from behind.
    Sarah whirled towards the voice and stared at Becky. She was dressed casually, in jeans and a loose graphic tee and stared back at Sarah hesitantly.
    “Why aren’t you in class?” Sarah asked, confused. Becky chuckled and shrugged.
    “I didn’t have any today,” she answered. “I was driving through town on my way to the university and I thought I’d stop in and see how you were doing?” She ended her voice with a higher than normal inflation.
    Sarah simply stared. “You’re skipping class right now. I know you are because you showed me your schedule for this semester.”
    Becky rolled her eyes. “Okay, you got me. I just wanted to see the man come pick you up, okay?”
    Sarah frowned and glanced at the locked screen on her phone. “Well, sorry to disappoint you, but he’s taking a rain check,” she tried to keep the disappointment from showing in her voice. “That’s good though because I was