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It just wouldn’t feel right. A lot of the people who go to those meetings were married for years. They have kids.” Kat reached for her glass of water, her mouth suddenly as dry as paper.
    Val watched her for a moment, and then sighed dramatically, setting her fork down. “Fine. I’ll
consider
hanging out with you two.”
    “Really? Yay! It’ll be fun, I promise.”
    Val’s gaze lowered to the ring on Kat’s left hand. “You might want to put that in your jewelry box while she’s here, though.”
    Staring down at the sparkling, oval-cut diamond, she shook her head. “I can’t…yet. But I have started packing up his stuff. That’s progress.”
    “Yes, it’s…
progress.
” There was a playful hint to Val’s tone, lightening the mood for both of them.
    “It’s just hard. I hope you never have to go through it.”
    Val’s body tensed beside her. “Just because I’m dating a Marine, doesn’t mean he’s going to die.”
    Crap!
She hadn’t meant to say what she’d been thinking. She just didn’t want her best friend to go through what she had. “I know. I didn’t mean anything by that. I’m sure Doug will come home safe and sound. Most Marines come home safe and sound.” She heard her voice waver as she spoke, those pesky emotions rising to the surface.
    Looking up, she offered her best I’m-completely-together-smile, knowing Val wouldn’t buy it the way most did. Kat allowed herself a temporary moment of self-pity—something reserved only for when she was alone or with her best friend—and then she was done. Back to the positive. The future. “He was the one who encouraged me to take this job as principal. He believed I could do it, that I’d make a difference.”
    “And you are,” Val said softly.
    “I’m trying, but look at today. It was the first day of school and already there was vandalism and a student popped the tire of another child’s wheelchair.”
    “Two incidents. No big deal. You were perfect.”
    “Huge deal.” Kat set down her spoon, no longer hungry. “Don’t you remember how the last school year ended? Seaside Elementary was becoming known for its incidents rather than the fact that we have top-notch teachers and some of the highest academic scores in the state.”
    Val nodded. “We’re a military town. It’s kind of natural for the kids to duke it out. Like dogs marking their territory.”
    This roused a smile from her—one of the reasons she loved Val. “You’re comparing my students to dogs?”
    “Or wolves. It’s the hierarchy of nature, or some shit like that.”
    Kat collected her bowl and headed to the sink. “That’s it. You’re cut off from the Discovery Channel.”
    “So, what are you going to do?” Val asked, following behind her.
    “I don’t know yet. But I’m going to do something, in John’s honor. I’m going to turn Seaside Elementary into a place where students accept each other, care about each other—”
    “And you’re cut off from the Hallmark Channel.” Val gave Kat’s shoulder a playful shove, then jumped as the phone rang in her pocket. “It’s Doug,” she said, reading her caller ID. “I’ll take it outside.”
    Kat watched her friend disappear out the front door. Glancing down at her engagement ring, she thought about Julie’s announcement that she was coming home for a visit. Julie was a lot of things, but Val was wrong about her. Her sister wasn’t a soul sucker. She just had a different way of doing things. And if Julie had it her way, by the end of next week, she’d have John’s stuff boxed up, the engagement ring on its way to a pawnshop, and a new man in Kat’s life, possibly in her bed.
    Well, that last part might be nice. She’d just have one ground rule—no Marines.
    —
    Micah glanced at Ben in the rearview mirror. He wasn’t smiling. It had been a rough first week—not horrible, but it hadn’t lived up to Ben’s hopes—and now Micah had to stop procrastinating and finally tell him that his