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Carly said, pretending a super-hot army guy wasn’t standing in the kitchen staring at her.
    “Thanks.” Lance leaned on the counter. “You guys always get up this early?”
    Carly began moving around the kitchen, grabbing bowls and cereal boxes. “Today is a little extreme, but Mya usually wakes pretty early. What are you doing up at this hour?”
    “I think you know. Did you enjoy the show?”
    Hell to the yes, but Carly could barely admit that. So she played it cool. “I’ve seen better.”
    He chuckled. His upper lip was glistening with sweat. And that might be the hottest thing she’d ever seen. “Well, I’ll work on my performance. Hopefully, you’ll improve your opinion.”
    Oh, yeah. She couldn’t wait for the encore. Carly wanted to offer another clever quip, but she chose that moment to look up. There, right smack in her line of sight, was Lance’s remarkable chest and ripped six-pack. Her own chest was rising and falling dramatically as he took her in, and suddenly she was glad she’d run a brush through her hair and splashed some water on her face.
    “Hey,” Mya said, skipping to the counter. She pointed her finger at Lance’s back. “My daddy had that drawing, too. I saw a picture of it.”
    Confused, Carly scrunched her nose, removed her gawking eyes from Lance’s bangin’ body, and leaned around him. Ah. Mya was commenting on his tattoo—the large eagle tattoo that spanned the width of his shoulder blades. Chris had gotten the same one.
    Lance chuckled. “It’s called a tattoo and your daddy and I got them together.”
    Mya tilted her head and tugged on her hair. “Does it come off in the pool?”
    “Nope. It’s permanent. Your daddy and our other friend John and I all got these about eight years ago.”
    “Is it like a friendship bracelet?”
    Now it was Carly’s turn to laugh. “Okay, Mya, let’s not bombard Uncle Lance with questions. Why don’t you pick the cereal you want, out of these choices,” she quickly amended, knowing her niece would try with the Lucky Charms again.
    Mya didn’t move. Instead, she launched into a rendition of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” her favorite song from Frozen .
    Carly still maintained that Mya was the most lovable kid on the planet who was graced with many inherent talents. However, singing was not one of them.
    Mya half-croaked, half-screamed the lyrics as she swayed back and forth, her pink nightgown swishing around her legs.
    Lance’s eyes darted from Mya to Carly and back to Mya. But after the first chorus, his face softened, and he grinned. At the end of the song, they both clapped and Mya bowed, then she stepped closer to Lance and tilted her head up.
    “Am I adorable?” she asked, drawing out the word.
    Carly almost choked.
    But Lance took Mya’s question in stride. “Pretty much the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen.”
    Mya jumped up and down. “I did it, Aunt Carly. I’m adorable. Now Uncle Lance will live with us forever.”
    With her hands on Mya’s back, she urged the little girl toward her bowl of cereal. “Let’s start with eating breakfast. Then we can discuss major life changes.”
    Lance watched Mya for a few minutes. “What was that all about?”
    Carly sighed. “Nothing. She just wants you to live here forever.”
    He sipped his coffee. “It’s been hard on her.”
    “Yes,” she said honestly. “But kids are resilient. A lot more so than adults.”
    She sat at the table with him and Lance covered her hand with his. “I’m so sorry about Chris and Gretchen, Carly. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be at the funeral.”
    She shrugged. “You were deployed. I understand that. We got your flowers and the food you had delivered. Honestly, if you’d been here, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. That whole time was a bit of a blur.”
    She grabbed a bowl for herself, but as she poured the Corn Flakes, she felt Lance’s gaze on her.
    “What?” she asked.
    “Can I ask you a