Come on, Wes! His daughter creates a program to make his life easier and he refuses to use it? Sounded like poor time management and also a way to create a gap between father and daughter, but who was she to judge? She had no idea what their lives were like. “Well, maybe I can help you make it available to other coaches,” she said, ignoring the voice in her mind that warned her about getting involved in Wes’s business or too close to a little girl she could easily adore. She sensed that Marissa could use a friend—someone who understood her.

“You’d help me with that?” Her eyes widened, and Sarah was happy that maybe she’d helped to ease the disappointment about camp just a little.

Maybe she could ease it a lot. And maybe the little girl might be able to help her with her own dilemma. She was a kid, after all. Who better to advise Sarah on technology that kids would want to use?

She hesitated briefly, then decided to go for it before she could overthink. “Hey, how would you like to be my intern this summer? Help me with my app programming and I can help you get yours to market?”

Marissa’s eyes lit up as though Sarah had just given her a new puppy. “Really? You’d help me sell my app?”

Sarah nodded. “If you want to…”

“I do!” Her head bobbed up and down so fast, it looked like it might pop off.

Sarah laughed. “Great…so start tomorrow?”

“Not right now?” The little girl’s pout immediately reminded Sarah of Wes, and she felt an inexplicable tug at her heart. A terrifying, unsafe tug…

“We should probably talk to your dad about it first.” That realization came a few minutes too late. Hopefully Wes wouldn’t have an issue with this. It would be tough if she’d offered a consolation to Marissa only to have him shoot it down. And her own job might be dependent on this collaboration. If she didn’t get something impressive to Gail soon, she could kiss the pending promotion goodbye.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Marissa said. “I’ll ask him at lunchtime after he has his ice cream. Sugar always makes him more agreeable.”

Sarah laughed as she got up from the swing but paused as Marissa reached out to touch her hand.

“Hey, Sarah, thank you,” she said.

And that little tug at her heart wasn’t so little anymore.

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven