The twenty dollars she’d allotted herself for frivolous spending was burning a hole in the back pocket of her thrift store-find jeans. “A glass of house Chardonnay,” Gloria decided. God, these tiny daily decisions that she was now free to make, responsible to make, both thrilled and overwhelmed her.

“Coming right up,” Sophie said, expertly pulling two pints simultaneously while nudging the bar fridge shut with her hip.

Moments later a stemmed glass appeared in front of Gloria on a paper napkin.

“Hey, Gloria. It’s nice to see you out and about!” Harper floated up to the bar with an empty tray. Harper had taken on a Friday night shift at the bar to keep herself occupied and out of trouble while Luke was deployed. Rumor had it Luke wasn’t a fan of both his sister and girlfriend closing down the bar every Friday, but no one told Harper Wilde and Sophie Adler how to live their lives.

Gloria loved that about them.

“I’m celebrating my first full paycheck from Blooms,” Gloria confessed.

“Good for you!” Harper said, traying up a round of drinks as fast as Sophie poured them. “Claire says you’re doing a great job.”

“Thanks.” Gloria felt her blush deepen. “I really like it there. So, um. Have you heard from Luke?” She was going on a bit of a fishing expedition. If Harper had heard from Luke, she probably had news on Aldo.

The dreamy grin nearly split Harper’s face in two. “I had an email from him Wednesday, and I talked to him last week.” A love like the one that lit Harper’s gray eyes could survive the long distance. Gloria was sure of it.

She twirled the stem of her glass between her fingers. “Did he say how Aldo’s doing?”

“Ooooooooh,” Sophie cooed behind the bar. “Someone has a crush!”

Gloria felt herself turning an even brighter shade of pink. Was it only a crush, she wondered. Or did the potential of a future with the man make it something more? These were questions she’d like to ask the man in question who’d given her no way to contact him during his deployment. Whether that was Aldo being chivalrous and heroic or disinterested, she wasn’t certain.

“Stop picking on her,” Harper ordered. “Don’t mind Sophie. She thinks she’s Cupid.”

“By the way, you’re welcome,” Sophie said pointedly at Harper, winking.

“Anyway.” Harper rolled her eyes at Sophie. “Luke did mention that Aldo’s organizing some crazy boot camp workout competition with a bunch of the people from their unit. Tire flipping, rope climbing. He promised to email pictures.”

Gloria nodded and worried about how to beg for an email address without sounding desperate.

“I could give you his email address, you know,” Harper offered, reading her mind.

“Don’t you think that would be…weird?” Gloria asked even while her insides were screaming Get the email address!