Page 6 of Shattered By the Currents

His gaze went to the window, right across the street to the community center. Raven wasn’t outside anymore. But her sad blue eyes lingered in his head.

Whywas she sad?

He didn’t know her well. But hewantedto. He wanted to know why she didn’t smile more. Why she’d stood on that overlook this morning, seeming like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“You should go.”

He turned to glance at Ryan, their team leader. “What?”

“You think I missed that glance between you and Raven just now?” He lifted a brow. “You’re gonna be distracted if you stay. Go.”

Connor had shared his concerns about Raven with Ryan. He shared almost everything with the men at this table. They’dserved together as SEALs. He trusted them with his life.Hadtrusted them with his life, more times than he could count. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” Ryan muttered.

Connor stood.

As he passed the counter, Joel straightened, his arm around Polly, the café owner. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be back.”

Joel and Ethan had both fallen in love these last few months. Well, Joel had fallen for Polly. Ethan had loved Maggie for a long time. They’d just reconnected and finally muddled their way through the crap that was their past.

A part of Connor wanted that. Once upon a time, he thought he’d found it, dating someone for five years. But she’d lied for the last two. And if there was anything he hated, it was dishonesty.

He crossed the street and headed across the patch of grass, passing the gazebo. Why there was a damn gazebo in almost every small town, he had no idea. And Deep River really was your typical small town, including monthly town meetings, a self-proclaimed psychic, and a town sheriff who preferred to sit on his ass rather than do the work.

He stepped into the old community center, but it wasn’t Raven who greeted him. This woman looked to be in her sixties, with graying hair pulled into a bun, and she sprayed tables with cleaner while muttering something incoherent under her breath.

She straightened at the click of the door closing behind him, a frown knitting her brows. “Can I help you?”

“I’m here to see Raven.”

The older woman huffed. “So she’s taking callsandhaving visitors while on the clock?”

“Excuse me?”

“She’s in the office.” The woman didn’t look at him again as she moved to the next table and started spraying and wiping. Her actions were all accompanied by more muttering.

He crossed to the office door and knocked. A few seconds passed. When no one answered, he opened the door.

“Lottie, now isn’t the time. I—” She turned, lips separating, eyes widening at the sight of him.

He frowned. “Hey. Are you okay?” But he could see she wasn’t. Her chest moved too quickly, her breaths coming out in short, sharp stutters.

She pressed a hand to her chest and opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but no words came out.

He closed the small distance between them and gently gripped her upper arms. Then, without cutting eye contact, he said softly, “Breathe, Raven.”

She nodded and sucked air into her chest. He eased her back into a seat and knelt in front of her. He set his palms on her knees, neither of them looking away.

Long minutes passed while they took deep, exaggerated breaths together.

Finally, air seemed to fill her chest with a bit more ease.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her blue eyes pools of emotion.

Unable to stop himself, he reached up and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “Want to talk about it?”