Noah’s breath went away, but he didn’t let Hailey know what he’d heard. She’d told someone that she loved them. He thought she’d said hello to her father, but he wanted to be sure. “Problem?”

She sat there for a moment staring off into space. He wanted to comfort her because she was in some distress. Then she shook herself and smiled at him. It didn’t reach her eyes. “No problem.”

Noah didn’t believe her, but he let it go. He would investigate further. Was ...