Raeanne Thayne Hope's Crossings Series Volume One: Blackberry Summer. RaeAnne Thayne

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СКАЧАТЬ mayor’s wife was a customer at the store. She favored large, flashy, expensive art glass beads and usually managed to finagle one of the store employees into basically creating it for her with sly little interactions like, “Can you just get me started?” or “Will you show me that technique again?” or “You know I always struggle with that particular gauge of wire.”

      Usually Claire’s employees loved to help people with their projects, but Laura Beaumont’s ploys to have people do the work for her without compensation of any kind had become so transparent, most of them just rolled their eyes—discreetly—every time she walked in the store.

      “Poor Gen. It couldn’t have been an easy decision. I wonder how her fiancé and his family are taking the news.”

      Genevieve Beaumont was marrying the son of one of Colorado’s most prestigious families, rich and politically powerful, in what had promised to be the leading social event of the year. She sincerely hoped Sawyer Danforth’s family didn’t try to distance themselves from the Beaumonts in light of Charlie’s legal troubles.

      “Why do you think Charlie slashed up the wedding dress? I always thought Gen and Charlie got along fairly well, despite the eight-year gap in their ages.”

      “Who knows.” Claire didn’t need to see her friend to sense her shrug. “Maybe Charlie was resentful of all the attention Gen was getting. Or maybe he doesn’t like the groom. Or maybe he just thought the dress was ugly.”

      So much anger had been channeled into that wanton destruction. She couldn’t imagine it.

      “He must be a very troubled young man to have made such terrible decisions.”

      “Or maybe he’s just a rotten kid. It’s possible.”

      She caught a flash of movement outside as Riley passed by the window. She thought of him and the trouble he had caused in his youth, reacting so fiercely to a confusing, painful world. She would have thought he, of all people, should have some compassion for Charlie Beaumont.

      “I’d better go so I can place this order before end of business, Pacific time.”

      “Thank you, Evie. A few more days and I’ll be back to take some of the weight off your shoulders.”

      “So far my shoulders are plenty wide enough for the load. Don’t push yourself too hard. I mean it.”

      “It’s not like I’m Alex, who has to stand on her feet all day in a hot restaurant kitchen. I can sit in the store as easily as I can sit here and at least there I’ll have someone to talk to besides Chester.”

      “Well, he is the only reason I want you to hurry back, you know. I miss that ugly mug. In fact, I miss him so much I might be fostering another dog myself. The shelter called and they need a temporary home for a labradoodle. It will probably be a tight fit in the apartment over the store, but I figure for a few weeks we’ll cope. I told them I would, but I guess I should have checked with you first.”

      “You know I don’t care.”

      Claire was probably the most indulgent landlord ever, but since Evie was the perfect tenant, employee and friend, Claire figured that earned her more than a little latitude.

      Evie had fostered animals before until a permanent placement could be found, but they’d usually been cats or small-breed dogs. She rarely developed a lasting attachment to anything, something that worried Claire. Her friend had deep secrets in her past, a pain she didn’t share with anyone.

      “I’ll see you Monday morning,” she said after a moment.

      “Need me to come get you?” Evie asked.

      Rats. She’d forgotten about transportation. Oh, she hated being dependent on people. “I’ll see if Alex can give me a lift. If that isn’t convenient, my mom can probably do it.”

      “Let me know if you change your mind. I know Ruth isn’t always easy to take first thing in the morning.”

      Claire smiled and they quickly ended the call. She sat for a moment, rolling that silky bead between her fingers again and thinking of the events that had affected so many lives in Hope’s Crossing. Charlie Beaumont’s life would never be the same. He would always have this tragedy around his neck. The ripples from that moment were expanding out in wholly unexpected ways. Gen pushing her wedding back six months. Riley struggling to find his place in town. Probably in a hundred other lives she didn’t even know.

      She thought of Maura, whose life had been changed forever. Riley’s sister was still avoiding her phone calls most of the time, and Claire was determined to make it to her house as soon as possible, if she had to wheel herself the four blocks there.

      With a sigh, she turned back to the bracelet, hoping beading would soothe and quiet her spirit.

      She was just beginning to find a rhythm of sorts when the back door opened and Riley and Owen came inside.

      “Mom? Where are you, Mom?”

      “Family room,” she called.

      Her son burst through the doorway, baseball cap shoved backward and his face flushed with excitement.

      “Did you see me work the nail gun, Mom? I did a whole row of shingles by myself.”

      The very thought of it caused heart palpitations. Her son on a ladder with a nail gun that could impale his hand to the roof. She supposed it was a good thing she hadn’t allowed herself to watch.

      “You let him use a nail gun?” she asked Riley in what she hoped was a calm voice.

      “With help,” he assured her. “I kept my hand on it at all times.”

      “It was awesome,” Owen exclaimed. “I think I’m gonna save up my allowance and buy one. Man, I’d have the best tree house in town!”

      Riley laughed. “You’ve got to build to a nail gun, kid. Start out with some regular tools and see how that goes first. You don’t snowboard on the black diamond trails until you’ve had a few runs down the beginner slope.”

      Her son seemed to accept that bit of philosophy with his usual equanimity—and short attention span. “Hey, Mom, can we have pizza for dinner?”

      She smiled. “I was thinking the same thing. It is Friday night after all.” She was always grateful when she had the children on the weekend and tried to make Friday nights fun time for the three of them. “I’ll call and put in the order as soon as Macy comes back from soccer practice. Want to watch a movie, too? We have all those DVDs your dad and Holly brought over for me to watch while I recover, plus the instant streaming. Wasn’t there some superhero show you’ve been wanting to see?”

      “Can I go check out our queue and see?”

      “Sure. My laptop’s on the kitchen table.”

      She was deeply grateful for technology—and even more grateful that her kids could figure it out far better than she could.

      The moment her son headed out of the room, Claire instantly wanted to call him back. His presence provided a buffer between her and Riley. Without him, that ridiculous teenage girl inside her couldn’t stop thinking about СКАЧАТЬ