His Second-Chance Family. RaeAnne Thayne

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СКАЧАТЬ and everything and talk to the co-owner before you make a decision. I’m definitely interested, at least through the school year.”

      Sage opened her mouth to answer but before she could speak, the dog gave a sudden sharp bark, his ears on alert. He rushed for the open door to the landing and she could hear his claws scrabbling on the steps just an instant before the front door opened downstairs.

      Sage didn’t even blink at the dog’s eager behavior. “Oh, good. That’s Anna Galvez. I was hoping she’d be home before you left so she could have a chance to meet you. Anna took over By-the-Wind, Abigail’s old book and giftshop in town.”

      “I remember the place. I spent many wonderful rainy afternoons curled up in one of the easy chairs with a book.”

      “Haven’t we all?” Sage said with a smile, then walked out to the stairs to call down to the other woman.

      A moment later, a woman with dark hair and petite, lovely features walked up the stairs, her hand on Conan’s fur.

      She greeted Julia with a smile slightly more reserved than Sage’s warm friendliness. “Hello.”

      Her smile warmed when she greeted the curious twins. “Hey, there,” she said.

      Sage performed a quick introduction. “Julia and her twins are moving to Cannon Beach from Boise. Julia’s going to be teaching fifth grade at the elementary school and she’s looking for an apartment.”

      “Lovely to meet you. Welcome to Oregon!”

      “Thank you,” Julia said. “I used to spend summers near here when I was a child.”

      “She’s one of Abigail’s lost sheep finally come home,” Sage said with a smile that quickly turned mischievous. “Oh, you’ll be interested to know that Will was her first love.”

      To Julia’s immense relief, Sage added the latter in an undertone too low for the children to hear, even if they’d been paying attention. Still, she could feel herself blush again. She really had to stop doing that every time Will Garrett’s name was mentioned.

      “I was fifteen. Another lifetime ago. We barely recognized each other when I bumped into him earlier today outside. He seems…very different than he was at sixteen.”

      Sage’s teasing smile turned sober. “He has his reasons,” she said softly.

      She and Anna gave each other a quick look loaded with layers of subtext that completely escaped Julia.

      “Thank you for showing me the apartment. I have to tell you, from what I see, it would be perfect for us. It’s exactly what I’m looking for, with room for the children to play, incredible views and within walking distance to the school. But I certainly understand that you need to check references and credit history before renting it to me. Feel free to talk to the principal of the elementary school who hired me, and any of the other references I gave you in our phone conversation. If you need anything else, you have my cell number and the number of the hotel where we’re staying.”

      “Or we could always talk to Will and see what he remembers from when you were fifteen.”

      Julia flashed a quick look to Sage and was relieved to find the other woman smiling again. She had no idea what Will Garrett remembered about her. Nothing pleasant, obviously, or he probably would have shown a little more warmth when she encountered him earlier.

      “Will may not be the best character reference. If I remember correctly, I still owe him an ice-cream cone. He bet me I couldn’t split a geoduck without using my hands. I tried for days but the summer ended before I could pay him back.”

      “Good thing you’re sticking around,” Anna said. “You can pay back your debt now. We’ve still got ice cream.”

      “And geoducks,” Sage said. “Maybe you’re more agile than you used to be.”

      She laughed, liking both women immensely. As she gathered the children and headed down the stairs to her car, Julia could only wish for a little more agility. Then she would cross her toes and her fingers that Sage Benedetto and Anna Galvez would let her and her twins rent their vacant apartment.

      She couldn’t remember when she had wanted anything so much.

      “So what do you think?” Sage asked as she and Anna stood at the window watching the schoolteacher strap her children into the backseat of her little SUV.

      She looked like she had the process down to a science, Sage thought, something she still struggled with when she drove Chloe anywhere. She could never figure out how to tighten the darn seat belt over the booster chair with her stepdaughter-to-be. She ought to have Julia give her lessons.

      “No idea,” Anna replied. “I barely talked to her for five minutes. But she seems nice enough.”

      “She belongs here.”

      Anna snorted. “And you figured that out in one quick fifteen-minute meeting?”

      “Not at all.” Sage grinned. She couldn’t help herself. “I figured it out in the first thirty seconds.”

      “We still have to check her references. I’m sorry if this offends you, but I can’t go on karma alone on this one.”

      “I know. But I’m sure they’ll check out.” Sage couldn’t have said how she knew, she just did. Somehow she was certain Abigail would have wanted Julia and her twins to live at Brambleberry House.

      “Did you see her blush when Will’s name came up?”

      Anna shook her head. “Leave it alone, Sage. You engaged women think you have to match up the entire universe.”

      “Not the entire universe. Just the people I love, like Will.”

      And you, she added silently. She thought of the loneliness in Anna’s eyes, the tiny shadow of sadness she was certain Anna never guessed showed on her expression.

      Their neighbor wasn’t the only one who deserved to be happy, but she decided she—and Abigail—could only focus on one thing at a time. “Will has had so much pain in his life. Wouldn’t you love to see him smile again?”

      “Of course. But Julia herself said she hadn’t seen him in years and they barely recognized each other. And we don’t even know the woman. She could be married.”

      “Widowed. She told me that on the phone. Two years, the same as Will.”

      Compassion flickered in Anna’s brown eyes. “Those poor children, to lose their father at such a young age.” She paused. “That doesn’t mean whatever scheme you’re hatching has any chance of working.”

      “I know. But it’s worth a shot. Anyway, Conan likes them and that’s the important thing, isn’t it, bud?”

      The dog barked, giving his uncanny grin. As far as Sage was concerned, references or not, that settled the matter.

      Chapter Three

      Sage and Anna apparently had a new tenant.

      Will slowed his pickup down as he passed СКАЧАТЬ