This Matter Of Marriage. Debbie Macomber

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СКАЧАТЬ frankly—” he paused, grinning broadly “—it wouldn’t hurt my feelings any if she was to meet up with the joker you went out with last night. Maybe she’d be more willing to talk about the two of us getting back together.”

      “You want to patch things up with your ex?”

      Steve nodded, and his eyes held hers sternly, as if he anticipated an argument.

      “I’m impressed.” In Hallie’s opinion, too many families were thrown into chaos by divorce. It did her heart good to know there were men like Steve who considered it important to keep the family intact.

      Predictably, Meagan and Kenny arrived within seconds of the pizza. The biggest pizza Hallie had ever seen. Pepperoni, sausage, mushroom and black olive. Her favorite. For a while, there was silence as they all helped themselves to huge slices.

      When they’d eaten their fill, Steve and Kenny went to find a cardboard container for leftovers. Meagan smiled at Hallie. “I’m glad you came with us,” she said again.

      “I’m glad you asked.”

      “Kenny and I like this place, but we don’t come often because Dad gets lonely without Mom here.”

      It wasn’t the first time Hallie had noticed Meagan worrying about her father. Her tenderness toward him was touching, and Hallie squeezed the girl’s shoulders. “I hope your parents get back together,” she said.

      “Kenny and I used to talk about it a lot.”

      “Your father certainly loves your mother.”

      “I know.”

      But Hallie noticed that the girl’s eyes dimmed as she spoke, and she wondered what that meant.

      “Mom’s dating Kip,” Meagan said. “Dad knows. Kenny and I weren’t going to tell him, but he knows. Mom is…I don’t know, but I don’t think she wants Dad back. She likes Kip and gets upset if we try to talk to her about Dad. She said that sometimes people fall out of love, and that’s what happened with her and Dad.”

      Hallie was a little uncomfortable with these confidences. “Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to,” she said, wanting to reassure the girl and afraid she was doing a poor job of it. It was clear that Meagan loved both her parents, and like every child, wanted them together.

      “I like that,” she said, biting her lower lip. “Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.” A smile brightened her pretty face. “I’ll remember that, Hallie. Thanks.”

      Eight

      Bachelor #2

      I t was déjà vu all over again, as a baseball great—often quoted by her father—used to say.

      Hallie sat across the linen-covered table from a man she normally would’ve crossed the street to avoid. “Sleazy” was the word that came to mind. Chad Ellis had hair combed from a low side part to disguise his baldness; it contained enough grease to avert an oil shortage that winter. He wore a suit coat with a bright floral-print shirt unbuttoned practically to his navel and no fewer than fifteen gold chains in various lengths. He looked up from the menu and flashed her a smile that said she was lucky to be with him. Hallie had trouble believing that her own assistant, someone who knew her and presumably liked her, could possibly believe she’d be compatible with this clown.

      Hallie reviewed the menu selections, keeping an eye on price. If she was going to end up paying for her half of dinner, she wanted to be sure she ordered a meal she could afford.

      Chad made his selection and set aside the menu. “How about a little something to loosen our inhibitions?” he suggested. The thought of loosening anything with this character terrified her. “Such as a double martini.”

      Hallie had ordered a martini once, and the only thing worth remembering was the olive. “Uh, I’d like mineral water.”

      He jiggled his eyebrows a couple of times. “Liquor is quicker.”

      A blind person could read the writing on the wall with this one. She chanced a look in Chad’s direction and her stomach tightened. This creep was Bonnie’s uncle? Did her assistant honestly think she was that desperate?

      The waiter arrived and Chad ordered a double martini, while Hallie chose a Perrier. They both ordered their meals—seafood pasta for her, steak for him. “You aren’t nervous, are you, cupcake?”

      She gritted her teeth. “The name’s Hallie.”

      “Women like pet names.”

      “Not this woman.” Hallie was determined not to get into an argument with him until he’d paid the bill, but she wasn’t sure she’d last that long.

      “Chad said you’re—”

      “Chad said?” Then understanding dawned. “If you aren’t Chad Ellis, who the hell are you?” She was almost shouting.

      “All right, all right. Damn, I should’ve known I couldn’t pull this off. Chad had to leave town unexpectedly and he asked me to fill in for him. My name’s Tom Chedders.”

      “I was supposed to have dinner with Chad Ellis!” Her blood heated to the boiling point. That Chad had lacked the decency to tell her he couldn’t meet her and sent a stranger in his stead was all she needed to know about him.

      “Don’t worry, you’ll have a good time with me,” Tom told her, glancing around to make sure they weren’t attracting attention. “Chad will vouch for me. We’ve been good buddies for a lot of years. We work for the same company.”

      “Why didn’t you tell me right away who you were?”

      “I was afraid you wouldn’t have dinner with me if I did,” he said. “Like I told you before, I’m an all-right kind of guy. No need to get bent out of shape, now, is there?” He flashed her a toothy grin.

      Hallie wasn’t sure. “I would’ve preferred it if you’d been honest with me from the beginning.”

      He did at least look mildly guilty. “You’re right, I should’ve, only…I didn’t want to give you an excuse to cancel. All I’m asking is that you give me a chance.”

      Hallie sighed deeply. “Let’s be honest with each other from now on, okay?”

      “Scout’s honor.”

      “You were a scout?”

      He shook his head. “Nah, they were a bunch of sissies, far as I was concerned.”

      “I see,” she muttered, and gazed yearningly toward the front door. The evening could prove to be a very long one indeed.

      “So you’re divorced,” Tom said, then thanked the cocktail waitress with a wink and a quarter tip. It took him a moment to turn his attention back to Hallie.

      “No, Chad must have misunderstood. I’ve never been married.”

      She’d say one thing for Tom. He had the most expressive eyebrows she’d ever seen. Right СКАЧАТЬ