Lost And Found Family. Leigh Riker

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СКАЧАТЬ on Sequoia and the rush-hour traffic can be a real problem. I’m not sure...” She paused. “It is closer to my stepdaughter—my assistant’s—place, though. Grace could open for me at least some of the time and I could drive home just behind the traffic.”

      “So this is workable.” Nicole polished off her breakfast sandwich, then wiped her hands on a clean napkin.

      “Except for the rent.”

      “Hmm. Let me see what I can do.”

      They walked toward the nearest exit, where Emma had parked next to Nicole. Normally, her new Realtor would have driven Emma, but they both had appointments afterward in different directions.

      “Thanks, Nicole.” They exchanged a quick hug. “I’m glad you’re going to see me through this whole process—whether it turns out to be this mall or somewhere else.”

      Emma wasn’t done yet. She had to keep her business afloat, whatever it took.

CHAPTER FIVE

      THAT AFTERNOON CHRISTIAN WAS staring at the papers in front of him without understanding what he was seeing. He sat back in his desk chair and, instead, stared out his office window. It looked onto the parking lot in front of Mallory Trucking so there wasn’t much of a view unless he got up and walked closer to the glass so he could see across the road and up the hill where the mountains began. Today they were shrouded in fog.

      Christian rubbed his eyes and sighed. There’d been a definite fog between him and Emma this morning, and he didn’t know what to do about it. Last night he’d said things he probably shouldn’t have. If he didn’t watch himself, one day he’d really lash out—blame Emma for the accident.

      And then where would they be?

      Earlier he’d grabbed a cup of coffee in his stainless steel to-go mug, then headed out the door before she started fixing breakfast. She would have, too. Even after their quarrel about the playroom, Emma would bustle about the kitchen making eggs and toast, pouring fresh orange juice, slipping a piece of bacon to Bob. She’d act as if everything was normal when it wasn’t. He might wish for that, but he knew it wasn’t possible. If they couldn’t work through this...

      Christian tossed his pen onto the pile of forms. Another day, another dozen files. He’d become a paper pusher. Sometimes he wished he was on the road, putting in his time again like a trainee behind the wheel of one of his father’s trucks. Instead, he was here looking out the window, woolgathering.

      Or what if he’d stuck to his guns in college, stayed in Fine Arts rather than switching to Business to please his parents? What if he’d taken better care with Melanie so they hadn’t ended up married with a baby when they were both barely nineteen? Not that he didn’t love Grace with all his heart.

      She worried him. She’d quit college and gotten married at the same age he had. At least she wasn’t expecting a baby.

      One of the pictures on his desk drew his gaze—Emma with Owen when he was two years old, his eyes bright and clear with a hint of the imp he’d always been. Emma looking down at him with such obvious love. They’d thought they had all the time in the world then.

      Emma had been his second chance at happiness. The day he’d walked into No More Clutter and seen her for the first time, he’d been lost. It wasn’t only her blond hair and blue eyes and her smile. Christian had seen something more in her, an insecurity she tried to hide that made him want to protect her. He’d hired her on the spot to redo his apartment’s walk-in closet, but a month later he’d moved into Emma’s town house. A few months after that, they’d married. Fast, he thought, like him and Melanie. Like Grace with Rafe.

      “Christian.” His administrative assistant stood in the doorway with another stack of papers in her hand. “Lanier wants you to see these, too.”

      “Bring it on,” he said, and swiped a hand down his face.

      “The coffee wagon’s here,” she said, apparently knowing better than to ask him if he was okay. “You want anything?”

      Escape.

      The thought came out of nowhere. But he was the heir apparent to the Mallory throne, his father’s only son, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Other men, especially Chet Berglund, would give an arm to be in his position. Why feel so trapped?

      “A coffee, maybe,” he said.

      “You’ve looked off-kilter all day.”

      “Bad night,” he murmured, wanting to say bad year. “I’ve got a headache that won’t quit.”

      She turned toward the door. “I’ll get you some aspirin.”

      “Becky. No, but thanks,” he said.

      She circled back. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? I’ll tell Lanier you’ll go over these tomorrow.”

      He sighed. “He probably needs them today. An hour ago,” he said.

      Her frown deepened. “I’m worried about you.”

      “I appreciate that but I’m just bleary-eyed from looking at all these purchase orders.”

      “Those are a good thing,” she said with a quick smile. “Business is great.”

      That only reminded him of Emma and her concerns about No More Clutter. He glanced again at the photo, then at the phone.

      “Would you get me the O’Leary office in Cincinnati? I need to change their mind about how much they want to pay us to haul freight.”

      Without a word she disappeared into the anteroom. A minute later he heard her on the phone. Christian added the papers she’d given him to the stack on his desk, then straightened his tie. Ready for business.

      At least, that’s what he needed everyone to think.

      * * *

      EMMA WAS HAVING a very bad day. Yes, she’d loved the space at Hamilton Place and hoped Nicole could negotiate a more affordable rent, but she wasn’t that confident. Since her return to the shop, she and Grace were barely speaking to each other, and every phone call proved to be another disaster in the making.

      To make matters worse, neither of the customers she’d expected yesterday had shown up. Emma had stayed until the last minute waiting for them. At least that had given her time to work up her estimate for Melanie.

      “Grace,” she said. “Have you reached Mrs. Belkin yet?”

      “I’ve tried. If you want to know the truth, I think she’s screening you out.”

      “We promised to redo her closet. That’s all I can offer.”

      “She’s probably told everyone in town she’s not happy by now.”

      “How could you possibly know?”

      “I hear things,” Grace murmured.

      “What things?”

      She СКАЧАТЬ