Cedar Cove Collection (Books 1-6). Debbie Macomber

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      Grace shook her head. “I haven’t been around horses much.”

      They chatted for a while, the ebb and flow of their conversation completely natural. Rarely had Grace felt more at ease with a man. More than once, she had to remind herself that legally she was still married to Dan. While he might have run off with another woman—or at any rate, run off—she intended to remain true to her vows.

      As he was getting ready to leave, Grace saw Cliff glance toward the living room. A framed family photograph stood on a bookshelf. “That’s Dan?” he asked.

      She nodded.

      Cliff walked over to the bookcase and picked up the photograph, which had been taken almost twenty years earlier. Both girls were teenagers then, and Kelly was in braces. Dan’s gaze had been somber as he stared straight into the camera, not revealing any emotion.

      After an extraordinarily long moment, Cliff replaced the faded color photograph.

      “I don’t know why he left,” Grace whispered. “I just don’t know.”

      Cliff didn’t say anything.

      “It’s the not knowing that’s dreadful.”

      “I can only imagine.”

      She swallowed tightly.

      He brushed the hair from her cheek. “I don’t want you to feel guilty about me being here this afternoon. This wasn’t a date.”

      Grace smiled tremulously.

      “If you’re going to suffer pangs of remorse, then you should worry about how much I want to take you in my arms right now. If you’re going to feel guilty, then do it because I’m having one hell of a time not kissing you.”

      Grace closed her eyes, knowing that if she looked at him, Cliff would realize it was what she wanted, too.

      Sighing, he stroked her cheek with his knuckle before he turned away.

      Eyes still shut, she heard him open the door and leave.

      Six

      Janice Lamond had been a valuable addition to Zach Cox’s office staff. She’d taken on more and more duties and had developed an excellent rapport with his clients. He appreciated her attitude and her strong work ethic. When it was time for her six-month evaluation, Zach called her into his office.

      “Sit down, Janice,” he said, gesturing toward the chair across from his desk.

      Janice sat on the edge of the chair and met his look with a tentative smile, almost as if she were nervous about what he might say.

      “You’ve been with the firm half a year now.”

      “Has it really been that long?”

      It felt as though she’d always been part of his office team. She was well liked and fit in smoothly with the firm’s other employees. Eager to please, she wasn’t quick to rush out the door at the end of the day. He appreciated the effort she took to make the clients who visited the office feel welcome.

      “As you know, we review employee performance twice a year.”

      Janice squeezed her hands between her knees. “Is there an area where I can improve?” she asked.

      If there was, Zach didn’t know what it would be. She was about as perfect an employee as he could find. “No, no. You’ve done an excellent job.”

      “Thank you.” Her eyes shone at his praise. “It’s a pleasure to come into work each day. I like my job.”

      She made it a pleasure for Zach to come into the office, too. Janice was organized. Her desk was orderly and she kept his appointments running like clockwork. When he arrived at the office in the morning, Janice was there to greet him, the coffee was made and the mail was on his desk. It was a stark contrast to his life at home. With so many committee appointments, Rosie often left the dinner dishes on the table or stacked in the sink overnight. The house was a continual mess, and even the most mundane tasks just never seemed to get accomplished. Still, Rosie was his wife and he loved her.

      “I’d like to give you a ten-percent raise,” Zach told Janice. “The other partners are in agreement.”

      “Ten percent?” she repeated as if she’d misunderstood him. “After just six months?”

      “We’ve learned that if we want to keep good employees, we need to compensate them adequately. We’re happy with your work here at Smith, Cox and Jefferson. We hope that you’ll be part of our team for many years to come.”

      “I’d like that very much.”

      Zach didn’t have anything more to add. He stood, and Janice did, too. He walked her to his office door.

      “I can’t thank you enough,” she said.

      “I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

      “A ten-percent raise,” she added excitedly, covering her mouth with both hands. “This is just great.”

      Before he could react, Janice threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. As soon as she realized what she’d done, she blushed and hurriedly left. Zach figured it was just an impulsive gesture from a warm, emotionally generous woman.

      But Zach enjoyed that little hug, and found himself smiling for the next few minutes.

      At five-thirty, when the workday was technically over, he remained behind to finish up some paperwork. He wasn’t in a hurry to get home these days. Rosie was generally busy with some volunteer project or other, and Allison and Eddie were involved with their own friends and activities. Janice was closing down her computer as he walked out of his office at six o’clock.

      “I didn’t know you were still here,” he said, glancing at his watch.

      “I wanted to review these numbers one last time before I put the Mullens Company report in the mail.”

      He smiled at her. It was exactly this attention to detail that had earned her the raise. “Good night, Janice.”

      “Good night, Mr. Cox, and thank you again.”

      As Zach turned off Lighthouse Road and headed toward Pelican Court, the smile left him. It was doubtful Rosie would have dinner ready. In all likelihood, she was preparing for some function outside the house. She never seemed to plan ahead for such events, and as a result she went into panic mode, shoving something that passed for dinner onto the table. Most likely, the meal would consist of some packaged crap she’d bought at the grocery store, something that could be slapped together without any effort. Some nights she brought home dinner from the deli. There was nothing he liked less than Chinese food that had been sitting under lights all afternoon. The deli-roasted chicken wasn’t half-bad, but he was as tired of that as he was of pizza.

      Zach parked the car in the garage and loosened his tie as he entered the kitchen.

      “You’re late,” Rosie said, rushing to place silverware in СКАЧАТЬ