Hidden in Shadows. Hope White

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      She turned to him. “I’m fine, Alan, really. And I appreciate your concern. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to finish up these dishes, so I can close early this afternoon.”

      She smiled brightly and hoped she’d been nice about her obvious attempt to kick him out of her space.

      “I’ll check on you tonight.” He reached out to touch her shoulder.

      “Great, thanks.”

      The phone rang, saving her from having to rudely pull away.

      She sidestepped Alan to answer the phone. “Grace’s Tea Shop.”

      “Yes, this is Thunder Travel Tour. We’re bringing a bus through Wentworth and would like to book your restaurant for a high tea.”

      “Great, what’s the date?”

      As she took the order, she spied Alan hovering over Luke as he ate his sandwich. What was Alan’s problem? One, she and Alan weren’t dating, and two, Luke wasn’t interested in Krista that way.

      As if he heard her, Luke glanced at Krista.

      She snapped her attention to her reservation book. “That date looks good. How many?”

      “Twenty-six.”

      “We offer a set menu for that number. Would you like me to e-mail it to you?”

      “That would be great.”

      Krista spied Alan hovering by the doorway as if he wasn’t leaving without saying a proper goodbye. As she finished the call with the travel agency, she wondered if she needed to be more direct with Alan so he could move on and find another woman to date.

      “I look forward to working with you,” Krista said and hung up.

      Alan took a step toward her just as Tatum rushed into the kitchen. “A group of eight just walked in for high tea.”

      “Now?” Krista checked her watch. “We didn’t have a reservation.” It was nearing three, which meant Krista wouldn’t be closing up anytime soon.

      “No reservation, but they hoped we’d have an opening.”

      Krista nibbled at her lower lip. She was exhausted.

      “Tell them you’re booked,” Alan offered.

      Krista looked at Tatum. “Tell them we’ll have a table ready in fifteen minutes.”

      Tatum nodded and went into the dining room.

      “Krista, you’re obviously exhausted,” Alan said.

      “It’s all part of running my own business.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out spreads to get working on the tea sandwiches. “Thanks for stopping by, Alan.”

      He must have heard the dismissal in her tone. She’d been pleasant enough, and hoped he’d take his cue to leave.

      “I’ll call you later,” he said.

      With a nod, she focused on the sandwiches. A minute later she heard the door close and she breathed a sigh of relief.

      Luke walked behind her to the sink. “Eight is a big order. Sure you’re up to it?”

      She eyed him. “What is with everybody today? I’m a big girl and I know my limitations,” she said a little more firmly than she’d intended.

      Luke put up his hands. “Didn’t mean to offend.”

      “You’ve got a sink full of dishes.”

      “So I do.” He turned and got to work.

      Krista was exhausted by the end of the day and looking forward to a nice, quiet evening.

      Instead, she came home to a crowded house full of friends who’d orchestrated an official welcome-home party.

      As she stood in her living room surrounded by friends she felt so full, so at peace. Yet a part of her had hoped for quiet time to upload more photos to her blog, and maybe even sneak in that long bath she’d been fantasizing about.

      She should have known something was up when the Sass girls offered to close the shop. They always had friends to catch up with after work, and church activities to attend, yet today they practically forced Krista out the back door so they could clean up.

      They’d all been in on the plan: the Sass twins, Natalie and friends from church. Their goal was to show her how much she’d been missed.

      “Krista?” Luke said.

      She turned to him. He seemed completely out of place and more than a little uncomfortable surrounded by these down-to-earth folks.

      “Looks like you’re okay here so I’m going to meet up with the chief for an hour,” he said.

      “Oh, okay, sure.”

      “Hang in there.” He smiled.

      She realized he was the only person in the room who saw through her smile and knew how tired she really was.

      “Thanks. And thanks for being my busboy today.”

      “Maybe you’ll promote me to handyman?”

      “We’ll see.”

      “Enjoy yourself.” He made his way through the crowded living room and practically ran out the front door. She wondered what made him so uneasy about the group. Was it simply that the suspect could be among them? No, she wouldn’t accept that possibility.

      Natalie weaved her way through the crowd. “Did we surprise you?”

      “Totally.”

      Natalie put her arm around Krista and gave her a squeeze. “I know you’re tired, but they insisted.”

      Krista glanced around the room and spotted Tori and Tatum’s mom, Julie Sass, chatting with the youth minister.

      “I should have known something was up when the Sass girls offered to close.”

      “Yeah, why’s that?” Natalie asked.

      “They’ve always been nervous about locking up and setting the alarm.”

      Natalie scanned the room. “Where’s Alan?”

      “He doesn’t like to share me.”

      Natalie snapped her attention to Krista.

      “Sorry, that was mean,” Krista said.

      “No, it was accurate. I didn’t think you noticed.”

      “I notice a lot. I just keep it to myself.”

      Like she noticed how Luke СКАЧАТЬ