Even In The Darkness by McCoy Shirlee

Author:McCoy, Shirlee [McCoy, Shirlee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Look for the next book in the LAKEVIEW series, WHEN SILENCE FALLS, in March,

from Shirlee McCoy and Love Inspired Suspense!

Turn the page for a sneak peek…

Chapter One

Piper Sinclair knew a bad thing when she saw it, and right now she was seeing it. A dozen women, all in var-ious colors and styles of spandex, sat on bamboo mats staring with undisguised adoration at a slim woman whose banal smile set Piper’s teeth on edge. A whiteboard at the front of the room stated the purpose of the meeting—”Love Yourself to Weight Loss.” To either side of the whiteboard, long candle-laden tables sent up a steady stream of vanilla scented air.

“Forget it. I’ve changed my mind.” Piper did a U-turn and tried to exit the room, but Gabriella Webber blocked her retreat, her sweet, wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly face set in mutinous lines.

“You can’t change your mind. You promised.”

“I wouldn’t have if you’d told me what this seminar was about.”

“I did tell you what it was about.”

“You said a weight-loss meeting. You didn’t say new age mumbo-jumbo.” The words were a quiet hiss, but

246

When Silence Falls

from the look on Gabby’s face, Piper might as well have shouted.

“Shhhhh! Dr. Lillian will hear you.”

“I’m barely whispering.”

But the slim, smiling woman was hurrying across the room as if she had heard the exchange. “Welcome, ladies. I’m Dr. Sidney Lillian. Please, have a seat. We’ll be ready to begin in just a few minutes.”

Piper wanted to tell the doctor she wouldn’t be staying, but Gabby was staring at her with such hopeful pleading she didn’t have the heart to walk out.

“Thank you, Dr. Lillian. Come on, Gabby. Let’s find a seat.” Piper chose a mat close to the back of the room and sat down.

Gabby lowered herself onto a mat a few feet away.

Then leaned over and grabbed Piper’s arm, her dark eyes brimming with excitement. “I can’t believe we’re really doing this. If this class works as well as it’s supposed to, I’ll be slim and trim by Christmas. Just in time to find a New Year’s date.”

“Gabby…” But what could Piper say? That losing weight wouldn’t help Gabby find Mr. Right? That Mr.

Right didn’t exist? That all Piper had ever found were a lot of Mr. Wrongs, all gussied up to look like what they weren’t? “You’ll have a New Year’s date whether you lose the weight or not. You always do.”

“I know. I just want this year to be different.”

Meaning she wanted commitment, love, marriage.

All the things women of almost thirty typically wanted.

All the things Piper had decided she could do without.

She smiled anyway, patting Gabby’s arm. “It will be.”

“I hope you’re right.” Gabby settled back onto her mat, a smile brightening her face as the class began.

Shirlee McCoy

247

Piper’s bamboo mat was uncomfortable, and the strange love-talk the class was forced to participate in was even more so. I love my belly. I love my hips. Since when did one need to affirm affection for each and every body part in

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