Love Between the Lines by Colleen Coble

Author:Colleen Coble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2012-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The windows looked good. Tess looked around the train station as the workers filtered off for dinner. The trim had been painted and the brick cleaned. Shingles had been repaired, and Clare with her worker bees had laid beds of flowers and shrubs. It would take longer to finish the inside, but they’d made a good start. Sidewalks needed to be redone as well as repointing the brick, so it was no one-day project. She’d loved seeing the entire town out working with one accord.

Only a handful of people remained. Would Ryan ask her to dinner? She was afraid to hope for something like that. He’d dawdled long after Sophia started begging to leave, but he was a man who took responsibilities seriously. Maybe he didn’t want to abandon their project until she was ready to leave.

A heavy oriental perfume wafted on the air. Tess recognized the fragrance before she turned, and her smile faded. Poison. The name of the perfume matched the wearer. “Hello, Isabelle.”

The other woman was perfectly decked out in a linen skirt with a matching jacket over a lacy blue blouse. Her hair was down, a beautiful blond curtain on her shoulders. The pumps she wore were the perfect height to accentuate her legs. Tess put her bitten nails, stained with paint, behind her. If she could have disappeared into the shrubs, she would have.

Isabelle dismissed her with a glance and turned her attention to Ryan. “I thought you’d be here. I’ve been commissioned to deliver an invitation to dinner tonight with the family. Dad is grilling steaks, and Mother is making her pecan pie. She said to tell you she’s making an extra pie for you to take home.”

Ryan hesitated and glanced at Sophia, who was smiling up at Isabelle. “I’m a mess. So is Sophia. It’s probably not the best time.”

“Please, Daddy,” Sophia pleaded. “I haven’t seen Grandma and Grandpa in a long time.”

Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets. “What time?”

“Now.” Isabelle’s smile was coaxing.

“Not a chance. We both know your mother would faint if she saw me coming toward her white carpet like this. She’d douse me with the hose.” There was a tone of unease in his laugh.

Tess had never been inside the Morgan home. It was a lavish estate on the outskirts of Smitten. A tall iron fence surrounded the lush green grounds, and guests had to check in at the gatehouse. Dr. Morgan was a well-known neurosurgeon who practiced in Burlington. His wife was a pediatrician who worked three days a week and spent the rest of her time playing golf. Or so Tess had heard.

Isabelle’s smile faltered and she glanced at her watch. “Run home and shower. I’ll hold her off as long as I can.”

“Good luck with that,” he muttered.

Isabelle stiffened. “What does that mean, Ryan? You’re still part of the family even when you don’t act like it.”

He glanced at Sophia, then pressed his lips together. “I don’t act like it? See if you can get your parents to pay a little attention where it’s needed, and then we’ll talk.

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