Smitten by Colleen Coble

Author:Colleen Coble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc.
Published: 2011-11-03T04:00:00+00:00

Shelby: You’ve Got a Friend

Diann Hunt

CHAPTER ONE

Shelby Evans spotted the fire truck at her house and knew instinctively this was not going to be a good Monday.

Maybe she’d been a little distracted on her walk in the park, but she didn’t think she’d been gone that long. But it was such a beautiful September day and she had taken her journal, run into a couple of acquaintances, stopped for a bagel . . .

Clutching Penelope, her seven-pound Shih-poo, Shelby stepped over the neighbor kid’s bicycle on her front walk. Penelope barked at the intrusion of the monstrous truck parked in her driveway and the men winding up the heavy hose.

Nick Majors touched Shelby’s arm, catching her by surprise. She swiveled around to face him.

“What’s going on?”

“Your neighbor reported smoke coming from your house.”

Shelby gasped.

“It’s contained in your dining room. Not too much damage—smoke damage mostly. The fire had just started when we got here.”

She reached for the door and pushed it open. Thick smoke lingered inside the house, causing her to cough. “If this is ‘not too much,’ I’d hate to see what real damage looks like.”

“What are you doing in here?” A firefighter dressed in a cumbersome uniform, a fire extinguisher on his back, gave her a forbidding look.

Nick stood behind her. “It’s all right, Captain. She lives here.”

Thankfully, Nick was a volunteer fireman and could plead her case. She’d be upset if she couldn’t at least see the damage for herself.

Holding a dainty handkerchief loosely over Penelope’s nose, Shelby held the dog close and looked around her dining room area. Water on her floor and dining room table.

Wet walls. Though it could have been much worse, the scene overwhelmed her.

She spotted wet broken pieces of wood on the floor and cupped them in her hands. “This was the clock you made me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make you another one for Christmas,” Nick said.

The pieces spilled from her hands, and she choked back her emotions. Burying her face in Penelope’s soft, clean fur, Shelby stepped back outside, away from the acrid smell, and took in long, deep breaths.

Classes for Social Graces were scheduled to start in two weeks. In this very place. With an apartment-like setup, Shelby lived in the upstairs of her Victorian home and used the downstairs for the school. It had been the perfect arrangement.

Until now.

Shelby had invested most of her money into the house to make it functional for her purposes, so she had little to use toward renting another place while this one was repaired. Her sewing business provided enough, but offered little extra.

Social Graces, the place where she taught young girls how to become ladies, was more of a calling than a moneymaker.

She’d have to call her insurance company, then contact someone to clean up the mess.

“We’ll figure it all out,” Nick said.

Shelby nodded. Just having him near sent a rush of relief through her. He was right. They’d figure it out. And God would help her get through this, one step at a time.

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