The Sweetheart Deal by Allison Morse

Author:Allison Morse [Morse, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Women's Fiction, Historical
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Ellen sat in the chair behind her work desk at the library. She really should get back to updating the card catalog.

Placing her face in her hands, she could almost feel the heat that had burned her cheeks this morning when John held her in his arms. In that moment, the last nine years felt stripped away and all that existed was the deep sense of belonging to him and only him. Then he turned mean. He was nothing like her teenage fantasy but more akin to the person she had been brutally taught was the real him. No good.

Ellen got up from her desk and, as she always did when she needed ideas, walked among the library stacks. She scanned the fiction titles. Finally, one spoke to her, and she stopped to remember the story. She could do this for hours, on occasion she had.

Ah, yes, Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit and his unruly con man, Tigg Montague. A lesson there. Chicanery was in the air, no doubt about it. She felt sure John was working with Tim and the law firm of Hamilton, Fiske, and White on some ploy against the company. She sighed, for she didn’t know what to do about it or exactly what they were up to.

Still, John appeared to have real concern in his eyes when he steadied her as she’d fled down Main Street the other day, going to pieces. She couldn’t forget the waves of sensations that fluttered through her whenever he was near. Those feelings were warm, confusing, intense, and altogether wonderful. They also reminded her how shut down she’d been for much too long. She didn’t want to go back to her cold, lonely life.

But not with John. He could hurt her too deeply.

Harold? He was handsome and protective, and she’d known him since her first year in college. A friend. Perhaps even a kindred spirit like Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables. She spotted the Brontës perched on the top shelf. Heathcliff? Gilbert? No doubt there was a happier ending with Gilbert. Still…

No, stay on task. What was Tim up to? Maybe he wasn’t working against the company, but against Dad, definitely. She wandered over to the business section and spied The Wealth of Nations.

Right! Why should she care? No need to intervene. Her father was more than capable of taking care of himself. In fact, he was the master at playing hardball, and those who live by the sword, etcetera, etcetera. Anyway, if she had to bet on a winner, she’d bet on her dad. Even if he lost, he’d undoubtedly not let the others win. He’d take them all down first, and maybe the company, too.

Tim, what have you begun?

She pulled out Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money and took it back to her desk.

Engrossed in reading, she was startled when the bell on the door rang. She looked up, hoping to see a patron, but instead she saw Lila Wainscott, a reporter for the Salinas Gazette.

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