Undercover in Copper Lake by Marilyn Pappano - Undercover in Copper Lake

Author:Marilyn Pappano - Undercover in Copper Lake [Pappano, Marilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-08-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The sound of a ringing bell was supposed to be music to a retail merchant’s ears, but Sophy’s were starting to ring, too. She’d had more customers this morning than all day yesterday. Good for the bottom line, not so good when she couldn’t think about much more than lunch and Sean and that kiss.

Now it was a few minutes to twelve, and she’d had a whole five minutes without interruptions. She’d made little progress on the quilt she’d started before Zeke came in, so she gathered the fabrics and moved them into the storeroom. The bell rang while she was in there, and her stomach knotted in anticipation. She returned to the shop, a smile curving automatically, ready to greet Sean, and found her mother instead.

“Oh. Hey. Hi.” The smile slipped, but the knot in her gut remained. Rae Marchand had never picked up a needle in her life, not even to sew on a button, and she only visited the store when she wanted something—usually a little badgering of her daughter. Well-intentioned but badgering all the same.

“Hey, sweetie.” Rae was dressed to impress. Like Nev, she believed in looking her best at all times in a dress and heels, perfect hair and makeup. She’d aged gracefully and beautifully, and though she wasn’t the visitor Sophy had been hoping for, she was happy to see her.

Mostly.

It took a few minutes to get the small talk out of the way, with Rae wandering the entire time, touching this, studying that. Finally, she faced Sophy. “Where is Daisy?”

“At a swim party at Anamaria’s.”

“Oh, good for her. Maybe Gracie will be a calming influence on her. How’s Dahlia doing at school?”

“She’s making friends.” Learning, too, but the friendships with the “lee” girls were more important in Sophy’s opinion.

“I hear her uncle Sean is back in town.”

A muscle twitched in Sophy’s little finger, and she folded her hand to hide it. “Yes, he is.”

“And he’s seen the girls a number of times.”

“Yes.”

“Which means you’ve seen him a number of times.”

The twitch extended to the next finger. “I have. What would you like to know about him, Mom? He’s a respectable, contributing member of society. He earns an honest living, pays his bills and came back as soon as he heard Maggie was in jail. He’s good with the kids—”

“Is he still gorgeous as sin and twice as tempting? Even at eighteen, the boy could have graced any romance novel cover or pinup calendar I’d ever seen. ‘Hot Hunks of the South’ or ‘Bad Boys of Georgia.’” She fanned herself with one beringed hand, apparently cooling the flames. “I can only imagine how he’s matured.”

“Mom! He’s young enough to be your son.”

Rae gave a negligent shrug. “There’s nothing wrong with looking. Getting older has simply increased my appreciation for beautiful things. Flowers. Art. Fine wine. Incredibly sexy men.”

Her lips pressed together to contain a smile, Sophy shook her head. “Well, if you stick around long, you’ll get to see for yourself. He’s coming by soon and bringing lunch.

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