Crowning Design by Leila Meacham

Author:Leila Meacham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2017-01-03T05:00:00+00:00

Deborah was hard at work with T-square and triangle when a call came through from Dan. “Can we meet somewhere for lunch?” he asked.

“Oh, dear, Dan, I don’t know. We have so much to do here. I’d planned to work through lunch.”

“I have to see you, Deborah. Something has come up that I don’t want to discuss over the phone.”

“Let me meet you somewhere for a half hour or so, but not for lunch.” And not at the office either, she wanted to say.

Dan seemed to have sensed her thought. “Whatever you say. Name a place.”

“Glendale Park is about two blocks from the office. How about there?” she suggested. The day was too beautiful to spend all of it inside, and she needed to unwind a bit.

“Sold,” he said.

Dan was waiting for her at a picnic table in the deserted park when she arrived. He got up and walked toward her, tall and elegant and masculine in a camel’s hair sport coat and sharply creased trousers. Her heart began to pound—would it never beat normally at the sight of him? “You look a little tired,” Dan said after they had kissed. “I should have let you sleep.” He rubbed a soothing thumb beneath her eye.

“You were better than sleep,” she assured him. “I’m not tired, just showing the strain of the office. The atmosphere is a little tense today.”

“Was Randall upset with you about the drawings?”

“Randall is never upset with me about anything,” she said, taking his arm.

“Unlike me?” Dan’s large hand folded over hers in the crook of his arm.

Deborah did not want to go into that. “That’s over now. What did you want to discuss with me?” They walked in ankle-deep leaves toward the picnic table. It was the last day of September; soon the trees would be stretching bare arms to an indifferent sky.

“I have to go back to Phoenix for a while. Work is piling up to such an extent that my secretary thinks she’s being buried alive. For the time being, I’ve done all that I can do here.”

Her throat felt dry suddenly. “Of course,” she said. “When will you be leaving?”

“I have an afternoon flight out. I know it seems sudden, but something has come up that requires my immediate attention. Will you be all right?” Dan gave her a worried look as they sat down. “Feel free to use the town house if you’re uneasy about staying out in the foothills. I can leave you a key.”

“No.” She tried to smile easily. “Thanks just the same, but I won’t be driven out of my home. Dempsey is all the protection I need. Actually, it’s just as well you’re returning to Phoenix now. I will be working late at the office every night and on weekends. We really couldn’t see each other.”

Dan took her chin between his thumb and finger, turning her to look at him. “I am going to miss you, honey. And I’ll be back as soon as I can, probably in three weeks.

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