Love in a Small Town by Betty Jo Schuler

Author:Betty Jo Schuler [Schuler, Betty Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Books We Love (BWLPP)
Published: 2011-08-18T21:00:00+00:00

* * *

Lily nearly tripped over a rolled-up rug on the back porch. Sam had stacked all kinds of household items out there. He was making a racket inside, and she pulled open the screen door, a lump in her throat. He'd decided to spend those six weeks elsewhere.

Fighting back tears, she followed the sound to the storage room where she found him nailing a shelf. She spoke loudly to make herself heard above the hammering. "Fixing something?"

Sam looked up and the light that lit his sky-blue eyes warmed her heart. He didn't love her; she wasn't fooling herself into thinking he did. But he was glad to see her. She forced a smile.

"What time is it?" he asked, wiping perspiration from his brow with his arm. "You're home early, aren't you?"

Home early, dear? Lily entertained a vision of herself as a married woman, coming home to Sam each day. If they had children, he'd be the one coming home. She didn't want to be a working mother. Not full time anyway. Although she could set up a crib or playpen at Radiance, and she didn't think the town council wouldn't care if she did the same at her office.

She couldn't leave public office until the community building became a reality.

Lily gazed into Sam's eyes again and felt he shared her thoughts. But of course, he couldn't know, and she should stop thinking that way. He wanted to stay in the Southwest and start a new job. He'd begun clearing the house with a vengeance.

She had work to finish here. The truth was hard to face.

"I don't visit Jenny every day. I came straight home…here…from work."

"Time goes fast when you're busy, and I'm making great progress." He gave a nail another blow with the hammer. "This shelf was loose."

The room was cleared of everything except the treadle sewing machine. "Are…are you getting rid of all that stuff on the porch?"

This, too. He gave the sewing machine a shove toward the hall.

"You can't." She stepped between him and the machine. "It's an antique—a treasure."

"If you'd like to have it, you can store it here until later. I don't sew and I don't collect."

"I…uh…I'm going to change clothes."

He'd hooked up her computer in the bedroom she was using. She still had to find Tina Grusinger and Jack Ryan, and the Internet search would give her an excuse to stay away from Sam.

Never mind him being glad to see her. He was leaving. He hadn't mentioned the reunion invitation and probably didn't plan to stay that long.

Remembering the urgency in Carla's voice when she mentioned Jack, Lily started with him. It was a common name…too common…making it hard to narrow the search.

"Lily?" She looked up, startled to see Sam leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom. "Would you like to see a movie tonight? I have two tickets." He grinned boyishly. "The Welcome Wagon lady gave them to me."

"How nice of her." She smiled. She hadn't been to the Vaudette in years and

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.