LITMIR.BIZ

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invigorated and upbeat. As he dropped his keys on the counter and pulled off his tie, he wondered what Peggy would say if he invited her here for dinner some night. He glanced around his living room, at the jukebox he’d salvaged early in his working career and the framed photos of his sister and parents hanging on the wall in the hallway leading to the bedrooms. With so many clients to do work for, those photos were about the only decorating he’d done since he moved in. But all that would change if Peggy became part of his life.

      He had so much he wanted to share with her. So many ideas on how they could spend their time together. Or not...

      Maybe she wasn’t nearly as excited about him as he was about her. He yanked off his shirt, pulled off his pants and climbed under the covers.

      He was getting ahead of himself. He’d sleep on it and see how he felt in the morning. It took two to make a relationship, and at no point did she say anything about her life or whether she was interested in him. He’d jumped to the conclusion that she was interested in him based on the fact that she’d driven over a flower bed.

      Way to go, MacPherson.

      * * *

      THE NEXT MORNING Peggy awoke feeling great. Is that what a decent date with a gorgeous man did to a woman? Of course, there was that not-cool moment when she’d driven over the flower bed. He’d been watching her mortifying misstep from his vantage point of the parking area, so there’d be no way she could deny it. Would he bring it up to her when they saw each other again? Would they see each other again? She sincerely hoped so.

      In the meantime, she needed to get to work and to coffee with Gayle. She raced through her morning routine, including feeding the horses. When she arrived at work, the cafeteria was just opening up, and Gayle was waiting for her.

      “So, how was your date?” Gayle asked as they made their way toward the cafeteria doors. The early morning light streaked the sky outside the wall of windows, highlighting the water clinging to the waxy leaves of a shrub pressed against the glass.

      “It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I don’t get it.”

      “That it was perfect, or that it happened to you?”

      “Both, I guess.”

      “Why don’t you simply let things be? If he’s that charming and nice, he’ll be in touch. If not, you won’t get hurt,” Gayle said as they arrived at the coffee shop.

      “You think it’s as simple as that?” Peggy asked, pouring coffees for both of them.

      “I know it is. Don’t chase him. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be in touch really soon. The question will be whether or not you’re ready for a relationship.”

      “Gayle! I’ve been ready all my life. I just keep coming up with the wrong man. That’s the kind of man I attract, which means that Rory will probably be just like the others.” They paid for their coffees and moved toward a table near the back of the cafeteria.

      “I don’t think so. Call it a hunch, but I believe you’re in for a surprise.”

      “You’re in love, so your judgment can’t be relied upon,” she teased.

      “Maybe a little. But in my opinion, it’s your turn for happiness, and this might be the man,” Gayle said, glancing around the space.

      “Are you a fortune-teller in your spare time?”

      “No. I simply believe that when two people are meant to be together, there’s nothing that will stop them.” Gayle’s smile warmed the entire room. “I happen to know that to be a fact.”

      Peggy pointed at the diamond sparkling on Gayle’s finger. “It’s easy for you to be so optimistic.”

      “Just trust your instincts. In the meantime, tell me more about this Rory person.”

      Peggy had no trouble spending the next half hour on Rory and their date. Gayle laughed when she told her about him being late for coffee. Gayle smiled knowingly when Peggy told her about him waiting for her at the inn. As they headed down the hall to work, Peggy realized it was the first time in her life that she had talked for so long about a man she’d only just met.

      Later that day as she returned to her house, driving along the narrow track road that led past Ned Tompkins’s house, she did a quick check for Rory. He wasn’t there, and she was disappointed.

      Give it a rest. You just met this man!

      When she got to her driveway and turned in, Ned was standing there waiting for her. What was so important that Ned was in her yard? She pulled to a stop and got out. “Is there something wrong? Did Zeus get out again?” He’d gotten out a week ago, and she’d been forced to search the neighboring fields looking for him.

      Ned approached her, his eyes bright. “This is probably not mine to ask, you understand.” His eyes focused on hers. “What’s your connection to Bill Cassidy?”

      She’d come to Eden Harbor, where her mother had grown up, looking for anyone who might know about her mother’s past. She was very interested in whom her mother had dated growing up in Eden Harbor, whom she’d been friends with. She hadn’t been able to learn very much about her mother, only that her parents had both passed away. Eden Harbor was her only lead in finding who might have been her birth father. She’d first met Bill Cassidy when he’d found her searching her mother’s graduation class photo at the local high school. Bill Cassidy had walked up to her wanting to know if he could help her. When she asked about Ellen Donnelly, he was curt with her. Feeling intimidated by his presence, she left when the opportunity arose, hoping to learn more about her mother some other way. “He’s the coach at the high school. He coaches the volleyball team I play on each Wednesday night.” She had no intention of telling Ned about her earlier encounter with Mr. Cassidy. “Why do you ask?”

      “Is that all?”

      “What do you mean?”

      “My sister is Lisa Sherwood. You know her?”

      “Yeah, she’s on the team. You know that. I mentioned it to you the first time I went to the practice.”

      Ned rubbed his chin and scuffed his feet on the dirt of the driveway. “Some of the team feels that you and Bill are a little too chummy.”

      She’d hardly describe their relationship as chummy. “What are you trying to say?” she asked, angry and hurt that people would talk about her that way. She was always very careful to be friendly but not overly so, especially with men, for this reason.

      “He’s a man twice your age. That’s all. You don’t want people talking that way about you, do you?”

      She clenched her fists and searched for a calmness she didn’t feel. “What if I didn’t care what people talked about?”

      “Are you saying there’s something going on between the two of you?” Ned’s expression was one of fascination.

      Peggy would like to tell her nosy neighbor to get lost. But she didn’t need any gossip going around about her, and even worse, Bill probably had a wife who wouldn’t be happy to have baseless rumors circulating about her husband. Most of all, Peggy didn’t want Bill Cassidy to hear gossip connecting him to her. He was the school sports coach. “I told you. He’s only my volleyball coach. He almost certainly has a wife. For the record, there is no relationship between Mr. Cassidy and me, other than the obvious one.”

      “Bill Cassidy doesn’t have a wife. He doesn’t have a girlfriend that anyone knows about.” Ned continued to watch her in that odd way of his. “I wouldn’t have asked about him, only he was over at your house one day,” he said quietly. “Look, I didn’t mean to upset you. Just trying to look out for you, that’s all.”

      Bill Cassidy had been visiting her neighbor farther down the road past her house, spotted her in her paddock with Zeus and had stopped by. Nothing more to it. “He came to see my horses once. He’s a great coach. That’s all. He’s kind to everyone, including

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