LITMIR.BIZ

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fully able to appreciate.

      “We can’t have this conversation.”

      “Okay,” Kitty said, then made a couple of yummy sounds. She took another big bite of the yogurt and put the spoon down on the table, resting her hands on her belly as a smile stretched across her sweet face. “Thank you again for doing this. Except for a couple of Tim’s cousins, and an obstinate great-aunt who pops in whenever she sees fit, and the occasional visit from Tim’s parents—I couldn’t ask for more supportive in-laws, but with their store hitting some rough times, it’s hard for them to leave it—I’m kind of on my own here. Not that I mind. We chose to live in Briggs, and I love it. I’ve made a lot of friends here, but family is different.”

      Kitty looked radiant, and seemed happy to have Maggie living with her. For that, Maggie was willing to endure just about anything.

      “Don’t be silly. You saved me. My unemployment checks were barely making it, and I had no idea how much longer I was going to be able to keep my car. Plus, searching for a job in Silicon Valley was getting me nowhere. If I were Allison Bennett, the absolute goddess of marketing, I’d have twenty job offers by now, but I’m Maggie Daniels. Nobody cares.”

      “I care, and you’re a fantastic marketing, social media guru. People will be knocking down your door. They just don’t know you’re free, that’s all. When the right person finds out, he or she will come calling. You wait and see.”

      Maggie loved her sister’s enthusiasm, but no one had come knocking so far, and they clearly wouldn’t come knocking in this remote potato town.

      “Country life is a nice change. But I have to admit, working in a dental office five days a week, and being that close to all those nasty little drills, may put me over the edge. You know how much I hate having my own teeth worked on.”

      “That’s not what’s bugging you. Not really. I think you’re upset because you think it’s an insignificant job with no future and that your baby sister should be soaring up the ladder, like you, instead of stuck on a broken lower rung.” Kitty’s eyes welled up. “You just don’t get it. I’m not that corporate person anymore.”

      “Why are you crying? I would never think any less of you or your choices.”

      “You’re my sister. You’re supposed to say that. I love you, and—” She paused and took a few ragged breaths before continuing. “I’m pregnant, and my husband is a million miles away and I miss him.”

      The woman would cry or rage at least twice a day. Maggie didn’t know how Tim, her husband, would ever have been able to deal with it. Although, Tim was one of those rare men who actually loved everything about his wife. It seemed that anything Kitty did or said, especially during her pregnancy, was just short of perfection.

      But he wasn’t around every day to enjoy all her hormonal moments. Captain Tim Sullivan was busy on the other side of the world, fighting a war.

      Maggie went over to her. She hated to see Kitty cry. And even if what she said was true, Kitty was still her baby sister and Maggie would do anything for her baby sister, including giving up honey because it stressed the bees. “It’s okay, sweetie. Don’t cry. Actually, I’m thinking this is a great opportunity for me to make your life a little easier while we wait for those two sweethearts to be born. I’m happy things have happened this way or I would never have been able to spend this much time with you.” Maggie leaned over and gave Kitty a tight hug. “It was my nerves talking. Clearly, I’m thrilled to have a job. It’s just that I’m apprehensive of the actual duties. I don’t have any real experience that relates. You know how I like being prepared.”

      Kitty gently pulled away, drying her eyes on the white hankie she always kept in a pocket for just such an occasion.

      “Really?”

      Maggie nodded, giving Kitty her warmest smile, thinking that her little sister really was quite beautiful, even with a tear-streaked face. Pregnancy agreed with her.

      “Thanks,” Kitty said, getting comfy on the wooden chair, her round belly pushing up against the table. “Don’t you go worrying about a thing. I’ll go in with you all week until you get the hang of it. There are no insurance forms, or a paper trail of any kind. Everything is done on the computer.” Kitty ate a couple of big scoops of yogurt and continued. “I’m telling you, this will be the easiest bull you’ll ever ride. Everybody loves Doc Blake. He’s the best in the West.”

      Ever since her sister had moved to Idaho three years ago, her language had taken on an odd country flair. Not that it was bad, but it was certainly different.

      “It’s really a fun office. You’ll see,” Kitty said.

      Maggie flashed on what Amanda from the doughnut shop had said, about how she was going to get closer to kids or something like that. She had been determined to ask Kitty what that might mean, but at the moment, she didn’t want to upset her again. Any little thing could turn on the waterworks and Maggie simply didn’t want to go there.

      Instead, she thought she’d gently find out some information. She poured herself a glass of local spring water and sat across from Kitty at the table.

      “I was just wondering what, if anything, you might have told Doctor Granger, or Doc Blake as everyone seems to call him, about me?”

      “Well, I knew what a pickle you were in, but if you mean did I tell him you were dating a slug who pretended to be in love with you, when, in fact, he was bonking his secretary who turned out to be a crazy woman who most likely keyed your new BMW, punched out your headlights, was responsible for your losing your six-figure position and is most likely responsible for your willingness to come to Briggs, Idaho, for a job that you’re completely overqualified for? No. I didn’t tell him.”

      Maggie let out the breath she’d been holding. She so didn’t want anyone in this thimble of a town to know about her sordid past. It was embarrassing enough that most of her friends had abandoned her over the whole ordeal. She clearly didn’t need her new boss whispering behind her back. Not that he seemed the type, but she couldn’t be sure of anything anymore.

      “Thanks.”

      “I’m your sister, remember? I’m on your side.”

      Now Maggie felt like crying. The whole miserable affair with her ex-fiancé was still raw, and talking about it ripped the scab off the wound.

      “And you can forget about Doc Blake as a rebound lover,” Kitty added, scraping the container for the last bites of yogurt. “He’s a died-in-the-wool Briggs resident and wouldn’t leave again if his life depended on it. You’d have to move in permanent-like if you two got together.”

      “Relax. I have no intention of anything close to ‘permanent-like’ in Briggs. I don’t intend to date anyone while I’m here, especially not my boss. No offense to you or any of the other women in this town, but I just don’t get what all the fuss is about. Yeah, he’s cute, in that country sort of way, but I’m a rock and roll kind of girl. Coldplay, U2 and Daughtry turn me on, not George Jones.”

      “We’ll see. This town grows on you.”

      “Maybe on you, little sister, but never on me.”

      Kitty smirked as she polished off the yogurt and pushed the empty container aside. “Never is greatly overrated. I’m just sayin’.”

      “Always the optimist.”

      “It’s all about what messages we send out into the universe. If we’re positive, positivity comes back to us, whereas if we’re negative....” She raised an eyebrow.

      “I’m a realist. I know who I am.”

      “Maybe, but I’m just sayin’.”

      * * *

      BY THE TIME Blake pulled his mud-encrusted pickup in front of the family ranch house, the sky had turned a brilliant mix of pink, gold and deep blue against the backdrop of the black mountains. The golden aspens that surrounded

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