LITMIR.BIZ

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feeling unwanted sympathy for Carmen Shields and her family. Rachel Shields had been a kind woman. Days after Anna’s funeral, Mrs. Shields had come to the police station and apologized for the role her daughter played in his wife’s death. He’d walked away before she could finish speaking.

      She hadn’t held his behavior against him. He later discovered that she’d organized the women of her church to cook meals for his family. For eight weeks, a complete dinner had been delivered to his house promptly at five o’clock every evening. She’d also been the catalyst behind the ladies who’d shown up every Saturday to clean his house and do the laundry. As a single father of a one-year-old and a seven-year-old, he’d appreciated it.

      How could a wonderful woman like Rachel Shields have raised such a thoughtless and reckless child as Carmen? Determined not to give the woman another thought, he turned to his girls.

      “Come on. Let’s put down Mom’s gifts.”

      All discussion of Carmen was set aside as Trent and his daughters focused their attention on Anna’s grave. The grass was neatly trimmed and Trent had scrubbed the headstone just days earlier. Robyn leaned the picture she’d drawn against her mother’s name engraved on the granite, while Alyssa tied the string holding the balloon to a heavy rock and then set it on the gravestone. If Anna had lived, she’d be thirty-eight years old today. She’d died much too young.

      Trent did everything in his power to keep Anna’s memory alive for his daughters, but he wasn’t sure he was succeeding. Alyssa had been young when Anna died, but she had some memories of her mother. Robyn had been only a baby and had no true memories of her own. He constantly reminded both that their mother had loved them, but lately he was starting to believe that wasn’t enough.

      As Anna lay dying in his arms, she’d made him promise to find a loving stepmother for their children. It was the only promise he’d ever made to her that he didn’t keep. He couldn’t. He had buried his heart with her. There was nothing left to give another woman.

Chapter Four

      “Remember, you can call me anytime,” Carmen said, then recited her cell phone number. After a moment of listening to dead air, she hung up. She’d left long, rambling messages at each of her sisters’ homes. She’d tried to leave messages on their cell phones as well, but Charlotte’s number now belonged to a bike messenger service. Charmaine’s old number belonged to a man with a hostile girlfriend who threatened to rip off Carmen’s lips if she called her boyfriend again.

      Carmen sat down in a striped chair and looked around the small room, hoping something would snag her attention and divert her from the depressing thoughts that were beginning to swamp her. Although one of the smaller rooms in the bed-and-breakfast, it was comfortable. The queen sleigh bed was nestled beneath the open window. A rose-scented breeze gently blew the filmy curtains. There was a cherry desk beside the door, pink floral stationery stacked in the center.

      The cozy room was perfect, and under other circumstances Carmen would have enjoyed staying there. Now it felt like the walls were closing in on her. Grabbing her suitcase, she rummaged through her clothes and pulled out a pair of white slacks and a purple knit top. She changed out of her suit, grabbed her purse and headed out.

      She hadn’t paid much attention to the town while driving to the church or to the cemetery. More than a little curious to see how much Sweet Briar had changed over the years, she decided a walk would do her good.

      Carmen had barely gone a block before she began to see changes. When she’d left, there’d been only a handful of businesses downtown. Of those, only Mabel’s Diner and Wilson’s Hardware Store had been thriving. Now there was a homemade candy shop, a dress store and Fit to Be Dyed, a cleverly named hair salon. There was even a pizza place. Oh, what the kids would have given to have a pizza joint to hang out in when she was a teen.

      Sweet Briar was definitely prospering in this difficult economy. It took a visionary leader with a strong backbone to bring change to a community filled with people who’d been content to live in a slowly dying town. She’d read about some of the changes Mayor Devlin had made over the past year when Damon surprised her with a subscription to her hometown newspaper, but it was amazing to see it all in person.

      She strolled the streets, inhaling the smog-free air. An unexpected contentment sneaked up on her and she found herself smiling. She crossed Main Street and stopped in front of a restaurant called Heaven on Earth. Her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten anything since the tea and muffin the owner of the B and B insisted she eat when she returned from the funeral. That was hours ago and she was starving.

      She stepped inside and was greeted by a hostess who showed her to a table and handed her a menu. Carmen was glancing at it when the waitress appeared.

      “Hi, I’m Joni and I’ll be your server.”

      “Hi. What’s good?” Carmen asked, closing the menu.

      “My brother, Brandon, is the chef and co-owner, so I have to tell you everything is good.”

      Carmen smiled. “Is that true or just the safe answer?”

      “Actually, everything is great. What kind of foods do you prefer? I’ll steer you to my favorites.”

      “Well, I don’t eat beef, but I pretty much like anything else.”

      “In that case, I recommend either the poached salmon fillets with watercress mayonnaise or the salmon bulgogi with bok choy and mushrooms. That’s my favorite. If you want chicken, Brandon makes a mean pan-roasted chicken with citrus sauce.”

      “Everything sounds delicious. I’ll try the chicken. If it’s as good as you say, I’ll try the others before I leave town.”

      As Joni promised, her meal was delicious.

      When the waitress returned to take away her plate, Carmen praised the meal.

      “I’ll be sure to give Brandon your compliment. I’ll have to wait until after closing because his head is so big that if he gets one more compliment it just might pop.”

      Carmen grinned. Joni’s friendliness was just what she needed after the icy reception she’d received from her family.

      “So what brings you to our humble town?”

      “My mother’s funeral.”

      Joni instantly sobered. “I’m sorry.”

      Carmen swallowed. “Thanks.”

      Joni studied Carmen for a minute. “Was your mother Rachel Shields?”

      “Yes.”

      “I thought so. You resemble her. I met her when we moved here a few years back. She was a wonderful woman.”

      “Thanks.”

      Joni waited a bit before she spoke again, clearly giving Carmen time to get her emotions under control, which Carmen appreciated. “How long will you be in town?”

      “I’m not sure. I planned on two weeks.” Carmen’s stomach instantly plummeted to her feet. What would she do if her family continued to ignore her overtures? She’d go bananas with nothing to do but brood.

      “If you find yourself with time on your hands, or just need to get away from family for a while, I have the perfect suggestion for how to fill it.”

      “I’m not a good waitress.”

      “Are you kidding?” She laughed. “You’re much too nice to subject to my brother. He may cook like an angel, but he is the devil to work for.”

      Joni’s words were spoken with affection and Carmen felt the slightest twinge of envy at the obvious close relationship between Joni and her brother. “What did you have in mind?”

      “I was going to suggest you volunteer at the youth center. You might have passed it on the way over here. It’s that huge gray building on the corner

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