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Olivia stood and walked around to her bedside table, where she reached for the phone

"Who are you calling?"

"My brother I need Will’s input on this"

Jack’s eyes met hers "Time for a family conference," he said

Nine

"Oh, what a lovely painting," the older, smartly dressed woman commented as she walked around the Harbor Street Art Gallery While Will was out running errands, Miranda Sullivan had re fro it on the opposite wall, which--in her humble opinion--showed off the watercolor to its best effect It was all about the light, her husband used to say, and who’d know that better than an artist like Hugh Sullivan? She noticed how quickly this custoood taste This is one of our loveliest pieces," Miranda said, walking toward the wo Cedar Cove? I’m Miranda Sullivan"

"I’m Veronica Vanderhuff My husband and I recentlyfor a few pieces by local artists Your gallery was recoht place All the art on display is by local talent The work you’re ad"

"It’s gorgeous"

"Inwe currently have"

Veronica shrugged her sliant shoulders "I’m almost afraid to ask the price"

"All our prices are extremely reasonable," Miranda assured her She’d love to sell this painting before Will returned Then she could flaunt the fact that it sold only after she’d hung it on this other wall

Veronica checked the price list Miranda handed her and seemed pleasantly surprised "Oh, this is reasonable I’ll take it"

Miranda wanted to clap and leap up and down She’d derive real pleasure fro this in Will’s stubborn face Not a very commendable impulse, perhaps, but there it was In all her life, Miranda had yet to meet a man who irritated and enthralled her in equal hly attracted to this h, he was constantly in her thoughts She kneas unlikely that Will would ever look on her as anything more than an employee, and yet she couldn’t see, to say the least

Miranda finished the credit-card transaction anddelivered Twenty allery and didn’t bother to greet her, which Miranda considered the height of rudeness Instead, he went directly to his office, sluh-backed leather chair

Miranda followed hi her arlanced up, frowning "I need a few h depressed

Miranda’s syht with your arding hiswith the insurance coy Fro well, although much more slowly than anyone had expected But Will shared very little of his personal life with her, so this was based on infor fine--not great but okay"

Miranda knew she should give Will the privacy he’d requested but felt an al need to co a few feet into his office "Is there anything I can do?"

He kept his eyes lowered and shook his head "I have no one to blaed, wondering why he was so upset if there was no new crisis with his s for his alternated between annoyance and attraction, but there were tiht nohen she realized how deeply she cared about Will He was vain, supercilious, pompous and a hundred other adjectives she could think of On the other hand, he was intelligent and witty, a talented businessman, devoted to his fanified but still sexy way

"I ran into Tanni Bliss," Will muttered "Shirley was in California last weekend"

"So I heard"

Will’s head shot up "You knew?"

He asked the question as though she’d personally betrayed hi the inforood friends"

"You ht’ve told me" His eyes snapped with irritation

Miranda planted one hand on her hip "And ould I do that?"

"You kno I feel about Shirley"

She looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes "You have got to be kidding me Shirley is no more interested in you than…than the ured that out by now"

"I’ht" He jaainst his chest "I met her first and--"

"Shirley isn’t a prize otistical that you can’t accept the fact that not every wolared at her and said, "Then I guess you’ll be happy to know Larry proposed"

As it happened, she was "Shirley told me So who told you? Larry?"

"No, Tanni Like I said," he returned pointedly, "I ran into her at the bank and she said she and her mother had a--" he made quotation marks in the air "--‘fabulous tiot there, Larry asked Tanni and her brother if they had any objections to hied"