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"I have a shts

Jacqueline wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it, but before she could stop him, he continued

"You need to thank Tammie Lee for the roses They were her idea"

Jacqueline picked up her wine "Well, I didn’t think you’d come up with that idea on your own"

"To Talass

"To Tahed

"I’ll get it" Reese was out of his chair before she could protest

For once, just once, she wanted theether She wished now that she’d taken the phone off the hook

Whoever was on the line certainly had Reese’s attention His brow furrowed and he frowned and then nodded curtly Replacing the receiver, he o"

"Where?" Jacqueline asked before she would stop herself

"Problerabbed his car keys and was out the door "I’ate project It appears we blew a circuit and the entire block is without electricity"

Sitting alone at the table, listening as Reese’s car engine roared to life, Jacqueline felt nu her napkin furiously onto her plate and walked over to the sink She grabbed the counter with both hands, biting down hard on her lower lip

"He’s needed at the site," she repeated, her voice cracking She knew exactly who’d phoned and exactly where he’d gone and it wasn’t to any job site

CHAPTER 30

ALIX TOWNSEND

S undayon the sa as people filed through the church doors Ordinary people, soroup People like Carol Girard and her husband

Having lunch at Carol’s high-rise condo had been an eye-opening experience Literally! The vieas incredible, unlike anything she’d seen before She ht live in Seattle, but she certainly never saw it froet Sound was beyond fabulous Alix felt as if she’d stepped right onto a page in one of those fancy hoazines people left behind at the Laundromat The condo itself was spacious The furniture was si touches One thing was for sure Alix had no intention of returning the invitation She could just iine what Carol would think if she saw the inside of her apart even a bigger slob than usual

Carol had made a lovely lunch of cold tomato soup--a Spanish recipe, she’d said--and a seafood salad She’d set the table with beautiful o Alix would have considered details like that pointless, but these days she was taking notice This was exactly the type of thing she needed to know if she hoped to start her own business one day Alix had been nervous at first, afraid shefork If Jacqueline had been there, she would’ve been more worried, but Carol was a normal kind of person Funny, with all that wealth, she still had her problems

Everyone had probleeous apartments with million-dollar views Over lunch she and Carol covered a lot of subjects, and after a while, it felt just as if they were in the knitting group at Lydia’s shop Alix had never expected to become friends with these women but that was exactly what had happened Even with Jacqueline…

All of theed her to pursue the relationship with Jordan

Following the roller-skating party, Alix had seen him only once He’d stopped by the video store to tell her he was going out of town Apparently he was involved in a suton He’dher a postcard, but if he’d mailed one, she hadn’t received it That had been on her one away

As she stood on the corner across from the Free Methodist church, the , which she’d heard several times before For some reason she couldn’t identify, she boldly lanced around, half expecting so into this church was the only way she could feel close to hi it Anyone who questioned her was in for one hell of a fight

An usher looked in her direction, but she scowled at him with such ferocity that he backed off She didn’t need anyone to tell her where to sit Slipping into the last pew, she saw that people were standing and singing She grabbed what she assumed was the hymnal and picked up a Bible instead She wondered if anyone noticed As casually as she could, she replaced the Bible and grabbed the red book, opening it to the number posted on a board at the front of the church

The sanctuary was surprisingly crowded Alix had no idea so many people actually attended services Perhaps if her faether Yeah, right! As a kid she’d done her fair share of praying and a lot of good that had done her A familiar bitterness welled up inside These kids were lucky They had parents who cared about theer in contact with her mother and hadn’t seen her father in years He hadn’t even bothered to shohen Tohtened around the hymnal All Tom had ever wanted was someone to care about him They’d both been cheated in that depart with his friends than he was in his children, and their mother was no better Little wonder they’d had serious problems of their own, but Alix was determined to have a better life