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All these years he’d put up with the ht that, ultimately, he and his father would be a team

The oldhim? What honorable man did that? Threaten, yes Make life hell,up

But denounce hih he didn’t exist?

He had someplace to be So he drove

He turned away fro that housed Connelly Invest toward historic don, and then found a e company with his satellite phone service Placed an order for the following

And only faltered once—when the friendly female voice on the other end of the line asked him the final delivery address for his packed-up life

He told theet back to them

CHAPTER THREE

MARIE AND GABRIELLE took each other out to a quick lunch at their favorite salad shop—not the fine dining Lia deal—more for Gabrielle than any of the more than a car

“I ain for a while” Gabrielle chuckled as she slid her ar Marie’s elbow to her side as they left the self-serve restaurant and headed toward her car “I’ll just have to take scraps from our business tenant’s kitchen”

“I have a feeling our new business tenant, the owner of that fa ant,” Marie said laconically They were heading back to the coffee shop Marie had good, dependable employees, a feere qualified to run the shop in her absence She just didn’t enjoy being absent

“Yeah, and if history serves, the oork us both to the bone for it, too” Gabrielle had been with Marie fro for just the right space to lease Spending eighteen-hour days cleaning the place Choosing a logo Ordering And working until they dropped when business picked up before Marie had had a chance, or enough profit, to hire employees

“Can you believe it?” Marie skipped as she glanced at Gabrielle, yanking a bit on her arm “We actually did it We own an entire historic apart!”

Gabrielle smiled And worried, too About Liareed to The fifty oron them to keep a roof over their heads

The e faeneration of traditions