The door swung wide, and she heard Justine greet someone, then move to one of the copy machines. Meg collected her printout and walked from behind the booth.
Fashionably dressed in a blue summer suit, Linda Burroughs stood on the customer side of the counter. She didn’t look as though she’d gained a pound over a size eight, and her blond hair was highlighted perfectly
“Why if it isn’t our globe-hopping traveler,” Linda said. “My, my, Meg, you do look wonderful ”
“Doesn’t she, though?” Justine chimed
“Thanks, Linda.” She could kick herself for wearing her old cutoff jeans she’d found in the back of her closet. She hadn’t taken time to change as she’d wanted to do “You, too.”
“Kelsey’s children were full of you being back home when they came to dinner the other day. They could hardly talk of anything else.”
Meg smiled, murmuring, “Lissa and Aimee remember me from the old days.”
“So Kelsey said,” Linda commented a little dryly. Her dark blue eyes studied Meg with curiosity. “You’ve been home for a couple of weeks, now, haven’t you? I heard your mother is doing just fine.
“She is, and thank you for asking ”
“From what Kelsey tells me, Meg, you have a very demanding job. When do you go back?”
“Oh, I left my return open,” Meg answered smoothly. Small towns always wanted to know everything; they thought of themselves as extended family, entitled to the truth about everyone. “I didn’t know how long Mom would need me.”
“And your boss is okay with that? My, my, aren’t you lucky? I couldn’t leave my real estate business for so long without a substantial loss.”
“Yes, I am lucky. But thank goodness I’ve discovered Justine’s business. She’s a find.” Meg searched the bottom of her purse for her wallet, then pulled out her credit card. “I’ve arranged to use her computers part-time for the rest of my stay.”
“Ah, yes,” Linda agreed as she accepted her copy work from Justine and collected her purse from the counter. “This girl keeps us all in the nineties. She sometimes saves my hide, actually. Like today when our copy machine is on the blink.”
“Please, please You’ll have me blushing,” Justine protested with a preen. “And I plan on taking you all into the next millennium. Maybe I should take my bow now.”
They chuckled at Justine’s sally before Linda said, “Well, good to see you, Meg I imagine you’re eager to get back to England soon. Hope I see you again before you leave I’ll tell Kelsey I ran into you when I see him tonight.”
Linda breezed out of the door without looking back, her proprietary air floating behind her.
Kelsey and Linda had a date tonight? Startled, Meg simply murmured, “You do that.”
“Hmm,” Justine said, gazing at the retreating woman with a puzzled frown. “It’s a little like saying ‘here’s your hat, what’s your hurry’ isn’t it? Didn’t you hang out a lot with Kelsey and Dee Dee a long time ago?”
Meg drew a deep breath. Whatever had possessed her to even think of the possibilities of marrying Kelsey? Or that he might want her when Linda was available? The girls were simply living in a dream.
“Yes. We were all close, once,” she answered slowly
Stuffing her wallet back in her purse, she handed over her credit card
“How much do I owe you, Justine?” she asked, willing the other woman to hurry the transaction. She had to leave before she gave away her crumbling heart How foolish of her to once again pin her hopes in a childish dream Lissa and Aimee were entitled to their dreams However, she was a grown woman. She knew the difference between dreams and reality.
Kelsey, of all people, did as well. She could only hope the girls hadn’t mentioned their idea to their dad
The two unknown cars in the drive told Meg her mother’s bridge game was most likely still in progress. But who of Audrey’s friends owned that cherry red fifties Ford Thunderbird?
Meg glanced at her watch. Four-thirty. Surely they couldn’t mean to stay much longer. Perhaps she could hurry her mother’s friends out with a mention that Audrey’s strength wasn’t up for marathons yet. She really didn’t relish the idea of making polite conversation.
All the way home she’d had Kelsey on her mind, but there seemed no way around what Linda had implied; Linda wanted everyone to think she and Kelsey were a set. And in spite of what the girls had said or wanted to believe, Meg thought things might be rather serious between Kelsey and Linda.
Well, why not? Why wouldn’t Kelsey have moved on to a new love after Dee Dee died? Meg’d been gone from her hometown for a long time Long enough not to know exactly whom Kelsey might be interested in anymore But her heart sank with the thought of it being supercilious Linda Burroughs.
Oh, my! That was small-minded of her. She sounded as bad as Lissa and Aimee. And to even fret over it meant she’d allowed too much hope from the girls’ proposal into her thinking.
Meg let the screen door slap shut behind her as she entered the kitchen with her arms full of groceries and her thoughts swirling. How could she have let herself in for this kind of hurt all over again? Her heart shrank a little more with each passing moment, until she thought it no bigger than a lemon.
“Meg, is that you?” Audrey called, out of the murmuring voices from the living room, as Meg stepped through the back door. “What kept you? I thought you’d be back long before now.”
“Yes, Mom, it’s me.” Meg set her bag of groceries down on the kitchen counter. Spotting several of her mother’s best iced tea goblets beside the fridge, she wondered about how much bother Audrey had gone to in entertaining the bridge set. Probably, though, Sandy Yoder had taken care of serving the tea and cookies. “We needed a few things from the grocery store, and I picked up the cleaning.”
“Well, come along in, dear. I’d like you to meet someone.”
“Be right there, Mom.” The phone rang. Automatically Meg lifted the kitchen extension. “Hello.”
“Meg?”
Her heart lurched into her ribs as she recognized the low voice. Maybe it hadn’t shrunk so much after all.
“Hi, Kelsey.” She made a huge effort at keeping her tone casual.
“Hi.” Hesitation followed.
“Everything all right with the kids?”
“Yeah. They’re fine. In fact, I wanted to thank you again for all the clothes and stuff you bought ‘em. The girls have preened over them every day since you took them shopping.”
“You don’t object to the makeup for Lissa, do you?”
“Uh, well, yes and no.” Humor laced his voice. “I guess I’m a typical daddy. If you’d asked me beforehand, I would’ve said she’s way too young yet. But then, since I know you wouldn’t have bought it if that were true, I guess I have to face the fact that she’s no longer Heather’s age.”
“Well, get your boots out, Kels. Lissa will be knee-deep in boys before another year passes.”
“That’s what scares the daylights out of me.” He paused, and Meg could hear him breathe for a moment She wasn’t used to an uncertain Kelsey, and her senses sharpened. What was it? “Meg, I’m in town and