Fast Track Read Online Free

five years, but until this moment she had never taken the time to notice how handsome he was. He had asked her out several times, and she’d always declined. Why had she done that? The answer was quick. Because she’d been chasing a foolish dream. Her father was right. It was time for her to face reality and move on.
    She unbuckled her seat belt and opened the car door, but she didn’t get out. She sat there thinking.
    “Cordie?” Jared asked, wondering why she was hesitating.
    She turned to him again. “Are you seeing anyone now?”
    The question surprised him. “I was,” he said. “But it wasn’t going anywhere, so I broke it off. Why do you ask?”
    “I was wondering . . . once things calm down, would you like to go to dinner or something?” She couldn’t believe she was doing this now with her life so crazy. She knew she wasn’t thinking straight, but that didn’t seem to matter. She still plunged ahead.
    “Yes, I’d like that,” he replied.
    Okay, she thought. Step one: Move forward.
    “I’ll see you inside,” she said. “I have to make a couple of calls first.”
    It took her a good fifteen minutes to make her way upstairs. Her father’s poker friends were sitting together at the dining room table reminiscing. She stopped to talk to each one of them, then went up to her bedroom and shut the door.
    She called Regan first. Her husband answered. “Hi, Alec,” she said. “How’s the conference going?” She hadn’t meant to ask that question, but she needed time to get the reason for her call out, to find the right words. He knew something was wrong the second he heard her voice.
    “What’s going on?”
    She decided not to ease into it. “My father had a heart attack. He didn’t make it.”
    “Oh, Cordie, I’m so sorry.”
    He wanted details, and she answered each of his questions. As though she were in a trance, her voice was devoid of emotion. Alec was like a brother to her. She didn’t have to be strong with him, but his sympathy was bringing all the grief and pain to the surface again, and she couldn’t afford to lose control now.
    “Regan will be back in an hour,” he said. “I’ll have her call you just as soon as—”
    “No,” she blurted. “If I talk to her now, I’ll fall apart, and I have a houseful of people . . . and casseroles. Oh God, there are so many casseroles. Will you call Sophie for me? Please.”
    “Yes, of course I will,” he said. “What else can I do?”
    “That’s all for now.”
    “Regan and I are going to help you get through this. We’ll be on the next flight out of here.”
    After ending the call, she went to her bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. There was so much to do before she could sit down and take a breath. She descended the stairs and immediately was surrounded by a throng of sympathetic faces. Cordie realized all the offers of help were given with good intentions, and she appreciated each and every one of them, but there were some things she needed to do alone. She had a three o’clock appointment at the funeral home. She eased her way through the crowd so that she could sneak out the back door without anyone noticing or insisting on accompanying her.
    To her surprise she found that her father had already taken care of all the arrangements. He’d left precise instructions. He wanted the funeral Mass to take place at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, which was just across the parking lot from the high school where she taught. Some of her father’s older friends were going to balk at driving into what they considered a dangerous area of the city, and she would understand if they didn’t attend. Nevertheless, she would honor all her father’s wishes, even if no one showed up.
    She navigated the rest of the day in a fog. She must have listened to a hundred wonderful stories about her father, but after a while they all blended together. His loyal friends had already sainted him.
    The box she’d brought home from the