Now and Forever 4, The Renovated Heart Read Online Free Page A

whispered back.
    Sarah looked away, embarrassed. Jim grinned
at her, his eyes glistening with desire his smile almost smug.
Regardless of how embarrassed she thought she should be, she
admitted to herself her body had responded to him. His expression
told her he knew, too. He pushed a lock of hair back from her face,
his fingertips lightly brushing her forehead.
    He traced her jaw with his finger before he
moved away. Sarah couldn’t take her eyes from his. He had
hypnotized her. Hunger surfaced. A hunger that had been buried deep
in her soul, created by crushing loneliness, threatened to
overwhelm her, to defeat her every day.
    She saw need mixed with desire in his eyes,
sensing by the way he touched her, he wanted to make love to her.
Though she wanted him, too, she was afraid. Sarah needed to be sure
it wasn’t just sexual attraction, but something deeper. She wanted
to touch his heart—wanted him to hold her, tell her everything
would be all right, to reassure her such a tight grip on her life,
her kids, or her heart, wasn’t necessary. But she was scared.
    He stepped away from her, retreating to the
front door.
    “Hey, Scottie. I’m going to pick you up at
four-thirty tomorrow, right?”
    The boy nodded.
    “Thanks for dinner. The next dinner is on
me. Can I take you out Saturday?”
    “Sure, if I can get a babysitter,” Sarah
said, fumbling with the ties to the apron she wore, casting her
gaze to the floor. An unexpected invitation.
    “Great. I’ll pick you up at seven,” he said,
leaning over to give Sarah a kiss on the cheek.
    She nodded, smiled and closed the door
behind him.

Chapter Three
     
     
    The Willow Falls Motel
     
    At six o’clock, Kit stepped out of the
motel, dressed in a new ruffled, white cotton blouse with a low-cut
neckline, a new turquoise cotton skirt, sporting new high-heeled
sandals. She looked around. Nothing looked familiar; she was a
stranger in town.
    With no job to anchor herself, to make her
confident, like she fit somewhere, Kit felt she didn’t belong
anywhere. All her hard work to build a good life in New York had
been erased, leaving only an empty slate, scaring her to the marrow
of her bones.
    She had always been a devoted wife and
mother, enjoying the role, putting Johnny and Zoe before herself.
Kit had tried to talk Johnny into having another child but he
refused. Now with no one to care for, to cook for, or plan for…no
one to miss her, she was lost.
    Kit shivered, not due to a cold breeze, it
was August, but because gut-wrenching loneliness gripped her,
chilling her blood. Like a flower seed taken far and wide by the
wind, she had no idea where she’d land or what kind of life she’d
lead. The silence hanging in the air deafened her. Kit had no place
to go, no one to turn to, except her friend, Sarah. Hunger gripped
her belly. Is this the street? Let’s see. She turned right,
noticing the sign for Bon Appetit, the only familiar restaurant. A
smile lit up her face. I’m not totally helpless.
     
    * * * *
     
    Don Rosen, the co-owner of Bon Appetit with
his wife, Sunny, was tending bar when Kit arrived.
    “Good evening. Looking for a table?” he
asked.
    “Yes.”
    “How many?”
    “Just one,” she said, cringing inside,
unable to look him in the eye.
    “We have a big group here tonight, so we’re
packed. How about sitting at the bar? We serve dinner here, too. I
can seat you right away,” he said, motioning to one of two empty
chairs. She nodded at him, sat down and pulled out a small pad and
pen. Time to make a what-to-do-with-my-life list.
    “What are you drinking?”
    “A Cosmopolitan?”
    “Coming right up.”
    Kit sat with her pen poised, but she
couldn’t think of anything. How do you make a list for putting
your life back together? There were so many things she had to
do. Kit stared at the empty page, unable to organize the mess now
called her life into a neat to-do list. She felt paralyzed. She
took a sip of her Cosmo and put the pen down on the