By Design Read Online Free

amusement. Melanie was the newest and youngest architect in
Jameson’s firm. She was bright, energetic, and talented. Jameson had to admit
that the main reason she brought Melanie on, however, was her humor. “Uh-huh,” Jameson
raised an eyebrow. “Older women and younger men, huh?”
    “Whatever
works. Besides, Candace Fletcher is gorgeous,” Melanie commented.   Jameson looked back at the papers on her desk
and gave a slight nod. “She is; isn’t she? Huh? Come on, J.D.! Is it all camera
tricks or is she as stunning in person?”
    “She’s
attractive,” Jameson said quietly.
    Melanie
grinned slyly. “She’s single; you know?”
    “Mm-hm.”
    “And,
she is a lesbian.”
    “Yes,
I think I might have heard that,” Jameson
replied.
    “So,
maybe you….”
    “Enough
matchmaking. She’s a client, Mel. But, if you are interested …. ”
    “Yeah,
yeah,” Melanie laughed.
    Jameson
smiled. “Plans look good,” she complimented the younger woman’s work. “Be ready
to present it next week,” she instructed as she made her way to retrieve her
jacket. “Bryan will lead the meeting.”
    “You’re
not going to be here?” Melanie asked in disbelief. “J.D. this is a huge account.”
    “Yes,
I know. You’ve done a fantastic job. Branmore will be thrilled with your proposal. Bryan will keep you steady.”
    “Where
are you going to be?”
    Jameson
winked. “I have my own client to take
care of; remember?”
    Melanie
narrowed her gaze at her boss as Jameson strutted out of the office. “Oh, you
think you’re fooling me, huh?” she whispered as Jameson walked out the door.
“Not fooling me. You like the senator. Hah! I knew it!”
    ***
    Pearl
opened the door and greeted Jameson with a warm smile. “Well, I guess she
didn’t scare you away,” she winked.
    “Oh,
it would take more than an ornery old senator to scare me away from all this,”
Jameson gestured to the home.
    “Well,
that’s good to know, Ms. Reid. Cause between you and me? My little Candy can be
a handful.”
    Jameson
returned the older woman’s smile. “Known the senator a long time, I take it?”
    “You
could say that ,” Pearl replied as she led
Jameson through the house. “Her granddad hired me in nineteen sixty-eight.
Candy was eight,” the woman explained. Jameson tried to picture an eight-year-old Candace. She snickered. Pearl
led Jameson through the house into the kitchen and directed her to take a seat.
“Hard to imagine her that way; I know.”
    Jameson
smiled. “Not really ,” she said.
    Pearl
nodded. She had kept quiet with the senator about her suspicions. After Jameson
Reid’s first visit she had noticed a lift in Candace’s spirits, and a
measurable bounce in the senator’s step. At first, Pearl had chalked up the
change to Candace’s excitement over finally remodeling the house. It was a
project she had talked about for years. This house ,
Pearl understood, meant a great deal to Candace Fletcher. As a child, Candace
found any excuse she could to visit her
grandparents. When her father inherited the house, he had immediately passed it
on to her brother David. Candace’s disappointment had been evident. As soon as
David expressed an interest in selling the home, Candace swept in.
    It
was also evident to the older woman that there was more to Candace’s sudden
shift in moods.   Candace was like a
daughter to Pearl. It had always been impossible for Candace to hide the truth
from the older woman about anything. Pearl began to suspect that the young
woman now seated in front of her might be the cause of Candace’s vitalized
spirit. Pearl had entered the kitchen the morning after Jameson’s first visit to
find the senator engrossed in her computer. That was not unusual. What struck
the older woman as strange was the grin that kept edging its way onto Candace’s
expression. She watched curiously as
Candace would shake her head, type furiously, and then chuckle. She finally
asked what had the senator so amused