Meeting Miss Mystic Read Online Free Page A

Maggie, COME ON!”
    She was long gone. Paul headed out the front door, pulling it closed behind him and listening for the lock to catch, his head spinning on the short walk home. No wonder she vacationed in Maine. She was from Connecticut. His previous elation mixed with deep disappointment and later, at home, sleep certainly hadn’t come easily or lasted very long.
    Paul rolled over and glanced back at the clock. 6:47 a.m.
    He flipped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Unbidden, the picture of Holly Morgan flashed before his eyes and he growled, clenching his eyes shut. What was the point of pursuing a woman who lived in Connecticut, for heaven’s sake? He lived in Montana and had no intention of returning east for anything but an occasional visit. From what he had learned about Holly, she was deeply attached to her aunt, devoted to her sister and adored her nephew. That sort of woman wasn’t going to consider a move out to Montana!
    The smart thing to do would be to forget he’d ever seen the photo of Holly Morgan, forget he’d ever read her smart, funny words, forget he’d ever found out that the prettiest woman in the world with the sweetest smile, most luscious body and most impeccable taste in movies actually existed somewhere on the earth. The smart thing to do would be to delete the e-mails and forget that Holly Morgan existed.
    But the thing about principals in the summertime?
    They don’t have to set an example for anyone. And they don’t have to be smart if they don’t want to be.

Chapter 2
    Zoë’s phone buzzed and she glanced down at it on her desk, wishing she could keep the inevitable butterflies at bay. No luck. At the sight of his handle, PrincipalPaul , on the notification banner, her heart leapt, sending a wave of anticipation and excitement throughout her body and making goose bumps pop up all along her arms.
    PrincipalPaul has sent you a message.
    She took a deep breath, staring at the notification. Would this message be from his friend Maggie again or finally from him? It was only eleven o’clock but she couldn’t wait to find out and she certainly didn’t want to pore over every detail of the message with Stanley staring over her shoulders.
    “Going on my lunch break, Stan,” she said to her boss, who worked at the desk beside her.
    “A little early for lunch,” he said in the same dry tone he used for every boring, utilitarian website he created.
    “Just means I’ll be here working all afternoon without a break.”
    “I took a chance hiring a quirky kid, Zoë. Don’t make me regret it. You were supposed to bring an artistic angle to the business, which is all well and good, but that doesn’t mean we’re flimsy with our deadlines. I need that website for Patterson Pools finished by the end of the day.”
    Zoë nodded. “And it’ll be gorgeous. And artistic. Don’t worry. I’ll stay late if I need to.”
    His droopy, watery eyes regarded her sullenly. “Well? Go to lunch then. Be back in forty-five minutes.”
    Zoë grabbed her bag from the back of her chair, heading first to the lobby kiosk for a cup of iced coffee, then to the outdoor plaza to the left of her building that had a fountain and several bistro tables and chairs. It was already sweltering out even though it was only mid-morning, so she shrugged off the cardigan she’d been wearing in the air conditioning and took a deep breath of the slow, brackish breeze blowing in lazily off the Atlantic.
    She settled herself at an empty table and took out her phone, keeping it face down as she sipped her coffee. It’s not that she wanted to prolong the torture of reading the message, but it had been so long since she’d felt this sort of giddy anticipation, she wanted to savor it for a few minutes. The two years since the accident had been fairly void of happy times, so connecting with Paul, through Maggie, was a bit of unexpected—and, as it turned out, welcome—sunshine in an otherwise bleak life.
    A quick bolt