The Touch of a Woman Read Online Free

sidelong glance. “Or forty.”
    “Take it all. And now I want both of you to do me a big favor. I need some space. I know I’m closer now and you’re going to be tempted to drop in. But how about giving me a couple of weeks to get myself sorted out here? Make some friends, learn my way around, get a new routine. Can you do that for me?”
    Jeremy looked surprised. “Are you sure, Mom?”
    “Absolutely. I’ll call if I need help with anything. But I want all of you here for Christmas dinner. No excuses.” She shooed the three of them out and walked with them to the truck, rubbing her arms against the night chill as they drove away.
    At the building next door, a car pulled up where the police car had been earlier. Two women got out, and one of them left immediately in another car. Ellis recognized the other as the woman who’d apologized.
    She’d turned to go back inside when the woman called out.
    The sound of her approaching footsteps was firm, but uneven. Boots with heels, and she was limping.
    Ellis paid closer attention this time. The woman had on jeans with a white shirt, its starched collar standing up and out of a dark pea coat. A nice look for someone her height, which she guessed at barely five feet. Light curly hair with wispy bangs she pushed from her eyes, and wire-rimmed glasses. It was only when she was a few feet away that Ellis noticed her age—late forties, she guessed. Not the scruffy sort she might have expected to be involved with the police.
    “Hi, I’m Summer Winslow.”
    Ellis nodded. She didn’t need friends who attracted trouble.
    “Was it you who called the cops?”
    “It was not.”
    “I guess that’s good…except now I have to go find whoever it was so I can apologize to them too.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry I made such a rotten first impression. That’s not a normal thing, I swear. It’s never happened before…and I hope to hell it never happens again.”
    What could she say? That it was all right? It wasn’t. That it didn’t bother her? It did.
    “Anyway…I just wanted to tell you again that I was sorry. I think you’ll like River Woods. Just hit the reset button tomorrow and start over.”
    It was rude to stand there in silence. The least she could do was acknowledge the woman’s obvious embarrassment and pretend not to be judging her. This was her neighbor, someone she’d likely see again. “Thank you. I’ll give that a try.”

Chapter Two
    Sacramento Vista occupied the third floor of the Crawford Building, one of the oldest business complexes in the city. Situated only two blocks from the capitol, it was, at five stories, dwarfed by the office towers on K Street.
    Ellis waited nervously in a hard vinyl chair for the official start of her workday. A close examination of her nails revealed chips in the pink polish from handling the cardboard boxes as she unpacked. In the old days, she’d have dashed out to her manicurist for a quick touch-up, but her budget didn’t cover such frivolities anymore.
    Her first full-time job since she left the San Francisco magazine on maternity leave twenty-four years ago. Assistant editor, though she had no clear idea what duties that entailed. Her anxiety had more to do with meeting her coworkers and bosses than tackling a new job.
    Gil had offered the position when it became obvious she’d never support herself on a staff writer’s salary in San Francisco, one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. A two-bedroom apartment like the one she’d rented in River Woods would have cost four times as much in the City, five times if it included parking.
    She’d always considered Sacramento a cow town. Now it was home. To be fair, most places were sleepy when held up to a world class city like San Francisco. But she was committed to the move. She’d get to know the capital in short order once she immersed herself in the magazine. It would be fine. She’d make it fine.
    “Ellis Keene?” A curvaceous