A Daring Vow (Vows) by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online

side of her personality thanks to Kate’s glowing recommendation, then he had taught her something, as well. All Taylor Matthews had to do to make her pulse flutter was breathe. That was it. His mere existence in a room set her heart racing.
    There was no reasoning with a reaction like that. Without half trying, Taylor made her want to do all those wicked, outrageous things that had so appalled the straitlaced people of Port William a decade ago, the very things that had sent Taylor himself scurrying out of her life.
    And she had just agreed to go to work for the man! She’d probably be chasing
him
around his desk by the end of the first week.
    Since such clear evidence that her daredevil streak was far from dead appalled her, she stopped by Sarah Lynn’s for something calorie-laden to combat outright depression. A hot-fudge sundae ought to do it. The more decadent, the better.
    Though it was early for the lunch crowd, at least half a dozen people were lingering over coffee and gossip. Since all conversation stopped the minute she walked in, Zelda had a hunch she was the current topic. It was hardly the first time, but it made her uncomfortable just the same. She suddenly longed for L.A., where the only people who knew her name were the ones she told.
    Though most of the faces at the counter were familiar, she merely waved a greeting. She pointedly avoided making the sort of eye contact that would invite anyone to join her. As she headed for the nearest empty booth, Sarah Lynn bustled out from the kitchen and embraced her. She smelled of cinnamon and apples. It must be apple crisp day, served hot and topped by melting vanilla ice cream, Zelda recalled as she returned Sarah Lynn’s hug.
    That hug and the genuine warmth behind it brought the salty sting of tears to Zelda’s eyes for the first time since she’d gotten home. Just being in this place, with the scent of fresh-baked pies in the air and the Formica and chrome polished to a spotless gleam, was enough to carry her back in time. She had more happy memories here than she did of that house a few blocks away.
    “Zelda, honey, I’ve been wondering just when you were going to come to see me,” Sarah Lynn said in a tone that gently scolded her for the delay. “Now sit right down here and tell me all about Hollywood. Have you met any stars out there? Why, I’ll bet you know Kevin Costner.”
    She sighed dreamily at the prospect, a reaction that seemed somewhat unexpected from a woman edging toward sixty and built as solidly as one of those mowers over at Harlan’s. Zelda knew, though, that Sarah Lynn’s practical, down-to-earth nature hid a romantic streak almost as wide as her own mama’s had been.
    Laughing at the evidence of it, Zelda shook her head. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve never met him. I did arrive at a restaurant one night right after he’d left with carry-out. Does that count?”
    “Not for much,” Sarah Lynn said with a laugh. “Well, never you mind. What can I get you, hon?”
    “A hot-fudge sundae,” Zelda said at once. “The biggest one you can make.”
    Sarah Lynn didn’t remind her that it was before noon. She’d never been one to criticize her customers’ dietary whims. Given her cholesterol-laden menu, it would have been decidedly bad for business. “Extra whipped cream, the way you always liked it?” she said immediately.
    The one thing Zelda had always known about small-town living was that people never forgot anything—good or bad. In this case, it genuinely made her feel as if she’d come home. “Of course.”
    When Sarah Lynn brought the sundae with its mound of freshly whipped cream and sprinkle of nuts, she settled down opposite Zelda. Her expression turned sober.
    “I don’t have much time before this place gets busier than rush hour at a train station, but tell me how you’re doing. I want the truth, too, not one of those polite evasions you use with acquaintances. You getting along okay out at the house? I