Her Best Friend by Sarah Mayberry Read Free Book Online Page B

options—hunt down Quinn and ask all the questions she hadn’t asked last night, or find Reg Hanover and talk him into giving her early access to the Grand.
    She chose option B, because she might be a hopeless case where Quinn was concerned, but she wasn’t stupid. No matter how wonderful and sad and torturous it was to have him in town, tomorrow he would fly home to Sydney. The Grand was her future, her big dream come true. She needed to keep that fact top of mind no matter what other distractions were on hand.
    By nine she was waiting out at the front of the council building, keeping watch for Reg’s distinctive beige Volvo. She saw him turn in to the parking lot and waited until he’d parked before walking toward him.
    “Ms. Parker,” he said stiffly as he exited her car. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
    Amy spared a glance for today’s tie—a sketchily drawn blue marlin leaping on a purple background—before focusing on Reg’s face.
    “I want to talk to you about getting access to the Grand before settlement.”
    “I’m afraid that’s not possible.” His tone implied that he thought her request was inappropriate, to say the least.
    Amy gave him her brightest smile. “I don’t see why not. It happens all the time, and it’s not as though there’s a tenant. The place has been empty for years. Surely it’s to the community’s benefit that the restoration start as soon as possible?”
    Reg opened his mouth to reject her again.
    “Before you say no, I should warn you that I’ll be back tomorrow to ask the same thing. And the day after that, and so on. I’ve always been stubborn like that.”
    “Tomorrow’s Sunday.”
    “I know, but I also know where you live, Reg.”
    He glared at her, his thick eyebrows meeting in the middle. She could see his desire to punish her for last night’s defeat warring with his need to be rid of her. She held her breath, waiting to see which way he would jump.
    Ten minutes later she was pushing the chrome-and-glass front doors of the Grand wide open. She stepped into the dusty foyer and glanced around.
    “Honey, I’m home,” she called, her voice echoing in the empty space.
    It was tempting to gloat a little, but she’d done her celebrating last night. She rolled up the sleeves on her bright orange sweater and performed her first act as owner of the Grand, tearing down the tattered yellow paper that had masked the front windows for years. Light streamed into the foyer, unkindly highlighting the old cinema’s many flaws.
    “Don’t worry, baby. We’ll put you right.”
    An hour later she was dragging a small mountain of damp cardboard out to the rear parking lot. She’d arranged for an industrial-size rubbish bin to be delivered first thing Monday, but she was too impatient to wait until then to get started. She hefted the cardboard onto the pile she’d created near the door just as a dark sedan pulled up next to her rusty old station wagon. It took her a moment to recognize Quinn behind the wheel. She dusted her hands down the front of her jeans as he exited his car.
    “I should have known you’d be here,” he said.
    He was wearing faded jeans and scuffed brown boots with a charcoal-gray sweater. Her heart did stupid, teenage things as she took in his broad shoulders and lean hips and wry smile.
    “No point in wasting time.”
    “How much rent are the council charging you to have early access?”
    “None.”
    He lifted an eyebrow. “How’d you pull that off?”
    “I have my ways,” she said mysteriously.
    He looked amused. “Sure you do. You want a hand?”
    He’d caught her off guard. “It’s nice of you to offer, but it’s mostly donkey work. Clearing out all the crap the old tenants have left behind.”
    “I’m not afraid of hard work.”
    “Yeah, but I don’t want to chew up all your time. You’re only home for the weekend.”
    Plus I’m a little out of practice putting on my game face when you’re around. Witness the fact that