Stealing Home by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

celebrated the arrival of each new baby by making a ceremonious first visit to the soda fountain so Grace and Neville Wharton could gush over the latest Townsend.
    Going there today would be bittersweet, but fitting, Maddie thought. Maybe she and her son would be able to start thehealing process over chocolate milk shakes. Then again that was asking an awful lot of a shake.
     
    “I was real sorry to hear about you and Bill,” Grace Wharton told Maddie in an undertone while Ty was at the counter getting their milk shakes. “I just don’t know what men are thinking when they walk away from a fine family to be with a girl who’s still wet behind the ears.”
    Maddie could only nod agreement. As much as she liked Grace, she knew that anything she said would be reported far and wide by nightfall. Fortunately, Ty came back to their booth before Grace could pry anything more from her.
    “I hear you’ve been looking for a job,” Grace said, regarding Maddie with sympathy. “There’s mighty slim pickin’s here in Serenity. It’s a crying shame the way this town has been losing business to those big ole stores outside Charleston. I tell Neville all the time if we didn’t do such a good business with the soda fountain, we’d have to shut our doors, too. Goodness knows, the pharmacy’s not making money the way it once did. People would rather carry their prescriptions thirty miles than pay a little more for good service right here at home.”
    “It’s affecting you, too?” Maddie asked, surprised. “Don’t people realize how wonderful it is to have a pharmacist who knows them and who’s willing to bring the prescription right to the door in the middle of the night if need be?”
    “Oh, they care enough about that in an emergency, but it’s the day-in, day-out prescriptions we’re losing and the over-the-counter medicines they can buy cheaper someplace else. Losing that factory over in White Hill hasn’t helped, either. Folks there had good jobs with decent pay. Now all those jobsare off in some foreign country.” Grace shook her head sorrowfully. “It’s a crying shame, that’s what it is. Well, I’ll leave you two to enjoy your milk shakes. Honey, if you need anything, you just let me know. I’ll be happy to look after the kids for you or anything else you need.”
    “Thanks, Grace,” Maddie said sincerely. She knew Grace meant it, too. That was the comfort of a place like Serenity. Neighbors helped each other out.
    When she turned to face her son, his expression was troubled.
    “Mom, are we short on cash because of Dad leaving? Is that why you’re trying to find a job?”
    “We’re okay for now,” she assured him. “But the alimony payments your dad agreed to won’t last forever. I’m trying to plan ahead.”
    “I thought Helen and Dana Sue wanted you to start up a new business with them,” he said.
    Maddie was astonished. “How on earth do you know about that?”
    “Mom, it’s Serenity and Dana Sue,” he said.
    “Are you suggesting this town has a thing for gossip?” she inquired wryly. “And my best friend has a big mouth?”
    “I’m not falling into that trap,” he sidestepped neatly. “But I do go to school with Dana Sue’s daughter.”
    “And she’s been talking about this health-club idea?”
    Ty nodded. “I think it sounds cool. I bet it’d be a whole lot more fun than working in some stuffy old office.”
    “I pretty much think what they want me to do is work in their office,” she said.
    “But you like them, right? I do. Dana Sue’s a riot and Helen gives just about the best Christmas presents ever.”
    “Ah, yes. Important qualifications for a sound working partnership.”
    “I’m just saying—”
    She gave his hand a quick squeeze. “I know what you’re saying and you’re right. Working with them would be wonderful.”
    “Then what’s keeping you from saying yes?”
    She’d given the offer a lot of thought the past few days and knew exactly why she was