Under A Harvest Moon by Joleen James Read Free Book Online

choice over with them at that time." Gayle gathered up her neat stack of papers. "I'm going to take all of this back to my office."
    "Okay. Gayle?" Danielle said, remembering the locked drawer. "Do you know where my father kept the keys for this desk? Some of the drawers are locked."
    "I'm not sure." Her brow wrinkled and she pushed her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose. "Have you tried his key ring?"
    "No, I have no idea where it is."
    "Most likely, it's in his bedroom," Gayle said on her way to the door. "Let me know if you can't find the keys and I'll call a locksmith for you."
    "Thanks."
    Gayle closed the door on her way out.
    Her father's bedroom . Did she have the guts to face what lurked behind that closed door? Coming into his office was bad enough. A bedroom was personal, private. No, she couldn't go in there, not yet; she wasn't ready. Whatever was in the locked drawer would have to wait.
    ***
    Sun Grove's only movie theatre ran a two-dollar movie on Thursday nights. Tonight's movie was the new Disney picture. Luckily, neither Kaiden nor Maria had seen the movie. Danielle also looked forward to the show, to a little mindless entertainment. She didn't want to think anymore. The last couple of days had taken a toll on her, leaving her tired and cranky.
    "Kaiden, we need to go," Danielle called up the stairs. She waited for Kaiden to appear before she grabbed her purse from the table in the hall.
    A knock sounded at the door. Danielle answered the door, surprised to find both Maria and Nico.
    "Hi." She pulled the door wide so they could enter.
    "Hi," Nico returned. He came inside with Maria. Both father and daughter had cleaned up. Maria had her hair pulled into two pigtails, the ends tied with pink ribbons that matched the pink T-shirt she wore with her white shorts. Clean shaven, Nico's hair was still wet, the strands dark and glossy. He wore a blue collared shirt tucked into gray jeans, jeans that hugged his body in all the right places.
    Why did he have to be so handsome? It would be so much easier to disagree with him if she weren't physically attracted to him. To cover her frustration, Danielle said, "I'll have her back right after the movie."
    Kaiden and Maria ran past them out the open door to the car. "Well, maybe not right after," Danielle said. "We may stop for ice cream first. Is Mason's still on Third?" Mason's had homemade ice cream, the best. Danielle hadn't tasted anything close to it in Seattle. To her, there was nothing better on a hot day than a Mason's toffee butter crunch ice cream cone.
    "Mason's is there," Nico confirmed.
    "Okay, then we'll be on our way." Danielle started out the door.
    "Wait," Nico said. "I'd like to come along, if that's okay?"
    "Really?" Danielle asked, surprised. "I didn't figure you for a Disney fan."
    He grinned. "When you have kids, you know Disney. Besides, I want to be with Maria. We don't spend as much time together as I'd like."
    "I know what you mean. I feel the same way about Kaiden. All right, let's go."
    "I'll drive," Nico said. His big, shiny, black pickup truck was parked beside Danielle's Jetta, making her car look even smaller and shabbier than usual. "I've got more room."
    "You do," she agreed. Kaiden and Maria were already climbing into the back seat.
    They got in the truck and Nico started the engine, pulling out of the drive. Danielle stared out the window, watching the scenery roll by. There were so many vineyards here now, the orchards of her childhood gone. While the landscape had changed, some things were still the same, the color of the sky, the wheat grass blowing on the side of the road, the scent of ripe fruit and earth in the air. Danielle rolled her window down a few inches and enjoyed the breeze.
    "Gayle told me she put you on the payroll this morning," Nico said.
    "Yes." She turned her face into the wind. "I'm not exactly sure what my job description is. She wants me to make decisions, decisions I have no business making. Decisions you