Read Online The Wedding Gift by Sandra Steffen - Free Book Online Page B

sweater together, she trudged down the sidewalk beside Riley. No, she refused to trudge. That would have suggested surliness.
    Riley stopped in front of a utility pole on the corner of the busiest intersection in Gale and held out his hand. She didn’t have much choice but to give him one of the neon yellow flyers with the dark brown lettering.
    Â 
    FOUND: DOG
    Friendly brown male
    Vicinity of
    Shoreline Dr. & 3rd
    Call 555-630-1022
    Â 
    What if he’d run away for a reason? She wished she’d never brought up the idea for the signs.
    After Riley had left last night, she’d paced from one end of the cottage to the other. She’d told herself that she’d imagined the heat in his eyes before he’d walked out the door, and that her heart didn’t teeter sideways when her lips had brushed his. She hadn’t fooled herself, though.
    When she’d finally gone to bed, she’d wanted so badly to dream of Aaron. Instead, she’d lain awake on the first official night of her vacation, listening to the wind croon and the water wash ashore.
    It was getting more difficult to picture him in her mind. Aaron was snow cones and porch swings, slow dancing and knock-knock jokes. He’d been her lab partner in chemistry class and her date to every prom. They’d celebrated together when she’d passed her state boards and he landed his first teaching job. They’d been in step, in sync, in tune, in love.
    She and Riley were nothing alike. She never knewwhat he was going to say, let alone what he was thinking. He was a lightning strike, a riptide, and a sonic boom all rolled into one.
    Last night, he’d made her want things she didn’t want to want. Her stomach twisted on the truth even now.
    I’ll see you in the morning, he’d said, but she hadn’t gone looking for him today. She hadn’t been ready to see him again. Instead, she’d set out for a nice, mind-clearing walk. She made it to the end of the driveway before she ran into him, his posters under one arm and the dog on the green leash. Of course they were going her way.
    Her timing was pitiful.
    With a sigh, she studied Riley’s handiwork now affixed to the wooden utility poll. The poster was easy to read and would be difficult to overlook. It was even laminated in case it rained. Next to her, the somber dog looked on.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Riley saw Madeline bend down and cover the dog’s eyes. He felt a smile coming on.
    â€œDo you think he can read?” he asked.
    He was glad looks couldn’t really kill. He grinned, which didn’t help at all.
    She was cross today. He didn’t mind cross. In fact, he had a deep and abiding respect for the condition. A little heat under the collar was a sign of passion, and he would have to be a fool to mind that.
    Her light blue sweater was belted at her waist, her cream-colored slacks snug enough to showcase a damned nice derriere. He didn’t pretend to understand women’s love affair with shoes but he appreciated what Madeline’s heels did for an already appealing bit of anatomy.
    He’d slept late for the first time in months. Church bells had been chiming when he’d rolled over in his king-size bed. He’d wished she was there.
    If it had been any other woman, he would have called her, or better yet shown up with breakfast and let nature take its course. But she wasn’t any other woman. She’d been through hell and was just beginning to laugh again. Any sudden moves would send her running. Rather than risk that, he’d decided to take the dog for a walk. Lo and behold, he’d met her at the end of her driveway.
    His timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
    â€œIf you’re not a morning person, I respect that,” he said after pinning the last poster to the community bulletin board next to the library. “But if you’re just having a bad day, having a little fun is good for what ails