Belonging Read Online Free PDF

sidewalk.
    "Todd and I are friends," she said after a
brief pause. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said of Georgia
and Todd. From the first they had taken to each other like oil and
water. "No more, no less," she told her assistant firmly. "Just
friends. And as for our new police chief, I'm much more interested
in the way he does his job than the way he looks."
    Georgia said nothing. Glancing over her
shoulder, Angie saw that Georgia's thin lips were tightly
compressed as she began collecting the cup and plate and loading
them onto the small tray.
    Angie turned around. "Are you coming
tonight?" she asked softly.
    "No."
    She sighed. She hadn't expected Georgia to
say yes. As the older woman always put it, she preferred to leave
the "woman of the hour" and social duties totally in Angie's
hands. Angie didn't really mind since Georgia was so dependable in
other ways. But the last thing she wanted was a rift between
herself and her assistant, no matter how small. Especially one
sparked by the new chief of police.
    "You're going to let me face the hungry
masses all alone?" she chided gently.
    This earned a reluctant smile. Georgia turned
to face her, tray in hand. "You, Mayor Hall, can handle just about
anything."
    Angie laughed, relieved to note the familiar
sparkle was back in Georgia's eyes. "With one hand tied behind my
back?"
    "Not quite," Georgia retorted airily. "Even
you need a helping hand once in a while." Turning, she began to
leave.
    Angie couldn't resist calling after her,
"What would I do without you, Georgia?"
    She heard a crackling laugh from the outer
office. "Starve," came the muffled response a second later. Angie
smiled and shook her head. She could tell Georgia was once again
buried in her work. Her assistant could talk all she wanted. She
had no more room in her life for a man than Angie did.
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
    Georgia wasn't the only woman who had seen
Angie through a drastic period of change in her life. Janice
Crawford had known Angie for nearly eight years. When they had
first become neighbors, Angie was in her sixth month of carrying
Kim, and Janice had just delivered a daughter. Janice was the one
Angie had always come to when she wanted to borrow a cup of sugar,
or when she simply wanted to talk.
    But Angie hadn't done much talking the last
year of her marriage. And as Janice sometimes told her husband,
Bill, there was much that Angie held inside—too much. The Angie the
Crawfords had first met hadn't been terribly outgoing, but her
warmth and enthusiasm showed in the sparkle of her eyes. The woman
they knew now was the same and yet somehow different. This Angie
was much more protective of herself and her children.
    It was almost three o'clock when Janice
walked into her kitchen to find Angie's slim figure just stepping
through the back door.
    "Hi," she greeted her. "Take off early?"
    Angie nodded and stopped for a second.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.
    Janice laughed as she saw her sag against the
doorframe. "Tea?" she asked knowingly.
    "Sounds great." Angie opened her eyes and
smiled at Janice. She dropped her purse on the bench in the
breakfast nook. "Just let me say hi to the girls and I'll be right
back."
    "They're in the yard," Janice called after
her, running water into the teakettle. "Playing in the pool."
    Angie smiled as she stepped into the enclosed
backyard. The small plastic pool had been upended and leaned
against a tree, and the children had turned their attention to
spraying each other with the hose instead.
    Four-year-old Casey was the first to spy her.
"Mommy!" she squealed and ran over. She threw her arms around her
mother's legs. When Angie bent down to hug her, she planted a wet
kiss on her cheek before running off once more. Kim did the same,
as well as Janice's daughter, Nancy.
    Sixteen-month-old Eric had apparently decided
he'd had enough of the water and pandemonium. Eric had the same
round face and dark hair as his mother. At the sight of a