Between Land and Sea Read Online Free PDF Page B

mastered all of her receptionist tasks and began looking for additional projects that would challenge her. She spent her evenings reading and taking long walks in the nearby park. After visiting the community pool, she decided to forego swimming until the summer months. She was not comfortable with her extra weight and found the strong chlorine smell a definite deterrent. She would wait for the warmer temperatures and then search for a large, clean body of water.
    She enjoyed going to the library and developed a friendship with Hannah Madison. The young librarian suggested a number of business and counseling books, which Barbara read with great interest. Although she could easily have obtained the necessary information by using more of the tablet’s special buttons, she preferred the slow reading process. She gradually absorbed a knowledge base about success and relationships in the workplace.
    She developed a special interest in self-help literature and made a point of reserving the latest selections. She read each new book carefully, making notes along the way. Write a self-help book. At first she was surprised by that particular thought. But she found herself thinking more and more about writing a book that could really help middle-aged women who were trying to reinvent themselves. She was living it. Why not write about it?
    Barbara welcomed the friendly overtures from the other ladies in the office. She joined them for lunch each day and listened attentively to details about their families and activities. She volunteered little information about her own life, and the other women respected her privacy. Fridays came quickly and Barbara found herself without any plans for the weekends.
    As she walked along the main street, she noticed that most of the other employers were also closing their establishments. When a large display window caught her eye, she stopped to admire the watercolor prints, pottery, and sculpture pieces that were strategically placed on a large, colorful quilt.
    She heard a familiar masculine voice at her side. “I’m not closing for a while. Feel free to come in and browse.”
    Barbara looked up into Graham’s twinkling eyes. “I like the prints. Are they yours?”
    “No, they belong to one of my students. Why don’t you come in and see the rest of the shop? I have a few loose ends to tie up. I’ll be about twenty minutes or so.” He paused. “If you want, we could take in dinner and a movie afterward. That is, unless you have other plans.”
    After two weeks in her new workplace, Barbara knew that her colleagues had partners, children, and grandchildren that took up most of their free time. Both Hannah and Sandra had boyfriends. As for the Traychuks, Barbara did not feel too comfortable starting any relationships with them. While Bob was very friendly and polite, Rita rarely smiled whenever they met in the lobby or parking lot. Unless she planned to live like a hermit, she would need a friend in Carden.
    Barbara and Graham dined at the Carden Inn and ended up talking into the early hours of the morning. They were the last to leave the restaurant and then spent some time walking in the nearby park. Afterward, Graham insisted on driving her back to her apartment. They made plans for a Sunday hike.
    And so began her relationship with Graham Scott. Barbara looked forward to their time together, and she found herself contributing more to the lunchtime conversations with her coworkers. The other ladies were pleased she had found a male companion so quickly. Soon Barbara and Graham received a number of weekend brunch and dinner invitations.
    As her social life picked up, Barbara found that the days and weeks went by swiftly. She was depending less and less on the tablet as she adapted to the human world, and her mermaid memories were slowly fading away. She was surprised when she received a late-night call from Gillian a few weeks later.
    “Greetings, Isabella. How are you doing?” The low, husky