Chasing the Runaway Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

can take monthly or yearly stipends. You can hire a money manager. You guys can manage the fortune yourselves the way Richard did. But no matter how you slice it, you are all rich.”
    He looked at LuAnn. “But your money comes with a problem, since you still haven’t signed a financial agreement with your husband for your divorce. If your husband finds out about this cash, he may not sign anything unless he gets a share. My advice to all of you is to keep this inheritance quiet until that part of your life is settled.”
    …
    Piper walked back to Health Aid feeling as if she were floating. Without a word to Darlene, she headed for the office. Closing the door, she sucked in a long breath, sat at the desk, called her boss, and resigned.
    Just like that.
    In one quick discussion, she was a free woman.
    After gathering her things, she found Darlene at the checkout counter, leaning against the back shelf. She handed her the keys for the office cabinets, told her she’d quit, and just when she would have told her about inheriting half the grocery store, she stopped herself. Gossip traveled faster than lightning in this town. Before the word got out, she had to tell her mom and Lonnie.
    Oh, Lord. How the heck was she going to tell Lonnie she’d be working with—not just working with but partners with—Cade Donovan?
    Gossip had forced Lonnie out of town the day Cade dumped her. She’d moved to Cincinnati, far enough away to be out of Harmony Hills but not so far that she couldn’t get home in a day’s drive. She rarely came back, though. The only way to reach her was by phone. Calling Lonnie to say she had to work with Cade would be infinitely more difficult than telling her mom they’d gotten the store back.
    Piper decided to have the hard discussion first. As soon as she started her little red car, she said, “Call Lonnie.”
    Her phone took over the radio and within seconds, Lonnie’s voice came through the speakers. “Piper O’Riley! What are you doing calling me at one o’clock on a Monday?”
    “I just got out of an appointment with Jeff Franklin.”
    “Oh my God. The Nelsons are suing you, aren’t they?”
    “No.” She winced. “Well, maybe. Eventually. But today Jeff called me in because I inherited half of O’Riley’s Market.”
    For a few seconds, there was dead silence, then Lonnie gasped. “Oh. My. God! Piper! Did he admit he’d cheated in that poker game and stole the store from your dad?”
    “Nope. He told Jeff he didn’t like the feud and thought maybe it would die if a Donovan and an O’Riley ran the store.”
    Dead silence, then, “A Donovan?”
    Piper winced. “Cade.”
    Lonnie groaned. “Oh, Piper!”
    “Rather than focus on the whole Cade thing, I thought maybe just for today we could be happy that I finally have a decent job.”
    “I know.” The two words came through Piper’s speakers like one long whine. “Working for Health Aid sucks. I know exactly what it’s like to fill out the same paperwork every week. To reorder the same crap and restock the same shelves…” Lonnie managed the Health Aid in Cincinnati and did exactly the same things Piper did every week. “But Piper, Cade? Really?”
    “It wasn’t my choice. It was Richard Hyatt’s.” She drew in a breath. “And as much as I’d like to work with anybody else, the oldest Donovan is a lawyer in Pittsburgh and the youngest, Finn, has three other businesses in town. Cade’s the only one who’s free.”
    Lonnie snorted. “He could be the king of the world and I wouldn’t know. I haven’t heard one word from him since the day he left town. No explanation. No child support. No time for his son.”
    Piper winced. “I’m sorry.”
    “Yeah, I’m sorry, too. But as you said, this is your big break. A chance not to be a cog in a wheel.”
    The thrill of how her life would change washed through her, and she wanted to shout for joy. Instead, out of respect for Lonnie, she said, “I promise not to like him or