Dawn in Eclipse Bay Read Online Free PDF Page A

inordinate amount of time convincing himself that using a professional matchmaking firm was actually a terrific plan. What better, more efficient way to find a wife?
    But things had rapidly gone from dicey to disastrous. He had endured five seemingly endless evenings with five very attractive, very successful women. He had spent each of the five dates tormenting himself with visions of how much more interesting things would have been if Lillian had been the woman seated across the candlelit table.
    The uncanny part was that he had never been aware of her as anything other than a Harte kid while he had been growing up in Eclipse Bay. But then, in all fairness, the only thing that had held his attention in those days was his dream of rebuilding the financial empire that had been shattered by the Harte-Madison feud.
    The fact that the Hartes had resurrected themselves after the bankruptcy and gone on to prosper while his family had floundered and pretty much self-destructed had added fuel to the fire that had consumed him.
    He had left Eclipse Bay the day after he graduated from high school, headed off to college and the big city to pursue his vision. He had not seen Lillian at all during the years of empire-building. He had not even thought about her.
    But ever since the wedding he had been unable to think about anything else.
    If this was lust, it was anything but superficial. If it was something more, he was in trouble because Lillian was not what he had pictured when he set out to look for a wife. For the first time since he had decided to get married he wondered if he should put the search for a wife on hold for a while. Just until he got this murky situation with Lillian cleared up and out of the way. He needed to be able to concentrate and she was making that impossible.
    He realized they had halted at a crosswalk.
    â€œWhere are we going?” he asked.
    â€œI don’t know where you’re going, but I’m walking home.” Her voice was slightly muffled by the hood of her cloak.
    â€œWhat do you say we stop somewhere and get you that drink I suggested? I have to tell you that after watching your colleague work with a patient, I could use one, myself.”
    â€œDon’t start with me on that subject, Madison.”
    He smiled and reached out to take her arm. “Come on, I’ll buy.”
    He steered her toward the small café in the middle of the block.
    She peered fixedly through the glass panes into the cozily lit interior.
    â€œYou know what?” she said. “I think you’re right. A glass of wine sounds like an excellent idea.”
    She pulled free of his hand and went toward the door with quick, crisp steps. She did not look around to see if he was following.
    He made it to the door a half a step ahead of her and got it open. She did not thank him, just swept past him into the café.
    The place was just starting to fill up with the afterwork crowd. A cheerful gas fire cast an inviting glow. The chalkboard listed several brands of beer from local microbreweries and half a dozen premium wines by the glass. Another hand-lettered menu on the wall featured a variety of oyster appetizers and happy-hour specials.
    He knew this place. It was only a few streets over from the office tower that housed the headquarters of Madison Commercial. He stopped in here occasionally on his way home to his empty apartment.
    â€œCome here a lot?” he asked as they settled into a wooden booth.
    â€œNo.” She picked up the miniature wine menu and studied it intently. “Why?”
    â€œPortland is a small town in a lot of ways. It’s a wonder our paths haven’t crossed before,” he said, trying for a neutral topic of conversation.
    She frowned at the little menu. “I haven’t lived here much in recent years.”
    â€œWhere have you been since college?”
    â€œYou really want to know?”
    â€œSure.” He was suddenly more curious than he wanted to