Eternally Yours Read Online Free PDF Page B

another surprise visit today--in any case, not from anyone in the historical society. After the send-off she’d given Mark Vereker yesterday neither he nor his colleagues would ever drop in again.
    The phone rang, startling her. The first thought she had was of Mark, but only because he’d been on her mind. She walked to the nightstand where she kept the phone and waited for the second ring before she picked up the receiver.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi!” a woman’s voice greeted her.
    “Oh, hi, Diane.” She let her body relax. Of course it wasn’t Mark.
    “Listen--I’m on my way to work,” her friend blurted, “so I can only talk for a minute, but I’ve got a proposition for you.”
    Privately, Lara looked toward heaven. She braced herself for one of Diane’s blind-date recommendations. “What sort of proposition?”
    “How about a week in Cape Hatteras in a beautiful house on the beach?” Despite her hurry, Di spared a second for a dramatic pause. “Jerry’s brother and his wife rented the place with another family, but now the other people have backed out. We’re heading down next Sunday, but there’s still an extra bedroom available. We wondered if you’d want to come.”
    A vacation on her own with two couples didn’t sound ideal to her. “Thanks, but, as you know, I’ve earmarked all of my time and money this summer for art and renovations on the house.”
    “A week isn’t much time to spare, and you won’t need to spend a dime on accommodations. Jerry and I will treat you. If you don’t come, we’ll be paying for half of the house rental anyway.”
    “That’s very generous, but--”
    “Not really. I’ll enjoy myself more with you there. The guys will probably be out fishing a lot of the time. I’ll need you around to keep me company.”
    Lara knew the men would be on hand enough of the time to make her very conscious of being the only single one there. “I appreciate the offer, but I’d really rather get some work done here. You’ll have your sister-in-law to hang out with.”
    “Well...I don’t want to twist your arm.” Di hesitated. “You sound kind of down today. Is everything all right?”
    “Yeah, I’m just ticked off because of an encounter I had with some guy yesterday.”
    “Really?” Her friend’s tone perked up immediately. “What guy? A good-looking one?”
    “Well, yes, but that doesn’t matter.”
    Lara gave her an abridged account of what had happened. She ended it complaining, “The nerve of him nitpicking over my paint rags and practically forbidding me to go through with my plans! I almost felt like Ron was back in the house, ordering me around.”
    Di took a moment to absorb the story. In a quieter tone, she said, “It’s a shame the guy was rude, but are you sure he doesn’t have a point--about the National Registry, I mean? Maybe there are other ways to improve your studio without knocking out that wall.”
    Lara sighed, acknowledging an issue she’d been avoiding thinking about since Mark had brought it up. “I may have to consider that, but you know how much this project means to me. Anyway, I’d better let you go. Aren’t you supposed to be in the store by ten?”
    “Yes, and they’re not going to be thrilled when I ask them for a last-minute vacation, either. I’ll talk to you before we leave for Hatteras.”
    They made their good-byes quick. Lara hung up and sat on the bed, thinking about the point Di had made. She suspected that part of the reason she’d been so mad at Mark was because some of his arguments made sense, as much as she didn’t like them. But to give up on expanding the studio seemed out of the question. If she only redecorated, the space would still be inadequate. Besides, the new studio sort of symbolized her new start in life.
    Unsure what to think, she settled for deferring her final decision. Without the grant she couldn’t afford to do the work yet, anyway.
    She went downstairs to get started painting before eating