Every Move She Makes Read Online Free PDF Page A

displayed gift items and office supplies.
    A short time later, the coffee was brewed and the espresso machine steaming when she opened the front door to let in her first employee.
    Chandra entered on a wave of perfume and trailing skirts. “Wow, you look great.” She eyed Rachel’s hunter green dress and matching jacket. “What’s the occasion?”
    “Jade’s fifth grade promotion ceremony is this afternoon.”
    With gorgeous brown eyes, toffee-colored skin and high cheekbones, Chandra Jabeaux was nothing short of stunning. Today her black hair was braided into dozens of tiny cornrows.
    “That’s right. This is the last day of school, isn’t it?”
    Rachel nodded. “Lark’s eighth grade graduation is this evening.” She took a deep breath. Just thinking about her eldest daughter sent her blood pressure soaring.
    “What’s wrong? Are you sad your little girls are growing up?”
    “I wish motherly sentimentality was all I had to contend with.”
    One brow lifted. “What’s Lark done now?”
    Rachel grimaced. “She and her friend got tattoos.”
    Chandra covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide. “You must have flipped when she told you.”
    “You could say that. I might feel better if she’d had the sense to confess. I discovered what she’d done when I walked into her room this morning.”
    “It’s not the end of the world. I have a tattoo.” She stuck out her foot to display a blue flowering vine circling her delicate ankle.
    “You’re twenty, and Lark is fourteen. You’ve earned the right to make your own decisions. Anyway, it’s illegal.”
    “Good point. If I’d gotten a tattoo when I was your daughter’s age, my mom would have skinned me.”
    “Exactly.” She turned to walk behind the small counter. “I’m working on a suitable punishment. I don’t think Lark will be seeing Rose for the rest of the summer.”
    “She isn’t going to like that one bit.”
    Rachel glanced up from counting the change in the cash register. “It’s a punishment. She’s not supposed to like it.”
    “If it’s any consolation, I think you’re making a wise decision. That Rose girl is trouble. I don’t know what Lark sees in her.”
    “Her sixteen-year-old brother is cute, and he has a car.”
    “That would explain it.”
    She slid the register drawer shut. “You’re all set. I have some paperwork to do in back. Call me if things get too busy.”
    “Will do.”
    Stopping to pour coffee into a mug with her name on it, Rachel headed to her office. Sitting at her desk, she reached for the file holding time cards, ready to tackle payroll.
    Her hand shook as she pictured her daughter wandering through one of San Francisco’s less savory neighborhoods. Anything could have happened. The police—
    A vivid memory of Kane’s steady blue gaze intruded on her thoughts.
    The attraction between them had been instant, and the idea of seeing him again was enticing. A vacation might well be the answer to her current problem. At the moment, her goal was to keep Lark away from Rose. A camping trip to the Sierras would certainly accomplish that. She turned on her computer, waited until it hummed to life then pulled up the website for Granite Lake Retreat.
    Photos portrayed a crystal clear lake surrounded by mountains. Tiny cabins dotted a shoreline where several canoes were tied to a dock. The number to call for reservations was prominently displayed in the top right corner. Rachel was tempted enough to reach for paper and pen to jot it down. Jade and Ivy would have a blast. They deserved a vacation. So did she.
    She flipped open her day planner. Nothing important was scheduled before the end of the month except an orthodontist appointment for Jade that could be changed. The week following, Jade had soccer camp, Ivy had swim lessons and Lark was enrolled in a jazz dance clinic at the community college. She and the girls would be in Tahoe the last few days in June for her ex-mother-in-law’s sixtieth birthday