Forbidden Falls Read Online Free PDF

there.”
    “Sure thing,” Jack said.
    Noah migrated to Ellie’s table. He stood there until she looked up at him. Oh, man, he was in trouble. Her eyes were red rimmed and wet, her mascara a little smeared. Grant that I may not so much seek to be understood as to understand. “You mind if I join you?” he asked.
    She straightened and her eyes immediately cleared and narrowed. She was one tough customer. “Knock yourself out,” she said coolly.
    He pulled out a chair and set his coffee cup in front of him. “You seem upset, Ellie. Was it something I said?”
    “It was something you didn’t say,” she replied.
    “Oh? What was that?”
    “You’re hired,” she said.
    “I thought I should give all the applicants a fair shot.”
    “Are you kidding me? I sat in my car outside waiting for my turn. I saw the other applicants—all two of them. One could barely get up the stairs; not a good bet for moving furniture. The other one had such a mean schnobble, she could break glass with her face.”
    “Schnobble?” he asked.
    “What my gramma used to call a sourpuss. Now, that’s a church lady, all right—if you’re looking for one as mean as a junkyard dog.”
    He laughed before he could reel it in. “Who knew you were checking out the competition.” Jack brought the pie, put it in front of them and got the heck out of there. Noah lifted a fork. “Pretty accurate, too. But I told you I’d get in touch.”
    “If you do, it’ll be to say I didn’t get the job.”
    He was quiet a moment, then he said, “Have some pie. Nobody makes pie like Preacher.”
    “Preacher? You made the pie?”
    “No, the cook—he goes by the nickname Preacher. That could lead to problems.” He nodded toward the plate. “Try it.”
    “Thanks,” she said. “I’m not hungry.”
    “Give it a chance, you’ll be amazed. And between bites, tell me why I don’t get the benefit of the doubt.”
    Slowly, reluctantly, she took a bite of blackberry pie. She chewed and swallowed, but clearly the ambrosia of Preacher’s pie was lost on her. After one bite, she put down the fork and her hands went back into her lap. Noah had to concentrate to focus on her eyes. That cleavage was killing him. “No hard feelings,” she said quietly. “I haven’t had much luck in the job market lately. I think it’s made me a little cranky.”
    “Well, what are you looking for?” he asked, digging into his pie.
    “Anything proper,” she said. “It’s like I said, it’s for my kids.”
    “And they’ll benefit from their mom having a proper job?”
    She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Look, it’s kind of personal—my kids are going through a hard time. I don’t think I should talk about it. No way I want people to know all that stuff…”
    Noah considered this for a second and against his better judgment he said, “If you feel like talking about it, Ellie, you can trust me with a confidence.”
    “How can I be sure of that?” she asked with a lift of one eyebrow.
    He sat back and smirked. “I’m a minister. I took Secret Keeping 101.”
    “But you’re not my minister,” she reminded him. “It’s all pretty messy.”
    “And of course I never hear anything messy in this job,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t mean to pry. I was just offering you a chance to—”
    “I lost my kids,” she blurted. “My ex-husband filed for custody and got it. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. I was dancing in a club where some of the girls take off their clothes sometimes.” She shrugged. “Not sometimes—all the time. They think the more they’re willing to take off, the better the tips, and that was usually true.” She swallowed and looked away, her eyes threatening to fill again. “My tips were about average.”
    “You were an exotic dancer?” he asked.
    She looked back at him. “There was nothing exotic about it.”
    Truthfully, she looked like someone who’d be more than comfortable taking it off. Noah was