Love Enough For Two (Love Inspired) Read Online Free PDF Page A

name had slipped past her lips with ease, as if they were best friends and she’d been saying it for years.
    She kept her face expressionless. She knew Libby was ready to misunderstand any comments she might make so Sierra chose her words carefully. “Like I said, he had no doubts it was your mother. But I’m certainly not one to trust anything that comes out of a lawyer’s mouth.”
    Thankfully, Libby accepted the statement at face value. She nodded and picked up the cordless phone. “It’s got to be a mistake.”
    Though Libby was acting nonchalant, Sierra could tell by the way her friend’s eyebrows furrowed as she punched in her mother’s number, that Libby was as puzzled as she was by this strange turn of events. They both knew Stella was selfish and not particularly fond of children. Why she would fund a children’s center was a complete mystery.
    “It’s ringing,” Libby said, covering the receiver briefly with her hand.
    “I’ll get us some vanilla wafers.” Sierra rose and headed for the screen door leading into the house.
    Libby just nodded absently, her ear pressed against the phone.
    Sierra had practically grown up in Libby’s large Victorian home and the kitchen was as familiar to her as her own. She quickly found the cookies and poured them into a bowl she took from the cupboard. Leaning back against the counter, she ate one slowly. Then, she ate another, nibbling at the edges, prolonging the experience until that cookie, too, was gone.
    But the moment Sierra opened the screen door and stepped onto the veranda, Libby’s raised voice told Sierra she should have lingered longer. Un-fortunately to go back inside would be way too obvious, so Sierra slipped quietly into the chair and averted her gaze to the beautifully landscaped yard.
    “Of course I realize that why you do something is your business.” Libby’s voice was tight and controlled. “It just didn’t sound like you and I wanted to make sure—”
    Libby paused and even from where she sat Sierra could hear the strident tones in the voice on the other end of the line.
    “Mother, I’m sorry. I need to go.” Libby clicked off the phone and blew out a harsh breath, her face tight with frustration. “What is the matter with that woman? We haven’t talked in over a month and yet when I call and ask a few simple questions, she bites my head off.”
    “Maybe she and Jean-Claude are fighting again.” Sierra reached across the table and gave her friend’s hand a sympathetic squeeze. She hated it when Stella took her boyfriend frustrations out on her daughter. “You know how cranky she gets when that happens.”
    “I don’t care what her reason is.” Libby’s eyes flashed. “She doesn’t need to be nasty.”
    “What did she say about the project?” Sierra asked.
    “She said she’s doing it,” Libby said. “She’s putting up the money.”
    Sierra widened her gaze in surprise. Though Matt had been sure he had the right Stella, Sierra had been equally sure it was a mistake. “No way.”
    “Way,” Libby said. “But when I asked why, she went ballistic. Said it was none of my business.”
    Sierra raised an eyebrow. “Why would she say something like that?”
    “None of my business?” Libby’s voice rose and she continued as if Sierra hadn’t even spoken. “If it’s not my business, then whose is it? And why is she being so secretive?”
    Sierra lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. She shared Libby’s confusion. Secretive had never been Stella’s style.
    They sat in silence for several minutes, sipping tea and munching cookies, each lost in their own thoughts.
    “The only thing I can figure,” Libby said finally, “is that maybe she’s getting some great tax write-off.”
    “And maybe she doesn’t want to admit it, thinking it makes her look bad,” Sierra added.
    Libby nodded. “It’s logical. Otherwise the decision to donate seems to come from left field.” She paused for a second. “And, before I forget,