Now and Forever 4, The Renovated Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

do. Love their food, sometimes Don gives
me a free beer.”
    “Is he getting fresh again? Free beer did he
say? Don’t believe him. I charge him double.”
    They laughed.
    "Sole Meniere is usually good, too,” Tunney
confided.
    “The food here is great. I oughta know, my
wife’s the cook,” Don joked.
    They smiled at him and ordered dinner.
    “Where’s your husband?”
    “He’s on tour. He’s a rock musician, playing
with the band Blue Waters.”
    “Wow. Blue Waters, huh? Which one is
he?”
    “His band name is Staid. Which of course he
isn’t.”
    “Where are they touring?”
    “Around the world, London, Paris, Rome,
Istanbul, exotic places…” she said, with a wistful note in her
voice.
    “I guess you won’t see him for a while.”
Tunney finished his beer.
    “I won’t,” she said. Not for a long
while, like never.
    “Must be tough.”
    “You’ve no idea,” she said, sighing. “You’re
not married?”
    “Nope. Never took the plunge,” he said,
looking in her eyes.
    “Maybe you’ll meet someone, one of these
days.” Kit turned away as the heat from his gaze made her
uncomfortable. Out of your marriage for five minutes and you’re
flirting with this guy? Get a grip.
    “I won’t if old Don keeps scaring women out
of here,” he said, smiling at Don.
    Dinner arrived. They ate in silence for a
while.
    “You have any kids?” Tunney asked. He put a
forkful of sole into his mouth.
    “A daughter. She’s eleven. She attends The
Willow Falls Academy.”
    “Good school, I hear.”
    “Seems to be. She’s happy there,” Kit said,
remembering how Zoe was before she dropped the bomb about the
divorce on her. Kit looked down at her plate, her appetite
failing.
    She raised her eyes to the mirror behind the
bar and caught Tunney stealing a peek at her cleavage, a long peek.
Her face flushed at the attention but she kept her eyes on the
mirror. When Don returned to mix a drink for another patron, Tunney
jumped, removing his gaze from her chest. “A guy must be crazy to
go on tour, leaving a beautiful wife like you behind,” he
muttered.
    Kit felt tears sting at the backs of her
eyes again but didn’t reply. She tried to eat but swallowing became
difficult. She washed the fish down with a long drink of water,
then found her voice.
    “Are you from Willow Falls?” she turned
toward him.
    “Born and raised here, but I moved to
Seattle. I have an Internet business there,” he said.
    “Then what are you doing here?” she asked,
looking into his sexy brown eyes and feeling a small shiver run up
her spine.
    “I came back here five years ago when my dad
died. I took over his business for my mother.” He put another
forkful of fish in his mouth.
    “How sweet of you. Must have been a big
sacrifice.”
    “My parents have done a lot for me.”
    “Do you live with your mom?” She rested her
fork on her plate, turning her attention to Tunney.
    Tunney burst into a hearty laugh.
    “What single man over thirty lives with his
mother? Would certainly cramp my…uh…social life.”
    “Well, I just thought…I mean you said you
take care of her…” she said, embarrassed.
    “I ran the business so she would have the
money she needed. She passed away three months ago.” He finished
his fish and turned his attention to the rice pilaf on his
plate.
    “I’m so sorry…a shame. Are you going to stay
here or go back to Seattle?”
    “I haven’t made up my mind. What about you?
Do you work?”
    Now it became Kit’s turn to laugh.
    “Of course, I work. Actually I did work.
I’ve quit. The job, not working. I was a small-investment manager
at a bank in New York City. I quit my job at the bank to…to write.”
Unwanted tears returned making her eyes bright. Her breath stuck in
her throat as she thought about what she’d lost—the plum job plus
her book idea.

    She turned away from the inquiry in his eyes
until she could control her breathing and paste a semblance of a
smile back on her face. Obviously