Second Chance (Cold Springs Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

experience with anything other than publishing contracts.”
    “It’s all the same legal bullshit, right?”
    “Well, perhaps, in some way, I suppose.” She really didn’t know without studying it. “Can I take a day or two to look it over?”
    “Sure. No problem.”
    She set the papers on the counter. “I’ll start it tonight and see how it reads.”
    “That’d be fine.  Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.”  Sam was grateful for the opportunity to do the favor.  She felt better doing something for him, like she wasn’t beholding to him. Sometimes she hated that independent streak in her that felt she had to return every favor someone gave her. Years of living in the city, she supposed. Here in Cold Springs people just did things for others because they were being nice, not because they were trying to gain something in return.  
    The next five hours went by in a blur.  Ian and Sam said next to nothing to each other.  Ian did as she instructed, boxing things up, lifting boxes, throwing them in his truck and taking them over to Burt’s back shed.  He made twelve trips and refused to take any money Sam offered to pay for the gas he used hauling the boxes.  When he left, she felt guilty for moving all of Aunt Jean’s possessions, exhausted, and also relieved.
    Now, standing in the little apartment, it was exactly as she had expected it to be before moving here: empty except for the loveseat and the little kitchen table.
    Her suitcases sat on the floor by the table.  Hoisting one onto a kitchen chairs, she unzipped it and proceeded to unpack. It really wasn’t that bad. When she had time, she would repaint the place, maybe in various shades of blues or greens, but now she just wanted to make this a real home.  A real home was a little closer now, but still far away with her furniture in storage. 
    Pulling her cell from her back pocket, she dialed the moving company.  She had programmed the number into the phone before she left New York.  Thankful for preplanning, she got them on the phone and instructed them to bring everything to the second floor of her building as soon as possible.
    Sam had stored her furniture and large belongings in a storage facility she supposed as a safety measure in case she had to go back.  Now she was determined to make a go of this place and cut a life out for herself in Cold Springs.  Something about her mother and sister implying that she would fail had set the decision for success in her. That was enough to convince her that she was in this for the long haul.  There was no going back.
    Now as she looked around the little empty apartment, she felt herself become a little more at ease. She didn’t own much, nothing more than one person living alone for so many years would own.  She had Ian remove Aunt Jean’s bed to make room for her own when it arrived with the movers, and she planned to make do sleeping on Aunt Jean’s loveseat that she decided to keep.  It wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing to sleep on, but she could manage for a day or two.  She felt herself relax somewhat.  It would feel like home soon.  She wondered if Aunt Jean would approve.
     
    ~ * ~
     
    Sam had offered to pay Ian Woods for fixing her front door, but he’d refused to take any money.  When she’d asked him what she owed him, he’d said the door was just a sample of his work.
    Now, even as she worked scrubbing the dining room—she still had yet to tackle the kitchen which was the worst and most dreaded task at hand—she still couldn’t stop thinking about him.  She had stayed up late reviewing the maintenance contract he’d brought over, and it really wasn’t terrible. Although it could be better, were Sam in Ian’s shoes she’d really try to renegotiate it. 
    She wondered if he had a family, a wife, kids.  With looks like that, he most definitely must have a girlfriend. His life was none of her business, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him.  There was something