Read Only for the Night (If Only Book 2) for Free Online Page B

Alice’s story to tell. Sage kept her eyes on the counter as he rounded it, but her quiet gasp when his body brushed lightly against hers in passing reached his ears. Even intent on getting to Alice, he felt a flush of heat at the sound.
    Merry opened her mouth as he neared. Closed it. Tried again. “Hank, I—”
    He settled a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “I’ll talk to Alice.”
    In the kitchen Alice stood at the long counter down the center of the room, the makings for the market’s sandwiches, lunchtime favorites in Citrus Pointe, laid out in front of her. She glanced up as he entered. What he saw there stoppered the words ready to fly from his mouth. Resignation. Concern. He crossed the room, his chest throbbing with resistance every step of the way.
    She didn’t stop her preparations when he came close enough to lean a hip against the counter.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked when the silence went too long.
    Alice’s sturdy hands stilled for the briefest moment. “Because it all just kind of happened. Fast. Barry’s getting worse, Hank. Much worse. Deirdre offered for us to live with her, begged us, really. She knew Sage from high school, and one thing led to another.” She shrugged.
    Hank settled a hand atop hers, gently stopping her near-frantic movements. Alice didn’t protest when he hugged her to him, but a shudder shook her hard. “I couldn’t tell you over the phone,” she admitted, the words somewhere between a statement and a plea.
    “About Barry, or about Sage?”
    “Both.” With a shaky breath, she shook off his hold and got back to work. “It’s just…so much faster than we expected. Deirdre wants us with her, wants all the time she can get, and I…”
    He understood. Alice’s husband had been diagnosed with liver cancer less than six months ago. Hank hadn’t experienced that kind of loss personally, but Alice and Barry had been his friends for eight years. “But to sell the business? You can come back after—” The it’s over choked him before it could escape.
    After setting the sandwich she’d just finished onto a nearby platter, she turned to face him. The determined look in her eyes went soft the longer their gazes held. “I know what my options are; believe me, I’ve considered them all, for weeks. But I can’t predict how long it will be before…or even how long it will take me to get back on my feet. Besides, I’m tired of the headaches.” Her grin was small but there. “Let someone else handle the paperwork; I’ll bake the bread.”
    Hank opened his mouth to argue, but Alice shook her head.
    “Sage is young, hungry. And best of all, she’s a world-class baker, better than I’ll ever be.”
    Hank snorted. “No one is better than you.”
    She laughed. “Sage is. And she has dreams for this place that I could never accomplish. She can—if you’re willing to work with her.”
    “Me?” Why would he need to work with her? There were plenty of other things he wanted to do with her—he’d definitely thought about it—but work? He’d rather have pleasure.
    “Yes, you.” Alice swatted at his chest playfully, leaving behind a faint smear of flour on his T-shirt. “You own this building and the surrounding land; she owns the business inside it. What if, eventually, she decides she doesn’t want to keep things inside these four walls?”
    He honestly didn’t care as long as it didn’t affect his privacy. Or his plans.
    Alice didn’t seem inclined to elaborate at the moment. She reached for a fresh loaf of bread. “I have work to do. And you just got home. Go settle in.” When he didn’t move, she shooed him away. “Scoot.”
    Not wanting to upset her any more than he already had, he straightened to obey, but he didn’t have to like it. “I’ll collect my rent first,” he told her as he walked over to the cooling racks. He grabbed a sheet of deli paper from a nearby box and selected two bear claws off one of the trays.
    “Don’t