Read The Cinderella Hour for Free Online Page A

friends that Mira first revealed her
joyous plans for her life. She would spend it with animals, caring for
animals—like them.
    Mira hadn’t missed having a mother, until she met Bea.
    She hadn’t missed having a sister, either . . . had she? If
so, she didn’t know it. And neither did Vivian.
    As Blaine would eventually discover.
    In the meantime, he was welcome to assume it was his addition
of her name to the donated Chagall that persuaded her to attend the Harvest
Moon Ball. Blaine didn’t need to know—even Bea didn’t know—that it was an
entirely different revelation in the auction booklet that had changed her mind.
    Snow Ashley Gable was returning to Chicago.
    Snow Ashley Gable. The woman who had broken Luke Kilcannon’s
heart.

TWO
    Appearances mattered to Marielle Larken’s eldest daughter.
Vivian’s relief when she saw Mira’s gown translated into such a relaxed
atmosphere inside Blaine’s Lexus that Mira decided to defer, perhaps for the
entire trip, the subject of the obscene phone calls she had received.
    If she didn’t raise the topic, it wouldn’t get discussed. Bea
alone knew about the calls. Mira hadn’t even told Luke. She had been preparing
to tell him, steeling herself against what would be his instant advice— move
out of that house —when the auction program arrived. With it had come the
more daunting prospect of informing him that Snow was returning home.
    Mira would be in the advice-giving business then. Friendship’s
a two-way street, she would remind him when he greeted with silence her
suggestions about Snow. If you can give me advice about my life, Luke, I can
give you advice about yours.
    Knowing Luke, he would smile at that. It would be a
thoughtful smile and an appreciative one—an acknowledgment of her concern,
whether he intended to follow her advice or not.
    Knowing Luke . . . Mira did know him. Better, he had confessed
to her, than he had ever let anyone know him who wasn’t Snow. And Luke knew her.
Better, she had confessed to him, than any other two-legged creature she had
ever known.
    They had met five years ago, when Luke appeared at Hilltop
Veterinary Clinic with a chocolate lab he rescued from a sink hole. He had waited
to hear Mira’s assessment—the muddy pup would be fine—by which time the dog’s
grateful owners had arrived and the clinic was closing for the night. Luke
asked Mira to join him for a drink. They had both ordered coffee, and more
coffee, and talked. And talked.
    Five years later, they were still talking, still sharing,
usually by phone during the late-night hours when their long workdays were
through and they were too keyed up to sleep.
    For the time being, conversations with Luke were on hold.
Like every other available firefighter in the tri-state region, he was battling
the floods in southwest Illinois.
    Besides, Mira had come up with her own approach to Snow’s
return. And, if Luke knew of her plans, he would kill her—figuratively
speaking. Despite what some Quail Ridge townspeople might think, including
perhaps a sister in this very car, Lucas Kilcannon was not a killer.
    “That’s a grim thought, Mira.” Blaine looked at her in the
rearview mirror. “Want to share?”
    She made an immediate decision. “As a matter of fact, Blaine, I do. In the past week, I’ve gotten two obscene phone calls.”
    “That’s just terrific,” Vivian weighed in. “But honestly,
Mira, what did you expect when you moved there?”
    “I expected exactly what I’ve found. A lovely home, a
welcoming neighborhood, and an ideal location for my practice.”
    “A lovely home,” Vivian repeated in a tone very like Luke’s
when Mira told him she was buying the property where he had lived until that
fiery night.
    She had used the term “property” advisedly. The Kilcannon
house itself had burned to the ground. In an effort to erase all traces of the
structure, the builder had demolished the existing footprint, poured a new
foundation, and constructed a