Breeze off the Ocean Read Free

the unpacking, I’ll help you with it later.”
    Forcing her stiff facial muscles into relaxation, Micki left the room, and Regina’s line of conversation, gratefully, silently determined that that particular subject would not be brought up again during her visit.
    Surprisingly, or maybe not too surprisingly, with the air between the two women somewhat cleared, the evening passed pleasantly.
    During dinner Micki brought her father and Regina up to date on her activities, saving the most important detail for last. They had carried their coffee into the living room and as Micki sipped at her creamy brew with a contented sigh, the only indication she gave as to the import of her news was an added sparkle in her usually bright blue eyes.
    “Oh, by the way,” Micki drawled diffidently. “Just before I left the shop for this vacation I was informed I was being promoted to head buyer.”
    A short silence followed her casually tossed statement, a silence that revealed to Micki exactly how aware her father and Regina were of the importance of her announcement.
    After leaving the small college, where she had been studying business merchandising, so precipitously only six weeks into her second year, Micki had considered herself fortunate in acquiring the job of salesclerk in a very exclusive ladies’ boutique, which was located in the lobby of one of the largest, most prestigious hotels in Wilmington. It was not the job of salesclerk that excited Micki, but the knowledge that the boutique was just one of a large chain of similar shops that ranged along the entire East Coast. When she had been interviewed for the job by the shop’s manager, a tall, slim woman in her mid-forties, Micki had been informed that due to the size of the independently owned chain, the chance for advancement was excellent for anyone who did not object to relocating. Micki had been quick to assure the somewhat aristocratic woman that she had no objections at all to relocating, as Wilmington was not her hometown.
    It had taken time and much hard work on Micki’s part, but eventually the promotions did come and for the last eighteen months she had been assistant buyer for the Wilmington shop. And now—could it have been only yesterday?—this latest promotion.
    “Micki, that’s wonderful!” her father exclaimed, jumping out of his chair to come across the room and bestow a huge hug on her. “Congratulations.”
    “And you haven’t heard the best part yet,” Micki gasped laughingly when he’d released his crushing hold. “The position is for the Atlantic City store.”
    “Atlantic City?” Bruce repeated softly, then he nearly shouted. “Honey, that means you can move home.”
    Still laughing, Micki nodded her head. Totally absorbed in each other, both Micki and her father had completely forgotten Regina. In the old days Regina would have made her presence known forcefully, now the voice that penetrated their euphoria was soft, hesitant.
    “May I add my congratulations to your father’s, Micki?”
    “Oh, Regina, I’m sorry,” Micki murmured contritely. “Of course you may.”
    “Yes, darling,” Bruce inserted, one arm encircling his wife’s waist to draw her close. “Of course you may. We’re a family.” He paused an instant before adding, “Aren’t we?”
    A quick glance of understanding and truce passed between the two women.
    “Yes, Dad,” Micki agreed firmly. “We are a family.”
    Regina’s black eyes spoke eloquently of her relief and thanks and Micki was amazed at the feeling of peace that washed over her. For the most part the fourteen years of her father’s second marriage had been turbulent and Micki greeted the cessation of hostilities with a silent prayer of thanks. Still, she didn’t want to strain the ties of this newfound accord, so she tacked on with equal firmness, “But I’ll be looking for my own apartment.”
    “In Atlantic City?”
    Bruce and Regina spoke in astonished unison and Micki fully understood