Someone to Trust Read Free Page B

months while she was getting things off the ground, but since then, business had been good and there was no lack of work. If anything, she was receiving more business than ever. Her clients were more than satisfied by her performance and she was getting referrals, as well as repeat business, increasing her income substantially from her days with Adams and Gilmore.
    “Yep, Sir, the sky’s the limit. I don’t need Adams and Gilmore to make it in this world.”
    As she got back to work, she smiled, hoping the doubts would stay at bay.
    ****
    When Sir whined, Megan looked at the clock and realized she’d been working for several hours. She’d stopped only once, around noon, to eat half of a sandwich and drink a diet soda before going right back to her project.
    Sir whined a second time.
    “Okay, boy. Just one more second.” She hit the final keys to save her work, and with a satisfied nod, closed the computer.
    “Tomorrow, I’ll edit it and send it off,” Megan said aloud, as she stood and stretched. Her sore back let her know she’d been sitting far too long.
    “How about I go with you, Sir?” she asked the Dane as she stretched again before grabbing his leash. “I think I could use a good walk about now.”
    Sir wagged his tail, his ears perking up at the sound of the leash.
    “Okay, boy, calm down.” She tried to soothe his excitement. “Now look, we can only do this if you promise not to yank me off one of these cliffs. You got that?”
    Sir’s response was to look at her innocently, as if to say, “Who me?”
    “I know it would never be intentional,” she assured him as he pulled her out the door, “but sometimes you get ahead of yourself and you just don’t know your own strength.”
    Megan followed Sir to the path they generally walked. Continued use had caused it to be well worn and relatively safe. When she walked with Sir, she kept to this path because she was familiar with its twists, turns and drop-offs. Though it was a beautiful walk, it was also a pretty strenuous workout with its uneven ground and degrees of elevation. Sir, in all of his exuberance, tended to make it even more challenging.
    When Megan and Sir returned forty-five minutes later, she was soaked with sweat and Sir was panting to beat the band. Megan was sporting red scratches on her arms and face, as well as some leaves in her hair.
    “How many times have I told you it’s not necessary to chase the squirrels when I’m with you?” she asked furiously. Sir gave her a pitiful stare, which somehow lost a bit of its sincerity with the huge strings of drool coming from both sides of his sagging jaws. To prove his intent, he reached up with his huge tongue and gave her arm a long apologetic lick. Megan released an exasperated sigh and let them into the cabin.
    “Oh my!” Megan exclaimed, glancing at the clock. “I’ll have just enough time to shower, change and make it to the church fellowship dinner.”
    Megan rushed to the shower and emerged from her room a scant thirty minutes later in a long-sleeved, soft linen dress that buttoned up the front and swirled softly around her ankles. Hopping, she slipped her feet into open-toed mules as she hurried to the entry where she stopped to check her reflection in the mirror one last time. The light foundation had not done much to hide the red welts lining her left cheek or the light sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose.
    She’d resigned herself to the freckles years ago, determining they came with the thick chestnut hair, which hung straight to the middle of her back. Though at the moment, it was pulled back away from her face and knotted securely at the nape of her neck.
    Megan wasn’t unhappy with what she saw, gazing without vanity at the reflection. While she wasn’t a great beauty, she felt her best feature was wide, thickly-lashed, amber eyes set beneath long naturally-arched brows. She crinkled the pert nose that rested above slightly full lips which covered