The Empty Desk Read Free Page B

she?” Jim said, holding Melinda tight in his arms while she squirmed. She tried to pretend that this was worse than being tickled but they both knew that wasn’t true. Nothing was worse than being tickled to the point where she could no longer bear the slightest touch.
    â€œOh, yes,” Melinda lied. “She said that you didn’t have to do a lot of chasing. The girls were lining up, by all accounts. Is that right?”
    She felt his grip relax and saw a look of mock disbelief spread across his face. “Me?”
    She couldn’t keep the pretense up any longer. She had only mentioned Jim in passing, and it hadn’t brought even the slightest response from Dana. There had been plenty of other things to talk about, and it would be quite a while before they would have time to talk about things that were not shared between them. That wasn’t going to stop her from teasing Jim about it though. Before he could press her again, she planted a kiss full on his lips and pulled him back toward her. She knew that was the best way of getting him to shut up and forget about whatever else he might have been thinking about.
    She was still holding him close when she heard the slightest creak of their bedroom door. She looked over Jim’s shoulder and saw the familiar shape in the doorway, framed by the dull glow of a nightlight on the landing. Waiting, without speaking at first.
    â€œCan I have a drink, please?” Aiden asked.

Chapter Four
    The coffee shop had changed even more than Melinda had thought. She had walked past it many times, and although she had glanced in through the windows, she had not gone in. There had once been a time when a week would not go by without her calling in, but then it had closed for a while, to be replaced first by a high-end restaurant and then a fast-food place. Neither had succeeded in capturing the hearts or appetites of the people of Grandview, and each venture had shut up shop in turn. What now stood in that spot was an old-fashioned coffee shop with chintz curtains and tables with white lace tablecloths.
    Dana was already sitting at a table near the window when Melinda arrived, while most of the other tables were already occupied by middle-aged women with shopping bags at their feet. A few of them looked up and smiled at Melinda as she took her seat. She recognized a few of them but could not claim to have more than a passing acquaintance with any of them. Dana rose to give her a welcoming hug and they were soon deep in conversation once more, picking up at exactly the point where they had broken off the evening before.
    â€œSo what really brings you back to Grandview?” Melinda asked in a pause in their conversation when their coffee was placed on the table in front of them. She had asked the question before, but as was so often the case another topic had gotten in the way.
    â€œI miss this place,” she said. “When this job came up, it was more than I could have hoped for. Besides, now is a good time for a fresh start.”
    â€œAh,” Melinda said. “Man trouble?”
    â€œBig time,” Dana said, staring into her coffee. Melinda didn’t push. She knew that Dana would talk about it if she wanted to, when she wanted to. Melinda had clearly touched a raw nerve, and the last thing she would want to do was make it any more painful than it clearly was. A fresh start might mean leaving the bad stuff behind, but sometimes it also meant abandoning things that were important.
    â€œSo, how are you settling in?”
    â€œGood,” Dana said, the relief clear in her face. “So much has changed, and yet it’s still the same. The faces are a little older but I still recognize so many people, and they seem to remember me. It really does feel like coming home.”
    â€œAnd the job?”
    â€œIt’s great. I know it’s only my second day with the children, but they’re great. I wonder just how many more of them