Free Blue Mist of Morning by Donna Vitek

or did Anne insist that you go?"
    Both girls were taken aback by the question, but Sue
finally had to reluctantly admit, "Well, I wanted to go and I do enjoy
it. But if you don't have enough money, you can't do everything you
want to do."
    Ty nodded. "I understand that, but I have to agree with
Anne. Since you've started this semester, you should finish it. I think
you should give her a chance to work out the financial problems. So I
have to say no, Sue. I won't give you a job here. I think you might
always regret it if I did."
    "Big help you are," Sue muttered petulantly but remembered
her manners when she stood up in front of him. "I shouldn't have said
that. You have been very nice, and I appreciate your taking the time to
talk to me. I shouldn't have bothered you, I know. Anne's right. You're
busy, so I'm going now."
    Anne followed her younger sister to the door that opened
onto the corridor. For a moment they simply looked at each other, then
Anne raised her eyes heavenward in mock exasperation.
    "You've always been the peskiest little sister," she
teased. "And you must be the most stubborn human being alive."
    "After you, you mean," Sue retorted, but she smiled too,
then shrugged. "All right, Anne, you win this round. I'll finish this
semester. Then we'll see what happens."
    With that temporary truce, they hugged briefly. After Sue
had gone out the door, Anne squared her shoulders and turned to face
Ty. "I'm awfully sorry she dragged you into this. I suppose the note
you were given at the restaurant was from her? I should have recognized
her stationery—torn-out notebook paper."
    Smiling, Ty walked across the room to her. Tilting her
chin up with one lean finger, he made her look at him. His smile faded.
"Why do you do it? There are government loans."
    She shrugged slightly. "Mom and I just didn't want her to
have to face a big debt like that after she graduated. Besides, I don't
mind helping her. It just won't be as easy now that the costs are going
up… again. But that's a problem Sue shouldn't have gotten
all upset about. And she certainly shouldn't have bothered you with it."
    "It was no bother, Anne. I'm glad I know what you're
doing," Ty said, laying both his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe I can
help. No, don't go all tense as though I've insulted you. I'm not going
to offer you a donation for the college fund, but I am going to give
you a raise."
    "You are not! I won't take it!" A foreboding silence
filled the room after the last word was said, and scarlet color tinted
Anne's cheeks as she realized that was not exactly the best way for a
secretary to talk to her boss. She gestured nervously. "What I mean is I don't expect you
to give me a raise simply because you know I need more money for Sue."
    As Ty gazed down at her, his fingers began an evocative
brushing motion over the sensitive, satiny skin of her neck. "You're an
excellent secretary, Anne," he said, his voice low and somehow almost
seductive. "And since I planned to give you a raise in a couple of
months anyway, I don't see how you can object to getting one now."
    "But I do object," she murmured, trying to ignore the
disruptive effect his caressing touch was having on her senses. She
flexed her shoulders slightly, hoping he would remove his hands, but
when he didn't, she tried to relax. Clasping her hands behind her back,
she attempted to explain her feelings. "Look, I just don't want you to
think you
should
give me special consideration
because you know I could use extra money. I would be uncomfortable
getting a raise that way. I want to earn any I ever get."
    "Anne, don't be so obstinate," he said softly, coaxingly,
his hands cupping her face. "Most secretaries don't make as much money
as they deserve, considering all they do. So you might say you've
already earned a raise. Now, just accept it."
    "I will… in a couple of months, since that's
when you'd planned to give me one," she answered weakly, wishing she
wasn't so aware of his nearness. "Until