Free Reckless Moon by Doreen Owens Malek Page A

up all night reading the mound of papers he gave me.”
    “But that isn’t what has you worried.”
    “Come on, Mindy, you know it isn’t. How am I going to work for him and not get involved with him?”
    “Search me. I’m glad it’s not my problem.”
    “You’re a great comfort, Mindy.”
    “Hey. I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know how to handle him, I don’t even think it’s possible to handle him. Just do your job and hope for the best.”
    “What is the best? I tell myself I shouldn’t get involved with him, but when I’m with him I feel alive, and when I’m not with him I miss him so much.”
    “Sounds like love to me,” Mindy said.
    “It’s totally one-sided.”
    “I wouldn’t agree with that. He’s definitely interested.”
    “He’s interested in getting me into bed. That’s about it.”
    “Yeah, well, he’s famous in that department,” Mindy commented, tilting the glass she held so that another stream of milk ran down her daughter’s throat. Tracy swallowed obediently.
    Beth was instantly alert. “What have you heard?”
    Mindy shrugged. “That bombshell of a secretary who works for Curtis is apparently indulging in some extracurricular activity with her employer’s son.”
    “Tell me something I don’t know,” Beth responded gloomily.
    “You’ve met her?” Mindy asked.
    “Uh-huh. This afternoon at Bram’s office. If looks could kill, you’d be ordering flowers for my funeral right now.”
    “Maybe that’s a good sign. She must be worried. Also, I seem to remember something about a doctor at Johnson Memorial. She treated him for a sprained ankle after a softball game and wound up going out with him.”
    “That sounds like Bram,” Beth said, sighing. “He doesn’t believe in wasting any opportunities.”
    Mindy wiped Tracy’s chin thoughtfully. “And wasn’t Claire Breen telling me that she saw Bram with some brunette who works at one of the radio stations downtown? Yes, she said they were at a restaurant and he introduced her as the assistant station manager, something like that.”
    Beth groaned with real feeling. “Enough already. I’m sorry I asked. I wonder how he has the energy to drag himself to work every day.”
    Hal entered the kitchen, glancing at his watch. “Honey, shouldn’t we be going? We have to pick Lisa up at your mother’s in half an hour.”
    Lisa was Mindy’s younger daughter, alternately known as Thing Two.
    Mindy stood and began inserting Tracy’s arms into the sleeves of her sweater. Jason came up behind Hal and said to Beth,“Do you think I could have another cup of that coffee for the road?”
    “Sure,” Beth replied, going to get it. She hoped Jason wasn’t planning to stay behind and turn the evening into an opportunity to get to know her better.
    He was. He lingered after she had shown Mindy and family to the door, asking her about law school and her plans for her practice. Beth tried to be polite, but after about twenty minutes of pleasant but distant conversation, Jason took the hint and went home. Beth feared that he had not given up, however, and sensed that he would try again in the future.
    After Jason left Beth went into the downstairs powder room and splashed cold water on her face, trying to revive herself for the task of poring over Bram’s file. She glanced in the mirror as she turned to go and wondered if she was looking at a fool. Jason was attractive, intelligent, and prosperous, with what her father would have referred to as “good prospects.” He was a tall, slender blond with green eyes and a shy smile. Why didn’t she like him? She knew the answer. He wasn’t Bram. She was crazy about a bearded rogue who would probably hang around just long enough for his father to get well and then go off to sea again. There was no future in that, but she couldn’t seem to change her feelings.
    She folded the towel neatly on the rack and pulled the door shut behind her. She wasn’t going to worry about that