Free Lost and Found by Bernadette Marie

Not a problem,” she said
as she reached for her notepad.
    She opened her top desk drawer to
search for a new pen. That was when Ed set the bag he carried on
the top of the desk.
    “ Try this one,” he
said.
    The bag was a small, white bag with
rope handles. Tissue paper stuck out from the top.
    Darcy bit down on her lip, trying to
keep her emotions in check. For all she knew, there was one of
those spring coiled snakes in the bag that would jump out at
her.
    She reached inside and pulled out a
box. When she lifted the lid, she found an engraved pen
set.
    DARCY MCCARY
    She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“You had these made for me?”
    Ed shrugged his shoulders. “You looked
like you could use a pick me up. And a useful one at
that.”
    Darcy sat back in her chair and looked
up at the man whose dark eyes looked back at her.
    “ Thank you.”
    “ You’re welcome. Now grab
your pad and one of those pens, and let’s go. He’s
waiting.”
    Darcy nodded and did just as he’d
said, but as she followed him back to the boardroom, her knees
began to shake. Perhaps she should stop all the silly thoughts she
had about finding her birth parents. It was going to get in the way
of her job. And her job was getting in the way of her feelings for
Eduardo Keller—she was very sure she was falling for the
man.
     
    The meeting had gone on for another
three hours. Darcy had missed her first bus, and now she waited for
another.
    She’d had three people ask if she
needed a ride, and she’d turned them all down. Of course they’d
been Ed, Zach, and Mary Ellen—and right now, all three of them were
making her brain hurt. Ed most of all.
    The generosity of this man was beyond
anything she’d ever known. There was going to be a breaking
point—there had to be.
    Why was it he never hired anyone and
only used temps? Was it because they didn’t work well when he fed
them and gave them gifts? Or was this more?
    Did he over work his temps and they
quit? Was he just buttering her up and soon the whole world would
shut down around her, and she’d be forced into hard work like she’d
never known?
    As the bus pulled up, Darcy hoisted
her purse up on her shoulder and pulled the money she’d readied out
of her pocket.
    Tomorrow night was the fundraiser, and
she’d agreed to go with Ed. It would certainly prove to be an
interesting venture. She’d take it for what it was worth. A working
evening—in a cocktail dress.
    No doubt she’d be there with Zach and
his wife. She wondered if Mary Ellen would be there too?
    As the bus bounced through town, she
wondered how much Zach’s wife knew about Mary Ellen. She’d been the
one to hire her—Regan, right?—but then Ed had said Zach had fired
her.
    Darcy’s head was spinning.
    Only something so twisted could mean
that things had happened. Why would someone fire their own wife?
And why had Zach looked at her the way he had?
    The more she got to thinking of it,
Christian had looked at her that way too—with curious eyes as
though they’d met.
    Darcy clenched her purse in her arms.
This was stupid. Hadn’t she been told a million times during her
lifetime that she looked like someone’s cousin?
    That’s when the sinking feeling hit
her stomach. She had been told that a million times, only she
didn’t know it was possible. She hadn’t known she’d been
adopted.
    Someone had hit the signal for the bus
to stop, and when Darcy looked up, she realized it was her stop as
well.
    She stood and filed off the bus when
the doors opened.
    As she walked up the sidewalk,
Christian backed out of the driveway. He rolled down his window and
rested his arm on the door.
    “ Hey, it’s my beautiful
housemate.”
    She smiled. “Thank you for the
compliment.”
    “ A package came for you
today. I set it by your door. A package from home.”
    “ Thanks.” She noticed he
was dressed up and not wearing anything athletic. “You going
out?”
    “ Yeah. The sister of one of
my teammate’s wives.” He