Free With Love; Now & Forever by Raeanne Hadley Page B

cheating her soul mate out of love too? Was she truly destined to love again? With that last thought, she actually found herself hopeful and almost blissful. It was such an alien feeling but it felt so good. Deciding not to over analyze it, she got up and retired to her room where she quickly fell asleep with dreams of falling in love again.
CHAPTER EIGHT
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    he next day was full of fun and blessedly uneventful. During breakfast, Ana was delighted with how easily Jennifer, Rick and
    herself interacted, talking and joking like old friends. The conversation was so light and easy that Ana realized she never had allowed herself to experience all of the joys of a true friendship.
    She thought of her friendship with Sally and was saddened at the thought of all she had missed out on by dissociating the friendship with her. It was true that she and Sally often went to lunch or dinner together but the conversations always ended up relating to work. Sally frequently asked Ana to join her for drinks and dancing but Ana always said no, explaining she had work, a date or was too tired. She had never known what a friendship could offer, the laughs, the joking, the camaraderie. Even when she had confided in Sally about her last night with Austin, she had held back on everything that really happened that night.
    She pledged to herself that when she got back to New York she would start acting like a true friend to Sally, she deserved it and so did Sally.
    “What are you brooding about Ana banana?” Jennifer gently teased.
Ana grinned, “What fun I am having and how hard it’s going to be to go back to New York.”
Everyone, including Ana seemed surprised at this revelation.
“So don’t go back right away.” Jennifer suggested. When no one said anything, Jennifer looked at Rick and Ana. “Well it’s not unreasonable! Ana, you own your very own company and I bet you have never taken a vacation! Am I wrong?” she looked at Ana, waiting for rebuttal but when Ana didn’t respond, Jennifer nodded and continued, “So you can stay here for as long as you like! It’s not like you are in the way or anything and everyone keeps telling me I need a female comrade, and well, you seem to be fitting the bill, so what do you say?”
Jennifer was looking at her defiantly expecting Ana to argue while Rick sat quietly with an amused look on his face. Unsure of what she wanted to say, Ana conceded. “Let me see how it’s going at the office and what happens at the reading of the will, you may hate me after that, so let’s just wait and see.”
At the mention of Austin’s will, a shadow flickered across Jennifer’s face. “Fair enough.”
They ate quietly for a few moments and Ana began to worry that she had ruined the morning when Rick spoke up. “So I can’t name any names but would you like to hear about a special session I had with the young mother who lost her husband? It’s actually quite beautiful! “
“You have confidentiality among clients? “ Ana blurted out, surprised by his clandestineness of his clients.
“I’m not a doctor but I still have respect for my clientele. Loss is private and personal but she was actually so thankful that she is requesting that I put her case in my book.” he explained.
Again, Ana was surprised. “You’re writing a book?”
This time Jennifer responded, chuckling, “Of course he is! He doesn’t charge his clients for readings so with their permission, he puts them in his book, hoping to help others and give him the financial aptitude to provide readings for free.”
“You’ve written other books?”
Jennifer and Rick both laughed, exchanging appreciated looks before Rick answered. “Given that you are a nonbeliever, I won’t take any offense. This is my third book, my other two are currently on the bestsellers list.”
Embarrassed, Ana tried to apologize. “I am truly sorry. I have been so wrapped up in my own work, building my business that I don’t have time to read.”
“It’s okay,