Free Her Reason to Stay by Anna Adams

problems?”
    “No. Everyone was home.” She stacked the boxes. “This is a pretty cool job. Everyone’s so glad to see me.”
    “Anyone offer a tip?”
    “No.” Miriam had asked her not to take them. “And I’d heard small towns are generous.” She lifted the boxes and shut the trunk as a greenish-silver SUV drove past. “But they sure are small.”
    “What’s small?” Miriam followed her gaze.
    “Towns. I keep seeing the same faces.” Even driving a gas-guzzling SUV, Patrick looked good to her. He’d glanced into the rearview mirror as he’d driven past, his mouth moving as if he was—singing.
    “Oh, that’s Patrick Gannon. He lives just beyond the shopping area I showed you. You know him?” Miriam took the boxes.
    “I met him briefly.” Daphne was deliberately casual. “Was that his son in the backseat?” She’d seen a tiny head moving back and forth.
    “You know about that, too?” Miriam looked embarrassed. “Sorry. You know the other thing about small towns? Gossip. Also a cliché, but some clichés are based in reality.”
    “I’m asking too many questions.” Patrick had her so mixed up she was snooping into his personal life with the first objective person she met. “I’m sorry, Miriam.”
    Miriam hugged the boxes close. “It’s all right. Someone else will tell you if I don’t. And Patrick doesn’t talk to anyone since his ex left town about six months ago.”
    Her first reaction was sympathy for what he must be going through. Her second was a realization that he probably wouldn’t be willing to trust any woman. So letting herself fall for him was another step down the wrong road.
    To hell with the fact that she’d never felt such an intense attraction before. It came with a man focused on his son’s needs and his ex’s departure.
    “I shouldn’t have asked. I’d rather not be part of a small-town cliché.” Daphne grabbed the rest of the boxes and headed back inside the shop.
    “I understand you’re curious.” Miriam set her boxes in the storeroom and then took Daphne’s from her arms. She looked at Daphne’s mostly clean apron. “Well, we’re finished. Did you enjoy your first day?”
    Daphne’s grin felt forced. She was upset with herself at letting her feelings for Patrick get in the way of her priorities. “It’s been great, even better than I expected.”
    Miriam held out her hand. “Lucky for both of us, you answered my ad.”
    They shook, and Daphne felt her first sense of belonging. “I’ll help you sweep up before I go.”
    “Yeah? Thanks.” Miriam opened a cupboard behind the big fridges and pulled out two brooms. She passed one to Daphne. “You take the floor in here, and I’ll do the greenhouse. You can leave after you finish. I want to repot a few plants.”
    “See you tomorrow.”
    “Great.”
    Smiling, Daphne swept, listening to Miriam’s ballet slippers whisper down the hardwood floor.
    Her smile only wavered as she remembered she’d been hoping Raina would be the one to welcome her to Honesty.
    After she dumped the dustpan and put away the broom, she went into Miriam’s office. There was no phone book in the hotel room. She found Miriam’s in a desk drawer without—thank God—stumbling onto anything personal.
    Daphne leafed through the Yellow Pages, keeping an eye on the door to the hall. She might be willing to share some confidences with Miriam, but some secrets she’d just as soon keep from the woman who’d eventually sign her paychecks.
    She found what she was looking for, jotted the information down on her palm and then placed the phone book back inside the drawer. In the hall, she turned toward the greenhouse.
    “Do you want me to lock the door?”
    A faint “thanks” floated back. Daphne set the lock before she went out and got into her car. Traffic was lighter as the streets grew dark.
    She drove around the square until she found the church listed in the Yellow Pages. The side door stood open. Another welcome, though