Free A Bride at Last by Carolyne Aarsen Page B

approval.”
    Nadine shook her head and took a bite of her sandwich.
    “So what are you going to do?”
    “I don’t know.” Nadine studied her sandwich.
    “I don’t know why you have so much trouble with her.” Donna leaned forward, smiling. “Goodness knows, she’s smaller than you.”
    “She’s also incredibly stubborn and obtuse. And when I try to get really definite, she gently reminds me of all she did for me and my mom.” Nadine picked at her bread. “That’s where I usually cave.”
    “That’s easy enough. Take some of the stuff you dish out to Clint and save it for Grandma. Might work.”
    “What is with you?” Nadine asked, surprised at the return to her boss. “I don’t know what comments you’re talking about.”
    “Those snide comments you’re always tossing at him. You could use them on Grandma.”
    “I wouldn’t do that. I love my grandma.”
    “And you dislike Clint?” Donna shook her head as she wiped her mouth.
    “I don’t dislike him. We just seem to strike sparks off each other.” Sparks that made her remarkably uneasy.
    “I think you do more striking than he does.”
    “Where does that come from?” asked Nadine, uncomfortable with what her friend inferred. “How come all of a sudden you’re on his side?”
    Donna sat back and dug in her purse for some change. “I’m not on anyone’s ‘side.’ I’ve just been watching you and him, and if I didn’t know any better—” she got up and dropped a dollar coin on the table “—I’d say you had a crush on the man.”
    “Are you crazy?” Nadine scrambled to her feet, dragging her camera bag along with her. “Where in the world do you come off saying something like that?”
    Donna glanced at her irate friend as she waited for change from the cashier. “If you don’t like him, why do you pay so much attention to him?” She held out her hand for the change. “Thanks, Iris. And you have yourself a good day.”
    Donna sauntered out of the Deli, leaving behind a confused Nadine and an obviously interested Iris.
    Nadine paid the cashier as well, then caught up to her friend.
    “Okay. What were you talking about back there?” Nadine jogged up beside Donna.
    Donna stopped. “I was talking about the way you treat Clint. You can’t seem to resist any chance to give him a dig or some kind of snide comment.”
    Nadine frowned, trying to think why Donna would say that. “I don’t treat him that bad.” She thought back to comments she had made to Clint, trying to see them from Donna’s viewpoint. “I mean, I needle him, but that’s just for fun.”
    “You may think so. But it doesn’t come out that way.”
    “Well, he’s just as bad.”
    Donna crossed her arms and looked her friend directly in the eye. “How?” she asked quietly.
    Nadine looked away, rubbing her hand along the strap of her bag, trying to remember. “Give me a couple of days. I’ll come up with something.”
    Donna nodded knowingly. “The truth is you can’t come up with any one incident. And if you can’t think of any time he’s been miserable to you, maybe you might want to spend that time wondering why you pay so much attention to him.” She winked at Nadine and stepped into the office.
    Nadine leaned against the window. Clint was always ragging on her, always trying to find a way to make her flustered.
    Wasn’t he…?
    Nadine bit her lip, convinced she could find something.
    But after a few minutes she came to a disarming realization.
    Clint had never talked to her the way she talked to him. And Donna was right. It was no way for a Christian to treat another person.

Chapter Six
    “Y ou’re wearing a skirt to work, Nadine?” Grandma set her cup of tea down and stared at her granddaughter as she stepped into the kitchen.
    “Trace is picking me up right after work for a date tonight.”
    She had topped the skirt with a loose sweater and, in a fit of whimsy, wound a gauzy patterned scarf around her neck, tucking the ends in. She had