Free Her Great Expectations by Joan Kilby Page B

pace. “You wanted to see me? Why?”
    “I’ve decided to give Men’s Shed a trial,” he said.
    “You’re kidding.” She was so surprised she stopped running altogether.
    “No, I’m serious,” he said, jogging on the spot. “We’ll make toys for the Trivia Night.”
    “That’s wonderful! What made you change your mind?”
    “My father. You were right—he’s floundering.” Jack slanted her a hard glance. “I don’t want anything official, mind you. This is only temporary until Trivia Night is over. Hopefully Dad will get himself sorted out by then. I figure if he meets a few men his own age, it’ll help him adjust to retirement.”
    “I’ve still got the brochures and the information I downloaded from the internet,” Sienna said. “Do you want to stop by my house and pick them up after your run?”
    “Sorry, no time.” He started jogging backward. “I’ve got to clean up my workshop and get it ready for next week.”
    Sienna started running again. “Then I’ll drop the information off next time I’m going past. How are you planning to find recruits?”
    Jack ran along beside her. “I’ve put up notices around Summerside and spread the word among my friends.”
    “Sounds like you’re all organized.”
    “Don’t get the idea that I’ll devote my life to this project.”
    “I wouldn’t expect you to.” Sienna ran onto the grass to avoid a woman walking her dog. “I’m just pleased you’re doing it at all. You should come to the Trivia Night. It’ll be fun and you’ll get to see the toys you make raffled off.”
    “I might. Are you going?”
    “Of course.” She flicked her gaze sideways. His eyes were fixed on the road ahead, giving nothing away. Why was her pulse racing as if she was sprinting instead of jogging? “I’m on a team with one of my patients, Penelope, who’s a teacher. I think she’s filled all the other seats at our table.”
    “I’ll sit with Sharon and Glenn.” He grinned. “We’ll whup your ass.”
    “You want to make a bet on that?” Her chin came up, and before she knew what she was doing, she surged forward, overtaking him in a burst of speed.
    Seconds later he floated effortlessly past her, tweaking her braid. As his long legs carried him ahead she laughed.
    Then her laughter faded. She had put childish things behind her when she’d become a doctor. When she’d taken full responsibility for her son. She needed to set a good example for Oliver…for herself.
    By flirting with Jack, an unemployed charmer, she was misleading him. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

    F OUR MEN STOOD in a semicircle in the center of Jack’s workshop, waiting expectantly for him to tell them what to do. Why had he ever agreed to do this? Right now all he wanted to do was blow off the Men’s Shed and go for a bike ride.
    His father, at least, was a known quantity. The others were a mixed bag. Ralph was eighty if he was a day, thin and wiry in dark blue overalls. Above the collar of his brown shirt his leathery neck disappeared into a shock of thick white hair. Bob, in sleeveless T-shirt and baggy shorts, sported a straggly dark ponytail, tattoos and an earring. He looked to be around forty and was on disability after injuring his back working as a laborer. Paul was in his fifties and, with his well-groomed gray hair, polo shirt and neat slacks, would have looked more at home on the golf course or in the boardroom. He’d been let go from his management position six months ago as a result of the economic downturn. He stood a little apart.
    “Okay, guys, listen up,” Jack said, more gruffly than he’d intended. He was out of practice at organizing other people. “Our project is to make toys to raffle off for the high school’s new sports center. Steve knows how to make rocking horses. Does anyone else have any skills or ideas of what they could do?”
    Ralph raised a shaky, gnarled hand. “I can make wooden toys. Cars, boats, trucks. I got my tools out in my