Free Eternally Yours by Jennifer Malin Page A

time to stop by his place.
    She hunted through her organizer for his business card to see if his address was on it. It was, and she recognized the name of the apartment complex. The converted schoolhouse always caught her eye when she drove by.
    Fifteen minutes later she entered the vestibule at the building and searched the names above the rows of mailboxes. “M. Vereker” stood out quickly, and she pressed the buzzer above it.
    After a minute the intercom speaker crackled to life. “Hello?”
    His voice sounded gruff, as if he’d been interrupted. Until that moment she hadn’t felt nervous. Maybe she hadn’t thought he’d be home. Now that she had him on the intercom she wondered if he might be busy.
    “Hi, Mark.” She moistened her lips. “It’s Lara Peale. I’ve got your manuscript.”
    The pause that followed made her bite her lip. I never should have come.
    “Come up the stairs,” he said finally. “Turn right at the top. I’ll meet you in the hall.”
    So he wasn’t going to ask her in. Feeling even more daunted, she took her time climbing the stairs.
    The hall of the second floor still looked like part of an old elementary school. Emerging from the stairwell, she turned to the right.
    Mark poked his head out of the first door, his expression bland. “It’s this one. Come on in.”
    Though she’d received her invitation after all, he didn’t look happy about issuing it. She wished again that she hadn’t come but forced a smile as she stepped inside.
    The smile wavered when a frowning redheaded woman stepped up beside him and gave her the once over. It was the obnoxious friend of the clerk at Town Hall! Today she wore a sleek burgundy-colored business suit, again with a short skirt. In comparison Lara felt like a frump in her paint-stained T-shirt and jeans.
    Mark cleared his throat. “Lara, this is Karen Ridley.” He looked to the redhead. “Oh, I’m sorry. You said you’ve met, didn’t you?”
    “Yes.” The woman glanced at him then looked back at Lara. “Suddenly we keep running into each other.”
    “What a small world--or town, at least.” Lara looked back and forth between the two of them and got the feeling Karen was more than a friend. So he did have a girlfriend. Di would be disappointed. Strangely, she was, too. She supposed it was because she didn’t like this woman.
    “Karen was just leaving.” Mark stood holding the door open, his features stoic. It appeared the two of them weren’t on such good terms after, all. Maybe they were ex-lovers.
    The redhead faltered for a second or two but eventually took the hint. She reached up to a shelf on the wall and grabbed a clutch purse that matched the color of her suit to a tee. Walking to the door, she said to Mark, “I’ll drop off that shirt of yours soon.”
    “Whenever.” He pressed his lips together.
    She looked to Lara, her cat-like green eyes narrowing into slits. “Have a nice day, Ms. Peale.”
    “You, too,” she murmured, her composure broken.
    Mark shut the door as soon as the woman had exited. For a moment he didn’t turn around.
    “I get the feeling I came at a bad time,” Lara said.
    He let out a sigh but still wouldn’t look at her.
    “Did you and Karen, um...once have a thing?”
    He turned around and gave her a smirk. “You guessed it.”
            She felt a little sick to her stomach--and more awkward than ever. Judging by his behavior, he seemed to be carrying a torch. She swallowed. “Maybe I should go.”
    “No, it doesn’t matter.” He glanced at her, then walked past, looking at the floor.
    “Here.” She held the envelope out to him. “I had another errand in town today, so I brought this with me.”
    “Thanks.” He made another face, not quite a grimace but not a smile either. Taking the manuscript, he said, “You didn’t have to bring this by. I was going to print out another copy.”
    “Oh.”
    There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, then he said, “Can I make you a