Read Online A Husband in Time by MAGGIE SHAYNE - Free Book Online Page A

just needed to get through breakfast.
    Cody and Zach showed up in the kitchen a short time later, and Jane was relieved to see that Codyhad showered and dressed. She served up blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs, and as she shook out Cody’s daily vitamin tablet she decided Zach could use one as well.
    He took the little pill from her hand and eyed it.
    â€œYou’re still not looking all that great,” she told him. “It’s a vitamin supplement. It’s good for you.” He shrugged and swallowed the tablet, washing it down with his orange juice. The entire time he ate, Jane noticed his curious gaze darting around the kitchen, at the appliances, the light fixtures, the microwave. He was brimming with questions, she knew he was. But he also kept looking at her, and though she tried to hide the worry, she knew it must show in her eyes. Because his were probing and questioning. She avoided that disturbing gaze of his, bustling around the kitchen, getting butter for the muffins and refilling coffee cups and juice glasses before they were half-empty.
    â€œJane,” he said, when she finally ran out of things to do, and sat down to eat. “Is something wrong? Have you had second thoughts about letting me stay?”
    And then a car pulled into the drive, stopping near the shop, and saving her from having to answer. She couldn’t tell him. Not yet. She wasn’t even sure how to tell him, and she certainly couldn’t do it in front of Cody. She needed to speak to him when they were alone together, and only after she’d found the right words to convince him to give up this insane quest.
    â€œI have to…” she began, but her words trailed off, because Zach was on his feet, rushing to thedoor, gazing out at the car with amazement on his face.
    Jane couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she walked up behind him. “It’s a car. Um…an automobile. They…” The horn sounded. “Gee, Zach, I have an impatient customer to tend to. The explanation is going to have to wait until later.”
    â€œGo on, Mom. Me and Zach’ll be fine.” Cody came to stand close to Zach’s other side.
    â€œZach and I,” Jane said. “A whiz kid is supposed to know grammar.”
    Cody made a face at her, then glanced up at Zach. “You’ve seen cars before, right, Zach?”
    Zach nodded, his gaze remaining riveted to the late-model Cadillac out front. “Nothing like that one, my boy.”
    Jane sighed. There wasn’t any time to lose. She moved past them, out the door and down the driveway to the little shop resting at the end. And she knew as soon as she saw the car’s passenger that she was in for a long visit. Isabelle Curry, the town of Rockwell’s librarian and resident gossip. Fortunately, she was also an avid antique collector. A good customer, but a trying one. “Give me strength,” Jane muttered, and plastered a smile on her face.
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    â€œAmazing,” Zach said, trailing his hand over the smooth, gleaming red finish of the automobile, peering through the windscreen. “The glass is darkened.”
    â€œTo keep the sun outta your eyes,” Cody explained. “Why don’t you get inside it, Zach? Mrs. Curry won’t mind. She’s nice.”
    â€œI don’t think…” Zach stopped speaking when Cody pulled the door open, giving him a better view inside the machine. He couldn’t stop himself. He poked his head into the thing and ran his hand over the soft plush fabric of the seats. And then he jumped a bit, because the boy had opened the door on the other side and jumped into the car.
    â€œC’mon, Zach. I’ll show you how it works.”
    â€œCody, that probably isn’t—”
    â€œLook,” Cody said, pointing. “It has a radio, and a CD player, so you can listen to music while you drive.”
    Cody twisted a set of keys that were dangling from the