Read Online Emerald Fire (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) by Hallee Bridgeman - Free Book Online Page B

neck. She wondered if Robin was still really mad at her. “Hey. Can we have lunch?”
    “Of course,” Maxine said in a rush, wishing she could read more into the tone. “Where?”
    “Hank’s if you can make it out here. If not, tell me where to meet you.”
    Closing her eyes and thanking God for the shift in the meeting with the set people, she agreed to meet at Hank’s in an hour. With Monday traffic, Maxine decided she probably needed to start heading in that direction. Her sister’s restaurant was well outside the city limits, closer to one of the colleges, and the spits of snow out there would make traffic beastly.
     

     
    MAXINE tapped on the frosted glass of the door leading to Robin’s office. With Hank’s not open on Mondays, Robin would be in there doing whatever she did to manage one of the best family restaurants in the Boston area, if the food critics could be believed.
    Robin’s voice beckoned her inside. When she opened the door, she found her older sister standing by the tall bookshelf stretching her lower back, rubbing one hand over her incredibly pregnant belly. An open cardboard box lay at her feet, and a picture of her and Tony on their honeymoon in Italy lay on a piece of newspaper on the corner of her desk.
    “Moving day?” Maxine asked.
    “It is. Our new manager starts Wednesday. I needed to take a break from working on the computer and move around some.” She gestured at her desk. “Casey made us some hamburgers.”
    “That’s awesome. I’m starving.” She couldn’t understand why she was so hungry since she’d been eating every two hours following Barry’s book, but the sight of the hamburger with melting Swiss cheese sitting on two sourdough buns made her mouth water and her stomach grumble with anticipation.
    Robin met Tony when he bought Hank’s place back when she worked there as a bartender. He promoted her to manager when they pulled the bar out and added more seating. Maxine knew that Robin didn’t intend to work once the baby came.
    Robin finished stretching and came forward the three steps to hug Maxine. As she released her and stepped back, Maxine put her hands on either side of her sister’s swelling stomach, leaning her face close enough that her nose touched it. “Hello little niece or nephew.” She smiled as she received a kick in the nose. “Hey, let’s sit. You can put your feet in my lap.”
    Robin smiled as they took a seat at the desk. “I don’t need to put my feet up, but thank you.” She held her hand out and Maxine took it and bowed her head. Robin blessed the meal, thanking God for the food and for the relationship that only sisters could share.
    Maxine felt the sting of tears in her throat when it was over. It wasn’t until she chewed and swallowed the first heavenly bite that she asked, “What did you want to talk about?”
    Robin washed down her own bite of hamburger with a long pull of water before answering. “I want to start off by apologizing for getting so angry with you. That was wrong of me. Please forgive me.”
    Maxine cocked an eyebrow. “Sure.”
    Robin put a hand on the side of her stomach and shifted. “Secondly, I want to ask just what you’re doing.”
    “I’m sharing lunch with my sister. What do you think I’m doing?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve never been a big fan of your closeness with Barry. He is …“ she paused and corrected herself, “… was married and you two spent an awful lot of time alone.”
    Maxine felt some heat creep into her cheeks. “Alone while his wife was …”
    “There’s no reason that one person’s wrong should justify another’s.”
    “Barry and I were only friends. It never went further.”
    “I understand that. But you just used past tense, and now that there isn’t a wife in the picture, will it stay that way?”
    “How should I know the answer to that?” Maxine surged to her feet and grabbed an empty box. She snatched a picture frame off the desk and shoved it into the