Read Online Marking Time by Marie Force - Free Book Online Page B

Frannie, her husband Jamie, and their twins Owen and Olivia.
    Clare was weak with relief to see Frannie and walked over with Jack to greet them. Jack scooped up the twins, who greeted “Unca Jack” with wet, sloppy kisses.
    “You remember Aunt Clare, right?” Frannie said to the fifteen-month-old toddlers. They had visited Clare’s house two weeks earlier.
    Owen reached out to pat Clare’s face. “Clare,” he said.
    Clare kissed the baby’s pudgy hand. Owen and Olivia had their father’s bright blue eyes and strawberry-blond hair that was an adorable mix of Frannie’s auburn and Jamie’s blond.
    Jamie hugged Clare and kissed her cheek. “So good to see you,” he whispered as he held her close.
    Hugging him was like coming home. He had been Jack’s best friend since their first day of college, as well as their best man and godfather to all three girls. His marriage to Jack’s sister Frannie had been one of the biggest and best surprises to confront Clare after her recovery.
    “Jamie Booth, you handsome devil,” she whispered. “Don’t let go, okay?”
    He chuckled. “Never.”
    When Clare reluctantly released him, she noticed Andi had come into the room.
    She extended a hand to them. “Clare, Anna, we’re so glad you could come.”
    Startled by her beauty, Clare shook her hand. The only other time Clare had seen Andi, she’d been seven-months pregnant with the twins. She had obviously bounced back quickly from their birth.
    “Thank you for including us,” Clare said when she had recovered from the initial shock of seeing Jack and Andi together for the first time—both of them tall, dark and beautiful . What a striking couple they make .
    As Andi moved on to greet Frannie and Jamie, and with the others occupied with new arrivals, Clare took a moment to study Andi more closely. She was tall—not as tall as Jack—but at least four inches taller than the five-foot five-inch Clare. Her long, dark curls were contained tonight in a simple ponytail, and she managed to look classy and understated in an ivory ribbed turtleneck, well-worn jeans, and black boots. Clare was glad she too had chosen to wear jeans. Andi’s soft brown eyes were warm and welcoming as she greeted a group of Kate’s friends. Clare knew Andi was thirty-nine, but she didn’t look it and didn’t show any of the weariness the mother of three-month-old twins must surely feel.
    Jill and Maggie came around with hot hors d’oeuvres. They introduced Clare to Andi’s mother, Betty, who held one of the twin boys.
    “Hello there,” Clare said, running a finger along the baby’s downy soft cheek.
    “That’s Johnny,” Betty said.
    “How can you tell?” Clare asked.
    “I just changed him for bed,” Betty said with a chuckle. “Otherwise your guess would be as good as mine.”
    A blond boy dashed through the room, and Betty stopped him with a stern look. She used her free hand to sign a command to the hearing-impaired boy, and he slowed to a walk.
    “That’s my other grandson, Eric,” Betty said to Clare. “He’s almost eight and a handful.”
    “He’s adorable.” Clare watched Maggie wrap an arm around Eric without missing a beat in her conversation with a friend of Kate’s.
    Clare moved out of the fray to sit on one of the leather sofas. She watched Jack and Andi circulate through the room, noticing how they moved with the easy grace of a long-married couple. She was forced to look away when Jack put a hand on the small of Andi’s back to draw her closer to him. He did it so naturally and unconsciously that Clare ached when she remembered him touching her that way.
    The room vibrated with music, voices, and the sound of ice striking crystal.
    Frannie sat down next to Clare. “Hanging in?” she asked under her breath.
    “By a thread,” Clare replied in the same tone.
    “You look wonderful. You’re all recovered.”
    “Except for this nagging limp I can’t seem to shake.”
    “You will,” Frannie said with a glance