Read Online Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Sandy James - Free Book Online

would. But Beth and Dani? They were younger, not all that much, but enough that they still looked at the world with less experienced eyes. Neither had been through bad marriages like she and Mallory had, so they weren’t jaded. Mallory was also a cancer survivor, well grounded in reality and living life to the fullest.
    Juliana dug deep down to try to express the turmoil that was forcing this choice. “Look at it through my eyes for a minute. I work with kids whose abilities range from semi-independent to wheelchair-bound and unable to even speak. I have to feed some with tubes, even tolerate it as they unload verbal assaults or spit and punch at me. It’s getting to be too much to bear anymore. I’m burned out. The kids deserve someone who’s still passionate about helping them.”
    Mallory put her hand over Juliana’s. “We understand. Burnout goes with the territory.”
    “But we’ll hate it,” Danielle added. “No more Ladies Who Lunch.”
    “This won’t affect our friendships.” At least Juliana hoped not. “I’ll be able to come and have lunch with you from time to time. And we still have weekends and our getaways. Why should any of that end just because I’m out trying to sell houses instead of being in a classroom?”
    “It might be different,” Mallory offered. “But we’re friends. Always will be. We’re the Ladies Who Lunch, right?”
    Beth and Dani nodded.
    “Then why should our friendship change simply because Jules wants something besides teaching?”
    “You’re right,” Bethany said. “We’re friends. We’ll always be friends. You’re going to knock their socks off, Jules!”
    There was the eternally optimistic Beth that Juliana needed.
    “So what can we do to help?” Danielle asked. “If you’re gonna do this, you’re gonna need all the help you can get. Are you sure you want to go it alone? I mean, couldn’t you go with Max Schumm or—”
    Juliana shook her head. “No. No way. That man would make the worst principal seem like the best boss in the world. I need to do this on my own. Kelley Realty. It’s time for someone to give Max Schumm a challenge.”
    “What about the other guy, that Connor, who you… um…” Mallory was evidently having a hard time saying the obvious.
    “The guy I slept with?”
    Bethany and Danielle appeared properly startled, both staring at her with wide-open mouths.
    Knowing they’d want an explanation, she kept it succinct. “I met a guy at the seminar, and we hit it off. I went back to his room with him, and no, I don’t want to talk about it.”
    “What are you going to do about him?” Mallory asked again.
    Juliana shrugged. “I have no idea. He wasn’t any more enthralled with Max than I was, so I don’t know what he did after I left him.”
    “After you ran away.”
    Mallory—blunt as always.
Which was probably why they got along so well.
    “Yeah, Mal. After I ran away.” No matter how close she was to them, Juliana had a hard time letting her friends know exactly how much Connor affected her. “Can we stop this topic now?”
    He was constantly in her thoughts, and although she wasn’t one to obsess over mistakes she’d made, she couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened. What if she’d stayed long enough to discover if he wanted more from her than a one-night stand? If she was totally honest with herself, she’d have to admit she
had
run away like some frightened child from her own feelings.
    It wasn’t often she let men reach inside her deeply enough to stir her tender emotions. Sure, she might feel compassion for her students and love for her friends, but to let a man touch her heart?
    Unthinkable.
    Her ex-husband had been an exception, and she’d paid a high price for that error in judgment. She’d fallen in love with a selfish, immature man whom she’d thought was everything she’d ever wanted.
    Then she’d grown up.
    He hadn’t.
    Seeing him at least once a week—in the teachers’ lounge, at the