Read Online The Hero’s Sin by Darlene Gardner - Free Book Online

much, aren’t I?”
    “Not at all,” Sara said.
    “Then how am I doing?”
    Sara smiled. She couldn’t imagine Laurie blending in at the stuffy law practice Sara had left behind in Washington, D.C., but the woman with the crazy hair would fit perfectly into the new life Sara was building. “You’re hired.”
    Laurie’s eyes bugged out. “Without checking references?”
    In hindsight that didn’t seem like the smartest idea, even though Sara’s impulse was to trust her intuition. She settled on a compromise. “I should have said you’re hired if your references check out.”
    “Me and my big mouth,” Laurie groused, then brightened. “They’ll check out. So should I start calling around to find a new painting contractor? Lots of people say they won’t give ballpark estimates over the phone, but I’ll talk them into it. Give me twenty minutes. Tops.”
    It took fifteen, after which Sara sent Laurie home with a promise to call her although they both knew the decision had already been made.
    When she was alone, Sara frowned over the estimates Laurie had gathered. She was missing only one, from a contractor Laurie hadn’t been able to talk into giving her one on the phone. Of the other quotes, the highest came from the only painter who could do the job this week. The lowest was twice as much as the original contractor had cited.
    Sara would be tempted to do the job herself if it didn’t involve dry wall repair, because money wasquickly becoming an issue. She’d used most of her savings to buy the row house, which had come “as-is,” and then realized she’d underestimated start-up costs for a new business.
    She was half tempted to go back to bed, pull the covers over her head to block out the sun and escape into her dream world with Michael Donahue.
    Michael Donahue, whom she hadn’t asked Laurie about. No matter. He’d walked out of her life without a second glance and she needed to stop thinking about him.
    She jerked her head up at the sound of the front door opening, expecting to see a man in paint-splattered overalls. Instead, clutching a manila envelope, a small woman who looked to be in her mid-seventies entered the office, followed by…
    “Michael!” It was as if her thoughts had conjured him up. More than a head taller than the woman, he wore khaki pants and a loose-fitting short-sleeved shirt he’d probably bought to help him withstand the heat of Niger. Sunlight streamed into the office, illuminating the handsome planes and angles of his face and his fading bruise. “I thought you left town.”
    “Hello, Sara.” His eyes fastened on her face and a memory of the kiss assailed her. “I had a change of plans.”
    Her mind raced with possibilities. Was she the reason he’d changed his mind about staying in town? Had he thought about her even a fraction as much as she’d thought about him?
    “Aunt Felicia, this is Sara Brenneman, the attorney I was telling you about,” he said. “Sara, this is my great-aunt, Felicia Feldman.”
    Sara knew so little about Michael, she hadn’t been aware he had a great-aunt. Calling upon her professionalism, she got to her feet and came across the room intending to shake hands with the older woman. Instead of a hand, Mrs. Feldman held out the manila envelope.
    “Michael said you might look at this for me.” Her voice shook even more than her hands, lending her an air of frailty. “It’s a foreclosure notice. He said you could tell us if there’s anything I can do about it.”
    The reason for Michael’s reappearance slammed through Sara, and disappointment rushed through her like the white water of a river rapid. Michael’s visit wasn’t personal, it was business.
    “I hope it’s okay that we came by,” Michael said. “I tried calling but your phones still aren’t working.”
    “It’s fine,” Sara said, cheering herself with the fact that Michael had thought to come to her.
    “The bank’s going to foreclose if Aunt Felicia doesn’t pay