Beyond Ruin by Crystal Cierlak

attending to her fresh cup of coffee while Joe set out the cutlery and dishes for their Friday gelato tradition.
    "So," he began once everything was spread out in an organized fashion across the marble expanse of the kitchen island. "How does it feel to be home again?"
    "It feels better than I left it," she answered with a smile, coffee cup pressed against her lips.
    "We should all do something tonight to celebrate the new account."
    "Like what?"
    Joe shrugged noncommittally. "Dinner. Drinks. Dancing?"
    "Definitely dinner and drinks. Dancing? You'd have a better chance convincing Quinn," she laughed.
    "It'll be fine. We'll get table service, you can relax and watch us dance."
    "How fun," she mused before taking another sip. "All right, sounds good. I'm sure Quinn will have some fabulous place to recommend."
    "Then it's settled." Joe fished his phone from his pocket and checked the screen. "I've got a call to make. I'll join everyone for gelato in a few minutes."
    Natalie had barely a moment to settle back down at her computer before the front door burst open with a joyous mixture of chatter and laughter. She looked up just in time to see Frankie headed her way, followed closely by Audra, Quinn and Lorelai.
    "Natalie!" Frankie called out with so much exuberance it filled Natalie's chest like a balloon being inflated.
    "Hey there!" Natalie picked up Frankie and hugged her to her side, balancing the girl's weight on one hip. "How was your first day of work?"
    "She actually fired someone!" Audra said as though not even she believed the words coming out of her mouth.
    "No way!" Natalie tried to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst through her lips at the thought of a little girl actually firing someone. "You?" she asked pointedly, though with a tone of humor. "Sweet, intelligent and lovable Frankie actually fired a Fitson employee?"
    "Actually, she fired Brighton New Media."
    Every head in the room turned at once to the new figure standing in the doorway, a figure Natalie could place anywhere. Tall and lean, his custom tailored suit hugging the musculature of his body in all the right places. The subtle accent in his voice. And a face so disgustingly handsome it was sometimes difficult to look at, like trying to stare at the sun. There standing in the vestibule of her office, her new home, was the one and only man she'd ever fallen in love with.
     
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Could a heart both love and break at the same time? There was a certain kind of sorrow watching Natalie hold his daughter in her arms, knowing that it had only been a few months since her own loss. The time apart had done little to diffuse James' love for her, and in that moment he felt as though he were looking at her for the first time all over again. Natalie Harlow was once more a stranger, and yet so inexplicably known to him that his insides ached.
    The red curl of her hair which had once tumbled down her back was now short, smoothed and straightened into a sophisticated cut that ended just above her shoulders. She was dressed in all black: long-sleeved short dress and stockings that pulled up over her knees, the entire ensemble hugging a body that had once dipped into the most sensuous curves. She was a fraction of the woman he'd met as Gentleman Twelve nearly a year prior. How had they gone from strangers to lovers and back to strangers in such a short period of time?
    "You? Sweet, intelligent and lovable Frankie actually fired a Fitson employee?" Natalie laughed as she held the diminutive girl in her arms.
    "Actually, she fired Brighton New Media," he answered in reply. James was no stranger to having every set of eyes in a room turn to look at him, but it was only Natalie's silvery blue he looked back at.
    They held each other's gaze a moment longer before Natalie returned her attention to Frankie.
    "Weren't you supposed to keep him from firing anyone?"
    "They weren't the right people for the job." Frankie's reply brought a small smile to James'