Starting Over by Cheryl Douglas Page A

they were at a night club with friends, slow dancing
to their favorite song, and he whispered those three little words
in her ear. She practically floated home and told her college
roommate she’d found the man she wanted to spend the rest of her
life with.
    His eyes traced
her lips before he tore his gaze back to her eyes again. “You gave
yourself to me last night. Not just your body, your heart too. You
were all in, so don’t even try to deny it.”
    “I was
grieving.” He didn’t seem willing to accept that response. “I was
still in shock.”
    “You needed me. Not just some warm body to help you forget your grief
for a while. You needed me. Your husband. Your lover. Your best
friend.”
    Eve was stunned
by the conviction in his voice. How could she argue with a man who
seemed so certain he was right when she wasn’t so sure he was
wrong? Last night, Alex had made her believe life could go on and
she would find happiness again. No one else could have done that.
“I want you to leave.” She prayed he wouldn’t argue with her. “I
have to plan Aunt Sharon’s funeral, and I can’t do that if I have
to worry about us. Please just let me do this alone.”
    He looked torn,
but he finally pulled back. “Fine, but this isn’t over, Eve. Not
even close.”

Chapter
Five
    Eve waited until she
heard Alex rental car’s engine start before she gave in to the
tears. She felt as if her heart was shattering. She’d lost the two
most important people in her life in twenty-four hours, and she had
to figure out how to rebuild her life without them.
    Dan’s boots
fell heavily on the old pine floorboards. Eve didn’t have to look
up to know he was standing in the office. He was the only person
she could still count on, yet leaning on him felt like a betrayal
to the man who owned her heart.
    “He’s gone?”
Dan asked. His large, work-roughened hand moved over her hair,
soothing her as one might soothe a distraught child.
    She was tempted
to turn into his touch. She wasn’t attracted to him, but she valued
his friendship, especially since the people she’d thought of as
friends back in the city had proven to her that being out of sight
meant she was out of their minds. The only friends she had were the
ones surrounding her, and Dan seemed the best among them. She
sniffled, trying to pull herself together. She didn’t want Dan’s
pity. She wanted him to see her as the strong and capable woman she
was before she lost her identity being the wife of the steel mogul.
“He’s gone.”
    “I know this
isn’t easy for you.” Dan pulled up a chair beside her. He held her
chin and forced her to look him in the eye. “Your life is here,
with us. This is where you belong, Evie. Sharon knew that, and so
do I.”
    “She left me
the inn.”
    “I know. She
told me.”
    Gripping his
wrist, Eve pulled his hand away from her face. “When?”
    “When she got
the news from the doctor.” He sighed and pushed his chair back to
give her a little breathing room. “I guess I was the first person
she told about the cancer.”
    It hurt to know
Sharon hadn’t shared that news with her first, but Eve understood.
Dan was a part of her day-to-day life, and her niece wasn’t. “Why
didn’t you tell me about her plans?”
    “It wasn’t my
place.”
    Dan was a man
of integrity. If Sharon had asked him to keep a secret, Eve knew he
would take it to his grave. “She wants me to proceed with the
renovations.”
    “I know.” Dan
crossed one booted foot over his knee and folded his arms. “The
expansion was important to her. Sharon wanted to see this project
through. She thought she would have more time…”
    Eve understood
of how precious time was, and she knew she would never again take
another day for granted. She ran her fingertip over a shallow
scratch in the desk’s smooth surface. “I know. It seems like kind
of a departure, don’t you think?”
    The Lakeside
Inn had always catered to families. Sharon’s expansion would