CHAPTER FIVE

      SKYLAR WAS GLAD to return to the Nibble Nook and tried to keep from thinking about Aaron. It was harder than she expected.

      Each time they’d talked or argued she was conscious of the secret that she wanted to keep him from learning...or remembering. It was as if she had a sword hanging over her, dangling by a thread—she didn’t know if it was going to fall, and what damage it would do if it did. It was exhausting.

      She didn’t see how Aaron couldn’t know about Karin, but anything was possible. Or maybe he’d never believed Karin was his child in the first place, and his family just tried to give her money to be sure that trouble wouldn’t crop up later.

      “Skylar, are you okay?” asked Greg at one point during a lull between customers.

      She shook herself, realizing she’d been staring into space. “Sorry, I have a city council matter on my mind. It was partly true—her nominal responsibilities as a city council member had become a huge headache.

      “I heard about the meeting last week. Is that why you took off this morning?”

      It wasn’t a surprise that he knew—the whole county probably knew about what had happened, gossip being the lifeblood of a small town. “Yeah. I’ll be seeing Mr. Hollister several times to discuss his plans before making a decision.”

      Greg made a face. “I’m glad it’s not me—I’d blow up and ask why he thinks everyone who works for him is a thief. My sister says working there sucks now. She wants to get another job, but it isn’t easy in this area.”

      Skylar thought of the stack of job applications she’d gotten in the past few months and nodded wryly.

      “It isn’t just the short lunches and stuff—it’s the way he acted about people taking factory seconds home with them. They weren’t stealing,” Greg said indignantly. “Mr. Cooper encouraged folks to take stuff that couldn’t be sold. I guess some employees took advantage, but not that many of them.”

      “I know.” Skylar often sent food home from the Nibble Nook that would get thrown out otherwise, and the Nook was a much smaller operation than Cooper Industries. It might be different if Aaron had opened a store for selling factory seconds, but he hadn’t. “I’ll keep an ear out for any job openings.”

      Greg gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

      A new group of customers arrived and they jumped to work. Determined to stop thinking about Aaron, Skylar thought about everything she needed to do for Karin’s birthday party. Her daughter wanted a picnic in the park and even with Joe and Grace’s help there was a lot to get done.

      * * *

      “I FEEL BETTER. I’m going back to school,” Melanie announced to Aaron on Thursday morning. She’d stayed home with a cold all week and was tired of it.

      He frowned, looking up from some papers he was reading at the kitchen table. “You’re still coughing.”

      She shrugged. Her cold was mostly gone except the yucky parts—a cough and drippy nose. Aaron had acted kind of cute about it, telling her to stay in bed and buying a bunch of new DVDs for her to watch. He’d filled the refrigerator with orange juice and had gotten gazoodles of chicken soup from one of the delicatessens in town, though she was sneaking other junk to eat because the soup was gross.

      Heck, he’d even come back from work a couple of times a day to check on her. That was weird. Not that he wasn’t always weird, it was just weirder than usual. It was also nice. He hadn’t acted like it was inconvenient or anything, but as if he was worried and just wanted her to feel better.

      “I don’t want to miss too much and have to catch up again,” she said.