Carley winked at Thom. “I think I’ll go out and see what Dad’s doing.”

The instant the door closed, Thom took her in his arms and lowered his mouth to hers. Noelle groaned softly, welcoming him. Together, they created warm, moist kisses, increasing in intensity and desire. Other than the brief episode in the park, it’d been years since they’d kissed like this. Yet his touch felt so familiar….

“It’s always been you,” he whispered.

She heard the desperation in his voice. “I know— it’s always been you,” she echoed.

He kissed her again with a hunger and a need that reflected her own.

“Oh, Thom, what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to start with your suggestion and find a silver tea service,” he said firmly. “Then we’re going to give it to my mother and tell her it’s time to mend fences.”

“What if we can’t find one?” She frowned. “Or what if we do and they still won’t forgive each other?”

“You worry too much.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And you ask too many questions.”

Sarah was sitting up in bed reading a brand-new and highly touted mystery when her husband entered their room.

“You’ve been quiet this evening,” Jake commented as he unbuttoned his shirt.

“Have I?” She gazed at the novel, but her attention kept wandering. She’d read this paragraph at least six times and she couldn’t remember what it said. Every word seemed to remind her of a friend she’d lost twenty years ago.

“You haven’t been yourself since you got back from shopping.”

Sarah decided to ignore his words. “I stopped in and said good-night to the girls before I went to bed. Isn’t it nice that Noelle and Carley get along so well?”

“You’re changing the subject,” Jake said. “And not very subtly.”

Sarah set aside the book. In her present frame of mind, she was doing the author and herself a disservice. She reached for the light, but instead of flicking it off, she fell back against her pillows.

“I ran into Mary this afternoon,” she told her husband.

“Again?”

“Again,” she confirmed. “This meeting didn’t go much better than the one at Value-X.”

“That bad?”

“Almost. I can’t even begin to tell you how horribly the two of us behaved.”

Jake chuckled, shaking his head. “Does this have anything to do with the two hundred or so candy bars I found in the back of the big freezer?”

“You saw?”

He nodded. “What is it with you two?”

“Oh, honey, I wish I knew. I hate this. I’ve always hated this animosity. It would’ve been over years ago if Mary had listened to reason.”

Her husband didn’t respond.

“Everything was perfectly fine until we were forced to work on this Christmas project. Until then, she ignored me and I ignored her.”