The Virgin's Proposal. Shirley Jump

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      Katie propped open the door and dragged in the sign. “I’m glad to hear we had a few sales. We needed them.”

      “I know. The road construction isn’t helping. The rent—” Sarah stopped when the door jangled.

      Katie immediately recognized the woman who entered the store. Olivia Maguire, owner of the only interior design business in the Mercy area. Tall, thin and dressed in silvery-blue, she sailed into the room, straight for the counter. “Is that your design in the window?” she asked Sarah, pointing to an exotic silk display.

      “Yes, it is.” Sarah said.

      “Good. I’ll take two of those. As fast as you can get them to me.” She paced the store, her movements quick, exact. “And one of these,” she pointed to an elaborate vase filled with antique silk roses. “And three of those.” She gestured to a design Sarah had put out yesterday, a retro planter with bright flowers. “How soon can I have them?”

      “We’d be happy to create those for you.” Katie proffered her hand when Sarah remained mute, mouth agape. “I’m Katie Dole, one of the owners. This is Sarah—”

      “Yes, I know. I believe we’ve met once before, at a charity function or something.” She waved her hand vaguely. “Besides, it’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone and their business.” Olivia gave Katie’s hand a short, firm shake. “I’m Olivia Maguire. I own Renew Interior Designs. Right now, I have three clients who need arrangements. I drove by, saw that interesting one in the window and decided to stop.” She spun on her heel, taking in the shop. “I like what I see. I normally use the Lawford shop, but I’d like to give yours a try, if you have time in your schedule.”

      “Certainly.” Katie shot a glance at Sarah. “We could probably have those arrangements to you in three days.” Sarah turned, grabbed the order pad and started writing.

      “Make it two and you have a deal.” Olivia laid some money on the counter for a down payment.

      Sarah nodded, her gaze on the cash. “Okay.”

      “Wonderful.” Olivia handed Katie a foil-embossed business card. “Call me when they’re ready.” Then she left.

      When the door shut, Katie let out a breath. “This is great! It’s the break we’ve been waiting for!”

      Sarah took the card, turning it over and over in her hand. “That could be a great account for us. It would get our name in front of people with money to spend, the same people who buy loads of flowers for their houses and churches. People like the Callahans and the Simpsons and the Websters…” Sarah’s jaw dropped. “That’s right! Olivia’s our direct ticket to them.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “Don’t you remember? Olivia Maguire used to be married to their son…” She waved her hand, searching for the name. “Matt! That’s it. The one who was always in trouble. Maybe you don’t remember him. He was a few years ahead of us in school and I barely remember what he looked like myself.”

      “Funny you should mention him.” Katie took another sip of her pop. “The man who was here earlier—”

      “The incredibly gorgeous one?”

      Katie laughed. “You noticed?”

      “I’m pregnant, not blind,” Sarah replied. “What about him?”

      “He said he was Matt Webster.”

      “The Matt Webster?” Sarah picked up the card again. “Olivia’s Matt?” She rubbed her belly absently. “Didn’t they break up after they lost their baby? The family kept everything hush-hush. It’s been what, ten years, since then?”

      “I don’t know. We didn’t exactly have an in-depth conversation under the awning.” Katie smiled. “All I saw was, well, his eyes,” she admitted.

      “Did you ask him out?”

      “Sarah, I was wearing a banana suit.”

      “So? Doesn’t mean you can’t be spontaneous.” She wagged a finger at Katie. “Try a little spontaneity, you might like it.”

      “Spoken by the queen of spontaneity herself. Heck, you even got married on the spur of the moment.”

      “Eloping is exciting and romantic,” Sarah said with a flourish of her hand. “I like to live for the moment, rather than let it pass me by.”

      Katie considered Sarah’s words as she worked on the roses in the cooler. She changed the water and added floral preservative before placing the flowers back into the containers. The banana suit, while embarrassing, had also emboldened her and given her the chutzpah to exchange witty repartee with a sexy stranger. It had been a new feeling, a liberating one. In her twenty-four years, she hadn’t taken many chances and the ones she had—Steve, the store—hadn’t exactly been successful. Maybe if she changed her approach, the outcome would be different.

      For too many years, she’d been Conventional Katie, always predictable, never stepping out of bounds, even when the ball was hurtling toward her head. That kind of reliability had led her to a broken heart and a year of lonely evenings.

      “I’ve been thinking,” Katie said. “You know what today is, don’t you?”

      “Uh huh,” Sarah replied with a sympathetic look. “I didn’t want to mention it, though. Figured it might make it hard for you to be a jolly banana.”

      Katie laughed. Sarah had always been able to erase Katie’s blue moods. Lord knew there’d been plenty of those in the last year. “It would have been my first anniversary, if Steve hadn’t left me at the altar.”

      “In the end, a very good thing.”

      “I didn’t think so at the time, but I do now. If I’d married him and then he’d taken off with someone else, it would have been worse.” Katie plucked a pale peach rose from the bucket and sniffed the delicate fragrance. Sarah’s motto sounded like the perfect antidote for Katie’s stagnant life. Live for the moment, before it passes you by. And leaves you old and alone, she amended. “I’ve been moping long enough. It’s time for a change.”

      “Good for you!” Sarah settled back on the stool. “What kind of change are you thinking about?”

      “First, I’m going to overindulge in chocolate,” Katie said. “And then, well…” She thought of Matt Webster and how a smile from him had set off fireworks in her belly. “I might just go for something a little more decadent.”

      Fate sure had a twisted sense of humor. There wasn’t a single Hershey Bar or Sara Lee double chocolate layer cake in the seven-aisle store that passed for a supermarket in Mercy. Katie supposed it was a mark of small-town charm, but for a girl craving chocolate and calories, it left a lot to be desired. Being mid-week, the shelves and freezer case were already empty of anything remotely indulgent. Muttering in defeat, Katie grabbed a box of fruit-flavored Popsicles and laid it in the row of groceries in her basket, arranged in order of her coupons.

      She wandered up and down the aisles, in no hurry to return to her empty apartment. As she rounded a display of spaghetti sauce, she heard a familiar voice. Then another. She stopped in her tracks and peeked beyond the jars.

      “Oh, Stevie, get the extra cheese popcorn,” purred a woman draped on Katie’s ex-fiancé’s arm. The feline vixen in a lavender dress was none other than Barbara—ex-bridesmaid and traitor.

      In tenth grade, Barbara and Katie had met in a study group that managed to ace Miss Marchand’s biology class. They’d become friends and stayed in touch during college. When Barbara returned from four years in Boston and had trouble finding a job, she’d seemed depressed. So Katie often invited her along to join her and Steve as a threesome, or with a friend of Steve’s, thinking it would be the boost Barbara needed. Too trusting by far, Katie later realized she’d been the conduit to a secret affair instead.

      Why