Pete shook his head. “I asked one time, and they more or less told me that it was none of my business. I walked around the block after . . . well, after, and thought it a little strange that the building doesn’t have doors or windows. Is there a reason why you’re asking? Some rich guy with tons of money probably owns it. Isn’t that the way of the world, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer?”
“The first time I went to the clinic, I sort of got lost and wandered down the wrong hallway and you would have thought I was going to plant a bomb. An Amazon of a woman shooed me away. I guess the building belongs to the sperm bank and donor center. I’m just curious by nature. Like you said, no windows or doors. I find that strange.”
“So, are you thinking something sinister is going on? That’s what I thought at first. Now I couldn’t care less. I’m outta here.” Pete narrowed his gaze as he waited for her reply.
Lily laughed, but it was an uneasy sound even to her own ears. “No. Just my womanly curiosity.” But she knew that it was not just “womanly curiosity” at all.
He didn’t know anything about “womanly curiosity.” It was Pete’s turn to shrug. “See ya,” he said, waving airily in her direction.
“Yeah, see you.”
A brisk afternoon wind whipped up. Lily clutched at her hat as she headed for her car, a rusty Nissan with over 150,000 miles on it. Before unlocking the door, she said a prayer, as she always did, that the car would start. To her delight, the engine turned over on the first try.
Lily drove aimlessly, up one street, down another, seeing Christmas shoppers out in full force. It was going to be her first holiday alone. Since her grandmother’s death earlier in the year, there was no reason to go back home to South Carolina. Her parents had abandoned her at the age of four to be raised by her grandmother, then left the country. She didn’t know where they were or even if they were alive. There had been no way to notify her mother when her grandmother passed away. Her eyes filled with tears. She was so alone.
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 1999, 2011 by MRK Productions Fern Michaels is a registered trademark of First Draft, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-1-4201-2588-7
Previously published in hardcover in a slightly different version under the title SPLIT SECOND by Severn House in July 1999.
Christmas At Timberwoods Page 27
