Saturday night had been so special. Making love with Alex... She just never thought she could feel like that about a man...or love so deeply. Yesterday they'd spent the entire day with the girls, planning, making calls to find a minister who would marry them. They were getting married in two weeks in Alex's back yard, and there was so much to do. A real estate agent was coming over tonight to appraise her house before they put it on the market. Everything was moving so fast, and yet it all felt so right. When the phone rang, Amanda picked it up, gazing down at her engagement ring, still feeling as if she were dreaming. "Amanda, is that you? It's Jeff." Jeff? Her ex-husband? For a moment her heart tripped, and then she told herself there was nothing to be anxious about. They were no longer married. He didn't have control over her any longer. "Jeff, this is a surprise. How did you find me?" "I asked around and found out you'd taken a job in Cedar Grove. I went online. You're listed, Amanda. It wasn't hard." Just like years ago, he was making her feel inferior. Well, she wouldn't feel inferior--not anymore. "What do you want, Jeff?" She thought she heard him sigh. "Look, Amanda, I'd like to see you. Could we have lunch or something one day this week?" "Are you in Cedar Grove?" "No. But I'll drive over if that's what you want. I took a few days off." Days off? Jeff had never taken vacations. As head of the new products division of a company that made medical equipment, he was always getting paged and thought nothing of working until midnight. But a lot could have happened in three years. "Can you tell me what this is about?" "I'd rather wait until I see you." She was almost afraid to ask her next question, but she did anyway. "Do you want me to bring Heather?" "No. I just need to talk to you about something. When can we meet?" Thinking it was best to get it over with, she said, "How about tomorrow?" "That's fine. Where do you want me to meet you?" Cedar Grove wasn't that big, nor were there many choices. For a moment, she thought about meeting him in Camp Hill, but she didn't have anything to hide. Choosing the restaurant about a block from the school, she told him its name and gave him directions. "If you see the elementary school, you've gone too far." "I'll find it." "Around one?" she asked. "Any lunch crowd should be thinning out by then." "One's good. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks, Amanda." After she said good-bye, she hung up. The Jeff she'd known wouldn't have thanked her. The Jeff she'd known wouldn't have let her set the day or time. But if he needed something from her...
