A melancholy drizzle fell over the Postal Headquarters Building at eight-thirty Wednesday morning. From the plush leather chair in his office, Alex solemnly watched the drops of rain trickle down the windows. It looked to him as if the heavens were crying tears of disappointment over his recent betrayal.
He spent most of the previous night with a glass of bourbon in one hand and the remote control in the other, his guilt not allowing him the freedom of sleep. At four in the morning, he made a decision. After finishing his drink, he put on an old pair of jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers and spent the next four hours transporting his belongings from the Voorheesville apartment to his car.
He drove to the Albany office under a dark and dismal sky. After signaling the security guard to open the front door, he entered the empty building and took the stairs to his office. He purposefully arrived long before the rest of the staff. He needed uninterrupted time alone to write his r
“Actually, Mr. Williams, I was surprised to receive your phone call this morning, but I’m very glad to be here,”Cynthia had just finished breakfast when Peter called, requesting a meeting in his office at three thirty to discuss her contract. Feeling the rush of future wealth, she immediately took a cab downtown and treated herself to a manicure, pedicure, facial, hair style and entirely new wardrobe.“You presented a very convincing case, Ms. Anderson. We usually don’t sign contracts directly with authors, which is why I also invited Ms. Glickman here. She’ll be acting as your agent on the contract negotiations and Joan will be your editor,”Cynthia ignored the introductions as she waited impatiently for Peter to hand her the contract and her check.“You were Rachel’s, I mean Ms. Clark’s agent, weren’t you?” she asked Sandra haughtily.“Yes,” Sandra said through c
For the next six weeks, Rachel devoted herself to her extensive promotional schedule. She traveled the European Book Festival circuit, making personal appearances at every small town throughout Scotland and Germany and attended numerous booksigning events in London and Paris.She returned to the States as guest speaker at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, then flew on to personally meet booksellers at Chicago’s BookExpo America and represent Prelude Press at the American Booksellers Association Convention.During the final conference presentations, it was announced that Legal Briefs had received the National Book Foundation’s award in New Fiction. She flew to New York City on the next flight to attend the awards banquet, which took place the night before Brad and Tanya’s wedding.The moment her plane landed in Newark, Rachel called Alex on her cell phone, but the line was busy. She tried the number a few more times before giving
The Catskill Mountain region of upstate New York was in the middle of an Indian summer. Although the calendar read October, the temperature was a blissful seventy-five degrees. Perfect climate for an outdoor wedding.Rachel and Alex walked through the opulent glass entranceway and into a Victorian setting alive with color and beauty. The lobby was decorated in vibrant tones of mauve, olive, and gold, as brilliant as the fall foliage of the countryside.Rachel was amazed to find herself in such an elegant setting in what she considered to be the middle of nowhere. The gothic pillars, mahogany registration desk, and the full crystal chandelier reminded her of some of the best European hotels she had visited on her book tour. She couldn’t think of a better atmosphere for a wedding.“I see Brad at the bar,” Alex said, looking toward his left. “Mind if I join him?”“Not at all. I’ll get our room key and meet you in a f
Alex woke the next morning, expecting to find Rachel’s warm body cuddled next to him, but when he stretched his arm over the cold mattress, he discovered he was alone in the king size bed.An annoying tapping sound, coming from the far corner of the bedroom, irritated his semi-conscious nerves. Bewildered, he opened his eyes a slit and scanned the room until he located the source of the noise.Seated at the faux antique desk, Rachel was vigorously hitting the laptop keyboard, her attention fixed intently on the screen. Alex sighed and rolled over to glance at the clock on the end table. He was surprised to read a single-digit hour and even more surprised to see that the hour was a six.Not wanting to interrupt her concentration, he propped himself up on his elbow and silently watched as she typed. He could only imagine the words flowing from her delicate, sensuous fingers, the same fingers that had made several painful indentations in his back the night be
The bulky manila envelope was heavy with the weight of rejection as Postmaster Alex Bentley placed it on the counter and began filling out the yellow pick-up slip. In the three years since his promotion to Postmaster of the small rural office in upstate New York, Alex had delivered his share of good news and bad. Even if the tiny Post Office he ran was only a mailbox drop, he was there six days a week in rain, sleet, snow, and sometimes into the darkest of night. He tolerated the postal jokes, ran an efficient operation, and received numerous awards, all displayed proudly on the office walls of the ruggedly handsome young man who, at age thirty-two, was the youngest level fifteen Postmaster in the district. Years of walking a mail route had given his body a permanent tan and his daily routine of lifting mail sacks was all the exercise he needed to maintain his well-toned physique. Promptly at eight a.m., Alex opened the front window and began his daily
Chapter 2Not having her life run by a clock, Rachel didn’t need to be up any earlier than her body desired. Never a morning person, she enjoyed the opportunity to make breakfast her noontime meal, which was why she was more than a little irritated when her phone rang at nine-thirty.“Rachel? It’s Alex, from the post office.”At the sound of his voice, she was wide awake.“Alex?” she tried not to sound as if he had just awakened her.“Did I wake you?” Apparently, she hadn’t succeeded. “I’m sorry, but you have a special delivery package here that needs your signature.”Rachel felt as if he could see her through the phone cord, and she pulled the covers over her skimpy nightie.“Uh, ok,” she said, “I can be there in an hour.”“That’s why I was calling. I have to take another delivery out your way
Rachel tried to concentrate on her writing, but her fictional romance plots were constantly being interrupted by her real life thoughts about the postmaster. It took all her will power not to find some excuse to visit the post office. In the past week, she spent more than two hundred dollars on postcards and stamps she would never use. She was sure he knew her motive. The last time he gave her change, his hand stayed on hers a few seconds longer than necessary, but he never said anything. In fact, except for that one visit to her cabin, their conversation was strictly business.With only three weeks left on her summer rental, Rachel decided she had better make the first move. She reached for the phone just as it started to ring.Maybe that’s Alex. She thought. Her voice quivered slightly when she said, “Hello?” but the voice on the other end wasn’t his.“Rachel? It’s Sandra. Have you checked your mail today?”
At twelve o’clock sharp, Alex locked the lobby door and turned off the lights. Usually, he’d stay in the office a bit late in case someone needed to buy some stamps or get mail past closing, but today was not a usual day. He changed out of his uniform and stopped by the corner market to pick up what he needed for lunch. It seemed silly to pay for flowers when there were plenty of free ones everywhere, but he did it anyway. Alex put the roses and the bags of groceries in his truck along with the magazines, bills and other mail he would personally deliver to Rachel. On top of the pile, he placed a large envelope from Prelude Press that was marked URGENT.Rachel spent most of the morning cleaning her cabin and talking to her agent. Usually she’d spend her Saturdays sleeping till ten and shopping at the local stores, but today was not a usual day. Sandra called at eight to discuss several amendments to the contracts and they had gone over every line word by word