Best Friends: Minnesota Romance novel series

By Edna Curry

She stood beside him, her perfume drifting into his breathing space.

He couldn't avoid noticing her nearness. Awareness prickled along his skin, raising goose-bumps on his arms.

He felt her watching him and lifted his eyes to meet hers. He read regret and raw need there, matching his own. Slowly he rose to his feet and stepped closer to her, holding her gaze with his own.

When she didn't move away, he put his arms around her and molded her body to his. For a moment she stiffened, then softened and allowed her body to fit into the planes of his.

They fit together exactly right,as they always had. It felt like coming home. Tipping his head, he kissed her, first in soft, testing nibbles, then hungrily.

His pulse sped up and his heart thudded. He felt as though he'd been starving and now tasted his first food in weeks.

She answered his kisses with as much need as his. For a long minute, he enjoyed the taste and feel of her, indulged the fantasies that had been driving him crazy since he first knew she was back.

At last he lifted his head and looked down into her hazel eyes. She stared back at him, looking dazed and wondering. "God, Tami, I missed you!" he said, his voice coming out in a croak. "Why did we ever separate?"

"I don't know," she answered, sounding desperate and frustrated. "I don't know."

He stroked a finger lightly along one blonde brow, smoothing back the silky hairs. "The old magic is still there, isn't it?"

"Yes," she said through kiss swollen lips, her voice trembling. "But then, I never did have the sense God gave a goose."

Panic surged in his gut as he felt her stiffen in his arms.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She pulled away. "It means, this is going nowhere, Cal."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edna Curry
• Release date: Sep 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533763129

Edna Curry

Edna Curry lives in Minnesota and often sets her novels there among the lakes, evergreens and river valleys. She especially enjoys the Dalles area of the St. Croix Valley, gateway to the Wild River, which draws many tourists who give her story ideas. Edna is married and is a member of the Romance Writers of America and one of its chapters: Northern Lights Writers. Visit her website: http://www.ednacurry.com https://www.facebook.com/Edna.Curry.author Twitter: @Edna_Curry Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/search/authors?search=Edna%20Curry Minnesota Romance novel series  These novels are stand-alone novels that can be read in any order. My Sister’s Keeper Best Friends Lost Memories Mirror Image Hard Hat Man Traveling Bug Double Trouble Flight to Love Circle of Shadows Secret Daddy Never Love a Logger (historical romance) I’ll Always Find You Meet Me, Darling Wrong Memories My Twin's Wedding *** Lady Locksmith Series: The Lilliput Bar Mystery – Book 1 Body in the Antique Trunk - Book 2 The Missing Banker - Book 3 Girl Who Cried Wolf - Book 4 Robbery at the Lilliput Bar - a short story Lacey Summers’ PI Mystery Series: Yesterday’s Shadow -- Prequel Dead Man’s Image –Book 1 Dead in Bed  -- Book 2 Eccentric Lady  Book 3 Related book: Earth in 2093 A futuristic romantic suspense novel starring Lacey’s granddaughter, Nell Summers and police detective Dave Barns. *** Non-fiction: The Jam of all Jams The story of the world’s largest logjam ever, that took place at Taylors Falls, Minnesota, in June, 1886.

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Best Friends

By Edna Curry

Text Description automatically generated

Best Friends

By Edna Curry

Copyright 2010 by Edna Curry

________________________________________

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This is a work of fiction. All events and names in this story are fictitious and any resemblance to any event or any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without written permission of the author, except for short excerpts for reviews.

Credit:

Cover by Bev Haynes

Dedication:

Dedicated to my current Best Friends, the Northern Lights Writers.

May all your hopes and dreams come true.

Table of Contents:

Best Friends

By Edna Curry

Text Description automatically generated

Copyright 2010 by Edna Curry

________________________________________

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Credit:

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

The End.

Chapter 1

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February 1998

Tami Johanson stomped the melting snow off her boots as she rode the elevator to the top floor of the Minneapolis newspaper’s office building. The elevator eased to a stop, the door slid open and she hurried down the carpeted hall to the office where she worked. Was she late?

The large florescent lighted room hummed as usual. She dropped her purse in her desk drawer, took off her snow-boots and slipped her feet into high-heeled pumps. Some people already worked at their desks, but others chatted as they stood around the coffeemaker. Good. Joining them, she poured herself a cup of coffee and closed her eyes in appreciation as she sipped the hot, fragrant brew.

She hurried back to her desk and picked up her mail, determined to make up for lost time. She flipped through the usual business stuff, tossing half directly into the round file. The next envelope surprised her—it was from her best friend in high-school, Linda Carnell in Conley.

Her pulse sped up in alarm. She never heard from anyone in Conley and didn’t want to. That part of her life was over. Especially the part with Cal Lentz in it. Her first love gone wrong. It hurt just to think his name, the rat.

What could Linda want? Tami ripped open the envelope and read, ‘It’s time for you to make a visit home, Tami. We need you to help plan our ten year class reunion. Don’t let us down.’

Go back to Conley? No way. Ten years?" she squeaked aloud. Had it really been that long? She’d love to see Linda again but not back in Conley. Maybe she should invite her up to Minneapolis.

Feeling a bit old, Sweetheart? Tami jumped at the sound of her co-worker’s voice in her ear. The stale, acrid smell of his pipe tobacco surrounded her. Arlo dropped his hand on her shoulder and leaned forward to read the letter over her shoulder.

She shrugged his big hand off her shoulder, crumpled the letter and dropped it into her wastebasket. Damn it, Arlo, don’t sneak up behind me!

Arlo came around to the side of her desk and reached for the letter. When she grabbed it back and shoved it in her purse, he grinned at her. His bald head gleamed under the florescent lights and his blue eyes sparkled from his chubby face.

Why are you hiding it? I’ll go with you if you don’t have a date to show off. You know I’m always willing to accommodate you, Sweetheart.

Don’t call me that! I have no intention of going back there, she blurted before she could stop herself. No way would she go anywhere with this guy. Besides being twenty years older than she, Arlo imagined himself God’s gift to women, which he definitely wasn’t.

Darn. She shouldn’t have told him she had no intention of going back to her home town. Arlo loved to dig up embarrassing stuff from everyone’s past and then constantly make lurid jokes about it. Now she’d left herself wide open for trouble.

Aha. Does the old hometown hold bad memories for you? Did you have a love gone wrong in your past?

Her stomach flipped over at his too accurate guess. If he found out, she’d never hear the last of it. She forced a calm expression and lied, No. I just don’t care about small town dinner parties and dull reminiscing.

Staff meeting time, guys, Sara Anderson interrupted, effectively ending Arlo’s grilling. Sara, a tall brunette, frowned at them and moved gracefully past them into the conference room.

Arlo turned back to his desk obediently. Nobody dared be late for Mr. Edwards' staff meetings.

Tami picked up her clipboard and pen, and hurried between the long rows of desks to the conference room. A half dozen others had arrived ahead of them. Long overhead lights brightened the dull green, windowless room. She sat between Sara and another woman, so no empty seat remained beside her. Arlo walked on around the long table and took a seat across from her. That was almost worse because now he could meet her eyes and watch her. Why did he seem to enjoy tormenting her? Tami sighed and determined to ignore him.

Her friend, LuAnn Miller dropped into the chair beside Arlo across the table. You missed a great dinner last night, LuAnn said, her brown eyes sparkling in her long, bony face. A company function including food was a never miss occasion for LuAnn, but she never gained a pound to show for it.

Tami smiled. I had a magazine article deadline.

LuAnn pulled a face. Oh. You work too hard. I don’t see how you do it.

I enjoy it. She shrugged and wished she could afford to go into freelancing for magazines full time instead of a side-line as she did now. That would free her from the office politics she hated. Those politics were why she’d settled for a frozen entree cooked in her microwave last night instead of going out to dinner with the other journalists.

She sent their boss a wary glance. He was a tall, thin man with a shock of unkempt salt and pepper hair. He sat at the head of the gleaming mahogany table, staring down at a batch of notes in front of him.

Arlo smirked at her across the table.

I bet he’s sure he’ll beat me out of a choice assignment again. Just once, I’d like to show him up. Yeah, right. Fat chance with Mr. Edwards giving out the assignments.

Tami’s stomach churned as Mr. Edwards began to talk. He handed out assignments, listing the stories and advising reporters of the slant he wanted. As usual, he gave the senior reporters the hard news to cover. She waited, wondering if she’d be stuck with the fillers and feature stories he considered safe for her.

She bit down hard on her lip to dispel the memories of her last real news assignment. She'd gotten a little too nosy for a certain drug dealer's taste and nearly ended up being shot. Luckily, he’d missed her. The police, who’d been watching the man and didn’t appreciate her interference, had closed in before he could try again. She shuddered at the memory. But she still wanted to do real news, not fluff.

Mr. Edwards appeared to be thinking of that, too. He sent her a level gaze, his heavy brows almost meeting as they dipped in a frown. You did a good job on that piece on escalating wedding costs, Tami, he said.

She cautiously smiled a thank you. When Mr. Edwards gave her a compliment, it usually meant he was about to hand her an assignment he knew she would hate.

All the high school and college alumni are planning reunions about this time of year. We haven’t done a story on those for quite a while.

Arlo grinned smugly at Mr. Edwards. Tami just got an invitation to one from her home town.

Mr. Edwards raised an eyebrow, interested. And where was that, again?

Conley, she said through tight lips. It’s a little town a hundred miles southwest of here. She shot an ‘I’ll get you for this’ look at Arlo.

Perfect, Mr. Edwards said, sending Tami a pleased smile. Go down and do a story on it. Pictures, too. You know, background stuff. Tell us who plans it, what’s involved, what kind of celebration they have, how many people came from how far away and what they’re doing now. That sort of thing. The usual sentimental stuff people love to read about in our ‘About People’ page.

Tami’s stomach plummeted farther with each word. She tried again. That would be spread out over weeks, Mr. Edwards.

So, make a couple of trips down for different parts of the story. No hurry. You can work on other things at the same time.

Tami sighed. She didn’t want to go back to her hometown. It would be too painful. She’d closed off that part of her life. I wasn’t planning to go...

Why not? He frowned at her.

I ... hardly know anyone in Conley anymore, she said, which sounded lame, even to herself. She glanced at LuAnn whose face held a shocked expression. No encouragement from her. Her heart thudding, she went on, Most of my classmates moved away. Besides, it’s a very small farming community. Not something our metro readers would be interested in.

His scowl deepened at her resistance and Tami cringed. Now she’d done it. He didn’t like having his views or his assignments questioned. I’ll be the judge of that, he said. We have plenty of small town readers. I shouldn't have to remind you our out-state edition is distributed all over the state, especially the Sunday paper.

Yes, of course it is. But I’d rather not.

His eyes widened at her. She dared to refuse? You graduated from there, didn’t you?

Yes, of course. She raised her chin. Did he think her stupid? Why else would she be asked to the class reunion? At the top of my class, she added, sending a defiant look at Arlo and taking satisfaction in his surprised look. I just think a metro suburban reunion would be better for this story.

No, your own reunion will be more personal. You can do it, Tami. You’ll know enough people to make the contacts we need. His tone said the subject was closed.

She shrugged and nodded in defeat. She picked up her water glass and drank to ease the dryness in her mouth. She had little choice. She could do what he wanted, or look for another job. And she couldn’t afford to give up this job yet. She had to pay rent on her expensive apartment.

Mr. Edwards turned to Arlo and gave him the high-profile assignment of covering a United States senator’s visit to Minneapolis. Arlo grinned at her in smug satisfaction.

She turned away, trying not to let her envy show on her face. She wished she dared kick him under the table. It would certainly make her feel better. LuAnn sent her a sympathetic smile.

Mr. Edwards stood, indicating the meeting was over.

Discouragement and a sense of inevitability filled Tami as she rose to follow the others leaving the room. She walked out of his office, frustrated and defeated. Mr. Edwards meant well. She couldn't tell him it wasn't the assignment she minded as much as returning to Conley.

Mixed with those feelings was an eerie sense of dread. She had no way out. She’d go back to Conley and see Cal again. It would hurt after the way they’d broken up, but she could do it. She’d lived through it once, hadn’t she? She could do it again. Cal Lentz—her lost love.

She ducked into the bathroom, hoping no one else would be there. She sat in a stall and let the tears flow. When she dried her eyes on some toilet tissue and emerged, her friend, LuAnn was waiting. LuAnn was one of the few people in her present life who knew about the fiasco of her high school love.

LuAnn hugged her. I was right. You are upset. You’ve still got it bad for Cal, haven’t you?

Tami pulled free, shrugged, washed her face and began repairing her makeup. She met her friend’s eyes in the mirror. I thought I was over him, she admitted. But the thought of seeing him again sort of hit me.

You’re still comparing every other man you go out with to him, aren’t you?

Tami sighed. Can I help it if I’ve never met another rugged hunk like him? He was pretty special, you know, even if he did dump me in the end.

Only because you expected too much too soon, LuAnn scolded. Neither of you were mature enough for marriage back in high school. You were only eighteen, for Pete’s sake.

Maybe he wasn’t ready then, but he got married only a couple of years later, Tami reminded LuAnn bitterly. That was the worst of it. He hadn’t wanted to marry her, but he’d married another woman who had had the baby she’d wanted. She bit her lip to keep the tears from starting again.

LuAnn frowned. Didn’t you tell me his wife died?

Yeah, she did. A couple of years ago.

So, he’s single again, isn’t he? LuAnn raised her eyebrow in a challenging gesture.

Tami snorted. He turned me down flat ten years ago, LuAnn. Do you think I’m going to give him a second chance? To do it again?

That was her biggest fear. She still wanted him, but he hadn’t wanted her back then and she couldn’t face him again now, could she? She couldn’t stand it if she saw rejection of her or indifference to her in his eyes now.

I’ve made a good life for myself here. Why can’t I just leave the past in the past? Why did the boss have to think up an assignment involving my hometown?

LuAnn gave her a hug. I know, Tami. But I was thinking. It wouldn’t hurt to just go with the flow, you know?

Tami eyed her warily. What do you mean?

I was thinking, if he was still interested, it might do you good to have a hot short-term affair with him.

"An affair? With Cal?"

At Tami’s gasp, LuAnn put up her hands in a protective gesture. I don’t mean anything permanent, you know. But you really need to get this guy out of your system so you can move on. You know, like the old song goes, ‘wash that man right out of your hair.’

Wash Cal out of her head? Fat chance. Ten years hadn’t been long enough to do that. She bit back a laugh and shook her head. "It’d never