Spring River Valley: The Spring Collection (Boxed Set) by Clarice Wynter

tear it up. Before you throw away your career, think about this.” Janet paused to lean on the table, her face even with Evie’s, her gaze steely. “You’ve been sending articles to me for a long time, and you know how to delete things. There aren’t any accidents. So ask yourself how careless you really were.”
    Janet straightened and left the break room, the door slamming shut behind her.
    Evie stared after her editor, her mood as fragile as shattered glass. Janet’s parting words had been meant to teach her a lesson. For all her protests, hadn’t she desperately wanted a headline? How could she ever ask for Tanner’s forgiveness with the truth staring her in the face?
    She’d proven herself to be the journalist she’d always dreamed of being, the one who put the story above all else.
    Too bad the disaster her life had become wasn’t going to make front-page news.
     
    * * * *
     
    The knock on Tanner’s door roused him from his brooding. He set the beer he’d been nursing for the past hour on the coffee table and crossed to the door. After opening the chain lock and the door, he turned and headed back to the couch without acknowledging his visitor.
    Taylor entered the apartment, a dry-cleaning bag slung over his shoulder. “Nice to see you too,” he deadpanned, deliberately walking between Tanner and the muted television. He hung the bag from the half-open bedroom door. “You forgot to take the tux the other day.”
    “Oh, yeah. I got a call and had to leave before I found it. Thanks.”
    “I had it cleaned.”
    “I’ll pay you back.”
    “Forget it.”
    Silence hung between them for a long time during which Tanner concentrated on the voiceless newscast he’d been staring at. Taylor stood by the window, arms crossed , managing to look more like their father than he had a right to at his age. “I suppose the double date is off.”
    Tanner let out a barking laugh. “How did you find out?”
    “You mean besides reading the paper? Quinn told me. I called him to see how he was doing, and he told me how things went between you and Evie.”
    “There’s nothing between me and Evie.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Me too. And I really don’t want to talk about it.”
    “Did you take a lot of heat from Gary?”
    “Not as much as I expected.”
    Taylor sighed. “It seems like everything in the article was speculation, no real facts. And the speculation was based on rumors that were going around town anyway.”
    “So what are you saying?”
    “I’m just saying, maybe you should talk to her.”
    “Maybe.”
    “But you’re not going to.”
    “Not right now.”
    “Suit yourself.” Taylor looked around the dark apartment. “When you’re ready to come out of your cave, call me.”
    “It may be a while.”
    Taylor crossed the room and opened the door to let himself out. “That’s all right. I’ve got plenty of time.”

Chapter Fourteen
     
     
    “I can’t believe you’re still going to the bachelor auction,” Evie forced her lips into a wry grin. She hadn’t felt much like smiling for the past week, but the idea of terminally shy Bailey bidding on a man at the charity auction did manage to lift her otherwise deadened spirits.
    “I can’t believe you’re not. I thought it was your assignment.” Bailey slowed her pace so Evie could once again catch up during their Saturday morning run.
    “No more Lifestyle pieces for me. After Janet tore up my resignation, she put me on the City Hall beat. Besides, I don’t think I’ll find the man for me in a bachelor auction.” Her voice cracked a little on the word, and she covered the momentary lapse with a cough.
    The man for her was no longer speaking to her, and she had no desire to find someone else only to have her already aching heart broken again. She hadn’t seen Tanner since she’d walked out of his apartment, and he hadn’t called. Each day that passed since their last wrenching conversation added a layer to the hard shell forming around