Kisses in the Rain

Kisses in the Rain

Circles of Love Series

Book Two

by

Pamela Browning

Award-winning Author

KISSES IN THE RAIN

Reviews & Accolades

"Ms Browning has given us another memorable story."

~Romantic Times

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ISBN: 978-1-61417-812-5

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Copyright © 1987, 2015 by Pamela Browning. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

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Dedication

This book is written in memory of my parents, Jack and Helen Ketter, who loved Alaska. That was a great party!

Author Note

My Circles of Love series celebrates untraditional families, all brought together through the love of the hero and heroine for each other. In these four heartwarming books, each loving couple must decide what makes a family. Is family defined only by blood ties? Or is it what we feel in our hearts?

Jane and Duncan, Martha and Nick, Kate and Morgan, Sage and Adam—four couples whose love stories ultimately bring them to the realization that a family is made up of the very special people that we choose to embrace in our ever-widening Circles of Love.

P.B.

Chapter 1

Martha Rose munched thoughtfully on the chocolate-chip cookie that was her breakfast and considered the hills on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. It had rained yesterday, the storm rolling in off San Francisco Bay and starting a few mud slides west of town. Mud slides, earthquakes, heavy fogs—San Franciscans took all in stride. Martha didn't think she'd ever get used to it.

The question today was whether or not to take a raincoat or umbrella when she set off in search of a job. From this tiny sun deck hanging off the back of her friend Lindsay's rented house halfway up Telegraph Hill, Martha thought the bay looked exactly like a picture postcard. The blue was bluer than ever, the greens were greener, and the few clouds scudded across a sky that dazzled the eye with its intensity. For once—and this was unusual—there wasn't even fog. It looked like a perfect May day.

Martha reached for another chocolate-chip cookie and bit into it as Lindsay's curly blond head appeared around the edge of the door.

"I'm running late, Martha. I've got to go. What are you going to do today?" Lindsay stepped outside so that she could cadge a cookie from the plastic bag.

"I'm going to answer a couple of newspaper ads. See if I can find a job. The usual."

"Why don't you join Sigmund and me for dinner tonight? We're going for pasta."

"Um," said Martha, using a full mouth as an excuse for not answering right away.

"You can think it over. I'll be home right after work—that awful Mrs. Claussen doesn't come in and start pestering me about the furnishings for her yacht." Lindsay was an associate with a prominent interior-design firm, and Mrs. Claussen was her worst client.

"That Mrs. Claussen of yours rolls in as regularly as the fog, doesn't she?"

"There's no fog today. Maybe that's a hopeful sign."

"Here's to a Claussen-free day," said Martha, raising her glass of milk in a toast.

Lindsay rolled her eyes and laughed. "If only I could count on being that fortunate. Good luck with your job hunt." With that, Lindsay rushed back inside the house. Martha heard the rapid click of Lindsay's heels on the wooden floor as she left for work.

Martha settled back in her chair and reached for another cookie. Then she put it back. She'd better start thinking about staying slim, especially since the ad in last night's paper that had most interested her had stated:
Wanted: Model Type with B.A. Degree in Business.

Martha's Bachelor of Arts degree was indeed in business and she'd modeled for a department store while she was in college. The ad intrigued her and seemed to promise a different kind of job from the ones she'd been offered since she'd arrived here.

She sipped her milk slowly and surveyed Lindsay's neighbors on the decks of the pastel-colored houses descending in tiers below. Many of the people were gulping down a last cup of coffee before running off to work. Perhaps by next week Martha would be doing that, too.

Maybe Martha was aiming too high, but she didn't think so. She wanted a job in the retail business and a future in management. Since her graduation from college four years ago, she'd worked at a major department store in the accounting department, then switched to sales when she'd realized that she enjoyed contact with the customers. A year later she'd left to manage a boutique in Kokomo, Indiana, but she'd become restless when she'd realized that it was a dead-end job.