Clean Romance, Mystery, Suspense, Novella "My dear JoAnn, it was a pleasant surprise to receive your letter. I'm doing fine and at last I've found my happiness. Chris and I are married. I think this answers your question. The path is clear for you. Jim is a good man and I believe you can make him happy. And if he's attracted to you, I wish you all the luck you will need to capture his heart totally. My prayers are with you. May you find the happiness we have found. Love, Lexie and Chris." JoAnn refolded the letter and placed it inside her desk drawer. She glanced at the door to her employer's office. Jim was due to return today from his escape to Montreal, where he'd gone to convalesce emotionally from his break-up with Lexie. There was a time JoAnn had felt Jim was attracted to her, before he met Lexie, but Lexie broke his heart and married someone else. Was there the least bit of chance, JoAnn pondered wistfully, that she might replace his lost love and capture and mend his broken heart? The way to his heart was clear. But he would first have to open its door and let her in. Excerpt 1: ...JoAnn shook her head disconsolately. Nothing to be done about it. She'd have to see him. He'd made this long trip back to the cabin to speak to her. He must care some for her to take such an action. No matter how she looked at it, theirs was never truly your standard boss/secretary association. Both of them single, attractive, intelligent, and needy, it had been easy to offer him companionship and support. She'd made him more than her employer. She'd made him her dearest and best friend. And in like response, he had done the same. But Friendship, as close as theirs had become, was not love. The moment Lexie entered Jim's life, was a rude awakening that hurt terribly. When Lexie broke Jim's heart, JoAnn had every right to feel vindicated, and ready to exert every effort to capture his heart. But she did not feel that joy or the strong desire to capture his heart on the rebound. Her rose-colored glasses had cracked, and the truth bleached them to clear. Jim had no interest in her romantically. If there' d been the least bit of spark, he wouldn't have fallen in love with Lexie the moment he set eyes on her. No, she pondered miserably. The man simply wanted his friend and skilled secretary back. And in truth, she felt that she owed him that much, for his expending such efforts to find her and retrieve her, at least until he regained his footing in the office and she found him a skilled secretary he considered her equal to take her place.... Excerpt 2: ...Jim and Harold's law firm had often represented the embezzled corporation in legal suits. JoAnn and both lawyers and their secretaries were called to the precinct to represent the firm after E.J. Stanton, the company's president, discovered and reported to the authorities a $100,000 dollar unexplained deficit, and accused Alliston, the bookkeeper, of embezzlement, but Jim felt Stanton's evidence accusing Alliston was dubious and he decided to represent the accused Treasurer. No such money was found deposited into any account relating to Alliston's personal finances. The man swore he was innocent. But he was the most likely suspect since he handled all the company's finances. Jim hired a P.I. to investigate. Although the P.I. found no authentic proof that would stand up in court, he did lead Jim to form certain conclusions about who might have been the actual embezzler. "And you remember who I mentioned in my notes," Jim whispered. "Yes, I do." JoAnn answered. "But those suspicions were never made public." "Nevertheless, my office was broken into and files searched. Nothing was discovered missing except the file I carried with me in my briefcase." "Alliston's," JoAnn said, shakily." Jim nodded. "We are all in danger, aren't we?" JoAnn said. "Yes we are," Jim said. "There's already been one murder committed relativ