Read an excerpt of

Shattered Dreams

by Sandee McCann

ISBN: 1413732259
Available now from PublishAmerica

CHAPTER ONE

"What do you think you're doing?"

Brinna Chase stood rooted to the floor. The voice was so clear, so familiar...so very male. She whirled around to face the speaker. "Mas...Mason Merrick," she stuttered. "It's been forever."

Mason Merrick had changed. For one thing, he had grown. He was taller, probably close to, if not actually, six feet tall. His dark, collar-length hair was still wavy, and his pale blue eyes were remarkably like his brother Zack's.

Mason reached out and embraced her. Brinna hugged him quickly, then pulled away.

"How are you, Mason?"

His hand touched her elbow. "Good, very good, Brinna. I've been working at this firm for almost three years now. Funny not to have noticed you sooner."

"I'm a temp. I've only been here for three weeks. Anyway, I guess I'll be moving on soon, hopefully to a permanent job in another law office."

"Ah, no wonder! I've been out of town for the past three weeks. Listen, I'm in a rush. I'm due back in court soon." He checked his watch for emphasis. "I'll probably be there for the rest of the day." Mason had already started to back across the copy room toward the exit. "But could we do lunch tomorrow, say 1:00?"

"Sure, I'll meet you right here. See you then."

"Don't you have all of the luck?"

Debbie's voice startled her.

"Pardon?" Brinna put another page face down on the copier.

"Don't act coy, Brinna. You know what I'm talking about. Getting one of the attorneys to ask you out."

Brinna laughed. "I've known Mason Merrick since I was born." She closed the lid on the copier, set the control for ten copies, and stepped back.

Debbie's eyebrows arched. "You never mentioned that fact before."

"I didn't know he worked here, Debbie. I haven't seen Mason in so many years. I didn't even know he was an attorney."

"Don't get around much, do you, girl?" Debbie's calf-length, peacock-blue skirt swayed gracefully as she walked away.

"I'm just a temp. I don't need to know anything, except how to make copies, file papers, and answer the phone. So much for using my legal secretary skills at this law firm." Brinna gathered her papers from the copier.

"Just hang on, you'll get on full-time somewhere soon. With summer coming, a lot of people will be leaving the area to escape the heat. You'll have more temporary job offers than you'll know what to do with, and in the autumn the market will open up. I'm sure of it. Plus, rumor has it that a certain attorney here," Debbie paused to clear her throat, "is opening his own office. Nothing confirmed, of course, but I bet you could get hired there." Debbie winked and turned the corner in the direction of her own office.

Debbie had become a fast friend to Brinna in the three weeks since she had come to Shipley, O'Rourke and Harrison. Debbie was thirtyish, a paralegal, and a gossip. She was usually entertaining as she related office tales, and she made it her business to keep up with all of the latest happenings. She knew who was seeing whom, who was having an affair, and who was having a baby, getting married, or filing for a divorce.

It occurred to Brinna that she would be the latest subject matter. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, then began to deposit the copies she had made in interoffice mailboxes. At 11:00, she was back at her desk, alphabetizing files. In an hour, it would be her turn at the switchboard, a welcome change from the eye-straining work she did most of the day. Her shift, lunchtime, would be quiet, and she would most likely have an opportunity to read the "Help Wanted" ads in the newspaper.

Brinna mentally counted the days until her apartment lease expired. She had lived in the same old building for six years, with only $20-a-year rent increases. Now, management had sent out letters to the tenants informing them that the building had been sold. No leases would be renewed.

For Brinna, the news couldn't have come at a worse time. The law firm where she had worked since college had ceased to exist. Two partners retired. The third had joined another firm. To make things worse, the job market in the South Florida area was tight. Even temporary jobs were hard to get. She pushed her hair back behind her ear. She knew she'd be in a heap of trouble if she didn't find a decent job fast. The thought of moving back home again was unbearable, but it appeared to be the only alternative she had at the moment.

That afternoon, Brinna slipped behind the seat of her nearly three-year-old Volvo, ready to head home. She caressed the steering wheel affectionately as she drove out into traffic. She loved this car, but she knew that if she didn't find a permanent job soon, she would have to trade it in on a less expensive model. She had bought the car when her job at Goldman Associates seemed safe, secure, even permanent.

She glanced into the rearview mirror and ran a hand through her short, brown hair. How much had she changed in the past twelve years since she had last seen Mason? She had been only sixteen, a girl really, when her family moved from Summit to Dalton. But that wasn't quite true, she thought. She had been a woman when she left. Zack Merrick, Mason's brother, had seen to that.

One unexpected meeting with Mason and a hundred memories began to resurface. She, Mason, Zack and their siblings had grown up in the same neighborhood. Mason, three years older than she, was the second oldest of seven brothers. Zack was the oldest. Mason had had a crush on her--a major league crush. Years later, she had chalked it up to a teenage boy's raging hormones. Although Brinna had been pleasantly surprised to see Mason, some of the memories were painful.

At home in her one-bedroom apartment, she kicked off her black pumps and stretched her aching feet. She stripped off her dark green suit, and slipped into a comfortable terry robe. After she popped a frozen dinner into the microwave, she walked into the bedroom and opened the closet.

In preparation for her impending move, Brinna had begun to pack boxes. After a five-minute search, she found the velvet-lined jewelry box she was looking for. She had almost forgotten it existed, but seeing Mason today had reminded her. She opened the aging wood lid with anticipation. Pushing aside her old high school ring, the silver charms, cheap bracelets, and old school pictures, she found it: the thin gold band, with its tiny diamond, still shining proudly. Brinna smiled. Such a small token today, but it had meant more than life itself all those years ago.

At work the next day, Brinna watched the clock edge toward 1:00. She had anticipated her lunch with Mason with mixed emotions. She was glad to become reacquainted with an old friend, but she wasn't sure she wanted to delve too deeply into her past. Still she assured herself she could handle anything. After all, Mason had five other brothers besides Zack that they could talk about, and they had twelve years of catching up to do.

"Hi, Brinny." Mason smiled at her from the entrance to her cubicle, his white teeth gleaming. He wore a dark blue suit, white shirt and striped tie. He wasn't dressed in current top of the line "trial style," but he looked both fashionable and prosperous. If he was working at this firm, he had to be doing well.

"Hi, Mason." She stood to straighten her red polo tunic and skirt, then she grabbed her matching leather purse and walked out of the office with him. "It's going to be a hot summer." She shielded her eyes from the sun.

"Aren't they always hot? This is Florida, Sunshine." Mason led her by the elbow to the cafe across the street. Cafe Janeen was a trendy little establishment favored by the downtown business crowd. Quick service and good food made it a popular lunch spot. Today was no exception. Brinna sighed when she saw the building bulging with lunchtime customers. "Maybe we should go somewhere else."

"Nonsense." Mason snapped his fingers, catching the attention of a blond waitress.

"Ah, Mr. Merrick, your table is ready, as always."

A moment later, they were seated. Mason's stare sent prickles of discomfort through her. She remembered that trance-like stare from twelve years ago.

"Brinny, you're still as pretty as you were the last time I saw you. I've always been a sucker for those dark brown eyes."

"You've really grown up, too. You're a man now. You weren't when I left Summit."

"Yes, I suppose I was just the opposite of you. I was a late bloomer. You were an early one."

She laughed aloud, amused by his comment.

"Oh, Brinny, I nearly forgot. I talked to my mother yesterday. She couldn't believe that I had run into you. She wants me to bring you by for dinner tomorrow night. Can you make it?"

"In Summit?" she asked.

"No, she moved to the Oceanview area several years ago."

Brinna was surprised. Oceanview was an upper-class neighborhood.

"How is your mom, Mason?"

"She is doing really well...getting remarried. Oh, I guess you don't know. My father passed away a few years ago. He tipped back the bottle one too many times, and his liver finally gave out."

Brinna cringed at Mason's callous attitude toward his father's death. "No, I didn't know. I'm so sorry. Your father was a nice man."

"Anyway, my mother just received her college degree and wants to go back to work soon."

She wanted to know how Zack was after all these years, but dare she ask? She fiddled with her fork for a few moments, then looked up at Mason. "How is Zack?"

Mason smiled. "I guess I should have known that was coming. Zack is well. Not like when you knew him before the accident, but not like he was when you left, either. He finally came to terms with it all." He paused to give the waitress their orders and smiled before he continued. "Anyway, he's still in a wheelchair, but his mind is all there. He never did finish law school. He writes mystery novels."

Brinna's jaw dropped. "I didn't know that. I guess it says something about how much time I spend in the bookstore, doesn't it?"

"He writes under the name Z.R. Merrick. You might not have noticed, and although he's had much success, he's not overly famous. Also, he's very private. He doesn't do interviews or allow photographs, no publicity whatsoever. It's probably stunting his career."

"I would never have thought Zack would write."

"He does extremely well. Of course, he has the settlements that came in after the accident."

"You know, Mason, you look just like him." She lifted a glass of water to her lips.

"That's what my mother always says. Can you believe how much time has gone by? Zack is thirty-four, I'm thirty-one. It seems like only yesterday that we went to my senior prom together." He smiled at the memory.

"Don't remind me." Brinna said, shaking her head.

Mason's eyes darkened. "I guess we took our little game too far. We should have been up front all around, and no one would have been hurt. I knew you were in love with Zack. The problem was, I was in love with you, too."

"It was a long time ago." She looked away nervously. This was a subject she would rather not reminisce about.

"Yes, it was."

The waitress arrived and placed their lunches in front of them, and Mason ordered a mixed drink.

"So, all that aside, will you come to dinner tomorrow?"

"Sure, I'd love to see your mother again." She lifted a fork.

"Great. About 8:00? I'll pick you up--just give me directions to your home."

Back at the office after lunch, Brinna contemplated her renewed relationship with the Merrick family while she sorted the outgoing mail. It would be a pleasure to see Connie Merrick again, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to see Zack.

"Hi, hot stuff." Debbie had appeared and closed the door behind her.

"I had lunch with Mason. Stop. Nothing remarkable happened. Stop. I'm going to dinner at his mother's home tomorrow. End of report."

"Ah...dinner with mom, and you two just reacquainted! Perhaps an engagement by the end of the year. We could sure use a big spring wedding around here."

Brinna's face reddened. "There will never be a wedding between Mason Merrick and me. I loved his brother." If she could only stuff her size six foot into her mouth. Was it too late to retract? "It was twelve years ago," she added, "I was only sixteen. Zack was twenty-two. It surely isn't important now."

"If you hadn't thought it important, you wouldn't have brought it up. Tell me all about it. It will make you feel better," Debbie reached over and patted her hand.

"This is silly. I feel like I'm on a television talk show, making a confession."

"It's only you and me. Nothing you say will cross my lips. I promise."

Brinna didn't really want to talk about it, but she felt the need to explain, before Debbie took the information out of context and spread it around the office. She knew that try as she might--or might not--Debbie could never keep a secret she was a born gossip.

"At our ages now, no one would blink an eye, but when I was a sixteen-year-old junior in high school, involved with a twenty-two-year-old law student, well, my parents would have raised the roof. So, nobody knew, not my parents, not even my younger sister, Crystal." What she didn't tell her was that instead of telling her parents the truth, she had led everyone to believe that she was dating Mason.