“Not a happy camper.”
“I figured that. When she gets scared, she gets angry. The first year after her mother died, I thought my home was a war zone. Thankfully, she began to accept her mother’s death, and I nearly had my daughter back. Then she hit puberty. Everything changed. Did I tell you I don’t like change?”
“I’ll tell you a secret. Neither do I.”
“How do you do what you do?”
“One assignment at a time. It’s important for me to keep my focus on the present.” And she had to remember that. No more journeys into her past.
He took one end of the couch and beckoned her to sit at the other end. “I’m glad it’s Tuesday. I have the Thanksgiving holidays before Abbey goes back to school to get things worked out. It’ll give you two some time to get to know each other. To get her used to you being around.”
“We’ll get into a routine. That should help.”
At that moment Uncle Joshua entered with Slade’s mother-in-law, a woman in her early sixties with short silver hair and dark brown eyes. She came to right above Joshua’s shoulders, and he was well over six feet tall.
Dressed in stylish tan slacks and a matching jacket and a white tailored blouse, Mary grasped the back of one of the chairs in the grouping while Joshua folded his long length into the opposite one. “Hilda is still shaken up in the kitchen,” she said. “I’ll be in there if you need me.”
“I appreciate the tour, Mary.” Joshua grinned, his look fastened onto the older woman.
Mary’s cheeks colored a pink shade as she scurried from the room.
Joshua chuckled. “I don’t think she’s too comfortable with everything.”
“She hasn’t had much time to assimilate what’s going on. I only called her a few hours ago to tell her my plans. Until then, all she thought was that we’d had a blowout on Saturday. She’s lived a pretty sheltered life, especially here at the ranch.” Slade shifted on the couch as though he couldn’t get settled. “I thought we should talk about some kind of game plan.”
Joshua tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, something he did when he was impatient to get to work. “As I told you before, I want to check for listening devices, then talk to the people who put in your security system.”
“I want to get a feel for the house and the surrounding area. Meet the people who work for you besides Hilda.” Elizabeth captured Slade’s attention. “Everyone.”
“That’s fine. I can introduce—”
A scream from above ripped through the house, followed by a thud.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.