Mills & Boon is proud to present a fabulous collection of fantastic novels by bestselling, much loved author
ANNE MATHER
Anne has a stellar record of achievement within the
publishing industry, having written over one hundred and sixty books, with worldwide sales of more than forty-eight MILLION copies in multiple languages.
This amazing collection of classic stories offers a chance
for readers to recapture the pleasure Anne’s powerful, passionate writing has given.
We are sure you will love them all!
I’ve always wanted to write—which is not to say I’ve always wanted to be a professional writer. On the contrary, for years I only wrote for my own pleasure and it wasn’t until my husband suggested sending one of my stories to a publisher that we put several publishers’ names into a hat and pulled one out. The rest, as they say, is history. And now, one hundred and sixty-two books later, I’m literally—excuse the pun—staggered by what’s happened.
I had written all through my infant and junior years and on into my teens, the stories changing from children’s adventures to torrid gypsy passions. My mother used to gather these manuscripts up from time to time, when my bedroom became too untidy, and dispose of them! In those days, I used not to finish any of the stories and Caroline, my first published novel, was the first I’d ever completed. I was newly married then and my daughter was just a baby, and it was quite a job juggling my household chores and scribbling away in exercise books every chance I got. Not very professional, as you can imagine, but that’s the way it was.
These days, I have a bit more time to devote to my work, but that first love of writing has never changed. I can’t imagine not having a current book on the typewriter—yes, it’s my husband who transcribes everything on to the computer. He’s my partner in both life and work and I depend on his good sense more than I care to admit.
We have two grown-up children, a son and a daughter, and two almost grown-up grandchildren, Abi and Ben. My e-mail address is [email protected] and I’d be happy to hear from any of my wonderful readers.
Moon Witch
Anne Mather
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
THE pretty stewardess came down the aisle of the Super VC 10, and stopped beside the seat of one of her first-class passengers. ‘We’ll be landing in fifteen minutes, Mr. Kyle,’ she said, smiling politely.
The man looked up from the file of papers he had been studying with deep concentration, frowning slightly at the interruption. ‘What? Oh yes, fifteen minutes, thank you.’ He nodded briefly, and returned to his papers, and the stewardess gave an almost imperceptible lift of her shoulders before returning to her position at the rear of the plane. She looked resentfully at her fellow-stewardess and said:
‘Honestly, I don’t know when I’ve ever been so disappointed!’
The other girl smiled questioningly. ‘Why?’
‘Well, having Jarrod Kyle as a passenger, of course. Heavens, the reputation he has I thought he’d at least notice me! As it is, I don’t think he sees me as anything more than part of the fuselage!’
The other girl laughed. ‘And is he attractive?’
The stewardess shrugged. ‘Not particularly. In fact he’s quite unattractive. He has one of those hard, craggy faces; I’m sure his nose has been broken. He’s big, of course, and having hair of that silvery shade is unusual, I suppose, but he’s very thin!’
‘Poor Mr. Kyle,’ said the other girl, still amused. ‘You’re certainly exploding the myth. Which one is he?’
‘I’ll show you, as they leave,’ replied the stewardess tartly, and returned to her duties.
Jarrod Kyle was surprised when the huge airliner landed at London Airport to find both stewardesses appraising him thoroughly. Turning his blue eyes on them, he said: ‘Say, is anything wrong? Did I snore in my sleep or something?’
Both girls gave embarrassed smiles, and one of them said: ‘I hope you enjoyed the flight, Mr. Kyle.’
Nodding, he shrugged his broad shoulders and walked down the catwalk into the airport buildings. As he disappeared, one of the girls looked exasperatedly at the other. ‘Did you say he wasn’t attractive!’ she exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Jarrod Kyle was given V.I.P. clearance of Customs and carrying his briefcase, his overcoat slung over one shoulder, he crossed the reception hall to where John Matthews, his personal assistant, was waiting for him. ‘Hi, Matt,’ he said warmly.
‘Good to see you, Jarrod. Did you have a good holiday?’ responded Matt, grinning.
‘Fine,’ Jarrod nodded, falling into step beside the other man. ‘Plenty of fishing—the way I like it.’
‘Catch anything?’ Matt glanced his way.
‘Depends what you mean,’ remarked Jarrod dryly. ‘How’s the old man?’
‘J.K.? Oh, he’s okay, I guess. Are you driving up there tonight?’
Jarrod glanced at his watch. ‘I guess so. It’s after five-thirty—let’s go have a drink and you can tell me what’s been happening.’
Matt looked at him thoughtfully. ‘I think that would be a good idea, Jarrod,’ he agreed mildly, pushing open the door of the bar.
Over whisky on the rocks, the way Jarrod liked it, Matt said: ‘There’s been quite an unexpected bombshell, actually. Want to hear about it?’
Jarrod lit a cigar. ‘Of course,’ he said, his eyes narrowing. ‘Not the Bradford merger?’
‘No,’ Matt shook his head. ‘That deal went through all right. J.K. handled it himself. I guess he thought he ought to pick up the reins in your absence, so to speak. I don’t think he’ll ever completely retire, do you?’
Jarrod took his cigar out and studied the glowing tip. ‘So? What’s this bombshell? Don’t keep me in suspense, Matt.’
Matt swallowed a mouthful of whisky before