Читать книгу Kiss Me Forever - Rosemary Laurey - Страница 7

“You want me to give her an unwelcome?”

Sebastian Caughleigh almost smiled. His nephew caught on quickly. “We’ll call it a…discouragement.” With that laugh, James had definite possibilities.

“I can take care of one old lady.”

“This is the granddaughter. The daughter died years ago and it seems the Misses Underwood’s sister snuffed it a few weeks before old Miss Faith. This Dixie LePage is thirty and conveniently sent me her picture.”

James peered at the photo on the desktop. An auburn-haired young woman with green eyes smiled at the camera. “Nice,” James murmured. “Do I get to choose the inconvenience?”

“No! She’s arriving on the twelfth and obligingly gave us the flight number. You find her at Gatwick. Lift her wallet. Without money or credit cards, she won’t get far. With a bit of luck she’ll run home in distress. A fainting female who can’t take inconvenience.”

A glint of appreciation lit James’s pale eyes as he smiled at the photograph. “Maybe I won’t lift her wallet—first thing.”

“You will. It’s survival. For all of us. We can’t have her poking around the house and finding stuff the Sunday supplements would kill for.”

“What if losing a wallet doesn’t delay her?”

“How far can she get without passport or money? She’ll be stranded and run home—where she should have stayed. The damn woman could have had nice regular checks and no hassle, but she just had to come and see a ‘real, quaint English village.’” Sebastian snorted. “I’ll give her quaint.”

James chuckled. “The wallet should work. Nice idea, Uncle. I salute you.”

“It was Emily’s. She lost her wallet and passport in Madeira last year and she’s still talking about it.”

A smirk played on James’s pale lips. “Always knew you were attracted to the woman for her mind.” He nodded. “I’m off then, Uncle. Got to work out the details of my ‘welcome.’”

Sebastian frowned at the closed door. He hadn’t told his nephew the half. If this wretched woman arrived and insisted on claiming her property, they’d have problems beyond measure. Once she was in the house…Sebastian pushed his chair from his desk. She couldn’t get that far. James’s little diversion had to work. If not, they’d have to get awkward, maybe even nasty. Others stood to lose along with him. Maybe it was time to call in favors.