Just a Little Jilted by Joss Wood

Just a Little Jilted by Joss Wood

Author:Joss Wood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-01-23T16:10:35+00:00


* * *

The next day, Soren walked into Avangeline’s morning sitting room and found her where he expected her to be, sitting on the couch by the open French doors that led out to her beloved rose garden. A gentle, early morning breeze pulled the scent of the lavender and roses into the room and swirled around him as he took a seat opposite her.

His grandmother’s lovely face was deeply lined but she still wore her trademark red lipstick, black-rimmed glasses and a ten-carat diamond ring on her ring finger.

As he waited for Avangeline to pull her attention from her newspaper, he looked around the room, idly noting that the Picasso had changed places with the Rothko and that two irreplaceable Chinese vases had been moved out of the room. Avangeline, who had a passion for antiques, could’ve lent them to a museum or, for all he knew, sold them for something better or rarer.

Avangeline lowered her newspaper, folded it into a square and laid it on the coffee table in front of her, perfectly aligned with the silver tray holding a carafe of coffee and a single expensive cup and saucer.

Jacinda would be bringing him his coffee soon, in a sturdy mug. He could afford antiques but he preferred to drink out of something simple and solid.

“Good morning, Soren.”

“Avangeline,” Soren replied. She was always Avangeline, even when they’d been small. “Grandmother,” on the very rare occasion, was acceptable.

“So, they sent you first,” Avangeline said, her back steel-rod straight and her right foot tucked behind her left calf.

Soren widened his eyes, hoping to convey innocence. “I don’t understand what you mean,” he answered her.

“You and your brothers got together, decided I was acting out of character and that you needed to take turns to check out the money-grabbing con woman who is trying to take advantage of me,” Avangeline crisply stated.

Well, yes. That.

“And to get me to make a will.” Avangeline’s fingers dug into seat of her cushion.

Soren didn’t see any point in dancing around the subject. “Precisely. We don’t understand why you are balking,” Soren shot back. He leaned forward, sending her a hard look. “You owned and operated a billion-dollar empire, a multi-national company. You understand, better than most, why it’s so important to be legally protected, to have clear directives in place for every eventuality. Your lack of action is baffling, Grandmother.”

Something flashed in her eyes and Soren frowned, unsure of what he’d seen. His grandmother looked, for a moment, lost and alone. But why?

When she turned her gaze to look at him, her eyes were shuttered and all he saw was flat green. Was that what people saw when they looked into his eyes? Nothing but a barrier, an impenetrable wall of brilliant color?

“I will make a will when I am ready!”

“You are eighty-two years old, Avang—”

“I might be old, Soren, but I haven’t lost my mind!”

“Nobody is suggesting that you have. But not making a will and inviting a strange woman into your house are both risky moves,” Soren countered.



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.