The Inheritance by Janice Carter

Author:Janice Carter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

JACK’S FACE turned from the windshield to her. “Friend of yours?”

“Well, not exactly. Jim works with me.”

“Long way to come at this time of night. Must be important.” He turned off the ignition and moved his hand to open the door.

“Wait.” Roslyn swallowed, silenced by the cool question in his eyes. Finally she said, “I’m not sure why he’s here. It’s a long story and—”

“And it’s late, Roslyn. I have to get up early in the morning.” He pushed open the door just as Jim reached the front of the car.

“Roslyn?” Jim peered through the windshield, caught sight of her sitting on the passenger side and rushed to open her door.

“Jim! What are you doing here?” Roslyn took the hand he extended and winced as she set her left foot down hard. She stumbled slightly, caught up in his arms in an awkward embrace. He held on a long moment. Roslyn looked past his shoulder to where Jack stood, arms folded, watching.

She pushed herself gently away from Jim. “I don’t understand. Why—”

“I have to talk to you, Roslyn. I know this is bad timing, but we have to clear the air.”

Jack cleared his throat. “I’ve got to go now, Roslyn.”

“Jack, wait! Will you call me tomorrow?”

He held on to the car door long enough to say, “Tomorrow? Sure, if you won’t be too busy.” The door slammed shut and the engine turned over.

Roslyn watched silently as the car slowly reversed and headed toward the center of town. She fought to keep the resentment out of her voice when she turned back to Jim and said, “You’d better come inside.”

HE TALKED LONG into the night. In the beginning, Roslyn was wary. She told him right away that he shouldn’t have come. That it was inappropriate for her to be discussing the inquiry with him.

“But that’s the problem, Roslyn. The whole thing is that I started my own inquiry weeks ago. No, no, please. Hear me out.” He was pacing from counter to table in the kitchen, where they’d been sitting since she’d brought him inside. Roslyn toyed with her empty coffee mug and watched him. But all she saw was the detachment in Jack’s face when he’d taken one last look at her as he’d climbed into the car.

“It started shortly after I got back from my holiday. There was a query for me from one of my clients, a widow who lives in Florida. She said her son-in-law wanted some information about one of her funds. I assured her everything was in order, but when I double-checked, I saw that money had been diverted from one fund into another. It wasn’t a fund I recognized.”

Roslyn stifled a yawn and rubbed her face. She wanted to go to bed. She wanted to fantasize about what might have been if Jim Naismith hadn’t been sitting on her front porch when she’d arrived home. Home. There, she’d used that word again. Her eyes wandered from Jim’s anxious face to the corners of the kitchen.

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