The Marriage Maker by Christie Ridgway

Author:Christie Ridgway [Ridgway, Christie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, General, Contemporary, Fiction
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2000-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Once she drove to the B and B and located Celeste reading in the den off the kitchen, Cleo found herself tongue-tied. Maybe it was because of the love seat—where she’d first encountered the power of what Ethan could do to her. Maybe it was because she couldn’t explain how someone as capable as herself was married to a man who ran from emotional entanglements.

But she had to say something about why she was there. So despite the fact that a phone call would have served the purpose, she smiled and said she’d come by to share some interesting news she’d heard at the day care center. One of the Beansprouts’s fathers worked on a construction crew at the Laughing Horse casino and resort project.

Cleo settled beside Celeste on the cushions. “So, Mama. You’ll never guess,” she said lightly. “Whitehorn has another mystery.”

“What kind of mystery?” Celeste turned her way. With the light of a nearby lamp falling on her mother’s face, Cleo could see the signs of more sleepless nights. She hadn’t noticed it earlier in the day, when her mother’s delight in Jonah hid so much.

Cleo’s stomach clenched with worry, but she gamely continued. “They halted construction on the resort today.” She widened her eyes in mock alarm. “Because they found a skeleton.”

“What?” Celeste’s book slid off her knees and thumped to the floor. “Did you say a skeleton?”

Cleo nodded.

Her mother leaned over to pick up her book, her wavy hair hiding her face. “You mean, like an animal’s, or a dinosaur or something?”

“Nope. A human skeleton. And what’s more, they found a bullet lodged in one of the ribs.”

Celeste didn’t immediately straighten, though it still took Cleo a couple of seconds to realize her mother was frozen with…with what?

“Mama?” She put her arm around Celeste’s back and eased her to a sitting position. Thump. The book Celeste had retrieved fell again, out of her fingers this time, and Cleo kicked it aside and edged closer to her mother. “Mama?” She reached for Celeste’s hands.

They were icy. The kind of cold that comes with shock…or terror.

Cleo pulled at the afghan tossed over the arm of the love seat and wrapped it around her mother. “What’s wrong? Are you ill?”

When her mother didn’t answer, Cleo jumped up. “I’m calling nine-one-one.”

“No!” Celeste suddenly came to life, her gaze jumping to Cleo’s face. “I’m all right, sweetie.” She inhaled a shuddering breath. “Just a…just a goose…walking over my grave.”

But to Cleo, Celeste looked as though she was going to be sick. “Mama—”

Her mother held up a hand. Cleo thought it was trembling. “Some tea, sweetie. I’ll be fine after some hot, sweet tea.”

“Are you sure?” At her mother’s nod, Cleo backed toward the kitchen. “Lucky for you, tea is the one thing I don’t burn.” She was relieved when her mother smiled, and then even added a rusty chuckle.

The teakettle couldn’t sing fast enough. Cleo checked on her mother fourteen times before the scent of steeping cinnamon and orange tea filled

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.