“Don’t let that sweet and innocent act fool you. Behind those doe eyes is a mean and hurtful person. Sean learned it too late. Don’t get taken in by her, too.”
He couldn’t ignore Margaret’s warning. “How do you know she burned her uncle’s place down?”
“Sean told me. She confessed to doing it right before they got married. After the arson, she met a man who got her out of trouble and paid for her to attend college. I can just imagine what she gave that man to help her out of that kind of situation.” Margaret pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you know what I mean.”
His gut soured at the thought. “I get the drift.”
Now she’d accused Sarah of using sex to get out of trouble.
He really didn’t know what to think. “Did Sean say why she did it?”
“What possible reason could justify setting fire to someone’s home?”
He didn’t know, but something like that took a lot of rage. He wondered what had happened to make Sarah go to such an extreme. If she even did it.
He couldn’t think through all the information and contradictions. “The woman you describe, and the woman I just met don’t add up. I guess I’ll see who she is when she comes to the ranch tomorrow.”
“Not everyone is as they appear. You know that.”
He’d met people who looked like they wouldn’t hurt a fly but had done some heinous things. He’d met guys who were handsome enough to easily get a date, but instead of treating women with respect resorted to harassment, assault, and worse.
Nothing people did really surprised him anymore.
And because of the people he dealt with he read people well. While he had reservations about Sarah, he wondered if they were rooted in what Margaret told him and his desire to help his friend rather than in anything substantive.
His initial impression of her seemed real. She was a beautiful woman, a warm and patient mother, a reasonable person, and not one to back down when challenged, but also not someone looking for a fight.
“If anyone met you right now, they’d look at you and see a rancher. How would they know you and your family own one of the most successful and lucrative law firms in the country?”
“I see your point. I guess I’ll get a better sense of her tomorrow.”
“You’ll see, I’m not wrong about her.”
“Enjoy your evening with the boys. Have fun with them. Don’t let her get to you. I’ll check on you later in the week.”
Luke was almost out the door when Sarah came down the stairs, cell phone to her ear as she carried on her business conversation. The boys stomped and scuffled upstairs. All he could think was that she looked lovely gliding down the stairs punctuating her conversation with one hand while holding the phone with the other. For a fleeting second he thought how nice it would be to have a home full of noise and life and a woman walking down the stairs to him.
Her eyes met his. She gave him a cautious smile and continued on into the kitchen.
He needed to get a grip. The woman was getting under his skin and she didn’t even know it.
Chapter Seven
The evening hadn’t been as bad as she expected. Mostly because she and Margaret stayed out of each other’s way. Sarah cooked dinner for everyone while finishing her conference call. She and Margaret engaged the boys during dinner but not each other. Margaret didn’t even thank her for cooking and cleaning up.
The boys enjoyed playing with their new toys and Margaret. Sarah watched the boys with their grandmother and decided their happiness was worth being in the same house with her mother-in-law.
She’d discovered a few surprises last night. The pantry and refrigerator were barely stocked, the main living spaces of the house were in need of a good dusting and vacuuming, and Margaret had apparently abandoned the main suite upstairs and moved into the smaller suite off the kitchen.
She’d tried to think of a discreet way to ask Margaret about the state of the house and property, but couldn’t find an opening for the conversation that wouldn’t lead to Margaret taking insult or thinking Sarah looked down on her or her home.
So she thought she’d do something nice for Margaret, and keep the boys from being surrounded by all that dust, and called her housekeeper and nanny, Camille, to come in the morning and clean the house top to bottom.
Once the boys settled into bed after their bath and books, she’d stayed up until four in the morning working on the Knox Project. Not such a hardship to sit out on the balcony with her laptop. The cool night air kept her energized and you couldn’t beat the view of the trees and all those stars. If she listened carefully, she could hear the horses from Luke’s ranch.
She’d gotten the boys breakfast at seven, done the grocery shopping at eight, and met Camille at the door just before eleven. “You made it.”
Camille hugged both boys at once. “I’ve missed you guys.”
Jack cocked his head. “You saw us yesterday.”
Camille poked Jack in the belly. “It seems like forever.” She brushed her hand over Nick’s head, then turned to Sarah. “The drive was beautiful.” She glanced past Sarah into the house. “Everything good?”
“Sure,” Sarah replied because what could she say about Margaret’s expected hostile welcome?
“We’re going to see the horses,” Nick announced.
“I heard.” Camille looked at her. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
Spending the day with Margaret’s attorney . . . No. Probably not a good idea. Still, she couldn’t let him dare her to prove him wrong and not show up to do just that.
“We’re going to have fun riding horses.” Her cheerful response probably didn’t fool Camille about how she really felt about facing Luke’s continued scrutiny.
“Be yourself,” Camille said. “He’ll see you for who you really are.”
“Who are you?” Margaret asked from behind Sarah.
Sarah waved Camille into the entryway. “Margaret, this is my good friend Camille. She’s the boys’ nanny and our housekeeper.”
“What is she doing here? If you’re too busy to pay attention to the children, I’m here. I’m happy to do things with them.”
Sarah handed the cooler to Jack. “Take this out to the car and get in your seats. I’ll be right there.”
Sarah waited for the boys to do as she said, then turned to Margaret. “I’m taking the boys to Luke’s. Camille is here to clean the house.”
“That’s not necessary,” Margaret argued, but Sarah saw the embarrassment in her eyes.
“I’ve got a heavy workload and I promised the boys I wouldn’t work all the time while we are here, so I don’t have time to clean the house myself for you. It’s needed and Camille will take care of it.”
“I don’t want a stranger in my house.”
“You invited me here.” She hoped Margaret understood that she didn’t know Sarah as well as she claimed to Luke. “Camille is part of our family, so please treat her kindly and let her do her job.”
Margaret silently seethed for a moment. “Fine. Of course you’d hire someone to do everything for you.” With that Margaret spun on her heel and walked away.