Bougainvillea by Heather Graham Read Free Book Online Page B

Kit’s mother. That was so long ago. But Kit was an adorable little girl.”
    â€œAnd she shouldn’t come here,” Kaitlin repeated.
    Annoyed, Eli stared at her. “Once again, why would you say that?”
    â€œWhy would I say that?” Kaitlin arched a perfect, blond brow. “It’s going to be miserable. She’ll be all wide eyed wanting to know about her mother. And we’ll all have to lie and say ridiculous things, because we all know her mother was a wretched little slut.”
    â€œKaitlin!” Lenore said, horrified.
    â€œCome on, now, she’s been dead a very long time,” Michael said.
    â€œLet’s be honest—she should stay that way,” Kaitlin said. She rose, walking to the buffet and drawing a cigarette from an old humidor.
    â€œDon’t light that in here—Seamus will go through the roof,” Josh warned.
    â€œWhatever, I say that Seamus wants Kit Delaney here, and he’ll get her here, and she’ll stay, no matter what it takes,” Martin said. “Trust me, I know the man. Whether it’s guilt or what, he hasn’t been his usual self since David brought him the news that Mark was dying.”
    â€œThank God he at least let the man die in peace!” Shelley said softly. The others stared at her. “Well, for good reason, Mark hated the place. He wouldn’t have wanted to know that his daughter was going to return.”
    â€œWe don’t know that she will return,” Eli said.
    Kaitlin let out a long sniff. “If she’s anything like her mother? You bet she’ll come. She’ll sniff out the money in this place in seconds flat.”
    â€œAnd if she’s anything like her mother, old Seamus will fall for her, and we might just find ourselves all out on our little rumps in the cold, huh, Kaitlin?” Josh said lightly as he stood up. “Good night, one and all.”
    He kissed his mother on the forehead, lifted a hand to Michael and the others, and left.
    â€œHow on earth do you let him get away with talking like that? Honestly!” Lenore said to Michael.
    He couldn’t help but smile at his wife. “Because maybe he’s speaking the truth, hmm? Martin, Eli, anyone for a brandy?”
    â€œI’d love one,” Kaitlin said. “Eli, be a dear, and bring it to me on the porch? I’m dying for a cigarette.”
    Dying for a cigarette.
    Those were the last words Marina Delaney had said in this very room, before she had run out of the house.
    Dying…
    And she had done just that.
    Michael felt a chill sweep through him, and he knew why.
    He didn’t want Kit Delaney back here. The very idea of it all but caused his limbs to gel. He was afraid.
    Very afraid.
    And he knew, as well, he wasn’t the only one.
    * * *
    â€œIt’s not as confusing as it sounds,” David said, leaning back on the sofa, sounding somewhat affectionately amused. He and Kit had opted for dinner in the room—quite impressive, since the suite came with a butler and the food was excellent.
    â€œThere were the three original partners—Seamus, my grandfather, and your grandfather. Seamus has a son, Michael, there’s his wife, Lenore, and their son, Josh. My grandfather had my father, who had me. Your grandfather had your dad, who married your mother, and had you.”
    â€œAnd everyone but me lives at Bougainvillea?”
    â€œThat’s not as weird as it sounds, either,” he assured her. “It’s not just one house. There’s the main house, Seamus’s place, and then all the cottages around the lagoon. Don’t you remember?”
    â€œActually, I do,” she murmured. “I remember the lagoon well, and the paths around it that head downto the beach. And there was a darling little bridge that connected the land where the lagoon went on out to the sea. Is it all still there? I was thinking that, after all these years, a storm might have