Cover of Night by Linda Howard Read Free Book Online Page B

and horror. “Times two.”
    “Maybe not,” Sheila said, a trifle dubiously. “If there’s any justice in the world, though, Patrick will have four kids who are just like him. My dearest wish is that he’ll call me in the middle of the night because his kids have done something horrendous and he’ll sob while he apologizes from the bottom of his heart.”
    “But poor Andie will have to suffer, too.”
    “Well, I do love Andie, but this is about justice. If she has to suffer, too, my conscience will hold up under the burden.”
    Cate snorted with laughter as she sprayed the muffin pans with butter-flavored nonstick spray, and then began spooning batter into the cups. She adored her mother; she was strong-willed, a bit irascible, and she loved her family to distraction while letting her children get away with nothing. A line Cate fully intended to use on the twins when they were older was one she’d heard her mother shout at Patrick after listening to him whine for an hour because he had to mow the lawn: “Do you think I carried you for nine months and suffered through thirty-six hours of agonizing labor to bring you into this world so you could sit on your butt? Get out there and mow that lawn! That’s what I had you for!”
    Sheer genius.
    After another hesitation, Sheila said, “There’s something I want to talk to you about, let you think on it while I’m here.”
    That sounded ominous. Her mother looked ominous. Cate felt an automatic tightening in her stomach. “Is something wrong, Mom? Is Dad sick? Are you sick? Oh, my God, you aren’t getting divorced, are you?”
    Sheila stared at her, eyes wide, then in tones of awe said, “Good God, I’ve raised a pessimist.”
    Cate’s cheeks flushed. “I’m not a pessimist, but the way you said it, as if something is wrong—”
    “Nothing’s wrong, I promise.” She took a sip of coffee. “It’s just that your dad and I would like to have the boys come home with me for a visit, since he hasn’t seen them since Christmas. They’re old enough now, don’t you think?”
    Played. Cate rolled her eyes. “You did that on purpose.”
    “Did what on purpose?”
    “Made me think something terrible was wrong”—she held up her hand to halt her mother’s protest—“not by what you said but how you said it, and your expression. Then, by comparison to all the horrible things I thought, the idea of the boys going home with you would seem minor. Harmless. Mom, I know how you operate. I took notes, because I intend to use the same tactics on the boys.”
    She took a breath. “It wasn’t necessary. I’m not categorically against the idea. I’m not crazy about it, either, but I’ll think about it. How long did you have in mind?”
    “Two weeks seems reasonable, considering how difficult the trip is.”
    Let the negotiations begin. Cate recognized that ploy, too. Sheila probably wanted a week with the boys, and to make sure she got it, she was asking for twice that. It might teach her a lesson if Cate sweetly agreed to the two weeks. Fourteen days of unrelieved supervision of rowdy four-year-old twins could break even the strongest person.
    “I’ll think about it,” she said, refusing to be drawn into a discussion about the length of the visit when she hadn’t yet agreed to let the boys go. If she didn’t stay on her toes, Sheila would have her so tied up in the details that the boys would be in Seattle before Cate realized she hadn’t said “yes.”
    “Your dad and I will pay for their plane tickets, of course,” Sheila continued persuasively.
    “I’ll think about it,” Cate repeated.
    “You need a little break, yourself. Taking care of this place and those two little hooligans doesn’t give you much time for yourself. You could get your hair cut, get a manicure, pedicure…”
    “I’ll think about it.”
    Sheila huffed out a breath. “We really need to iron out the details.”
    “There’ll be plenty of time for that later… if I decide