Hero Duty by Jenny Schwartz Read Free Book Online Page A

soon as possible, he didn’t argue. Derek didn’t offer to carry her bags.
    ‘I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow.’ Jessica looked at Portia, who stood in their way.
    ‘Darling, I know how hard it is to be in the house without Ian. I keep expecting to see him around the corner or standing on the terrace, checking the sailing conditions. But I really could use your help in preparing for the weekend. It will be traumatic for all of us. Ian’s final good-bye.’
    ‘The bags are heavy, Portia. Could you move so I can put take them down to the taxi.’
    ‘What taxi?’
    ‘I called one.’ Jessica stepped forward.
    Brodie noted Derek’s jolt of surprise. Evidently, Jessica usually accepted her fate.
    ‘I didn’t hear you talking to anyone.’ Portia just wouldn’t give up.
    Jessica kept moving. Her stepmother finally gave ground.
    ‘I called while I was clearing my toiletries from the bathroom.’
    Brodie fell in behind the boss, feeling proud of her. She hadn’t let their lack of transport stop her. She was fighting back.
    At the foot of the stairs, a woman walked out of the shadows and held open the front door. She was Vietnamese, in her fifties, and had a smile for Jessica.
    Jessica returned her smile. ‘Thank you, Mae.’
    ‘Your taxi is here. I just let him in.’
    ‘That will be all, Mae,’ Portia snapped.
    Brodie rubbed the back of his neck, unwillingly amused. The woman sounded like a bad sitcom character.
    Mae smiled her good-bye and walked back along the hall, presumably to the kitchen.
    ‘Butler?’ Brodie murmured in Jessica’s ear. He loved her little snort of laughter.
    ‘Housekeeper. Mae’s a love. She could organise this weekend all by herself.’
    ‘Hardly,’ Portia said. Botox defeated the scowl that sharpened her voice. ‘Mae’s not family.’
    ‘Mae and her husband, Steve, have worked here nine years as housekeeper and caretaker,’ Jessica said, her information neutrally delivered but contradicting Portia nonetheless.
    ‘She likes you,’ Brodie said.
    ‘Oh, please.’ Derek sounded like a teenager.
    He was probably rolling his eyes, but Brodie didn’t bother to look. He concentrated on Jessica. She paused halfway down the front steps, rocking on one foot. ‘Really?’
    ‘Well, you like her, don’t you? People like to be liked.’
    ‘Oh wise one.’ With her mockery, she relaxed into a genuine smile.
    ‘Like a damn fortune cookie,’ Derek muttered. He stuck his hands in his pockets and trailed after them.
    Portia stayed in the doorway. The effect of her white clothing against the dim hall was undoubtedly calculated.
    ‘Jessica, I’m worried about you,’ Derek said.
    Her smile vanished and her shoulders hunched.
    Brodie dropped the folders and his duffel into the boot of the taxi and took her bags from her.
    ‘Losing a parent is a traumatic experience,’ Derek continued. ‘All the more for you. The loss of your mother — ’
    Jessica froze.
    Brodie bundled her into the taxi and closed the door. Physically moving women around wasn’t his usual style, but nor was standing by while one was abused. Emotional abuse was abuse. He faced her stepbrother.
    The shorter man glared at him. ‘Jessica can run, but she can’t hide behind you forever.’
    ‘She’s not hiding.’
    ‘Liar. Even you don’t believe that.’
    ‘I do.’ Brodie leaned in. ‘The teenage girl you bullied is long gone. The woman Jessica is now fights for herself and what she believes in. Enjoy the weekend, Derek, because your life’s about to change.’
    He got into the taxi before the jerk could reply.
    ***
    ‘Did you have to challenge him?’ Jessica asked as they drove away.
    ‘It was a bit high noon-ish, wasn’t it? There should have been tumbleweeds rolling and the wind whistling.’
    ‘You think this is funny?’
    ‘No, love, but a bit of humour helps most situations.’
    The casual endearment, no more meaningful than a scattered ‘chickie’, ‘babe’ or ‘dear’, struck Jessica’s