No Place Like Home by Leigh Michaels Read Free Book Online Page B

conditions on this. If he finds a house you want, I’m going to have it inspected right down to the last square inch of tile in the bathrooms.”

    “ Fair enough,” Kaye said.

    “ And I’m going to check on your Mr. McKenna.”

    “ I don’t think you’ll find anything shady.”

    “ You’d better hope I don’t. Now,” Graham said, putting his arm across the back of the couch, “can we talk about some fun things? Like us, and where we’re going on our honeymoon?”

     

CHAPTER FOUR

    “ WELL?” Emily demanded the next morning, before Kaye had even taken off her heavy coat. “Was it the dream cottage you’re looking for?”

    Kaye thought about the Aynsley house and grimaced. “It certainly wasn’t.”

    Marilyn came out of her office. “Don’t be discouraged, Kaye,” she recommended. “I get the urge to go house-hunting once a year or so, and I look till I get depressed. I haven’t found anything yet, and my needs aren’t nearly as involved as yours.”

    “ I didn’t know you were thinking of moving.”

    Marilyn nodded. “Our big old home is getting to be too much for me to handle.”

    “ Big?” Kaye asked brightly. “Old?”

    Marilyn laughed. “Neither big enough nor old enough to suit you and Graham, I’m afraid. It’s not exactly in Henderson Heights, either.”

    “ Actually, I looked at a house the other day that might suit you. Why don’t you call Brendan about it? Or I could mention it to him. I’ll be talking to him this morning.” She was looking forward to calling him. He would be so pleased— and surprised—to hear from her.

    “ Would you, Kaye? I like to look at houses now and then, even if I don’t ever find what I want.”

    “ I’m sure it would be fun,” Kaye said, “if I wasn’t in such a hurry to have the whole thing settled.”

    “ Of course you are, dear. You certainly don’t want to keep Graham waiting.”

    “ Are you sure it’s all right with you, Marilyn? I’m taking an awful lot of time off work to go rummaging through houses.”

    The customer who had just walked in came over to Kaye’s desk with a smile. Angela Warren was a friend of Graham’s; in fact, her husband was Graham’s lawyer. Kaye saw her at the club every week or two, but they had only exchanged small talk in the ladies’ lounge.

    “ Darling,” Mrs. Warren said, reaching out both hands to clasp Kaye’s. “I was so pleased to hear the news!”

    “ News?” Kaye said, feeling a little blank.

    “ Of your engagement, of course. I heard it at the club last night, and I’m so happy for you both.”

    Some secret we’re keeping, Kaye thought. I knew when Graham told Andy Winchester that it would be all over town!

    Then she scolded herself. It might not have been Andy who had talked, after all; she certainly couldn’t accuse him without proof. At any rate, the only way to handle it now was to be gracious. “Thank you, Angela. It was very thoughtful of you to stop by.”

    “ Oh, I just had to come and give you my best wishes. Graham’s always been one of my favorites, you know.”

    “ We hadn’t planned to make a formal announcement right away,” Kaye warned, “because we haven’t set a wedding date.”

    “ I see that you aren’t even wearing your ring yet. And I understand perfectly. Don’t worry; I can keep it under my hat,” Angela Warren added airily. “Actually I came in for something else as well. My grandson wants to come and visit us next month, but his parents can’t come along. Will any of the airlines let him fly by himself?”

    “ I’m sure we can make arrangements,” Kaye said, turning to her computer terminal. “How old is he?”

    She sensed, rather than saw, Marilyn’s satisfied smile. Her strategy, the woman seemed to be thinking, was working; Kaye’s new connections could be very profitable for Gulliver’s Travel.

    When she called the real estate office, Brendan answered, and the surprise in his voice when she identified