Perfect Family by Patricia; Potter Read Free Book Online Page A

Harding Clements disappeared from Sedona. Had he witnessed his brother’s death and that of his wife? And finally, the question that plagued her most. Had he had something to do with their deaths? She tried not to even entertain the thought, but it resounded in her mind. And in her heart.
    She couldn’t avoid the idea that going to Sedona might open a Pandora’s box. That it would open one.
    How many times, she wondered, had flies flown voluntarily into a spider’s web?
    Alex Kelley knew he had succeeded. He knew it when she consented to having breakfast with him.
    He had wondered whether he should mention the possible inheritance. But he had wanted to take a measure of her first. And it was more difficult than he had thought.
    Jessica Clayton had given away very little. And she seemed impervious to the charm that he’d cultivated. That had surprised and intrigued him.
    Most people would have jumped at what he had offered. The fact that she’d not done so gave him pause.
    Did she know more than she pretended?
    Or had she just learned to keep her own counsel?
    Her life must have been hell, according to the reports from the detective agency. A father who drank to excess, who hadn’t been able to keep a job. The wonder was that he had left her anything at all, much less enough to send her through Emory. It was rumored he gambled heavily. On his own horses? Or on those running against his own horses? Harding was supposed to have been the brother with integrity. Until he disappeared, that is, leaving a number of suspicions behind.
    Alex had been convinced by both the agency and Sarah that Jonathan Clayton was indeed Harding Clements. It was the others who demanded a DNA test. They were the ones who stood to lose millions of dollars.
    He looked around his room. It was pleasant enough, and he was too tired to do anything but go to bed. The last month had been pure hell, and he was weary of twenty-hour workdays, but one of the companies he represented had been sued, and the case had come to court a week ago.
    And Sarah had not been willing to wait. Not a week. Not a day. Too much depended on Jessica.
    Perhaps he should have warned Miss Clayton. She would be walking right into the middle of a family feud.
    He tossed his small bag on the bed, then took a quick shower. He couldn’t get Jessica Clayton out of his mind. She was attractive but not a beauty by any means. Her eyes were by far her best feature: an intriguing hazel with golden flecks. They were wide with rich dark lashes framing them. Her short auburn hair was prettily tousled, and yet it was the haircut of someone who didn’t overly fuss with it.
    He liked her. No nonsense. No games. And she’d evidently been singularly unimpressed with him. He’d noted she’d not replenished her makeup while he went out for the pizza. It had been a bit demoralizing. He usually did very well with the opposite sex—mainly, he’d always thought, because he genuinely liked women. He came into contact with some very smart ones, and he’d known instantly that Jessica Clayton was one of those.
    She had a steady gaze that probed, as well as a patience that waited for someone else to make a mistake before she did. It was a rare trait.
    Sarah, he thought, would be pleased.
    But would Jessica Clayton? Particularly when he introduced her to the volatile mix that was the current Clements family.

three
    A RIZONA
    Jessie tortured herself with questions as the plane approached Phoenix. She already missed the safety of the bookstore, the comforting smell of leather binding, old paper, and even dust. She already missed Ben. Guilt ate at her every time she remembered the accusation in his eyes when she dropped him at Sol’s house.
    In the three years since she had found him wandering alongside a major highway, she hadn’t left him with anyone. She had made him her family. He and Sol had been all she needed. Or so she had told herself.
    She