The Husband List by Janet Evanovich, Dorien Kelly Read Free Book Online Page A

food on her plate. “Where?”
    “Where you’ve been looking for the past five minutes,” Amelia replied, her expression alight with excitement. “Right there, by the lady in the yellow dress.”
    Mama, who was sitting to Caroline’s left, broke off her chat with the captain.
    “Have you something you wish to add to my conversation with Captain Davis?” she asked Amelia.
    “No, Mama. I was asking Caroline if that was Jack Culhane over there, right by—”
    Caroline nudged her sister’s ankle with the tip of her shoe. Amelia caught on and let her words drop.
    But Mama scoured the room. Caroline could peg the exact moment her mother spotted Jack, and then Jack’s lady friend. Mama’s eyes narrowed and she looked as though she’d tasted something unpleasant.
    Mama said nothing aloud. She returned her attention to the captain and apologized for Amelia speaking out of turn. But the damage had been done. Though Jack had never had a warm welcome from Mama, Caroline was sure it was bound to grow chillier, yet.
    *   *   *
    IT WAS nearly midnight. Jack stood by the bow rail at the fore of the walkway that led to his room. The stars lit the sky almost as brightly as the small electric lights dotting the Plymouth ’s outer passageway lit the ship’s deck. Most of the passengers had retired to their cabins, but he was restless. Running into Flora Willoughby today hadn’t done it. He’d always liked his father’s ex-flame and had been pleased to see her again. Flora was genuine in a way that most women of his acquaintance were not.
    Except Caroline. And she was his issue.
    He’d seen her watching him tonight at dinner. His equally strong interest in her was robbing him of sleep in advance of the ship’s ungodly 3 A.M. arrival at Newport Harbor.
    Down to his right, a cabin door opened. A woman stepped out. All Jack could see was that she wore a coat and that her hair was down. She closed her room’s door, erasing its shadow and giving him a clearer look. Jack smiled. It was Caroline.
    His first impulse was to go ask her what mischief she planned to make tonight, but if mischief were her plan, she’d have put her hair up and been sure she was presentable in case of capture. She was still her mama’s child, as hard as she seemed to be fighting against it.
    Caroline stood at the rail and gazed into the night, much as he’d just been doing. Her hair was caught in a thick braid that reached nearly to her waist, and she held herself with an almost military posture he found oddly charming.
    Jack kept his spot about thirty feet away. He’d give her some privacy, even if he did plan to keep an eye on her. After a minute or so, she turned in his direction, apparently planning to walk. She halted when she saw him.
    Jack stepped away from the rail and closer to one of the lights. He raised a hand in greeting. He was sure she was going to turn back to the safety of her room, but she surprised him again.
    “Why are you lurking about?” she asked once she’d joined him.
    He laughed. “If I were lurking, I wouldn’t have moved into the light so you could see who I was.”
    She fastened her coat’s top button, but not before Jack had seen the telltale thin white fabric of her nightclothes. Her tapestry slippers would have tipped him off to her state of undress, in any case.
    “Fine,” she said. “I’ll be polite and ignore the coincidence of finding you so near my cabin.”
    “And I’ll do the same for you,” he said.
    She did a poor job of hiding her smile.
    “I take it your mother was delayed in her trip to Newport?” Jack asked.
    “Yes, and it seems my father isn’t the only hunter in the family. She was laying in wait for me when I returned home yesterday.”
    He smiled. “And not surprisingly, you survived.”
    “I was trapped, all the same. I told her about the museum trip, but nothing about you. As punishment for straying, I’m now to be on display in Newport much earlier than I had steeled myself to