The Mysterious Stranger (Triple Trouble) by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page B

either gender to be kicking up a fuss at the mystery woman’s absence. He didn’t like the fact that no one had. If she wasn’t with people and the hotel had no single reservations, then who was she?
    She continued to stare at him, as if she wanted to say more. Then her shoulders slumped slightly. For a moment, silhouetted by the door frame, she again looked lost and alone.
    Deliberately, refusing to acknowledge her or speak to her again, he turned his attention to some papers on his desk. He read the balance sheet three times before it made sense, then wrote a couple of notes in the margin. When he finally looked up, she was gone.
    * * *
    Jarrett tapped on his niece’s half-open bedroom door.
    “Come in,” she called.
    He entered and found Anna Jane sitting up in bed, reading. He glanced at his watch. “Don’t you have a bedtime?”
    She smiled. “Yes, and it’s nearly an hour past it. Are you here to tell me to turn out the light?”
    “I’m here to tuck you in.”
    “Really?”
    Her smile widened with pleasure, and Jarrett’s guilt returned. It was a simple task. One he’d promised himself he would perform faithfully. But time had a way of speeding past. Three times in the past week he’d looked up and found it was already near midnight. He’d come to the girl’s room, but she had been asleep.
    As she lay back on the bed, he took the book from her and looked at the spine. The story was about a boy and his horse. Jarrett remembered the tale from his own childhood.
    “I read this one,” he said. “It’s good.”
    “I’ve read it, too. I liked the series so much I’m reading it again.”
    As he smoothed the covers over her, he noticed the neat stack of boxes in the corner. Unopened board games commingled with puzzles, dolls and an elaborate kit to make plastic jewelry.
    “You don’t like your toys?” he asked.
    Her brown eyes, so much like his sister’s, glanced away. “They’re very nice. Thank you for getting them for me.”
    “But?”
    She sighed. “It’s not fun playing with all that stuff by myself.”
    He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. Her fingers were small, the nails clean and neatly trimmed. What kind of life was this for her? he wondered.
    “I’m sorry, Anna Jane. I should have thought of that.”
    “You’re very busy. I’m an unexpected responsibility.”
    She said the words easily, as if she’d heard them many times before. Who had been saying them to her? Not him. Her mother? The nanny she’d had after Nana B. had retired?
    “You’re not a responsibility, you’re my niece. I should have picked out better toys.”
    “They would be fun with someone to play with. Maybe Ariel could stay and take care of me until she remembers who she is.”
    He was careful to keep his hold on her hand relaxed, even though every muscle in his body tightened in protest. Why hadn’t he seen this coming? He’d heard the easy conversation between them, had seen the way Ariel had comforted her when they’d talked of her mother’s death. It made perfect sense.
    “Ariel has her own life,” he said. “There are people who miss her.”
    “What if there aren’t? No one has found her family yet, have they?”
    “No, but—”
    “Why can’t she stay here until they do? I’ll keep her out of the way, Uncle Jarrett. You won’t even know she’s here.”
    Despite his irritation at the thought, he had to smile. He touched Anna Jane’s soft cheek. “That’s logic you use to keep a puppy, not a grown woman.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “I still thought it might work. Please?”
    Ariel stay here? Could he stand it? He wanted her gone. If not for John’s request that she not be moved, he would have had her taken back to the hotel after dinner. While a part of him was willing to admit there was a tiny possibility she might not be faking her amnesia, the rest of him didn’t care. Either way, she was trouble.
    “I’ll think about it,” he said at last.
    Anna Jane sighed.