The Next Always by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

“It’s a sickness.”
    “I’ll take you down. We’ll work our way up when you’ve got time,” he told Clare.
    “Perfect. What’s this one?”
    He glanced over as they stepped out. “Elizabeth and Darcy.”
    “Oh, I love Pride and Prejudice . What are you—No, no, don’t tell me. I’ll never get to work.”
    “Highlights,” he said as they started down. “Upholstered head- and footboard, lavender and ivory, white slipper tub, tiles in cream and pale gold.”
    “Hmm” was Clare’s opinion. “Elegant and charming. Miss Bennett and Mr. Darcy would approve.”
    “You’re definitely writing the copy.” He turned left at the base of the steps, came up short when he heard Ryder curse from the laundry room.
    “Goddamn it.”
    “It’s a problem,” Owen responded. “I’ll work the problem.”
    “What problem?” Beckett demanded.
    Owen shoved his hands in the pockets of his carpenter jeans. “Karen Abbott’s pregnant.”
    “Didn’t your mom ever talk to you about safe sex?” Avery asked, ducking around Beckett’s arm.
    Owen sent her a bland stare. “Funny. It’s Jeff Corver’s. They’ve been seeing each other since Chad started college last year.”
    “Doing more than seeing,” Ryder muttered. “Jesus, she’s got to be forty-couple, right? What’s she doing getting knocked up at that age?”
    “I note you don’t question how Jeff Corver could knock her up at his age,” Avery added.
    “She’s forty-three.” Owen shrugged. “I know because we’ve been talking to her about the innkeeper position. We were pretty well set. Now she and Jeff are getting married and picking out baby names.”
    “Damn it. Well, from our perspective,” Beckett said when Clare sent him a disapproving look. “We know Karen, and she and Mom and Owen were working out all the details. Hell, she’d picked out the paint colors for the innkeeper’s apartment on the third floor.”
    “And she had hotel experience,” Owen put in. “Working at the Clarion. I’ll put some feelers out,” he began.
    “I know somebody.” Avery held up a finger. “I know the perfect somebody. Hope,” she said, turning to Clare.
    “Yes! She is the perfect somebody.”
    “Hope who?” Owen demanded. “I know everybody, and I don’t know the perfect Hope.”
    “Beaumont, and you met her once, I think, when she was up visiting, but you don’t know her. We went to college together, and we stayed pretty tight. She’s in D.C., and she’s thinking of relocating.”
    “What makes her perfect?” Ryder asked.
    “A degree in hotel management to start, and about seven years’ experience at the Wickham—ritzy boutique hotel in Georgetown. The last three as its manager.”
    “That’s too perfect.” Ryder shook his head. “What’s the catch?”
    “No catch with Hope. It’s the jerk she was involved with, whose parents own the Wickham. He dumped her for some bimbo with a pedigree and man-made tits.”
    “She’s working out her contract,” Clare continued, “and that takes spine. Professional spine. She’s looking to move, considering her options.”
    “From Georgetown to Boonsboro?” Ryder shrugged. “Why would she?”
    “Why wouldn’t she?” Avery countered.
    “Avery and I have been trying to talk her into moving up here, or closer anyway. She likes the area.” The more she thought of it, the more Clare wanted it. “She comes up to see Avery now and then, and we got to be friends. We had a girls’ weekend at the Wickham last year, and I can personally attest, Hope doesn’t miss a trick.”
    “Do you really think she’d go from managing urban ritz to innkeeper at a small-town B&B?”
    Avery smiled at Owen. “I think she might, especially if the rest of this place is going to be as good as Titania and Oberon.”
    “Give me some more data,” Owen began.
    “Show me the kitchen space, then you can come over to the shop. I’ll give you more, and I’ll call her if you want.”
    “Deal.”
    “What does she