The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson Read Free Book Online Page A

of a woman old enough to be her grandmother, thinking the worst of the world.
    But her only other option was to press forward, to take the gift to Jack and face down Seth’s sour smirk when she returned without the one thing she’d set out to find. But she hadn’t spent a cent. She was coming back with more than just change. She was coming back with all of it. Waving the bills under Seth’s nose might even knock him off his high horse for a minute.
    That was enough to carry her another step and one more after that. And pretty soon she couldn’t even catch a hint of the bakery’s aroma as she pushed open the front door of the inn, slipping from the porch to the foyer to the hideously green dining room.
    As she pressed her hand on the door to the kitchen, a deep voice rang straight through the wooden panels.
    â€œShe can’t stay here.” Seth’s words were anything but unclear, his voice catching on the last word. He was probably pointing adamantly straight through the floor and into the basement apartment.
    â€œI’m not sure I like this color.” In the style she’d come to expect from Jack even in less than twenty-four hours, he sidestepped Seth’s comment. “Not sure it’s right. Especiallyfor the kitchen. Here. Look at the color sample. Don’t really match, do they?”
    â€œJack, be serious for a minute. What do you know about her? How do you know she’s not running a scheme or just trying to get at your money?”
    The older man’s laugh bellowed to the far corners of the house. “What money? I’ve sunk nearly every penny I have into this place.”
    â€œThat’s what I’m talking about. What if she’s trying to make you feel sorry for her?”
    â€œI already do.”
    Her stomach knotted at a brand-new sensation. No one had ever pitied her before. Envied and imitated? Certainly. But no one felt sorry for the heir to a multimillion-dollar real estate conglomerate.
    Except she wasn’t the heir anymore. She’d given up her rights to all that her name claimed by getting on one bus.
    And that decision had stemmed from eavesdropping on another conversation.
    Seth sighed, probably putting his hands on his hips. “Try to hear what I’m saying, Jack.” His words rang louder and clearer. Had he turned to face the door? “She’s trouble.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œI just do. Who shows up out of thin air like that just when you’re about to be a success?”
    â€œRose wanted this inn more anything, and I promised her I’d open it. Success isn’t a guarantee.” Jack’s voice cracked. He sure loved Rose.
    â€œAnd would Rose want you to lose it all to a pretty hustler with glistening blue eyes and a pert little nose? She’s already been gone long enough to walk to Rusticoville and backagain. Three times. Maybe she’s not coming back. Have you checked to see if any valuables are missing?”
    Silence hung heavy on the other side of the door, and she held her breath, suddenly afraid of being discovered. If they found her listening in on their very private conversation, they’d throw her out.
    Nothing good ever came from eavesdropping.
    If she hadn’t stood outside her father’s study with her ear pressed to the door, peering through the crack, she never would have gotten on that bus. She wouldn’t have left home at all. And where would she be? Somewhere else she wasn’t wanted. Or at least somewhere she wasn’t loved.
    She’d be in Boston, doing exactly what her father wanted, helping him get his way. He certainly wanted her back there now. That was the only way he could use her situation to blackmail a man she’d never met.
    Pain throbbed at her temples, and she closed her eyes against the building pressure.
    Which was better? Used in Boston? Or unwanted on Prince Edward Island, the home of L. M. Montgomery, the place