Two Against the Odds by Joan Kilby Read Free Book Online

although hisfather was in a wheelchair, there’d been a time when he’d had bigger dreams.
    â€œNo, my father has a home-based business repairing clocks and watches.” He should go see them. It had been months since he’d last been out there.
    Rafe continued sifting through Lexie’s receipts. He came across an application form for an artist’s society. He noted down the amount of annual dues and saw she’d filled in her birth date.
    Before he could censor himself, he blurted, “Is Lexie really thirty-eight years old?”
    â€œYes,” Hetty said. “It was her birthday last month.”
    Twelve years older than him. He’d figured she was older but not by that much.
    â€œShe looks a lot younger.”
    â€œIt’s the yoga and the meditation,” Hetty said. “Plus she has a naturally serene disposition. Nothing bothers her.”
    â€œThe portrait she’s painting is bothering her.”
    â€œWell, yes,” Hetty conceded.
    Rafe sat back in his chair, still staring at the year Lexie was born. She could have easily passed for thirty. If that was the result of meditation and yoga maybe he ought to take it up. Or not.
    Twelve years.
    He added the art society annual dues to the column. Afternoon sun shone through the crystals hanging from the window frame, making rainbows on his page of numbers. There seemed to be crystalseverywhere in the house. He’d noticed them in the kitchen, too. From below the table, Murphy snored.
    â€œDo you have a wife or girlfriend?” Hetty asked.
    Rafe stifled another sigh. “Never married. No girlfriend at present.”
    â€œYou’re young yet,” she said comfortably. “There’s plenty of time to marry and have children.”
    The other thing about middle-aged women was, they wanted to marry a guy off and tie him down with kids before he’d had a chance to enjoy life. What was up with that?
    He stabbed at the keypad on his calculator. “How are you doing with the sorting?”
    â€œDon’t you like kids?”
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    â€œI said, you have plenty of time to marry and have kids,” Hetty recapped patiently, as she dealt out receipts like playing cards at a bridge game. “ You didn’t reply. So then I asked, don’t you like children?”
    How did she get child-hater from silence? There’d been nothing to say in response to her statement so he hadn’t bothered with meaningless chatter. “Kids are fine, I guess. As long as they’re other people’s.”
    Tamsin, his ex-girlfriend, had made him gun-shy. They’d been together nearly a year when she’d gotten clucky. Then he’d discovered she’d “accidentally” forgotten to take her birth control pills and the huge fight that ensued had killed their relationship. Fortunately, she hadn’t got pregnant.
    Feeling Hetty’s gaze on him, he could sense the questions forming in her mind. “I’ve got plans, okay? I’m not ready to get married or have children. Maybe in ten years I’ll think about it. But first I want to start my own fishing charter business.”
    â€œThat’s interesting,” she said, leaning forward, chin on her palm. “When are you going to do that?”
    â€œNext year, if all goes well.” Then he pointedly began entering numbers into his calculator. He’d had enough soul baring for one day. And he’d jeopardize his job if he didn’t do this audit properly.
    Hetty went back to sorting receipts. The only sound was the clicking of the keys as Rafe entered data.
    After a few minutes her hands stilled. Out of the blue she said, “I’ve lost touch with my husband.” She stared at the receipts in her hand.
    Fresh pain stabbed his stomach. Now she expected him to ask her questions. News flash! He wasn’t a woman. Hell. Why did she have to look so unhappy? “What happened?”