Crossed Hearts (Matchmaker Trilogy) Read Free

right.”
    “Fine. I’ll wait as you’ve asked, but so help me, Victoria, if you return my check—”
    “I won’t,” Victoria said, fully confident that it wouldn’t come to that. “Have faith, Leah. Have faith.”
    *   *   *
    L EAH HAD FAITH . It grew day by day, along with her enthusiasm. She surprised herself at times, because she truly was a died-in-the-wool urbanite. Yet something about an abrupt change in life-style appealed to her for the very first time. She wondered if it had something to do with her age; perhaps the thirties brought boldness. Or desperation. No, she didn’t want to think that. Perhaps she was simply staging a belated rebellion against the way of life she’d known from birth.
    It had been years since she’d taken a vacation, much less one to a remote spot. She remembered short jaunts to Cape Cod with her parents, when she’d been a child and remote had consisted of isolated sand dunes and sunrise sails. The trips she’d taken with her husband had never been remote in any sense. Inevitably they’d been tied to his work, and she’d found them far from relaxing. Richard had been constantly on, which wouldn’t have bothered her if he hadn’t been so fussy about how she looked and behaved when she was by his side. Not that she’d given him cause for complaint; she’d been born and bred in the urban arena and knew how to play its games when necessary. Unfortunately Richard’s games had incorporated rules she hadn’t anticipated.
    But Leah wasn’t thinking about Richard on the day in late March when she left Manhattan. She was thinking of the gut instinct that told her she was doing the right thing. And she was thinking of the farewell dinner Victoria had insisted on treating her to the night before.
    They’d spent the better part of the meal chatting about incidentals. Only when they’d reached dessert did they get around to the nitty-gritty. “You’re all set to go, then?”
    “You bet.”
    Victoria had had many a qualm in the three weeks since she’d suggested the plan, and in truth, she was feeling a little like a weasel. It was fine and dandy, she knew, to say that she had Leah’s best interests at heart. She was still being manipulative, and Leah was bound to be angry when she discovered the fact. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “There isn’t any air-conditioning.”
    “In the mountains? I should hope not.”
    “Or phone.”
    “So you’ve told me,” Leah said with a smile. “Twice. I’ll give you a call from town once I’m settled.”
    Victoria wasn’t sure whether to look forward to that or not. “Did the storage people get all your furniture?”
    “This morning.”
    “My Lord, that means the bed, too! Where will you sleep tonight?”
    “On the floor. And no, I don’t want the green room. I’ve about had it with packing. Everything’s ready to go from my place. All I’ll have to do in the morning is load up the car and take off.”
    A night on the bare floor. Victoria felt guiltier than ever, but she knew a stubborn expression when she saw one. “Is the car okay?”
    It was a demo Volkswagen Golf that Leah had bought from a dealer three days before. “The car is fine.”
    “Can you drive it?”
    “Sure can.”
    “You haven’t driven in years, Leah.”
    “It’s like riding a bike—you never forget how. Isn’t that what you told me two weeks ago? Come on, Victoria. It’s not like you to be a worrywart.”
    She was right. Still, Victoria felt uncomfortable. With Deirdre and Neil, there had been a single phone call from each and they’d been on their way. With Leah it had meant three weeks of deception, which seemed to make the crime that much greater.
    But what was done was done. Leah’s mind was set. Her arrangements were made. She was going.
    Taking a deep breath, Victoria produced first a reassuring smile, then two envelopes from her purse. “Directions to the cabin,” she said, handing over the