Engaged to Die Read Free

Virginia Neville, he’d made an effort to charm her. She owned the gallery. But he’d never expected it to turn out the way it had. He’d known she was falling in love with him. And he’d thought, why not? He’d sworn that he would never open his heart again, be vulnerable to the pain he’d suffered because of Gail. Virginia wasn’t really old. In her forties. She didn’t want to say how old she was. She’d looked at him one night with a question in her eyes. So he told her that she was a woman and he was tired of girls. That pleased her. She was pretty and passionate, and she treated him like a god.
    Now he wasn’t sure. There was the girl he’d met on the pier in the fog. Last night when they stood at the end of the pier, she’d laughed and plucked the cap from him and perched it on her auburn curls. “Hey,” he’d warned, his voice soft, “anyone who wears my cap has to give me a kiss.” He bent and kissed her, a tender, lingering kiss. For an instant time stopped. He knew he’d never forget the taste of her lips, sweet and clean and warm. Before that moment everything had been clear and simple. If everything went as planned, he’d be on easy street. He could paint anything he wanted to and be certain of exhibitions. But now…
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    Virginia Neville’s hands trembled. She clasped them tightly together. She hated being unhappy. After all she’d done for them, why couldn’t they be nice to her? Virginia hadn’t realized until after Nathaniel’s death that the gallery and all the land belonged to her, everything but the huge house that had been home for all of them, Nathaniel’s children and their families. Nathaniel was as generous as a man could be. But everything belonged to him—the gallery, the house, the boat. Of course Virginia expected them to stay in the house. It was their home. Anyone would think they would have been appreciative. She’d left Carl in charge of the gallery even though she owned it and she could do what she pleased. But Carl’s wife still looked at Virginia as though she were a servant who didn’t quite know how to behave. Virginia had paid for their daughter’s wedding because Mandy was Nathaniel’s favorite grandchild. Who would believe a wedding could cost almost fifty thousand dollars! Fifty thousand dollars. That was more, much more, than Virginia had ever earned as a nurse/companion. It was funny, though. She’d liked Nathaniel. He’d appreciated her. And he’d married her and left her everything but the house! She’d not believed how much money there was, though now nothing was worth as much as it had been. She’d been so surprised. All she’d hoped for was enough money so that she didn’t have to keep going into houses where death waited. It had never occurred to her that Nathaniel had left everything to her. He’d made a new will after they married and he’d not told anyone of the change. She understood why. When they planned to marry, everyone was clearly angry, though they’d been polite. Nathaniel was offended. He’d changed his will, but he’d never expected to die, notuntil those last few moments when he’d asked her to promise to take care of Carl and Susan and their families. Of course she’d agreed. At the time, she hadn’t felt it meant much. She hadn’t known she would inherit everything. That lawyer, the one with the metallic gray eyes and a mouth all twisted as though he tasted something bitter, had been mad as hops. He thought she was a fortune hunter and taking away what rightfully belonged to Nathaniel’s children and grandchildren.
    Virginia looked across the elegant library, past the Hepplewhite table and chairs, at the portraits in their heavy gold leaf ormolu frames above the Adam mantel. Nathaniel stared boldly into a future now done. He’d been very handsome, really. A