For the Sake of Warwick Mountain (Harlequin Heartwarming) Read Free

Sanderingham?”
    Annoyance stirred inside her. Matt Tyler had a nerve to force unwanted attention from a strange woman onto his partner. Becca knew all too well the irritation well-meaning meddlers could wreak on a person’s life. When it came to matchmakers, Aunt Delilah considered herself world class. Becca was constantly fending off attention from so-called eligible men her aunt aimed her way.
    “From what Dr. Peyseur told me,” she said with more vexation in her tone than she’d intended, “he enjoys his solitude. That’s why he likes being here so much. In fact, he also said that no woman could ever take Madeline’s place.”
    Matt nodded agreeably. “Quite right. And I’m sure Dwight could never replace Mr. Sanderingham. That doesn’t mean the two can’t enjoy each other’s company.”
    “Do you live alone?” Becca regretted the question the moment it left her lips. Her query was not only rude, but unnecessary. Matt Tyler’s living arrangements were no concern of hers.
    Except for the next month, she corrected herself. Unless she could make other arrangements, he’d be sleeping in Granny Warwick’s black walnut poster bed, one floor directly beneath her own.
    * * *
    “I ’ M NOT MARRIED , if that’s what you’re asking,” Matt replied easily, amused by her curiosity.
    He took another sip of coffee, decided it tasted even better than the Starbucks he favored, and finished the cup. He hoped he’d managed to hide his surprise earlier when the enchanting woman across from him had announced that she was Rebecca Warwick.
    Dwight had explained that Miss Warwick was the schoolteacher in this godforsaken backwoods, and Matt had expected an elderly crone with a neck like a chicken, a figure like a stick and a voice like gravel.
    Man, had he had it all wrong.
    Rebecca Warwick didn’t come anywhere close to his misconception. In fact, she was very appealing, in spite of the fact that her emerald-green eyes were a shade too far apart, her mouth a bit too wide and her nose turned up a tad too much at the tip. He assessed her with a plastic surgeon’s eye. The proportions of her slim figure were classic, and the prominent cheekbones of her heart-shaped face would turn any Hollywood starlet green with envy. The satiny smoothness of her peaches-and-cream complexion defied improvement by even the most skilled movie-makeup artist. Even though her thick mane of golden-brown hair framing her face in a tangle of curls would make Matt’s stylist run for his scissors, her tousled look held an undeniable charm.
    But only from a strictly professional viewpoint. After all, he’d seen enough female pulchritude in his practice to remain relatively unimpressed by gorgeous women. And she wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
    Then why couldn’t he take his eyes off her?
    “More coffee?” she asked, and he amended her list of attributes to include a voice as silky smooth as the finest bourbon with just a hint of a Southern drawl.
    “Thanks.” He cooled his jets, handed her his cup, then watched her retreat into the kitchen for a refill.
    Shaking himself out of his dazed surprise at Miss Warwick’s being far from the white-haired, homely spinster he’d envisioned, he contemplated the situation he found himself in so unexpectedly. In spite of his appealing hostess, he really didn’t want to be here, not in the cold, gloomy drizzle of the Smoky Mountains.
    Smoky?
    Gray and dreary were more appropriate, and the damp penetrated to his bones. Right now he’d intended to be sunning himself on the teakwood deck of a chartered yacht anchored off the coast of Fiji. But how was he supposed to say no to his best friend and mentor? Dwight was such a good guy, how could Matt turn him down, even when it meant giving up the vacation he’d been looking forward to for months? A vacation he desperately needed to drive away the deep dissatisfaction that had haunted him lately.
    A discontent he was certain that time off