Heartwishes Read Free Page B

hours a week and his mother dealing with two demanding children, Colin had learned to take care of himself—and to not bother anyone with his needs and wants.
    “I think,” Colin said slowly, “that the whole project will be good for you.” Shamus, the last of his mother’s five children, would leave for college next year, and their mother was going to be lonely. Only Colin lived in Edilean—and he spent so much time in town that he might as well be in another state. Someone living in the guesthouse and spewing out stories about the family’s past would probably entertain his mother. Maybe there’d be moments when she’d forget how her children were scattered around the country.
    But now, months later, Colin wished he’d been more involved in the whole process of letting someone stay on the family property for such a long time. He’d met two of the applicants for the job and didn’t like either of them. The young man and woman were both tall and greyhound thin, their clothes sleek and expensive. The womanlooked at Lanny with eyes that seemed to flash with a neon sign of a wedding cake, and Colin had seen the man pick up a plate and look at the manufacturer’s name. So far, neither of them had so much as glanced at a book, and they’d certainly shown no interest in the dirty boxes in the guesthouse.
    Colin could almost see the future. The hired one would freely wander about the place and come up with excuses of why he/she should join the family. And his mother’s generous nature would allow it. He had visions of the man moving in with them and being there twenty years from now. His mother would say, “But my children left me, so why shouldn’t I have Kirk to keep me company?”
    All in all, Colin was beginning to see the whole project as a disaster.
    As for the last job applicant, she hadn’t even shown up for lunch. Lanny, extremely pleased with the first young woman, had volunteered to go look for her. To him, the more women around him, the better.
    When asked about the third candidate, Mrs. Frazier had said, “Leave her where she is,” in a way that made Colin groan. It looked as though his mother had already made up her mind about who she was going to hire and she didn’t need to know anything more about the third one. But Colin’s hope was that the other student was interested in something besides the family possessions.
    “Mother,” Colin said as they were going in to lunch, “I think the other woman should be here too and that you should talk to her.”
    “I’ve already found out everything I need to know about her. Let’s just have a pleasant lunch, shall we? Kirk and Isla are such fun, aren’t they?”
    “Yeah, hilarious,” Colin said as his mother swept past him. He caught up with her. “I just think—”
    His mother turned on him. “If you’re so interested in the othergirl, then you can go get her. I left her in the guesthouse, and I assume she’s still there.” Mrs. Frazier went into the dining room.
    Colin started after her but paused in the doorway. The dining room had been set with the best china, and their housekeeper, Rachel, was wearing a white uniform. She looked up, met Colin’s eyes, and gave a shrug that said the getup was his mother’s doing.
    Colin’s parents took their places at the ends of the table, and Mr. Frazier looked as though he’d rather be anywhere else in the world than there. Lanny was next to the lovely Miss Isla, with the handsome Kirk on his other side.
    Across the table were three settings, one occupied by Shamus, the other two for Colin and the third candidate.
    Mrs. Frazier motioned for her eldest son to take his seat.
    Colin took a step forward, but he couldn’t make himself sit down. “I . . . ,” he said. “I’ll . . .” He pointed over his shoulder, vaguely in the direction of the guesthouse, then escaped. He jumped in a utility truck and sped off.
    By the time Colin reached the guesthouse, his frown was so deep his dark brows were