My Estranged Lover (Middlemarch Shifters Book 5) Read Free Page A

jade-green eyes. “Do I know you? Have you come to rob my cookie jar?”
    “Grandma! Grandma! I’m here!” Ricky shouted gleefully, used to this game. “It’s me. Ricky.”
    Even at this time of the morning, Dawn looked ready to hit the shops or go for coffee. Caroline became acutely conscious of the too-tight shirt that hung over her faded jeans to hide the fact she could no longer fasten the button of the fly. No danger of her trousers sliding to a puddle at her feet.
    Caroline followed her excited son up the path, her comfortable runners dragging against the decorative cobblestones. Trepidation tightened her throat and dried her mouth and she resisted the urge to wipe her sweaty palms against her thighs.
    “You just caught me,” Dawn said in the crisp, no-nonsense voice she reserved for Caroline and sometimes her son. “The girls and I are hitting the shops in Dunedin.”
    “I won’t keep you then,” Caroline said, forcing the words across her desert-dry tongue. “I’ve come to collect the two suitcases we lent you for your trip to Fiji.”
    “Oh?” Two well-plucked brows rose in punctuation of the unuttered question.
    Caroline didn’t answer, merely waited. Less is more. Less is more .
    Dawn huffed out an irritated sigh, her gaze speaking volumes. “I have time for a quick cup of tea, and you can tell me about your upcoming trip. Marsh didn’t mention a holiday when he dropped by to speak with Charles. Would you like a hot chocolate and a cookie?”
    Ricky nodded with enthusiasm. “Yes, please.”
    Pride rose in Caroline. He was a good boy. She and Marsh had made awesome children, even if nothing else they did together worked any longer.
    Dawn led Ricky inside and Caroline followed. Her mother-in-law had a knack with decorating and colors. The interior of the house formalized the welcome stated by the gardens and façade. Magazine-ready and on the official side. Wooden floorboards gleamed underfoot and an Oriental runner ran the length of the passage from the hall. Caroline dawdled, a trace of envy filling her at the smart cream walls and the framed photographs of Mount Cook and other Otago landmarks even though entering this house made her worry about breakages and clumsiness.
    Closer to the kitchen a cluster of framed paintings, bright and bold children’s artwork, should have jarred, but they added to the charm. She paused, a quick smile of pride relaxing the stiffness from her shoulders. James had inherited her artistic talent.
    “You’re dawdling.”
    With a sigh, Caroline entered the kitchen.
    “Sit. Sit,” Dawn said.
    Caroline rounded the kitchen table and pulled out a chair while watching Ricky and Dawn. Both had jet-black hair and green eyes. Both were slender. Both moved with an animal grace.
    A frown pulled at her. God, she had to stop this self-pity. Some marriages didn’t work, no matter how hard the parties tried. She needed to grab for bravado and move on. That was what she’d decided, wasn’t it?
    Dawn bustled around the modern kitchen, chattering to Ricky the entire time and giving him small tasks to help. Soon the peaty scent of one of the exotic teas her mother-in-law favored filled the kitchen. Dawn set two mugs on her black granite counter plus a plate of cookies. She settled Ricky at the small table she kept for the children.
    A few minutes later, she poured tea into the china mugs. She handed one to Caroline plus the plate of cookies. Her gaze did that brief scan of Caroline’s voluptuous body again, a silent message that Caroline should stay far away from cookies.
    “I’ll get the milk.”
    “Thanks.” Caroline stared at her mother-in-law’s back for an instant then reached for a cookie. She bit into the crisp treat and closed her eyes to savor the chocolate hit. When she opened her eyes, she found Dawn frowning at her.
    “Here is the milk.”
    “Thanks.” Caroline tipped a generous portion into her mug to help disguise the strong flavor. She preferred