To Catch A Thief (Saved By Desire 2) Read Free Page A

well – er – I think -” She stumbled to a halt, unsure what to say.
    Hooky grinned at her and helped himself to a liberal shot of brandy. He poured his daughter some Ratafia and resumed his seat.
    “I wouldn’t worry. He isn’t living in the house. I just want to make sure that he isn’t taking advantage of a single woman living all by herself. Delilah can be a little – vulnerable sometimes.”
    “Vulnerable?” Sophia’s brows lifted again.
    Vulnerable was not the word she would use to describe her somewhat wayward aunt. Eccentric - yes. She tended to want to dress in fur, ruffles, and feathers; lots and lots of feathers. Outlandish - definitely. She tended to be loud and wanted to be the centre of attention. Uncouth - most definitely. She spoke first and thought about what she had said later – maybe - if nothing else took her interest. One usually had to take Delilah as one found her, and if you didn’t like anything she had to say then you could lump it.
    Sophia sighed. The thought of having to spend any more than a few days with her aunt left her more than a little anxious, and she knew the next few weeks were going to be very trying indeed. However, Hooky was right. Someone in the family needed to try to get Delilah to live more of a staid life more befitting for a woman in her fifties.
    How on earth do I do that? Sophia thought with a hint of desperation.
    “If I must, I must, I suppose,” she replied carefully.
    When she saw the relief on her father’s face, Sophia held a hand up before he could launch into a flurry of plans.
    “However, I shall stay no longer than a week. If I cannot persuade her in a week to watch her spending because the money is running dry then she will just have to learn the hard way and go bankrupt. I will worry her into at least thinking about how much she spends, assuming she will talk to me about it. However, I cannot promise to be any more successful than you. One week. I don’t mean to be rude or churlish about it, but I will not stay a moment longer.”
    Hooky sighed in delight and nodded an enthusiastic agreement. He rather suspected that a week in Delilah’s company was enough for any sane individual.
    Beaming proudly at his daughter, he began to make plans for her departure.
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    Two weeks later
     
    Sophia hummed as she scrubbed the kitchen table. Her aunt, Delilah, was busy in the garden and for once, seemed to have embraced being outdoors. Although she was pleased her aunt had ventured outside to enjoy the sunshine, she had to wonder how long that would last. Delilah was most definitely not the gardening type. She was more of a social butterfly who lived to socialise, and nothing else. If she wasn’t going out in an evening, she was entertaining at home, usually until the early hours of the morning. As a result, she tended not to want to leave the snug confines of her bed until early afternoon. When she did get up, it was just in time to prepare for the next round of social engagements.
    “Still, it’s not been too bad,” she murmured with a frown.
    Although she still wasn’t accustomed to the constant round of social engagements, and was bored with the seemingly endless teas and duty calls, her time at Delilah’s house had passed more swiftly than anticipated.
    In spite of Hooky’s reasons for sending her, as far as she could see, Delilah didn’t go out of her way to throw money around. She just liked to go out, that was all. It was a little perplexing given Hooky’s level of agitation. Not for the first time since she had arrived, Sophia wondered whether she should make arrangements to go home so she could talk to him about it. First, though, she had to raise the issue of the state of Delilah’s finances with her – somehow. She just didn’t know when.
    “Now where does this go?” Sophia murmured aloud as she eyed a rather lovely trinket box her aunt had left on the kitchen table.
    It was plate, with intricate carvings of flowers