touch my heart Read Free Page A

really nice of him. He seems like a pretty nice person.”
    “He has his moments.”
    “Can I see him before I go up to my room?”
    “Well, he did give me a message to give you. He’s given you a few days off to relax and enjoy the island. He’s been really busy, but Mrs. Clarke will let you know when he’s ready to begin.”
    This information surprised her. She’d been looking forward to getting down to work. But maybe a day or two to explore the surroundings would help her adjust before she started working.
    * * *
    The door opened and an elderly woman stepped outside. She wore a multicolored dress, which on anyone else would’ve looked horrid but on her seemed like the perfect outfit.
    “It’s wonderful to have another woman in the house,” she said as she took Aaliyah’s hand and shook it with enthusiasm. “I’m Mrs. Clarke and you must be Ms. Carrington. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    “You can call me Aaliyah. Your island is really beautiful and I’m delighted to be here.”
    “Desmond, she’s staying in the guest room just down the corridor from the master bedroom,” she said, turning to him. “You can take her there.” She paused as Desmond headed for the door. “Of course, you can take her luggage at the same time.”
    Sheepishly, Desmond turned back. “Sorry, Mrs. Clarke.”
    “I’m sure you’re hungry, dear. As soon as you’ve freshened up, you can come down to lunch. I haven’t eaten yet, so we can get to know each other.”
    “I’d love to freshen up and yes, I’m hungry. I’m not too thrilled about airline meals, so I ate a good dinner last night. Since I left New York early this morning, I’ve only had a fruit salad, which held me over during the flight.”
    “Well, as soon as you’ve freshened up, just come down the stairs, turn right and you’ll come to the kitchen along that corridor.”
    “I will,” Aaliyah replied, stepping into the house while Desmond held the door.
    What she saw did not come close to what she’d expected. The outside of the house was beautiful, but the inside was spectacular. Like the island, there was a mixture of the old and the new. The interior designer had added blatantly modern pieces to the obvious colonial trappings of the house.
    What she liked most of all were the miniature posters of early African-American movies. Several years ago, she’d seen the Margaret Herrick Library/Edward Mapp Collection at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She’d had the pleasure of seeing the originals of some of the posters on the wall.
    So her employer was a movie buff. She glanced around to see if she could get a glimpse of anything else of significance, but unless she told Desmond to slow down, that would be impossible. However, she followed him, aware that she’d have time in the next few days to explore the house.
    Upstairs, she followed Desmond into her room, but had to refrain from not jumping immediately into the grand four-poster bed.
    When he wished her goodbye, she took her shoes off and quickly emptied the contents of her suitcases onto the bed. She then placed her clothes into the closet and dresser.
    She headed to the bathroom where she quickly freshened up, promising herself a long, leisurely bath as soon as lunch was over. If she’d not been so hungry and knew that Mrs. Clarke was waiting on her she would have taken a nap, but the sudden growl from her stomach reminded her that she needed to eat.
    Downstairs, she followed Mrs. Clarke’s instructions, but didn’t really need to. She just had to follow the heavenly aroma coming from down the passageway.
    When she stepped into the kitchen, Mrs. Clarke had already set the table. Several dishes of nasal-titillating fare were waiting for her to dig in.
    “Good, you’re here. Just sit where you want and I’ll join you in a sec. Just putting the finishing touches on the salad.”
    Aaliyah sat, restraining herself from taking a spoon and starting on the soup, which seemed to