Daniel Read Online Free Page B

world. She had a kid.
    He met his brother Jesse in his office. He
didn’t have any idea how to tell him and was surprised and dismayed that Joey
was there, too. And, of course, numbnuts had told her that he was seeing
her…him. He sat down hard in the chair.
    “I fucked up. I got into the compound
and lied to her. And the kid. I told her I had an appoint—”
    “Wait. What ‘her’? And what kid? I
thought you were going over to see this Harlequin person. How did you getting
side tracked with a woman get you to him?” He looked at Joey as she spoke. When
she looked at her husband, Daniel knew he got it.
    “Harlequin is a female, love. And she
has a child, apparently. And we all know how Daniel feels about kids.” Jesse
walked to Joey, picked her up, and sat down again with her on his lap. “He just
doesn’t get how much a family can make you feel.”
    “I don’t care. You fix this. I mean it,
Daniel, you fix this, and ask her if she’ll help us out with the gallery.” She
stood up and moved to the door. “If you don’t, then I will start setting you up
with every female I know.”
    The door slammed behind her. He winced and
then turned to his brother. “Why is it that every time I screw up, somebody
wants to start setting me up with women? It’s not really a hardship for me, you
know.”
    “I think, my dear brother, that they are
hoping you find Mrs. Right and get married and live happily ever after. Then
they can rub your nose in it.” He, too, stood up and put on his jacket. “I’m
going home. If I were you, I’d figure out a way to make this work. If not…well,
I’d hate to be in your shoes at holiday time. Oh and by the way, Joey and I are
having a girl.”
    ~~~
    “I didn’t handle that well, did I?” He
didn’t answer her, and she cut up some more lettuce. “I should have just told
him that I wasn’t the person he was looking for and let it go at that.”
    “Are you asking me if I agree with you,
or are you trying to convince yourself that you did something wrong? I’m not
really too sure how to answer that one.” She glared at Benny, and he grinned
back. “You should have seen your face when you came around the house. I don’t
think I ever saw you so mad.”
    She flushed. She had been mad. Not at
the man, though his being in the yard had more terrified her than made her mad.
It was the fact that someone had been in the yard and had left the gate open. She
looked at her nephew and wondered if she should ask him if he’d left it open
again.
    “I didn’t. I told you three times
already.” She ducked her head so he couldn’t read the fear in her face. “Probably
that opener thing you got. I told you to let me change the batteries in it. You
probably left it open when you went into town today.”
    She hadn’t left. Not all day. Other than
him leaving this morning, and then coming home this afternoon, she’d been in her
work area. She hadn’t told him anything yet, wanting to see if…she wasn’t sure,
but she wasn’t going to panic just yet.
    “I think I’ll call the electrician
tomorrow and see if he’ll come out and make sure. I don’t want people just
wandering in off the street and startling me when I’m in the middle of a pot.” She
also didn’t want to end up dead. That would really suck. “You just make sure
you close it in the morning. All right?”
    They ate dinner, and then he did his
homework while she worked on her accounting. She hated this part of her
business more than anything in the world. But it had to be done. She was just
closing down the computer when the house phone rang. She answered it with
trepidation.
    “Please don’t hang up on me. I really
would like to speak to you.” She hung up on him. He was persistent, she’d give
him that. When it rang a few seconds later, she almost didn’t answer, but did
anyway.
    “Listen, buck-o, I said no. I don’t want
to speak to you, nor do I want to have anything to do with you. I’ve asked you
nicely,