Witchchild. Кэрол Мортимер

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      Jake shrugged. ‘I can think of plenty of worse things he could come home and tell me.’

      ‘Maybe,’ Hawk accepted grudgingly. ‘Maybe I should have made Hal go to college with Stephen instead of giving in to him when he said he wanted to learn the business by experience. They always got on well together, and Stephen might have been good for Hal, stopped him growing up quite so quickly.’

      When Jake had come to work for him fifteen years ago he had just been awarded custody of his five-year-old son after his divorce, and with Hal being a similar age the two boys had gravitated to each other from the first. Their friendship was probably as deep as his and Jake’s was. The two young men were opposites, Stephen always getting into mischief, and usually taking Hal along with him. Yes, maybe he should have insisted Hal attend college rather than going straight to work. But it was too late for that now.

      ‘He seems to be doing all right,’ observed Jake.

      ‘Too well,’ Hawk scowled. ‘Why the hell he wants to tie himself down with a wife I have no idea.’

      ‘Because he loves her,’ Jake suggested softly.

      Hawk gave a disbelieving snort. ‘He thinks he loves her,’ he corrected firmly. ‘And I object to being called an old reprobate,’ he added suddenly, and Jake grinned at his ability not to forget anything that was said to him. ‘The reprobate was fine, but I’ve already had enough aspersions cast on my age today without you starting too. How could anyone feel anything else but old after being in Leonie Spencer’s company for half an hour?’ he added disgustedly. ‘Her mind leaps from subject to subject without giving any indication that you’re now talking about something completely different! And even when she’s sitting still you get the impression she’d rather be on her feet and moving. She is definitely not a relaxing person to be around!’

      ‘Sounds familiar.’ Jake looked at him pointedly.

      ‘Very funny,’ snapped Hawk.

      ‘Who is Leonie Spencer?’ Jake asked slowly. ‘I thought you went to see a Laura Brandon?’

      ‘Leonie Spencer is an infuriating, provoking, kooky—–’

      Jake whistled through his teeth. ‘Whoever she is, she made quite an impression!’

      ‘About as much as a puppy-dog chewing at my pants leg,’ Hawk replied. ‘She has six cats. Six!’ he repeated disbelievingly.

      ‘Shocking,’ Jake taunted.

      ‘Stop being so damned—–Sarah,’ Hawk pounced as she came quietly back into the room, ‘what did you find out?’

      ‘Mrs Leonora Spencer lives at—–’

      ‘I know her address, damn it!’ He glared at her.

      Blonde brows rose over reproving blue eyes. ‘She’s twenty-five years old,’ Sarah continued undaunted. ‘Her parents were killed years ago in a car accident. She has one sister, her twin, Laura Brandon—–’

      ‘Ah,’ Jake nodded comprehendingly, shrugging as Hawk gave him a quelling glance.

      ‘Laura Brandon,’ Sarah continued determinedly. ‘Leonie was married at twenty to Michael Spencer. The marriage doesn’t appear to have been a success—–’

      ‘Was he rich?’ Hawk cut in suspiciously.

      Sarah glanced at the notes she had made. ‘It says here he was a clerk in a—–’

      ‘Not rich,’ drawled Jake.

      Hawk scowled as the theory of Leonie having married for money too was taken away from him. If only he could find something to dislike about the woman!

      ‘Shall I go on?’ Sarah enquired coolly.

      ‘Sure,’ he instructed tersely, ignoring Jake’s smile of amusement.

      ‘The marriage lasted only a short time—–’

      ‘They’re divorced?’ Hawk interrupted sharply.

      ‘It would appear so,’ Sarah nodded.

      ‘Any children?’

      ‘None were mentioned,’ said Sarah in her usual precise way that was somehow managing to annoy him deeply today. ‘Leonie co-authors books with—–’

      ‘Thanks, Sarah,’ he cut in dismissively. ‘I know the rest.’

      She shrugged, sharing a puzzled glance with Jake before returning to her bedroom to continue working.

      ‘Divorced,’ murmured Hawk triumphantly, suddenly realising he no longer needed a reason to dislike Leonie Spencer, none that need matter to them. Hal and Laura were completely separate from this. ‘Jake, my friend, I’m going out again,’ he announced determinedly.

      ‘Am I allowed to enquire where?’ the other man drawled.

      He grinned. ‘I’m going to show a woman, who believes a man of my age must be suffering from a mid-life crisis, just how wrong she is.’

      ‘What?’ Jake was astounded by his explanation.

      ‘You heard me,’ said Hawk with satisfaction. ‘And, Jake—–’ he paused at the door.

      ‘Hm?’ The other man still looked dazed.

      ‘Don’t wait up,’ he advised softly.

       CHAPTER ONE

      ‘THREE more months of this torture!’ Laura bemoaned with a heavy sigh.

      Leonie gave a grimace of sympathy from her position on the adjoining lounger, knowing Laura had just finished reading a letter from Hal. ‘Try not to think of it as a life sentence,’ she encouraged gently.

      Her sister frowned at her. ‘How can it be any other way when I love Hal so much?’

      ‘Darling, you were the one who agreed to the year’s wait,’ Leonie reminded her softly. ‘Said you wanted to give Hal time to be sure too.’

      ‘I know,’ Laura gave a choked sigh. ‘But how could I know Hawk Sinclair was going to make sure Hal was out of the country most of the time!’

      Leonie gave a pained frown. A year, Hawk Sinclair had asked Hal and Laura to wait, assuring them that if they really did love each other it would pass quickly. As she had known he would, Hal had raised strong objections to the idea, wanting to marry Laura right away, but Laura had told him that perhaps it would be better if they waited, so that they could be sure of their feelings for each other too.

      Leonie had always known Laura wouldn’t object to anything Hawk Sinclair asked of them, but Hal had been hurt by what seemed to be Laura’s indecision about their love, storming out on all of them after accusing Laura of believing he was still a child too!

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