A Family Likeness. Margot Dalton

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СКАЧАТЬ CHAPTER TWO

      GINA STUDIED the newcomer. He appeared to be about forty, no more than average height, but powerfully built. He wore casual pleated slacks and a white polo shirt, and had curly dark hair, heavily frosted with gray at the temples. His face, with its finely chiseled features and clear intelligent blue eyes, was severe in repose, despite the fullness of his lower lip. She thought his mouth hinted at a sensual nature, well controlled but very intense.

      “I’m sorry if I startled you.” His tone was courteous. “My name’s Alex Colton. I phoned earlier to say I’d be coming out this afternoon.”

      “Oh, that’s right. My housekeeper mentioned your call. But I’ve been so busy today I forgot all about it.”

      Colton looked around at the wet scraps of paper littering the hardwood, then at the flowered walls, now almost completely covered. He turned back to Gina with a smile. “It looks great. You’re quite the decorator.”

      The smile surprised her. It transformed his face, driving away the severity and making him seem happy, almost boyish. But as suddenly as it had appeared, the smile faded and the severity returned.

      Or was it sadness? Gina wondered. If a woman lived with this man, she’d probably spend a lot of her time trying to make him smile.

      Gina wiped her hands briskly on her shorts and moved past him to the door. “My housekeeper mentioned that you were interested in renting a room?” she asked over her shoulder.

      “I wanted to discuss terms,” he said. “If you have a few minutes to spare.”

      “I always have time to spare for business.”

      Gina led the way down the stairs, conscious of Alex Colton just behind her. For such a powerfully built man, he had a tread as light as a cat.

      “That window is magnificent,” he said, gazing upward. “Do you happen to know who did the stained glass?”

      Gina paused in the foyer by the newel post, fingering an intricate carving of grape leaves in the polished oak. For the second time that afternoon, she told the story of Josiah Edgewood and his reluctant bride.

      Colton stood above her on the stairs and listened in apparent fascination, emotions playing visibly across his face. The man was such a good audience that Gina had to force herself to stop talking. She felt as if she could go on for hours, telling him stories about the house and its history, enjoying the way his eyes lit up and that elusive smile touched his mouth.

      “Well, it seems my wife was right, as usual,” he said at last. “I think this place is going to be perfect for us.”

      His wife.

      Gina was surprised and a little annoyed with herself for her swift surge of disappointment. After all, she was hardly the sort of woman who looked on every man as a romantic prospect.

      She led the way across the foyer and into her office. Moving behind the broad oak desk, she gestured to one of the leather chairs nearby and reached into a drawer for the reservation book. Her guest settled in a chair and examined the placid scene beyond the window.

      “When were you and your wife thinking of coming to stay with us, Mr. Colton?”

      He glanced at her, looking startled and unhappy, and turned back to his study of the yard. “What’s wrong with that dog?” he asked.

      Gina followed his gaze, watching as Mary’s fat white poodle lumbered past the window and settled near a clump of pink alyssum, whining piteously.

      “She’s hungry,” Gina said. “Her name’s Annabel and I’m afraid she’s on a diet.”

      “She certainly should be,” Colton said with another of those brief shining smiles. “But she doesn’t seem to have a lot of willpower, does she?”

      “Not a lot,” Gina agreed. “Annabel doesn’t believe in suffering silently.”

      She stole a glance at her visitor, who was still watching the dog. He looked so intrigued that once again she had to suppress the urge to keep talking, to tell him all about Mary and Roger and their running conflict over the care and feeding of Annabel.

      “We’re getting a lot of bookings for the summer,” Gina said, studying her reservations again. “But we have a few weekend rooms left in June, and a fair number of openings in the fall, though Christmas is already—”

      “I want the whole summer,” he said abruptly.

      Gina looked at him in astonishment. “The whole summer?”

      “That is, if the place looks as great under close inspection as it does on first impression.”

      She fingered her pen nervously. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, Mr. Colton, that our prices are…somewhat higher than normal accommodation rates in the area.”

      “About a hundred and fifty dollars a day,” he agreed calmly. “My wife had a brochure about the place, and I hope it isn’t too far out-of-date. Are those .prices still accurate?”

      Gina nodded. “There’s quite a lot of variation from room to room,” she said. “Some of the smaller rooms are less than a hundred a day, but the attic suite, for instance, is two-fifty.”

      “Why?” he asked.

      “Because of its size and the amenities. There’s a wood-burning fireplace, a king-size sleigh bed on a platform fitted with steps, a large antique bathroom with a two-person whirlpool tub and a covered balcony overlooking the lake.”

      “Sounds like a honeymoon suite,” he said.

      “Often it is.”

      “And is the attic suite occupied at the moment?” he asked.

      “There’s a young couple from Minnesota staying there for the weekend. They’ll be gone on Tuesday.”

      “Well, it sounds beautiful, but probably not exactly what I’m looking for. What about that room you were working in?”

      “That’s the gold room,” Gina said. “It’s about midrange. It has leaded-glass casement windows, a gas fireplace and a small balcony. It’s a hundred and seventy.”

      “And if I took it for two months? Would I have to pay—” he paused a moment to think “—ten thousand dollars?”

      “Of course not. I could offer a substantially decreased rate for a long-term stay. And all our guests are treated to a wonderful three-course breakfast and an afternoon tea in the library.”

      Colton leaned back in his chair. “Would the gold room be free for the entire summer?”

      “I think I could make arrangements to have it available,” Gina said, keeping her face carefully expressionless. She could never recall having a room booked for sixty consecutive days to the same person. A stay at Edgewood Manor was usually an expensive luxury for her guests. It was a chance to escape from the real world, to be pampered by the staff for a few days and swathed in СКАЧАТЬ