Heartwishes Read online

  “Don’t worry about it. All the Fraziers keep their secrets. Would you put those rolls in that basket and cover them? Thanks. You’re a good sous chef. So where was I?”

  “The clandestine nature of the Fraziers.”

  “Clandestine. What a perfect word to describe them. Anyway, the point is that just because Alea puts up with Isla’s and Kirk’s endless gushing doesn’t mean she’s going to give the job to one of them. I know Colin’s already told her he thinks she should hire you, and I’m certainly going to vote for you.”

  It looked like Jean was considered a member of the family. “Shouldn’t you get to know me a little first?”

  Jean held up her hand with the bandaged finger. “I always vote for people who save my life.”

  “It was hardly that. Although there was a lot of blood and the body doesn’t hold all that much. Who knows what could have happened?”

  “I agree,” Jean said as she raised her glass in a toast. “I think you and I are going to get along quite well. Although I wish you weren’t quite so pretty.”

  “No one’s ever said that to me before.”

  “Honey, with some highlights, a good cut and some decent eye makeup—” She broke off, looking at Gemma in speculation.

  “What?”

  “I was just thinking of someone in town who’d be perfect for you, that’s all.” She got off the stool and went to the stove. She was half a foot taller than Gemma, and with her high heels she looked like she’d just stepped off a Paris runway. “You wouldn’t mind grating some cheese for me, would you? I figure I have about ten minutes before a Frazier starts demanding food. They eat enormous quantities of it, preferably all beef. I told Colin—”

  “What did you tell me?”

  The two women turned to look at him. He’d showered and changed into black slacks and a white shirt that wasn’t as snug as his other one had been. He looked very good, and Gemma couldn’t suppress the flutter that came to her heart and body. She had a vision of standing on tiptoe and slipping her arms around his neck. She could imagine how good his body would feel against hers.

  “I can’t persuade you into a tie?” Jean said, going to him and putting her arms around his neck. She aimed to kiss his lips, but he turned his head away so her kiss fell onto his cheek.

  Gemma turned away. Damn, damn, double damn! she thought. She was as bad as Isla in looking at a Frazier with wedding bells in her eyes.

  “Is Gemma helping you cook or are you two hiding out in here?” Colin asked.

  “Hiding,” Gemma and Jean said in unison.

  “Your mother couldn’t possibly be thinking of hiring one of those two,” Jean said as Colin moved away from her and went to the stove.

  “I hope not. What is all this?” he asked when he was standing beside Gemma.

  “I have no idea, but it smells divine,” she said and took a step away from him. He smelled too good for her to be close to him.

  “It does.” He picked up a lid. “Got a spoon?”

  “Here,” Jean said from his other side as she handed him one.

  “There you are!” Mrs. Frazier said from behind them. “Jean, dear, give me a glass of that wine. Better yet, Colin, pour me a shot of tequila.”

  Gemma stayed by the stove and watched as Colin and Jean hurried to do her bidding. She couldn’t help thinking that they were a beautiful couple, her so tall and lovely, him so strong and masculine.

  Mrs. Frazier dropped down onto the stool, threw back the shot Colin handed her, then chased it with half a glass of wine. “Now I feel better.”

  “What has set you off into binge drinking?” Colin asked, an eyebrow raised.

  “I hardly think that this small amount constitutes a binge. In fact—” Mrs. Frazier broke off as she drained the rest of the wine and held out her glass for more.

  “Where is everyone?” Mr. Frazier asked as he came into the kitchen. “Alea, are you getting drunk? Without me? Colin! Alcohol quick!”

  He grabbed another glass and poured his father a shot. After the second one, Mr. Frazier put the glass down and collapsed onto a stool next to his wife. “Alea, so help me, if you hire one of those two people I’ll divorce you.”

  “If I were stupid enough to employ one of them, I’d let you,” she said.

  Gemma, standing apart from the others, drew in her breath.

  “Then Gemma gets the job?” Colin asked. He was standing beside Jean, the tequila bottle in his hand.

  “Of course.” Mrs. Frazier looked around her son to Gemma. “I never had any doubt. When you saw those old documents I thought you were going to have an orgasm.”

  “Mother!” Colin said, while Jean laughed.

  Mrs. Frazier kept her eyes on Gemma. “You can’t imagine how much ridicule I’ve had to endure from my own family merely because I want to find out about our history. But right away I saw that you felt the same way I do. And Colin adores you!”

  “Mother, I don’t think—” Colin began.

  “Tristan,” Jean said loudly, and they all looked at her. “I was thinking that Gemma and Dr. Tris would make a wonderful couple.”

  “Good,” Mr. Frazier said. “That boy needs a family.”

  Gemma stepped forward to put her hands on the cool countertop; she needed something to hold on to or her knees were going to give way. She had the job. She really and truly had the job. For the next two years—or more—she’d be living in the pretty little guesthouse and finding out the secrets buried in those old documents. And she was being set up for a date with a local.

  Right now, her future looked so good she thought she might investigate employment at William and Mary College. Maybe she could get a teaching position there and stay in Edilean forever.

  They were all looking at her expectantly, but she didn’t want to tell them her thoughts. “What’s this Tristan’s doctorate in?” Gemma asked.

  “Medicine,” Jean answered. “If you’d let me keep bleeding, he’d be here now.”

  When the mention of Jean’s injury made people start asking questions, Gemma stepped to the back. The four of them were gathered around the island, listening intently to Jean’s story of how she’d cut herself, and how Gemma had come to her rescue. The screen door was nearby, so Gemma slipped outside.

  She stopped near a tall bush that was covered with pink flowers and took a few deep breaths. This is it, she thought. This lovely place would be the site of her first full-time job.

  “Overwhelmed?” Colin asked from behind her.

  “No,” Gemma said. “Not at all.”

  “My family isn’t scaring you off?”

  “Just the opposite. But . . .”

  “But what?”

  “All of you, Jean included, seem very close to each other. I promise I’ll not intrude on you.”

  “You’re no intrusion. Mother will want you at the house every night for dinner and—”

  “Absolutely not!” Gemma said firmly. “I’m here to do a job, and that’s what I’ll do.”

  Colin gave her a teasing smile that she’d seen before. “The truth is that you want to read while you eat, don’t you?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “All right. I’ll tell Mother she can’t adopt you. With our sister in California now, Mom doesn’t have a girl to lavish gifts on. But don’t be surprised if new shoes show up now and then.”

  “Jean says I need a hairdresser.” She hoped that mentioning her would make Colin say something about their relationship, such as saying there wasn’t one.

  Colin frowned. “Jean sometimes oversteps herself. I think your hair is fine. We better go in. The other two will leave in the morning.”

  “I hope no one tells them they’re not getting the job until after we eat. It won’t be a pleasant dinner with Isla and Kirk being miserable, and Jean has done a lot of work.”

  “Compassion for your enemies,” Colin said as he held open the screen door and Gemma slipped under his arm to go back into the kitchen. “I like that.”