Dying to Please Read online

  “I'll be glad to. Do you want a suite?”

  “Just a room will do, since I'll be alone. Sarah, you know how long it takes a will to go through probate. I've talked to Randall and Jon about this, and we all agree. If you need the money Daddy left you, we'll go ahead and give it to you now out of our accounts, and take it back out of the estate when everything is settled.”

  “Oh, no, don't do that,” Sarah said, shocked. “I don't need the money, and I really wish you wouldn't—”

  “Don't argue,” Barbara said firmly. “Daddy left you the money, and that's that.”

  There was nothing Sarah could do but say, “Thank you. Truly, though, I don't need the money now.”

  “All right, but if you change your mind, all you have to do is tell me. Oh, by the way, I've written a letter of recommendation for you, too; I'm bringing it with me, so don't let me forget to give it to you. You've been wonderful; I don't know what we would have done without you.”

  “It's been my pleasure,” Sarah said sadly, because it truly had been a pleasure to serve the Judge and his family.

  There was another job offer in the mail that day. She read it and put it with the others. This one didn't require her to start immediately, so it was a possibility. She made a mental note to call later, to set up an appointment for an interview.

  To her astonishment, every day there was another job offer in the mail, and a couple of offers were made by phone. She disregarded those immediately, preferring the more formal approach. Still, she was amazed at the number of offers coming in; her salary wasn't cheap, so she hadn't expected what was almost a cornucopia of opportunities.

  “It's that television spot,” Cahill said when she told him about it Thursday night. They were watching television, sitting together in his big recliner with her in his lap. She was proud they were actually watching television; this was the first night they hadn't gone straight to bed after eating dinner. “You're a celebrity, of sorts, so some people will want to hire you whether they really need you or not.”

  “That isn't the type of job I want, just to be someone's status symbol. Judge Roberts needed someone to organize and run the household for him. He was elderly, he lived alone, he had some health problems, and he simply didn't want to be bothered by the details.”

  “Plus he needed your bodyguard skills.”

  Sarah fell silent, because her skills hadn't done any good. When the Judge had needed her, she hadn't been there.

  “Hey,” Cahill said softly. “It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have stopped it. There would have been no reason for you to be suspicious of this guy, whoever he is, because the Judge knew him, asked him to come in. Would you have stayed in the room with them while they talked?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Then how could you have stopped it? The guy probably used a silencer; you wouldn't even have heard the shot.”

  “At least I could have identified him—” She stopped, thinking it through. “He'd have killed me, too.”

  Cahill's arms tightened around her. “He'd have to, because you'd know his name, what he looked like. Thank God you went to a movie.” He kissed her forehead, then tilted her head back and kissed her mouth, lingering until she began to think they wouldn't be watching television much longer.

  “When did you say Mrs. Pearson is flying in?” he asked, lifting his head.

  “Tomorrow night.”

  “Does this mean you won't be sleeping here?”

  “I can't,” she said, regretfully.

  “Then why are we wasting time?”

  Later, when he'd turned out the light and they were lying drowsily together, he said, “If you don't mind, let me check out the people who sent you those job offers.”

  “Why?” she asked, startled into lifting her head. “Do you think something's wrong?” She didn't see how anything could be.

  “No, nothing in particular. It's just a precaution. Humor me.”

  “Okay, if you want.”

  “I do,” he said firmly.

  CHAPTER 18

  “WE DO A LOT OF ENTERTAINING.” MERILYN LANKFORD TOOK A sip of coffee from a cup of translucent bone china, the huge yellow diamond on her hand glittering as it caught the sunlight. “And we travel, so we need someone to look after the house while we're gone.” She suddenly smiled, her eyes twinkling. “I've always told Sonny I need a wife. Miss Stevens, will you marry me?”

  Sarah had to laugh. Mrs. Lankford was a petite, energetic brunette with artfully done highlights to hide the growing gray in her hair, bright green eyes that invited the world to laugh with her, and a nonstop schedule. Her two daughters were grown, the older one married and the younger one a senior in college. She had a job in real estate, an interest in several charities, and a husband who ran two thriving businesses that depended on contacts for sales, hence the entertaining. Judge Roberts had been old money; the Lankfords were unabashedly new money, and they were enjoying every penny.

  Two years before, they had built a rambling, ostentatious Spanish-style house, with nooks and crannies everywhere, arched alcoves, bricked courtyards, a center fountain, and anything else they could think of. The pool was Olympic size. Mr. Lankford had what he called a media room, crammed with whatever he could think of in the way of electronics, from computer to stereo, including the big-screen television that all men seemed to need to feel complete—and this was in addition to the home theater, with the drop-down projection screen, the ten reclining theater seats upholstered in lush velvet, and the wraparound stereo sound system. The Lankfords had his-and-her marble bathrooms, closets the size of most people's houses, ten bathrooms, eight bedrooms, and what was obviously more money than they knew what to do with.

  The whole setup made Sarah want to laugh, it was so over-the- top. It was also obvious that Merilyn enjoyed everything about her new house, from the silly to the luxurious. She knew it was ostentatious, and she didn't care. She had wanted the sunken marble tub, she could afford it, so she got one; it was that simple.

  Sarah liked the Lankfords, Merilyn especially. From her point of view, the setup was good; there were separate quarters for her use, an actual little Spanish-style, fully furnished bungalow set back behind the pool and half hidden from view by a lush wall of trailing ivy. Merilyn must have paid the earth to have the mature ivy transplanted, but the effect was wonderful.

  Even more important, Sarah thought, Merilyn truly needed her. The other prospective employers had, she sensed, wanted her more as a trophy or a status symbol than anything else. She had even received a second offer from the man who had tried to hire her after seeing her on television. People like that didn't really need her. Attitude went a long way in her consideration.

  The entire process had become a little weird. She was supposed to be the one being interviewed, not the other way around, but she kept getting the feeling that people were almost auditioning for her. This certainly hadn't been addressed in training, so she pretended not to notice. Regardless of which job she took, after a while things would adjust to their natural state and her employers would become accustomed to treating her as they should.

  The Lankfords were the fourth interview she'd had, and she thought they might be the last. Matters had progressed with the Judge's estate faster than the family had anticipated; only a week after listing the house for sale, the realtor had a serious offer on the table, and the buyers wanted to close immediately. In order to get the house ready for them, on Barbara's instructions, Sarah had brought in extra labor to help with packing and moving. The house was almost empty; all that was left was what was in her own quarters.

  The furniture wasn't hers; neither were the dishes or cookware. She did have her own bed linens, because she preferred silky sheets, but for the most part, all she had to move were her personal effects—her clothes and toiletries and books, a music system, and her collection of cassettes and CDs. Cahill had told her she didn't have to rush into a job, she could always move in with him and take her time looking, but sh