After the Party Read Online Free PDF Page B

Sanborn.”
    His smile was friendly, if flirtatious. He shook her hand, holding it a little longer than was necessary. Owen certainly had none of his cousin’s reserve.
    “Yes.”
    “My father tells me you’re going to throw quite a party for him.”
    “Yes. I’m here to go over some of the plans.”
    Owen smiled again. “Mind if I sit in?”
    “That’s up to Elliot.”
    Chase’s presence the other day had made Ella nervous, since it was clear he didn’t approve of the wake and, for that matter, didn’t trust Ella not to take advantage of Elliot. Still, she found herself glancing toward his door.
    “He’s out,” Owen told her. “Won’t be back for a while.”
    Just as well, she thought, refusing to be disappointed.
    The racetrack was quiet when she and Owen entered Elliot’s office. The older man was seated behind his desk rather than on top of it, and a sheaf of papers was scattered over the blotter. He was clad in appropriate, if boring, work attire. Conservative suit. Starched white shirt. His only bow to fun was the tiny hot air balloons that speckled his bowtie.
    His eyes lit up when he spied her and a smile wreathed his face, pulling his jowls firm. “Ella! If you aren’t a sight for sore eyes.”
    “Hello, Elliot. I hope I’m not disturbing you. We did say nine o’clock?”
    “We did.” With that he pushed the papers into a pile to one side and propped his reading glasses on top of his head. “I’m eager to see what you’ve come up with.”
    “And I’m eager to hear what you think.”
    She pulled a folder from the oversize handbag that was doing double duty as a briefcase, and passed it to him. Rather than opening it, however, Elliot transferred his gaze to his son.
    “Is there something you wanted, Owen?”
    “Not particularly.”
    “Then you may go.”
    The request was made with a surprising amount of authority from a man who otherwise came across as easygoing.
    “What? I can’t stick around? Offer my advice on your little party?”
    Nothing about the gathering Elliot had in mind could be classified as little. But what Ella found interesting, perhaps even telling, was that Elliot didn’t correct his son and use the word wake, even though he had been quite explicit on that point with Chase.
    “You don’t care about this party, Owen.”
    “Neither does Chase, but when you met with Ella last week, he was here. You told me so yourself.”
    Although Owen’s tone was matter-of-fact, his reply struck Ella as petulant, childish. Some form of sticky family dynamic was at work here. Exactly what it was, she wasn’t sure. But if the drama of her stepmother and stepsister had taught Ella anything, it was that she didn’t want to be in the middle of it.
    “Maybe I should come back,” she murmured.
    Elliot apparently didn’t hear her. His gaze still on Owen, he said, “Chase might not approve of the party, but at least he cares.”
    “Right. Saint Chase. For a moment I forgot who I was talking about.” Owen made a mocking bow in her direction. “It was nice to meet you, Ella.”
    The door closed behind him with a thud. Elliot stared at it, frowning. When he glanced back at Ella, he seemed perplexed.
    “Why are you here again?”
    “Your party,” she said slowly.
    Elliot continued to frown. About the time she became uncomfortable, he grinned and his expression turned impish.
    “Wake, you mean. Let’s call it what it is.”
    * * *
    Muffled laughter, both masculine and feminine, greeted Chase when he stepped off the elevator.
    The sounds emanated from his uncle’s office. Elliot’s laugh brought a smile to Chase’s lips. No one—whether child or adult—was proof against the man’s booming guffaw. The feminine laugh, however, had a different effect on Chase since he had a pretty good idea to whom it belonged.
    Ella Sanborn.
    She’d been on his mind a lot the past few days. She’d starred in one very explicit dream over the weekend, although that wasn’t the reason he’d