Danger in a Red Dress Read Online Free PDF

to do.”
    The first tendrils of squeamishness touched her. “The role of butler does not include being a tattletale.”
    “You say that now. Wait until you meet Mother.” Carrick swung the door open.
    The air was stale. The curtains were closed. Mrs. Manly’s deep voice was sarcastic as she said, “The wandering son returns.”
    “Hello, Mother.” He turned on the overhead light, and walked toward the figure in the wheelchair. He leaned down toward her to kiss her cheek. “How are—”
    She interrupted. “Who’s that?”
    Everything Carrick had said about his mother was true. She had a heavy face, with jowls that drooped over a sagging neck. Her mouth was small, her nose large, and she needed to wax her upper lip. Her hair was long and dark, with streaks of gray, and she wore it pulled back and tied at the base of her neck. Thick black-rimmed glasses rested on the end of her nose. She was overweight, diabetic, and arthritic, but she was also an aristocrat to the tips of her twisted and beringed fingers.
    Without touching her, he straightened. “This is Hannah Grey. She’s your new nurse.”
    Melinda Manly did not look at Hannah. She did not deign to notice Hannah. She spoke only to Carrick. “What makes you think I need a nurse?”
    Carrick shot Hannah a conspiratorial smile, the kind that made Hannah wonder if all men were so insensitive. Did Carrick truly believed his mother was too dimwitted to notice or too kindhearted to care? In a patronizing tone, he said, “Dr. Thalmann says you’re not taking care of yourself.”
    “If I’m not, that’s my business. Not yours, and definitely not hers .” Melinda Manly’s voice grew deeper in its disdain.
    “It is my business. You’re my mother.” Carrick leaned over again, this time putting his arm around her shoulders. “And I love you.”
    For all the affection he got in return, he might as well have hugged an oak board.
    Hannah compared this woman to her own irrepressible mother, and felt sorry for Carrick. Before he could make things worse, she interposed herself into the conversation. “Mrs. Manly, I’m trained in home nursing and physical therapy, and I’m an arthritis specialist. Give me a chance, and I could ease your discomfort.”
    “I don’t like people,” Mrs. Manly said precisely.
    “Think of me as a servant,” Hannah invited.
    “Are you mocking me?” Mrs. Manly snapped.
    “Not at all.” Maybe a little. “I met the butler. I saw the man who got our luggage out of the car. You have servants. You have someone who comes in here to clean and make your bed. You may not like them, but you’re used to them. I would simply take over the care of you, and you would treat me as you would any servant.”
    “You’d try and make me do what I have no intention of doing.”
    “You’re in pain. Right now. Your hip is killing you.” Hannah held Mrs. Manly’s dark gaze. “And you have an unpleasant tingling in your toes.”
    “Is that why she won’t use her walker?” Carrick asked.
    Hannah had made some good guesses based on the way Mrs. Manly sat and her own knowledge of arthritis and diabetes. She had captured Mrs. Manly’s attention. And Carrick had fouled up by talking about Mrs. Manly as if she weren’t in the room.
    Hannah subdued a sigh, and waded back into the fray. “I am a specialist in the care of arthritis sufferers. Your son is not going to stop trying to bring someone in, so why not have the best?”
    “The best, heh?” Mrs. Manly pinned Hannah with her contempt. “Who are your people?”
    Hannah stiffened. She should have seen this coming. “My mother grew up in Teignmouth, New Hampshire, and so did I.”
    “That didn’t answer the question. What was her family’s name? What was your father’s name?”
    “Mother, you’re being rude.” Beside his mother’s determination, Carrick sounded feeble.
    “It doesn’t matter, Carrick. I’ll answer her question,” Hannah said. “My mother’s family name was Grey. My