Darling Sweetheart Read Online Free PDF

smiling for a while before returning to the library. Emerson had been joined by a woman in her thirties who wore a taupe linen jacket and a black dress on a body that either over-exercised or never ate orboth. The woman’s jet hair had been ironed into a sophisticated bob but her face showed a pain as she watched Emerson bang his knuckles off the false books.
    ‘Ya see?’ he was explaining. ‘They’re all fake. Just bitsa wood, painted to look like books. Back in the olden days, it’s how they dickied up a room.’
    ‘Yes, H.E., I can see that now…’
    ‘Annalise Palatine, I’d like you to meet my chief personal assistant, Judy Frost. Judy – Annalise. It was Annalise who spotted the books, Judy. In fact, she spotted them the second she walked into the room.’ Frost shook Annalise’s hand with a smile, but if her eyes could have spoken, they would have said something like ‘curl up and die, you interfering bitch’. Her mouth said, ‘I can assure you, H.E., that when we took the lease on the property, the owner said nothing about this.’
    ‘It’s your job to take care of the details, Judy. Where would we be if we didn’t take care of the details?’ Annalise felt embarrassed for the older woman, being ticked off in front of a total stranger over something so trivial.
    ‘We’d be nowhere, H.E. I’ll call the owner immediately and inform him of our displeasure in the matter.’
    ‘Inform the fuckin’ asshole that we don’t want his crappy house then find me somewhere better.’
    Frost blanched. ‘But… this is the best château within thirty miles of Beynac. It took months to organise.’
    Emerson’s reply was a masterpiece of curbed menace. ‘Judy–I want a castle with real books. Do you think you could do that for me, please?’
    ‘Yes. Yes, of course. I’ll get on to it right away.’
    ‘We need to take care of the details, Judy. Another example–I inspected the kitchens this mornin’ and I noticed that some of the condiment jars had been placed on the storage shelves with their labels turned inwards.’
    ‘Condiment… jars?’
    ‘Yeah, can you believe that? I asked Stefan about it and he said one of the house staff musta done it. So I said to him, how in the hell are we supposed to know which condiment is which if the labels aren’t positioned outways so we can read them?’ Annalise almost giggled but stopped herself when she saw the utter seriousness of Emerson’s expression.
    ‘I agree, H.E., that that is a completely unacceptable situation.’
    ‘How was anyone supposed to find the right condiment, Judy?’
    ‘Really, H.E., you shouldn’t trouble yourself with–’
    ‘It’s okay, I fixed it already. I personally turned all those jars so their labels faced outways. But I shouldna hadda do that – should I, Judy?’
    Frost whispered, ‘No, H.E., you should not.’
    He sighed. ‘Fake books, disorganised storage – things are sure are gettin’ sloppy round here.’
    Now, the woman looked frightened. ‘I’ll arrange new accommodation straight away. And I’ll sack the housemaid.’
    He sighed absently. ‘Yeah, you do that. One more thing: call Peter Tress and tell him I wanna talk to him.’ he consulted his watch, ‘say twenty minutes from now. I’ll take it in here. And tell Talbot we’re ready to chow down.’
    ‘Of course.’ Frost backed out the door, closing it gently. Emerson shook his head.
    ‘Goddamn incredible, ain’t it – no matter how rich or famous you are, you gotta do everythin’ yourself!’
    ‘Harry,’ Annalise tried to hide the astonishment in her voice, ‘you’re not really going to move from this beautiful house just because of those silly books? I was only trying to make conversation.’
    He sat down at the table, without holding her chair out, much less waiting for her. ‘This is why you and me are gonna be so great together. You got taste – you were born into this.’
    ‘Not really.’ She seated herself opposite. ‘It’s true