Dusky Rose Read Online Free PDF

this assignment is getting more interesting by the minute."
    Laura leaned against the wall and shook her head in disbelief. "I never expected anything like this. I just can't believe that he'd trust me with a job of this magnitude. He must have me confused with someone else."
    "Laura, I told you before that Jon Lattimer doesn't make mistakes. His secretary was given strict orders that Miss Laura Canaday of Plant Lady was to have complete and final control over the furnishing of Mr. Lattimer's new home. So that's the way it's going to be, Apparently, Jon Lattimer is the only one who can make any sense out of this. When I questioned his secretary, she guessed that you must be some new girlfriend of his. But we both know that's not the case, although I had my doubts before. Maybe someday Jon will explain the situation to the rest of us. In the meantime, I hope that you've got plenty of free time, because this is going to be a monumental undertaking."
    Laura spent the rest of the day touring the house and grounds of Lattimer Lodge. At three o'clock, Janine suggested that they stop working for the day, since they both had to drive back to San Francisco and by leaving early they might avoid the heavy freeway traffic. She suggested that they meet at the San Francisco Home Design Center at ten a.m. the following day.
    On the long drive home, Laura kept thinking about the impossibility of the situation. Why on earth would Mr. Lattimer choose her to supervise the decoration of his new home? How could he entrust such a great responsibility to someone he had never even met? There had to be a plausible explanation, but no matter how she tried she couldn't think of one.
    When Laura drove by the plant shop, she saw that Midge had locked up for the day, so she continued driving until she reached the narrow brownstone house where she and Midge occupied a small apartment.
    Midge came walking in from the bedroom. "Tell me all about it. What was the house like? And how did you get along with Janine Hartmann?"
    Laura laughed as she flopped down on the sofa. She kicked off her shoes and stretched her legs along the length of the sofa. "Give me a minute to catch my breath," she said. "It's been a very interesting day."
    Laura told Midge about her encounter with Janine Hartmann and her complete control over the decoration of Lattimer Lodge. Midge was astounded. "I thought you said that Jonathan Lattimer was a cold, hard man. The house you've described sounds more like a home for a romantic."
    "It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? I'm beginning to have second thoughts about the mysterious Mr. Lattimer. Anyone who was so impressed by my plants can't be so bad. You know what I've always said, a person who likes plants and animals can't be all bad. I'd really like to meet him so that I could thank him for having such faith in my ability."
    "Well," Midge said, "I'm quite sure that you'll get to meet him while you're working on his house. He must go out there every now and then to see how things are progressing, right?"
    Laura agreed with Midge, then got up and excused herself to take a shower and change into something more comfortable. She opened her closet to get her robe and decided that she'd have to expand her wardrobe if she was going to be visiting decorator showrooms with Janine Hartmann.
    Laura spent the rest of the week traveling from showroom to showroom with Janine. The experience was educational and Janine seemed pleased that Laura was so willing to accept her expertise in most matters. Laura had developed a knack for choosing furniture when she and Midge had been forced to select their furniture from the hodge-podge available in secondhand thrift shops and helping Midge with her floral arrangements had given Laura the opportunity to develop an acute sense of color compatibility. Janine was quite impressed with the unique flair Laura seemed to have for interior decorating.
    "You know," Janine said, "I can understand how Jonathan Lattimer