Hard Hat Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

heat up. She glanced at him. What must he be thinking? That she was a hopeless old maid? “ I ’ m sorry, Kyle. Mom does get carried away sometimes. ”
    “ No problem. ” He grinned.
    Laura shrugged, not in the least chagrined. “ It ’ s not natural for a girl to want to stay single. ”
    “ It suits me fine. And I don ’ t want to hear another word about it, ” Jan said, sending a warning glance at her mother, and then fixing he r gaze on her salad. She breathed a sigh of relief when Kyle changed the subject.
    “ So, I understand Horace was your brother, Laura ? ” he asked.
    “ That ’ s right. Though he was ten years older than I. We seldom saw him or Esther though . They didn ’ t travel much, and didn ’ t invite relatives here, either. After Nancy disappeared and Esther died, Horace became strange. He kept to h i msel f after all the tragedy th at summer . ”
    Kyle frowned. “ You said Nancy disappeared. I ’ m sure I heard about this years ago, but I ’ ve forgotten what happened. ”
    “ As I said, she just disappeared . They never heard from her again. ”
    “ Didn ’ t she even let them know she was all right? ” Kyle asked, frowning.
    Laura shrugged. “ No. She probably knew Horace would never forgive her. Anyway, Horace was furious, but it broke Esther’s heart. ”
    Kyle frowned . “Didn’t they file a missing person’s report?”
    Laura shook her head. “ Horace said Nancy left a note saying she was eloping with a man she ’ d been secretly dating , so the police said she’d left of her own free will.”
    “But surely the police could trace her through the man’s employment records?”
    Laura shrugged. “They either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Horace said he was one of the crew that was building their new silo, but they didn ’ t know anything about him . The crew moved from farm to farm, building silos for farmers. Apparently the men were mostly transient workers and no one seemed to know or care who they were or where they came from or went. ”
    “How sad,” Kyle said.
    Jan shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Did her mother have to tell everyone that old family story? “ Mom, I don ’ t think Kyle is interested in our family ’ s history, ” she murmured, glancing at him.
    Kyle met her gaze. “ On the contrary. I find it fascinating. ”
    “ A few weeks later, ” Laura went on, ignoring Jan ’ s objection, “ Esther went into seclusion and died . It ’ s like the tragic plot of one of my movies. ”
    “ You ’ ve only done comedies, Mom. Never a tragedy. ”
    “ You ’ re a movie star? ” Kyle asked, surprise and admiration in his voice.
    Laura beamed at his implied compliment. “ Well, in a small way. Character parts, mostly, ” she said modestly. “ But that ’ s why I have to fly to London tomorrow night. My contract says I must be on the set Monday morning. ”
    “ How interesting. ”
    “ I find it so, ” Laura said, smiling.
    Kyle picked up his coffee and turned to Jan. “ And what do you do? ”
    Jan smiled and told him, “ Nothing a s glamorous as Mom. I teach elementary school. ”
    Kyle almost choked on his coffee. That explained her prim and proper attitude all right. “ Ah, I see, ” he managed to say. “ You teach little ones? ”
    “ Third graders. The fun age. ”
    Kyle saw her mouth twist in a smile . H er blue eyes sparkle d with humor. She certainly looked the part of a professional woman, even dressed in simple blue slacks and white blouse today. Every hair was in place and her nails were perfectly manicured. Jan might not think her job was glamorous, but it was obviously a lot more civilized than working on his construction sites.
    Laura had better think again if she thought she was going to match her daughter up with a rough and ready, hard-hat construction guy like him. No way. A woman like her wouldn’t look twice at him.
    He glanced at his watch and said, “ We ’ d better get a move on. ”
    Anxious to get this deal