The Widow's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

who—strictly speaking—was also a receiver of stolen goods.
    He stroked his hand up and down her arm, spoke softly, as though he were gentling one of his brother’s high-strung mares. Propriety be hanged—she felt like a bundle of sticks, brittle enough that the slightest pressure would snap her.
    And her eyes, Lord. As Micah gazed into them, he felt as though he’d come face-to-face with himself. There were secrets in her eyes. Secrets, and pain.
    As a man, Micah might yearn for the opportunity to help assuage the pain.
    As a U.S. Secret Service agent, he was bound to investigate the secrets, particularly those associated with the Bingham family.
    For the moment, however, the widow Tremayne was a terrified woman, one who needed a gentle hand and a reason to trust the man who had terrified her.
    In the end, Micah took her for a ride in his rental buggy.Katya, who communicated through the use of a lined tablet and pencil she kept in her pocket, refused to accompany them, despite Mrs. Tremayne’s and Micah’s invitation. After eyeing her mistress, she wrote for a moment, then handed the paper to Micah.
    She has fear, all day. Needs help. You are good man. A servant like me. I clean house, you help lady.
    The maid’s extrapolation of Secret Service to Secret “Servant” touched him; he wished her mistress shared Katya’s wordless trust and was surprised by Mrs. Tremayne’s docility, though he doubted it would last. For a few blocks they drove in silence. But the late-afternoon sun was warm, the sound of the steady clip-clop of hooves soothing, and eventually Mrs. Tremayne relaxed enough to shift in the seat, and glance up into his face.
    â€œKatya is very perceptive, for all her youth. I’m surprised she refused to accompany us, but she’s obviously taken a shine to you. Even if you were taking me to the police station to be arrested, Katya would tell me not to worry.”
    â€œI’m not taking you to the police station. I have no intention of placing you under arrest. The motive behind this outing is to banish your worries, which I’m sure you know achieve nothing but wrinkles and gray hair. A fate worse than death for a lady, wouldn’t you agree?”
    â€œUnless the lady has a head full of garish hair.” At last she smiled, the rueful sweetness of it arrowing straight to Micah’s gut. “But thank you all the same. I’m much better.”
    â€œGod gave you a beautiful head of hair, Mrs. Tremayne. Why not celebrate it?”
    He might have struck a match to tinder. Temper burned in her eyes and the words she spoke next were hurled like fire-tipped darts. “Operative MacKenzie, we may or may not have to endure each other’s company in the future. If we do,please know that the next time you feel compelled to utter any divine reference, however oblique, I will leave the room. Do I make myself clear?”
    â€œPerfectly. Since we’re traveling in a buggy along a fairly crowded street, however, I’ll be especially careful how I phrase my remarks.”
    Well, he’d known the docility would not last, but he hadn’t anticipated such a violent reaction. Micah wondered who had poisoned her mind, not only about her hair color, but about God. On the heels of that question, it occurred to him that her comments might be a clever ploy, designed either to draw attention to herself or to deflect probing questions about why she had abdicated her status as a member of the Bingham family.
    If she’d been a different sort of woman, the watch with its vital evidence might still be hidden in her music chest.
    A stray breeze carried to his nostrils the faint whiff of the gardenia scent that permeated her house. It was a poignant, powerful scent and threatened to turn his professional objectivity to sawdust. Micah’s hands tightened on the reins. “I do have a secondary motive for this drive. If you don’t mind,