While We Were Watching Downton Abbey Read Online Free PDF Page B

moment.”
    Samantha hated how blasé she sounded about her lack of employment, as if there were nothing wrong with being idle and letting Jonathan continue to foot her bills. “It won’t be too expensive. I can stay at Fredi’s place. And if you loan me some of your frequent-flyer miles,” she said as if she might one day return them, “the trip will hardly cost anything at all.”
    “It’s New York City,” Samantha replied. “
Breathing
is expensive there.”
    Meredith’s mouth tightened. “You live in the lap of luxury and Jonathan has more money than God,” she said. “What difference does it make if I go to a few restaurants and shows and pick up a few clothes?”
    There were footsteps in the foyer. “Did Meredith just refer to me as God?” Jonathan asked as he entered the living room. He leaned down to kiss Samantha and accept the drink she’d mixed for him, then gave Meredith a brotherly hug. When Meredith was little he used to ruffle her hair and treat her like his own sister, something he’d said he was glad to have, given his only-child status and the amount of attention his mother had always trained on him. For a time he’d called her Merry, but the nickname had been more about wishful thinking than reality and it hadn’t survived the turbulent teenage years when Meredith had been anything but.
    “Not exactly.” She shot Meredith a disapproving look.
    “Not exactly what?” Hunter had come in so quietly that his voice surprised her. It was as rich and smooth as his appearance and was a potent tool or weapon, depending on his mood. He was just shy of six feet with a lean runner’s body, a chiseled face, the Jackson green eyes, and an almost feline grace. He also had glossy black hair that fell onto his forehead and long, thick eyelashes that both of his sisters envied.
    “Nothing,” Samantha said. “I hope everybody’s hungry.”
    Jonathan looked at her over his highball glass. From the day they’d married she’d made sure that no matter what she’d done that day, she was dressed and made-up when he got home from the office and had a Tanqueray and tonic waiting for him when he walked through the door. When her siblings had gotten old enough to notice, they’d given her a good bit of grief about being stuck in the fifties, but she had seen it as a token of her appreciation for all he did for them.
    “What’s for dinner?” Jonathan asked.
    “Veal.” Although Samantha hid the evidence that others had cooked, she was always careful not to come out and actually claim that she’d cooked it. “In fact, we’re having saltimbocca alla Romana.”
    “Bless you,” Jonathan said. “I was hoping we’d have Italian tonight.”
    “Shocker,” Meredith said. “You’d eat an Italian shoe if someone put marinara sauce on it.”
    “I think you have,” Hunter added sotto voce. “Hell, I think we all have.”
    Samantha was very glad she wasn’t going to have to serve the leathery lump she’d created. Her brother and sister would have never let her live it down. Jonathan would have asked for a second helping and managed to somehow chew and swallow it. She’d never been sure if this was due to his kind streak or his optimism. Unlike her brother and sister, he still clung to the belief that one day the cooking lessons would kick in and her inner Julia Child would emerge.
    Meredith chattered on about New York during dinner as if it had already been decided that she would go. Then she said that Fredi had offered to introduce her to a contact at the Frick Museum who might be a good job contact. Even Samantha might have fallen for it if Meredith hadn’t given her a “take that” look when Jonathan turned away.
    In the kitchen, Samantha dished up the tiramisu and told herself it might not be a bad idea for Meredith to get out of town for a bit. She’d just have to make sure that Meredith did, in fact, renew contacts and look into the possibilities in New York while she was there. If Cynthia