Harlequin Romance March 2021 Box Set Cara Colter (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

‘No more than any other sixteen-year-old girl. And I’ve got to tell you, Owen, you need to ease off a bit or you’re going to smother her with disapproval.’

His mouth tightened.

‘I know it comes from a good place. From a desire to protect her…’

‘Of course I want to protect her! I know how ugly the world can be. I don’t want her ever to suffer the way my mother did.’

Oh, Owen. He hadn’t been able to protect his mother so he was determined to protect his little sister.

She blinked hard against the burn in her eyes. ‘But Lissy has Margaret and Jack, who both sound smart and savvy. They aren’t neglectful, are they? They love her? You trust them, don’t you?’

‘Of course I do!’

‘Then leave the parenting to them.’

His jaw dropped.

‘Both you and Lissy would be better served if you were the approachable big brother she could confide in without fear of being judged or having her head snapped off.’

He ran a hand over his face. ‘You make me sound like the worst of grumps.’

‘I know you’re not. And deep down Lissy does too. But she’s a teenager. At her age everything takes on an added edge that can feel pointed and overwhelming. She thinks you don’t trust her.’

His gaze speared to hers and she shrugged.

‘Imagine how that makes her feel.’

Very slowly he nodded.

She hesitated, but those grey eyes were on her in a heartbeat, sharpening at whatever they saw in her face.

‘There’s more?’ he asked.

Help! She was about to embark into truly personal territory. ‘She mentioned someone called Fiona…’

His head reared back and it took all her courage to continue.

‘I got the impression she’s an old girlfriend of yours.’

He gave the briefest of nods.

‘I also got the impression that something happened between the two of them.’

Everything about him went on high alert. ‘Do you know what?’

She shook her head. ‘But if you decide to raise the topic—when you decide to raise the topic,’ she amended, because she could see that he fully intended to do so, ‘tread carefully. Instinct tells me she really hurt Lissy’s feelings.’

Her stomach churned at his sudden pallor and the self-recrimination reflected in his eyes.

‘I expect Fiona didn’t mean to cause any harm, but—’

‘Then you’d expect wrong.’

The ice in his voice had a chill chasing down her spine.

‘Fiona and I were engaged.’

What? To be married?

‘But she wasn’t the woman I thought she was. It never occurred to me she’d take her anger out on Lissy.’ His lips twisted. ‘Evidently I was too caught up in my own pity party.’

‘I’m sorry, Owen. I—’

‘You’ve nothing to apologise for. I appreciate all you’ve said.’ He nodded. ‘And I will tread carefully. But I am going to fix this.’

He clasped her hands briefly, and she could see something inside him had lightened.

‘Thank you.’

She found a smile of her own. ‘Well…thank you for organising today’s meeting. It was great to meet Frances’s friends.’

‘I was happy to help.’ He sobered again, his brow creasing. ‘But the woman Josephine, Betty and Eliza described today…the Frances from those earlier years…is a stranger to me. She sounded so vibrant and full of life…’

It hadn’t occurred to Callie how her quest might affect him. She didn’t want to mar his memory of his godmother. He’d loved Frances. She ached to reach out and squeeze his arm in silent sympathy and let him know he wasn’t alone. But she hesitated too long and the moment passed.

His frown deepened. ‘What happened between her and Richard seemed to break her.’

‘I wonder why, though. I know love can be a tricky thing, but…’

His snort told her he considered that an understatement.

‘But Frances sounded like a strong woman,’ she said.

‘Your point being?’

She pressed her hands together, gazing at the column of his throat rather than meeting the misty grey of his eyes.

‘Very few of us manage to get through life without making a fool of ourselves romantically at least once, right?’

There was an intriguing sprinkle of hair at the vee of Owen’s shirt and—Stop it! She deliberately made herself think of Dominic and familiar anger flared in her chest.

‘I sure as hell have. And, after what you just said about Fiona, I guess you have too.’

‘Yep.’

She swallowed at the way his lips thinned. There was a story there, but she refused to ask about it.

‘But most of us don’t turn into recluses because of it. Frances made a mistake about Richard—’ just as Callie had with Dominic ‘—but so what?’

Owen blinked.

‘I’m not saying that to be callous. I don’t doubt he hurt her really badly. But I still don’t get it.’

‘Josephine said she felt things too deeply. And she did marry her mistake. We didn’t marry ours, and that has to make a difference.’ He stilled. ‘At least I didn’t.’

She shook her head, barely suppressing a shudder. ‘Me either.’

‘She trusted Richard and he abused that trust. What he did was despicable.’

‘You won’t get any argument from me about that. It’s clear he broke her heart and disillusioned her. But did he break her spirit too? We’ve just agreed she was a strong woman, and it’s clear that she had access to a lot of resources, so why turn herself into a modern-day Miss Havisham?’

‘What are you thinking?’

‘That thing Betty said about Frances breaking her own heart… What if it wasn’t Richard she was referring to?’ The thought formed as she spoke. ‘What if it was whatever happened between her and my mother?’

He was silent for several long moments. ‘If you’re right,’ he finally said, ‘you could be opening a huge can of worms.’

Her heart sank. Maybe she should let sleeping dogs lie.

‘You must want this job badly…’

The job! She straightened. Of course she wanted the job. Of course she was going to prise the lids off all cans that needed jemmying.

‘So what now?’ he asked.

She pulled in a breath to bolster her resolve. ‘Josephine is going to text me the details of my mother’s friend. As soon as she does I’ll arrange a meeting. Hopefully she’ll know the truth