by Judith Stacy
He decided to take the easy way out.
“Stuart Parker mentioned that things have been difficult for you and your family,” Mitch said.
Rachel gazed up at him, her eyes wide with hope. “You’re not leaving because the tea service is all wrong?”
A proper tea service. Why the hell would a person give a damn one way or the other about a tea service? But reputations were made—or destroyed—because of just such details. Mitch had forgotten that.
Rachel leaned a little closer and rose on her toes. The fragrance of her hair wafted up to him. A most delightful scent. She touched his arm.
“Please, Mr. Kincade, if you would just hear me out?”
She whispered the words. Her sweet breath brushed Mitch’s ear warming him, yet somehow sending a chill down his spine.
“Won’t you please come back?” she breathed into his ear. “Let me explain things. I don’t want Chelsey or Noah—or the servants—to overhear us.”
Indecision seesawed through Mitch, a condition that he almost never experienced. A head full of old memories warred with the vision of this woman standing before him. He knew what he should do. Knew what was best for him. No question about it.
But the warmth of her body so close to his called to him. Made him want to ease forward just a bit. Brush against her soft—
“Please?” she whispered.
Mitch drew back, drawing on a familiar store of willpower. All right, he decided. He would listen. Just listen to what she said, then leave.
He gave her a brisk nod then was annoyed with himself because the little smile she gave him pleased him so. He followed her swaying bustle down the hallway and into the sitting room once more.
“We’ll have some tea,” she told him, as if that would make things better.
Wrong service or not, Rachel Branford looked perfect with the delicate cup and saucer in her hand. Easy, practiced motions. Flawless movements. Grace and charm. She’d done this all her life, obviously.
Mitch accepted the tea, though he didn’t really want it. He preferred a steaming mug of coffee with cream and lots of sugar.
“Would you care for a cake?” Rachel asked, gesturing to the tray on the table.
The little cakes on the platter held no appeal for Mitch. He was hungry, but he craved beef with potatoes smothered with gravy. He doubted such a meal had ever been served in this house.
“Thank you for staying, Mr. Kincade, for hearing me out.” Rachel sank onto the settee and sipped her tea.
Mitch’s cup rattled in the saucer as he sat down and placed it on the table beside him.
“I suppose Uncle Stuart told you that our family situation is…well, desperate,” Rachel said.
Had Parker told him that? Mitch didn’t remember, nor did he care. Every family, every company he worked for had a sob story of some sort. An illness, a death, a disgruntled ex-employee, a crooked partner. Mitch never listened to the details. All he cared about was doing his job and collecting his fee.
“It began last year,” Rachel said, “when Father turned the business over to my brother Georgie. A few months later my mother…well, she—”
“Died?” Mitch asked.
Rachel glanced away for a moment, then looked at Mitch again. “The train derailed. She and Father were taking Noah to look at colleges.”
“That’s how your brother lost his arm?” Mitch asked.
“Yes, and I think that was the start of Father’s health problems, too. Seeing them there in the wreckage…” Rachel shook her head as if shaking away the vision, and set her teacup aside. “Father’s been in decline since. A minor stroke, the doctors said. But it’s more than that. They can’t seem to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong.”
Mitch just waited.
“With Father ill, Georgie took complete control of the business several months ago.” She shook her head. “If only Georgie were here I’m sure he could handle everything.”
Mitch frowned. “He’s away now?”
“He didn’t even tell us he was leaving. We don’t know where he is or when he’ll come back.”
Mitch paused. “Your brother, who ran the business, disappeared suddenly, then shortly thereafter the family money vanished also?”
“Yes, isn’t it terrible? At times, I fear something dreadful has happened to him.”
Mitch shifted in the chair. “You don’t think it’s more than a coincidence?”
Rachel looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Whatever do you mean?”
Of course, there could be several reasons why George and the money’s disappearance coincided, other than the obvious. Mitch decided not to pursue it with Rachel.
“Georgie is my half brother, actually. My mother’s son from a previous marriage,” Rachel explained. “But Father never treated him any differently than the rest of us. He gave Georgie his name, educated him.”
“Turned the business over to him?”
“Oh, yes. Of course,” she said. “And I just know that as soon as Georgie returns, everything will be fine. The police are looking, and a detective agency of some sort has been engaged. We’ve learned nothing about his whereabouts, though. I just hope—”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Mitch said, wanting to relieve her distress. Making her feel better suddenly seemed important to him.
“Noah is having a particularly difficult time of it,” Rachel went on. “And Chelsey…well, Chelsey is a situation that must be handled, also. So you can see, Mr. Kincade, that our circumstances are, indeed, desperate.”
Mitch nodded. “They are.”
She leaned forward a little. “So you’ll reconsider? You’ll stay and help us?”
“No.”
A few seconds passed before his words seemed to dawn on her.
“But you just said you understood—”
“I do understand,” Mitch said. “But it doesn’t make any difference.”
“You know my father’s holdings are vast and complicated. You come highly recommended,” Rachel said. “There must be something I can say that will convince you to stay.”
“There’s not.”
She sat up straighter. “Then why come all this way? Why get my hopes up just to refuse the work?”
“I don’t have to give you a reason,” Mitch told her. “I choose my clients, not the other way around.”
“You must help us.” Rachel gave him a hopeful little smile. “After all, that’s what knights in shining armour do.”
“I’m not here to rescue you,” Mitch said, though he knew that’s what she wanted. He knew her type. He’d seen it dozens of times. Pampered and spoiled by a life of leisure. Circumspect, reserved, a slave to social status. And now she was completely out of her element after being thrust into these dire circumstances, and expected someone else to fix the problem.
“Then your reason must be…” Rachel nodded. “Oh, I understand.”
Mitch frowned. “Understand what?”
“That after arriving here, you can see that you aren’t up to the task.” Rachel smiled pleasantly. “It’s perfectly all right. I wouldn’t want you to take it on if you can’t handle it.”
Mitch uttered a laugh. “Let me assure you, Miss Branford, that I’ve untangled finances far more complicated than those of your father. I checked before I came here so I know what I’m talking about. I can have this job finished in less than two weeks.”
“Then you are the perfect man for the job,” Rachel insisted. “You are the only one who can help us.”
Mitch pushed out of the chair. “Listen, Miss Branford, I’m not your preacher, your helpful brother, or your knight in shining armor. I do this for money. That’s all.”
“Fine. If that’s what you care about, then that’s what you’ll have. I’ll double your salary.”
“No.”
“Triple it.”
Mitch shook his head. “I don’t want to work for you.”
“Quadruple it.”
He glared at her.
; Rachel got to her feet and drew herself up. “We’re talking about my family, Mr. Kincade. Name your price.”
“I don’t want the job.”
She flung out her arms. “You don’t want four times your usual fee? For less than two weeks work? Really, Mr. Kincade, what sort of businessman are you?”
“Do you even know what my salary is?” he demanded. “Do you have any idea?”
“Whatever it is,” Rachel told him, “it’s nothing compared to the survival of my family.”
He’d be a fool to turn it down. The sum was impressive. In his mind, Mitch reviewed the ledger he kept that tracked his money and thus his dream, and imagined the balance shooting upward. That much closer to the things he’d worked for his entire life.
And all he had to do was stay here.
“Well?” Rachel asked.
A few moments dragged by while Mitch wrestled with his conscience, old memories and the ache in his stomach it all caused. Finally, the money won out.
“All right. I’ll do it,” he said. “For four times my usual fee.”
“Good. Then it’s settled.” Rachel drew in a breath. “I’ve already prepared a very nice room for you overlooking the rear gardens. You’ll—”
“You expect me to stay here?”
“Well, yes, of course.”
“No.” Mitch paced a few feet away.
“You must stay with us,” Rachel told him. “And you must work here, too.”
“No,” Mitch said. “That’s out of the question.”
Rachel huffed. “Fine. Then I’ll pay you five times your salary.”
He swung back to face her. “You don’t even know if you can afford that.”
“Then you’d better see to it that I can,” she told him.
A long moment dragged past with the two of them glaring at each other. Finally, Mitch broke the silence.
“Just so we’re clear,” he said. “I don’t care about you or your family. I’m here to do a job. That’s all.”
She drew herself up and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what sort of services you’ve provided for your previous employers, Mr. Kincade, but all I need you to do is the job for which you’ve been hired.”
“I expect to be left alone to do just that.”
“You can work in my father’s study. No one will disturb you.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
They glared at each other for another moment, then the reality of his decision and the situation it left him in struck Mitch like a kick in the knee. He’d finish this job. Get it done and leave.
And in only a few weeks, he’d have his old life back again.
Chapter Four
Everything would be all right now. Wouldn’t it?
The thought ran through Rachel’s mind once again as she sat on the settee, watching the late-afternoon shadows crawl toward her across the sitting-room floor. Yes, everything would be fine. Mr. Kincade had come highly recommended. At this very moment he was in Father’s study discussing the situation with Uncle Stuart. He’d fix their problem.
If he kept his word and stayed.
Another wave of anxiety rumbled through Rachel, setting her heart to beating faster. Mitch had said from the outset that he didn’t want the job. He’d refused it outright, initially. She’d had to bribe him with more money to get him to agree to stay.
But what if he changed his mind? What if he simply up and left?
Was that fear the reason she felt so anxious?
Rachel glanced down at the tablet in her hand and the blank page that taunted her, and realized Mitch’s potential abrupt departure was one of the many troubling things on her mind right now.
The pages of her tablet should be nearly filled by now. The guest list. The menu. Flowers. All those things still needed to be put into motion.
Usually, preparing for this sort of event delighted her.
Usually, she and her mother did it together.
With a heavy sigh, Rachel pushed the tablet away. She’d work on the luncheon preparations later.
Mitch came into her thoughts once more at the sound of his voice rumbling in the background. Not loud enough that she understood his words as he spoke with Uncle Stuart in the study down the hall, but a constant companion as she’d sat here.
The image of him filled her mind. Tall. Yes, he was certainly tall, strikingly tall. Broad shoulders. Big hands. They’d looked ridiculous earlier holding the teacup. Was he seated behind the desk in Father’s study? Had he taken off his jacket? Loosened his necktie? Opened his shirt collar…
Rachel gasped and hopped off the settee as if her own thoughts had given her a pinch. Good gracious, what had come over her, imagining Mr. Kincade—an accountant, of all things—without his shirt on?
Commotion at the sitting-room door caught Rachel’s attention. She turned, grateful for the distraction and expecting to see Chelsey in tears again, but found Claudia Everhart rushing into the room instead. Rachel hadn’t even heard the door chimes.
Gracious, had she been that deep in thought over Mitch Kincade’s chest?
“Rachel! It’s happening!” Claudia announced, her eyes wide, her cheeks as pink as the frothy gown she wore. “Tonight!”
Rachel gasped. She and the pretty, blond Claudia had been friends for years. That look on her face could mean only one thing.
“Graham?”
“Yes!”
“Tonight?”
“Tonight!” Claudia rushed to Rachel and clasped her hands. “Mother told me that Graham has asked to speak with Father. Tonight! He intends to ask Father’s permission to marry me. I rushed right over here. You’re the first to know!”
Rachel shared a quick hug with Claudia. “Graham Bixby asking for your hand. He’s the perfect husband.”
“Oh, yes he is, isn’t he?” Claudia sighed. “The Bixbys are one of the finest families, and Graham is so handsome and so refined, and so dignified. He’s terribly successful. He’s—he’s perfect.”
“He’ll look gorgeous in his tuxedo,” Rachel said, smiling along with her friend. “Your groom waiting at the altar for you.”
“Oh, and our wedding will be perfect. Absolutely perfect—” Claudia gasped and her eyes widened. “Oh, goodness, Rachel. How thoughtless of me. Rushing over here, prattling on about my news when you—”
“Don’t give it a thought,” Rachel insisted, forcing aside the unpleasant memory.
“But if things had been different, you and—”
“Please,” Rachel told her, shaking her head. “It’s over and done with.”
“Benjamin Blair,” Claudia said, disdain in her voice. “He should be shot for—”
“Has your mother started planning?” Rachel asked, anxious to talk about something different.
Claudia smiled. “Mother started planning a year ago when Graham asked permission to court me.”
Rachel’s heart swelled with delight over her friend’s good news. Claudia Everhart and Graham Bixby would truly make the perfect couple. They would have the perfect wedding, the perfect reception.
“I must get back home,” Claudia declared, rushing out of the sitting room. “I have to decide what to wear this evening when Graham comes over.”
“Something pink,” Rachel suggested, hurrying alongside her. “It’s your favorite color and it will—”
Mitch Kincade and Uncle Stuart stepped out of the study, stopping Rachel and Claudia in their tracks. Rachel’s gaze jumped between the two men. Mitch looked taller, sturdier, stronger next to her aging uncle.
And his shirt collar was buttoned up tight.
Rachel felt her cheeks color as the very unladylike thought zipped through her mind.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” Uncle Stuart said with a smile.
Pleasantries were exchanged and, finally, Rachel had to introduce Mitch. She’d made thousands of introductions. Why did this man unnerve her so? Because he held the future of her family in the palm of his hand?
Or was
it something else?
“Claudia, I’d like you to meet Mr. Mitch Kincade,” Rachel said. “Mr. Kincade is one of our family’s oldest and dearest friends, and he’s visiting with us for a while.”
Mitch seemed to bristle slightly at Rachel’s introduction, but gave no indication of anything amiss as he and Claudia exchanged greetings.
“Will you stay for supper, Uncle Stuart?” Rachel asked.
“No, dear, I must get home.” He turned to Mitch. “I’ll be speaking with you soon. Good afternoon, ladies.”
Mitch nodded to Rachel and Claudia as Stuart disappeared down the hallway, then returned to the study.
Claudia leaned close to Rachel, her gaze on the study door. “Oh, my…where have you been hiding him? He’s gorgeous.”
“Claudia! Have you forgotten about tonight?” Rachel asked.
“Graham is handsome, but Mr. Kincade…”
“He’s only here out of respect for Father,” Rachel insisted, hoping she sounded sincere. “When he heard about Father’s illness, he rushed down here to help out, if needed.”
“Lucky you,” Claudia murmured.
“Go home,” Rachel told her, taking her elbow and urging her toward the foyer. “You’ve got the perfect man coming to ask for your hand.”
“You’d better prepare yourself for what will happen when word of Mr. Kincade gets out. Every young woman in the city will try and steal that man right out of your own house.” Claudia said, with a crooked grin. Then she gave Rachel a quick hug. “I’ll give you the details tomorrow.”
“You’d better,” Rachel called as her friend hurried out the front door.
In the silence, Rachel’s smile faded. Claudia’s life was set, it seemed. Tonight she’d become engaged to Graham Bixby, a truly perfect man, presenting Claudia with a truly perfect future to look forward to. While Rachel’s life…
She fought off the sadness that crept into her thoughts and drew in a breath. She’d make it perfect again, just as it used to be. And the place to start was with Mitch Kincade.
Another troubling thought from earlier landed squarely in Rachel’s mind once more. What if he left? Before he finished his work here?
That brought on another recollection of Benjamin Blair. Determinedly, Rachel shoved it into the deepest recesses of her mind and focused once more on her family.