Read Online Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings - Free Book Online

beneath her hands felt silky but soiled. Her fingers searched it until they found her wet hat. She wouldn’t breathe easy until her disguise was in place again. A moan escaped as the hat touched her sensitive skull.
    “I wish you’d rest, Mrs. Tillerton.”
    She bristled at Mr. Lovelace’s voice. A memory stirred. There was a baby. She’d come with a child who had made this man mad, and then when she wasn’t looking he’d clobbered her. Her stomach lurched. If he was that angry, what had he done to the baby?
    “Where’s Sammy?” Anne tried to roll onto her knees, but fell back on her seat when dizziness erupted. “What have you done with him? Did you hurt him, too?” Her voice rose over the shocked room.
    “I say, Nicholas, this young woman doesn’t appear to be in her right mind. Is she some relation of yours?”
    “The ceramic pot fell and landed on your head. I didn’t hit you.” Mr. Lovelace sounded patient, but she couldn’t get her eyes to focus and see if he meant it or not. “Sammy’s all right. He’s over there shredding my business files, happy as a lark.”
    On cue Sammy squealed and peeked around the desk, waving crumpled papers. Mr. Lovelace took her arm, helped her to her feet, and guided her to a chair. At least he seemed unconcerned with the cache of dirt falling from each wrinkle of her clothing. She’d made a mess and then accused him of violence. What a fool she was. “Are you sure you don’t want to hold me out the window and shake me off?”
    The twinkle in his eye was worth the effort.
    “What is the meaning of this?” The dirty rug muffled the sound of the woman’s stomp. “I demand an explanation.”
    “I apologize for my inattention. How reckless of me to neglect you when you came all this way to call,” Mr. Lovelace said.
    Anne almost grinned at his sarcasm, but the icy glare from the woman made her think better of it.
    “Mrs. Stanford, allow me to present to you Mrs. Tillerton. She’s an acquaintance from home—a friend of my sister’s.”
    One severe eyebrow rose higher the longer she evaluated Anne’s choice of garments. “Your sister? I’m astonished.”
    Poor Mr. Lovelace. Anne had come asking for a favor—never intending to leave his office in shambles and his employer in a tizzy. She hadn’t meant to cause him trouble. Sammy crawled to her and tugged on her pant leg. She helped him scramble into her lap.
    “I’ll leave . . . just as soon as my head stops spinning enough to make it down the staircase.”
    “Stay where you are. Mrs. Stanford won’t mind conducting her business while you recover and Harold cleans up.”
    But she obviously did. The woods of Ohio had heightened Anne’s powers of observation. A broken twig, droppings, scraped bark—little signs had meanings, and Mrs. Stanford’sreaction was based on something more than impatience and a busy schedule. Perhaps she had a daughter hoping for a marriage to Mr. Lovelace. He could be engaged already, for all she knew.
    Mrs. Stanford refused to take a seat. “I merely wanted to leave this report with you, as promised, and to discuss your recent appointment to the commissioner’s court, but Mrs. Tillerton’s needs are more pressing. I suppose I don’t need your attention until they are met.”
    But she wouldn’t leave his office until Anne did.
    Mr. Lovelace bowed. “Then if you’ll allow me to escort Mrs. Tillerton to her lodgings, we can meet again tomorrow.” He dropped his Derby hat on his head and took Sammy from Anne. “You’re coming with me, mister. We must give Mother some time to recover before she attempts to carry you again.”
    Mother? He knew better, but Mrs. Stanford didn’t.
    She got to her feet and exited the office with Mrs. Stanford and Mr. Lovelace. What did it matter? As soon as Anne found Finn Cravens, she’d leave Garber behind and never come back. Until then, Sammy was her responsibility. Unmarried mother sounded better than husband killer. What harm was