Read Online Daddy Warlock by Jacqueline Diamond - Free Book Online

weren’t ready, either.
    A few blocks later, the sports car turned into a driveway that ran through a wooded lot Eucalyptus and pine trees filtered the sunlight and gave the air a shimmering clarity, as if they were entering the realm of fairy tales.
    They emerged into a small glade with a house set at the far end. The scent of pine filled the car, and Harry bounced in his seat.
    â€œIt’s like being in the mountains!” he crowed as she parked. “Are we really going to live here? Can I have a tree house?”
    â€œThat’s up to Mr. Powers,” Tara said.
    â€œHe told me to call him Chance”.
    â€œWell, don’t get too familiar,” she warned, without much hope of success. “He’s my boss.”
    As soon as she killed the engine, Harry flung himself out. Dashing through pine needles, he ran around the clearing as if exorcising the demons of city living.
    Chance emerged from a three-car garage, which also sheltered a black Lexus and a faded station wagon that probably belonged to the housekeeper. “What a bundle of energy.”
    â€œHe wears me out,” Tara admitted. “Is all this land yours?”
    â€œYes. It’s a little over an acre.” From her trunk, he lifted the heaviest cases. She took two string-tied boxes and decided to leave the rest for later.
    The lot was huge for this area, Tara thought, grateful that her son would have a chance to enjoy the open space. She hoped this job worked out.
    At the front door, Chance addressed the house. “Today’s password is Fennel.”
    â€œYou’ve got yesterday’s password,” scoffed a nasal voice. “Again.”
    â€œGarlic,” he said.
    â€œOh, all right.” The bolt unworked itself. “Did you get a dog?”
    â€œA dog?” Chance said as he picked up the suitcases.
    â€œMy motion sensors tell me someone is dashing around the place. It’s not my fault I don’t have eyes. And there’s a guest with you. Is she going to be dining in? Rajeev forgot to defrost anything.”
    â€œWe’ll send out for pizza.” Chance sighed. “House, this is Tara Blayne and that ‘dog’ is her son, Harry. They’re going to be living here.”
    â€œWell, don’t forget to tell them the password every day,” grumped the voice.
    To Tara, Chance said, “He’s kind of snappish. I think he’s frustrated because he and my car broke up.”
    â€œExcuse me!” growled the house with sarcastic emphasis. “Are you going to stand there all day, or what?”
    â€œMaybe he’s annoyed because he doesn’t have a name,” Tara teased. “House, would you like for us to think of one?”
    â€œI like your name,” said the house. “Tara. Wasn’t that the mansion in Gone With the Wind?”
    â€œI guess I was named after a house, wasn’t I?”, she said as they walked inside, with Harry scampering behind. “I never thought about it”
    â€œYou can’t both be Tara,” said Chance. “We’ll have to give this some thought”
    â€œHow about Manderley?” said the house, citing the stately home from Rebecca.
    â€œIt burned down,” Tara advised.
    Inside, Chance punched some buttons on a pad. She wasn’t sure whether he was resetting the alarm or turning off the computer voice, but it didn’t propose any more names.
    The living room might have been decorated by an Eastern potentate, with furnishings from southern and central Asia. Instinctively, Harry slowed his pace and, to Tara’s relief, refrained from running his hands over the gleaming mahoganies and teaks.
    As she identified the Cuban rhythms of a rumba issuing from within the house, she felt a moment’s confusion. Why was she so certain they were about to enter a courtyard?
    A few more steps and they stood in the arching entrance to a flagstone-paved space surrounded by the curvingwings of