Read Online All You Desire by Kirsten Miller - Free Book Online

room, some young and some old. Some were peasants and others the daughters or wives of rich men. There was even one woman disguised as a soldier. At the head of the group stood a young girl who couldn’t have been more than eleven years old. Her face was dirty and her clothing torn, yet she spoke with an unexpected authority.
    â€œYou’ve changed your mind?” she demanded to know.
    â€œI have,” Haven heard herself say.
    She woke suddenly to the ringing of the phone.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    â€œMom?” Haven groaned into the receiver. The room was perfectly dark, and all Haven could see was a faint glow from her phone’s screen. “You do remember we’re six hours ahead of you, right? It’s three o’clock in the morning here.”
    â€œI’m sorry for waking you, honey,” said Mae Moore. “But Ben Decker just asked me to call. It’s a little bit urgent.”
    Haven sat up. “Is something wrong with Beau?” she asked, a thousand horrific scenarios bombarding her mind at once.
    â€œWell, see, that’s the problem. We don’t know. We were hoping you might.”
    â€œMight what , Mama?” For most of Haven’s life, her mother had done her best to avoid the real world. Devastated by cruel rumors surrounding her husband’s death, Mae Moore had turned inward. She rarely spoke above a whisper, and she couldn’t look anyone in the eye. In the year since the truth had finally come out, and her husband’s name had been cleared, Mae Moore had made remarkable progress. She was almost the sunny, charming woman she’d once been. But she still had a hard time getting straight to the point.
    â€œWe were hoping you might know where Beau is.”
    Haven fell back on her pillows. It was typical Beau—leaving town without letting anyone know where he was going. “He went to New York,” Haven said. “I’ll tell you everything in the morning once I’ve had some sleep.”
    â€œBen knows about the trip,” Mae said before Haven could hang up. “Beau was supposed to call when he got there last night. The plane landed at ten, but he never phoned. You haven’t heard from him, have you?”
    â€œNo.” Haven felt suddenly cold.
    â€œOh.” Mae’s voice was small.
    â€œIs Mr. Decker really worried?” Beau’s father had spent twenty years in the Army. He wasn’t the sort who fretted for no reason.
    â€œHe’s getting there,” Mae said. “I guess he wasn’t too happy about Beau going up to New York in the first place, but there wasn’t much he could do. Now that he hasn’t been able to reach him, he’s feeling pretty nervous. Ben said Beau’s usually real good about checking in. Unlike some people I know.”
    Haven let the jibe pass without comment. “I’m sure he’s fine,” she said, more to convince herself than her mother.
    â€œSo you know this person he went to see?”
    â€œI haven’t met him, but I know his name. Roy Bradford.”
    â€œThat’s what Beau told his father. He said he met this Roy character on some website. But Ben visited the site this evening, and he couldn’t find anyone who goes by that name.”
    â€œTell Mr. Decker he should call Columbia University,” Haven said. “Beau said the guy goes to school there.”
    â€œBen tried that too. They don’t have any students named Roy Bradford.”
    â€œDid he check the telephone listings?” Haven asked.
    â€œThere were three people with that name in Manhattan. None of them had ever heard of Beau.”
    Haven searched her brain for another clue, but there wasn’t one to be found.
    â€œHaven?” Her mother interrupted her thoughts. “I know you’re officially an adult and all. And I know you have your own money, but don’t you think it might be time to come home? It would sure help Ben if you were