Read Online Five Days in Skye: A Novel by Carla Laureano - Free Book Online Page B

get that from my brothers, because as you can see, they turn into little boys in each other’s presence.”
    Andrea navigated around a scatter of blocks to sit on the sofa. “I’d noticed. Are they always like that?”
    “To some degree.” Serena reached for her wine glass, which rested on a side table. “I’ve never seen two people so completely opposite in temperament. And when you consider they didn’t really grow up together …”
    “What do you mean?” Andrea asked before she could think better of it. She really shouldn’t be asking such personal questions. It wasn’t as if this were a social visit. But Serena was so welcoming, and she seemed genuinely eager to talk.
    “There’s almost five years between Ian and James. When our parents divorced, Ian was already headed off to Eton. James was barely eight. That was the last time any of us really lived under the same roof.”
    Interesting. Ian had attended the most exclusive boys’ school in the UK, but James had refused to follow in his footsteps and had attended school in Scotland instead.
    Andrea tried to steer the conversation to lighter topics. “You seem close to them both though.”
    “They’re good uncles, and Emmy especially adores them. She needs that now.” Serena threw her a bare smile. “My husband died over a year ago.”
    “I’m sorry.” This was definitely treading on topics Andrea didn’t want to discuss with a complete stranger, but Serena wanted to talk. She forced herself to ask, “What happened?”
    “Heart attack. He was on a business trip when it happened. He was only forty-two.”
    “I’m so sorry.” What else could she say? No wonder Serena looked so exhausted. She would have been pregnant with Max when her husband died, leaving her to raise the children alone. The thought shuddered through Andrea, twisting her stomach. That might have been her if things had turned out differently.
    Andrea took a drink of her wine and thought about how to turn the direction of the conversation. She was saved when the front door banged open, followed by a rush of cold air and a rosy-cheeked girl.
    “Look, Mum. See what we found!” Emmy rushed over to the sofa and opened her hand to reveal a clutch of tiny, sandy seashells. Andrea moved her expensive shoes out of reach of the girl’s damp sneakers just as Emmy turned to her. “Did you see, Andrea?”
    “Ms. Sullivan,” Serena corrected immediately, but Andrea shook her head.
    “Andrea’s fine. And they’re lovely. What are you going to do with them?”
    “Put them in a jar with some sand so I can take the beach home,” Emmy said immediately.
    “Not your typical business trip, is it?”
    Andrea looked up from Emmy’s treasures as Ian seated himself in an armchair on the other side of the coffee table, one long leg crossed ankle to knee over the other. “No, not so far.”
    “That’s Skye for you.” The wry twist of his mouth brought to mind his brother. “A family welcome whether you want it or not.”
    “Ian,” Serena said reprovingly.
    He shrugged. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing. I just meant the situation’s more informal than Ms. Sullivan probably expected.”
    “Call her Andrea, Uncle Ian,” Emmy said.
    Ian met Andrea’s eyes over the girl’s head. “Andrea, then. Don’t worry. We’ll get down to work tomorrow.”
    “Will you be joining us for the walk-through in the morning then?”
    “No. I have plans. I thought we might discuss your observations over lunch tomorrow. I’m staying in Broadford.”
    Andrea studied him for a moment. If it had been James speaking, she would think there was a hidden agenda behind the invitation, but Ian just stared back at her, his expression placid, unreadable. That was the biggest difference between the brothers, she decided. With James, she always had a pretty good idea what he was thinking, and it generally wasn’t business. Ian, on the other hand, was a complete blank.
    “I’ll let you work the schedule out