Read Online Guilty Pleasures by Bertrice Small - Free Book Online Page B

was almost two hundred years old, but they had modernized the kitchen and the bathroom. They had even enclosed a small alcove in the center hall, turning it into a half bath for guests, installing a commode, a pedestal sink, and a skylight. Nina’s creative side loved designing and decorating. She was good at it—everyone said so.
    Looking through her closet, Nina decided on a shortsleeved wrap dress in a silky pale green material. She showered, and then lay down for a brief nap. By six fifty she was dressed, summer sandals on her feet, a cream-colored pashima shawl over her arm, a small clutch in her hand containing her reading glasses, lipstick for repairs, and a handkerchief. And at exactly seven p.m., her doorbell rang. The Mulcahys’ chauffeur was always prompt. But opening the door, she found herself face-to-face with a stranger.
    “Nina, I’m Bob Talcott.” He held out a hand. “Nice to meet you. The kids are waiting in the car, but Ryan thought I should come and get you.”
    “It’s lovely to meet you, Mr. Talcott,” Nina said, looking past him to the Town Car at her curb. “I understand from Ashley you’re building a house here in Egret Pointe.” She stepped out of her cottage and pulled the door closed behind her. Nice manners, Nina thought as he offered her his arm and escorted her to the car, helping her in and then joining her. Ashley was on her other side. “Hey,” Nina said. Then, leaning forward, she teased Ryan. “You should have just honked. I could get used to having handsome men come to my door, sweetie. You have to stop spoiling me.”
    Ryan Mulcahy guffawed.
    Nina turned to Ashley. “I closed up at three. Didn’t even have a looker today.”
    “Weather is too nice,” Ashley responded, “but that will change soon enough.”
    The car sped through the village and out onto the coast road. They arrived at the East Harbor Inn and were seated immediately at the best table in the dining room, a bow window overlooking the bay. They could already see the moon above the water.
    “God, this is perfect,” Bob Talcott said with a sigh, then took a sip of the Glenfiddich on the rocks that he had ordered. “It’s paradise to me.”
    Nina smiled. “It is, isn’t it?”
    “Are you a native like Ashley?” he asked her.
    Nina shook her head. “No,” she replied. “I was born and raised in Albany, New York. I came to Egret Pointe as a bride when I married my late husband. But once here I didn’t want to live anywhere else.”
    “That’s how my last wife felt about Southern California. She didn’t want to leave it, and so when I came east again, she didn’t,” he told her.
    Nina sipped her daiquiri. Then, unable to help herself, she said, “I’m sorry. I think if you love a man you go with him whenever and wherever he goes. Guess I’m old-fashioned, but I won’t ever have to worry about leaving Egret Pointe.”
    “Yeah,” Ashley murmured with a wicked little chuckle, “Nina says she’s not going to break in another husband.”
    “How long were you married?” Bob Talcott asked.
    “Twenty-six years,” Nina answered. “I’ve been a widow the past ten years. How long were you married?”
    “I married first when I was nineteen. It was a mistake. We divorced quickly. I remarried when I was in my thirties, and we hung in for twenty-three years,” he told her. “No kids. So when I decided to come back east—I was raised in New England—she was quite frank to admit that she preferred Southern California.”
    “But if she loved you . . .”
    He laughed. “She obviously didn’t,” he admitted candidly.
    “I’m sorry,” Nina said, realizing as she spoke that the longer she looked at Bob Talcott, the more familiar he seemed to her. “Have we ever met?” she asked him.
    Ryan snickered.
    “If we had, I would have remembered,” Bob said, smiling into Nina’s brown eyes.
    Wow! Nina thought. The single ladies at the country club are going to be all over this guy. The beautiful