Read Online Home for the Holidays by Johanna Lindsey - Free Book Online

much of himself. She took pity and moved toward the window, giving him more time to find his “reason.”
    She expected to hear something trite, but in the end he surprised her, even made her rethink her conclusion that he was lonely, for which she was quite glad. She didn’t
want
to feel any sympathy for him, after all.
    It was a subject that he no doubt intended to cover with her, and it could merely have slipped his mind for a moment, which had given her the wrong impression. But he knew he had something to bring up, had asked her to stay so he could, then couldn’t recall what it was.
    Perfectly logical; it happened to everyone on occasion. For her to have surmised that he was lonely, merely because a subject eluded him for a moment, was rather far-fetched on her part. Wishful thinking again? Absurd. She merely needed to stop making assumptions about him.
    “Did my physician attend to your brother yesterday?” was his forgotten question.
    “Yes.”
    “Good. I wanted to make sure that my servants didn’tkeep him so busy that he might have run out of time to see everyone who needed his attention, but he left before I could speak to him.”
    She smiled. “No, I believe he mentioned that Thomas was his first patient of the day.”
    “And the boy’s progress?”
    “Still recovering nicely, though he must continue bed rest for another week or so.”
    “He must have deplored that news.”
    “Ah, you remember what it was like to be that age?” she replied.
    It was a natural question following his remark, yet it brought an immediate frown to his brow that she couldn’t help wondering about. She refused to ask what caused it, though. The less she knew about him, the better off she would be, she was sure.
    So she continued as if he hadn’t just caused her a great deal of curiosity. “Yes, Tommy hates having to remain in bed. He’s never been this ill before, at least not with anything that required such a lengthy convalescence, which is why I try to spend as much time with him as I can. We also had to let go his tutor, so I’ve been filling in there as well. Though with nothing better to do, Tommy is so far ahead in his studies, I don’t know why I bother.”
    “Intelligent boy?”
    The frown had left as quickly as it came, making herthink she might have imagined it. “Very. It was why he was being taught at home. The headmaster of his last school refused to advance him to a higher age group, yet what he was being taught was nothing that he didn’t already know.”
    “Such decisions can be made for other than academic reasons,” he pointed out.
    “We’re aware that Tommy will have a difficult time with his peers, if he enters college too young. The teasing began long ago from those his age, because his thinking is more adult in nature than childlike. He will probably work with our father for a few years, then enter college at the appropriate age—at least that was …”
    She couldn’t finish, having touched on the probability again that her father wouldn’t be there in the future. Nor had she even thought yet what his continued absence was going to do to his business.
    The shipping company wouldn’t be turned over to her for disposal until he was officially declared dead, yet in the meantime it would fail, so there would be nothing left to turn over. She couldn’t run it herself, didn’t have the necessary knowledge to do so. Thomas was too young yet to take over. And the clerk who had been left in charge couldn’t continue indefinitely either, making decisions that were beyond his capabilities.
    “That was the plan?” the baron guessed, unwilling to leave the subject alone. “Before what?”
    “Before these rumors started, that my father isn’t going to return.”
    There was a moment of silence as her eyes glistened with unshed tears which he couldn’t help but notice. “You think he’s dead, don’t you?”
    “No!”
    Too much emphasis. Too much despair. An obvious lie which he