CONTENTS

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER TEN

      CHAPTER ELEVEN

      CHAPTER TWELVE

      CHAPTER THIRTEEN

      EPILOGUE

      CHAPTER ONE

      BEN CALLAHAN FROWNED at the bone china cup on the sterling serving tray in front of him. Unable to fit one of his large fingers through the handle, he tried instead to hold the delicate cup with his whole hand. He’d have chucked the idea of attempting to grasp the cup, if not for his elderly hostess. Emma Montgomery had declared it was teatime, and from what Ben had seen, he wouldn’t be getting any information out of her until he’d shared in her daily ritual.

      He’d never understand the wealthy, nor did he care to try. He’d had a good deal of experience with the breed, none of it leaving a positive impression. His mother had scrubbed floors for a living and he’d seen firsthand how poorly the help was treated. He’d whisked his mother away from menial labor and verbal abuse as soon as he was old enough to support them both.

      It was ironic, really. Most of the clients he’d accumulated as a private investigator had money to burn. Ben didn’t mind taking their cash. It paid not only his bills, but the extra money covered the cost of the independent living community where he’d placed his mother. He considered it payback for her years of service.

      The elderly woman seated across from him was a potential client. She’d been referred to him by an acquaintance in her social set, one he remembered from the time he’d worked for her last year. So far Emma Montgomery, his hostess, had been refreshing, both charming and persistent at the same time.

      While other clients tried to whittle away at his expenses and final take, despite their ability to afford his reasonable fee, Emma Montgomery had paid his airfare and expenses from New York City to Hampshire, Massachusetts, to discuss her reasons for wanting to hire him. As further enticement, she’d named a hefty sum he’d never seen before on a single case, and promised him free rein with expenses, no questions asked. All before she’d explained why she needed his services.

      Ben was not only intrigued, but inclined to accept. The money she’d promised would enable him to have his mother moved from independent living to assisted care. With her eyesight rapidly deteriorating, she couldn’t live alone and this case might make the upgraded care possible. If it meant putting up with idiosyncrasies like teatime, he’d force himself to endure.

      He met his hostess’s gaze. Piercing brown eyes regarded him from over the rim of her cup. I’m waiting, she seemed to be saying. There was nothing he could do but raise the cup and take a sip.

      The minute the hot liquid passed his lips, she said, “My granddaughter needs a sitter. Do you have any interest in the job?”

      He swallowed fast, burning his tongue and nearly losing his precarious hold on the fine china. No way he’d heard her correctly. She was offering all that good money for him to play baby-sitter? He shook his head. “Excuse me?”

      “Perhaps I didn’t phrase that quite right. I think maybe keeper is the correct word.” She tapped the side of her head, without messing the perfect bun in her gray hair. “Yes, that’s right. My granddaughter is in the process of finding herself and she needs a keeper.”

      He placed the cup onto the saucer before he could do serious damage. “I think you’ve been misinformed, Mrs. Montgomery.” Good money or not, Ben drew the line at baby-sitting.

      “Call