His By Any Means: The Black Sheep's Inheritance. Maureen Child

do that, you don’t have the money yet and—”

      Colleen cut her off quickly. “It’s amazing how willing banks are to give you a line of credit based on a lawyer’s sworn affidavit that a will’s bequest is coming.”

      “You didn’t.”

      “Oh, yes, I did.” Walter Drake wasn’t the easiest lawyer to talk to, but he had assured Colleen that she would be able to draw on her bequest almost immediately. And he’d gone out of his way to set up the line of credit with a local bank.

      Laura pushed out of the chair and walked the few steps to the narrow, galley-style kitchen. Busily, she filled a teakettle with water and set it on the stove, all the while shaking her head and muttering.

      “Mom—”

      “You shouldn’t have done that, Colleen,” her mother said, not even looking at her. She turned the fire on under the kettle, then grabbed two mugs from a cupboard and dropped a tea bag into each of them. “I don’t want you spending money on me. I want you to have that money to keep you safe.”

      Colleen’s heart turned over. Her mom was the most unselfish person she’d ever known in her life. She always gave and never once had she done anything purely for herself. Well, that was about to change, whether she liked it or not.

      Joining her mother in the kitchen, Colleen gave her a hard hug, then said, “I couldn’t spend all of that money if I tried and you know it.”

      “Just the same—”

      “Mom.” Colleen tried another tack. “Getting a house for you and Donna, so you can live without the snow making your arthritis worse, that makes me feel great. And, I only put a down payment on it. I would never buy you a house you haven’t even seen.”

      “I don’t like this...”

      “You will,” Colleen said, hugging her again. “And anyway, if you don’t like the house, we’ll find something else. I just thought it would be a good idea because this community has people to take care of your yard and watch over your house while you’re traveling—”

      “Traveling?”

      This was so much fun, it was like Christmas morning. Colleen grinned. “Yes. You’re going to travel. Just like you always wanted to.”

      “Honey, enough. You know I can’t let you do this. Any of it.” Laura finally found her voice and naturally she was using it to try to turn down her daughter’s generosity.

      “Too late, it’s already done.” Colleen hurried back into the living room, grabbed her purse and carried it back to the kitchen. She set it onto the small round table, slid one hand inside and came back up with a batch of cruise brochures. Handing them over to her mother, she tapped her index finger on the top one.

      “A world cruise?” Laura dropped into one of the kitchen chairs as if she’d suddenly gone boneless.

      “Yes.” Colleen really did feel like Santa. A tall, busty Santa with big feet. “It doesn’t leave for another three months, though, so you and Aunt Donna have plenty of time to get your passports and shopping done, and I thought we could talk about your moving to Florida as soon as you get back. Of course, if you’d rather move right away, I understand, but I don’t know that I’m ready to have you leave just yet and...”

      She stopped talking when she saw the tears spill from her mother’s eyes and run down her cheeks. “Don’t cry. You’re supposed to be happy! Did I mention that you and Aunt Donna are going to be sharing the presidential suite on your cruise? There are pictures in the brochure. You have a full balcony. And butler service and twenty-four-hour room service and—”

      Laura choked out a laugh, then lifted one hand to her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief.

      “Mom, are you okay?”

      “I don’t think so,” she murmured, staring down at the brightly colored brochures displaying pictures of England, Scotland, Switzerland and more. “I can’t let you do this, honey...”

      “Mom.” Colleen hugged her mother tightly, then leaned back and looked into watery blue eyes much like her own. “You’ve given me everything for so long. I want to do this. I can do this now and if you fight me on it—”

      Laura laughed a little again. “You’ll what?”

      “I’ll hold my breath.” She smiled, hoping to coax an answering smile from her mother. Holding her breath had been her threat of choice when she was a little girl and using it now was a deliberate choice.

      “You never could stop talking long enough to hold your breath for long,” her mother finally said, and Colleen knew she’d won.

      “Well, I had very important things to say. Just like now.” She plucked one of the brochures from her mother’s hands and spread it open, showing the sumptuous cabin her mother and aunt would be sharing on their twelve-week cruise. “Just look at this, Mom. Can you imagine?”

      “No,” she said, sliding one hand across the high-gloss paper, “I really can’t.”

      “I’m going to want lots of pictures cluttering up my in-box.”

      “I’ll email every day.” She frowned. “They do have computers on board, right?”

      “Absolutely. Complete with Skype. We can talk face-to-face whenever you have time.” As she thought about it, she said, “Maybe we’ll get you a computer tablet, too, so you can video chat with me from Stonehenge!”

      “Donna’s not going to believe this,” her mother whispered, unable to tear her gaze away from the pictures of a dream of a lifetime coming true.

       Six

      A few hours later, Colleen sat across from Sage in a local coffee shop. “You should have seen my mother’s face,” she said, grinning at the memory.

      “She must have been shocked.” He could imagine. Hearing her talk about what she’d done for her mother had stunned Sage into silence himself.

      Far from the grasping, manipulative woman he’d assumed her to be, she’d arranged for her mother and aunt to have the trip they’d always dreamed instead of spending her money on herself. Admiration flowed through him, along with the desire that had become as familiar to him as breathing over the past few days.

      Since that first dinner hadn’t brought him any information, Sage had made it his business to spend as much time with Colleen as possible. Though they hadn’t been able to speak at the movies, watching her reaction to the drama playing out on the screen had fascinated him. Tears, laughter, a jolt of surprise at the happy ending—she was so easy to read and at the same time, so damn complicated he didn’t know what to make of her.

      Long ago, he had decided that women weren’t to be trusted. That they turned their emotions on and off at whim, the better to acquire whatever they happened to be after at the time. Tears were a woman’s best weapon, as he’d discovered early on. But on the surface, at least, Colleen seemed...different.

      And that both intrigued and worried him.

      “Oh, she really was.” Shaking her head, she picked up her burger and took a bite, still smiling. “Mom and Aunt Donna have been planning fantasy trips for years. They go back and forth, deciding what hotels they’ll stay in, what countries they’ll see. They go online and look up cruise packages, just to torture themselves.” She took a breath and sighed happily. “Knowing that they’re going to actually get to go and experience everything they’ve always talked about is just...amazing.”

      “You’re amazing,” he murmured, thinking his voice was so soft it would be lost in the clatter and noise from the rest of the patrons surrounding them.

      He should have known she’d hear him.

      “Why?”