Скачать книгу

own devices and was now coming into her care.

      A flash of purple caused her to stop and admire a lone pansy blooming at the base of a lichen-splashed stone wall. She marvelled at the sheer will to survive that had seen a tiny seed find its way from its parent plant to a mere thimbleful of hospitable soil and take root there. It didn’t really belong there but no way would she move it.

      Not only had she learned to expect the unexpected when it came to Mother Nature, she had also learned to embrace it.

      Declan Grant was unexpected, unexplained. She batted the thought away from where it hovered around her mind like an insistent butterfly. He was her boss. He was a widower. He wasn’t her type.

      Her experience with men had been of the boring—she’d broken their hearts—and the bad boys—they’d broken hers. She suspected Declan was neither. He was a man who had obviously loved his wife, still revered her memory.

      Her thoughts took a bitter twist. He was not the kind of man who cheated and betrayed his wife. Not like Steve, who had pursued her, wooed her, then not until she’d fallen deeply in love with him had she found out he was married.

      Steve’s wife had confronted her, warned her off, then looked at her with pity mingled with her anger when she had realised Shelley had had no idea that her lover was married.

      Shelley still felt nausea rise in her throat when she remembered that day when her life based on a handsome charmer’s lies had collapsed around her. She’d felt bad for the wife, too, especially when the poor woman had wearily explained that Shelley hadn’t been the first of Steve’s infidelities and would most likely not be the last. Even after all that, Steve had thought he could sweet-talk his way back into her affections, had been shocked when she’d both literally and figuratively slammed the door in his face.

      The only vaguely comforting thing she’d taken away from the whole sordid episode in her life was that she’d behaved like an honourable ‘other woman’ when she’d discovered she was a mistress not an about-to-be fiancée. Not like the other type of ‘other woman’ who had without conscience seduced her father away from his family.

      Now she swallowed hard against the remembered pain, took off her hat and lifted her face to the early-morning sun. Then she closed her eyes to listen to the sounds of the garden, the breeze rustling the leaves, the almost imperceptible noise of insects going about their business, the gentle twitter of tiny finches. From high up in the camellias came the raucous chatter of the rainbow lorikeets—the multicoloured parrots she thought of as living jewels.

      Out here in the tranquillity of the garden she could forget all that had hurt her so deeply in the past. Banish thoughts of heartbreak and betrayal. Plan for a future far away from here. ‘You might have more luck with the English guys.’ She hadn’t known whether to laugh at Lynne’s words or throw something at her sister.

      But she didn’t let herself feel down for long—she never did. Her spirits soared at the privilege of working in this wonderful garden—and being paid so generously to do it.

      Getting used to working with a too-handsome-for-comfort boss was something she would have to deal with.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4RaXRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAUAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAhodp AAQAAAABAAAAnAAAAMgAAAEsAAAAAQAAASwAAAABQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIDcuMAAyMDE1OjA2 OjAzIDIzOjQwOjM3AAAAAAOgAQADAAAAAQABAACgAgAEAAAAAQAABkugAwAEAAAAAQAACgAAAAAA AAAABgEDAAMAAAABAAYAAAEaAAUAAAABAAABFgEbAAUAAAABAAABHgEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAIBAAQA AAABAAABJgICAAQAAAABAAAVaQAAAAAAAABIAAAAAQAAAEgAAAAB/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEASABI AAD/7QAMQWRvYmVfQ00AAf/uAA5BZG9iZQBkgAAAAAH/2wCEAAwICAgJCAwJCQwRCwoLERUPDAwP FRgTExUTExgRDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwBDQsLDQ4NEA4OEBQO Dg4UFA4ODg4UEQwMDAwMEREMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDP/AABEI AIAAUQMBIgACEQEDEQH/3QAEAAb/xAE/AAABBQEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAADAAECBAUGBwgJCgsBAAEF AQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEBQYHCAkKCxAAAQQBAwIEAgUHBggFAwwzAQACEQMEIRIxBUFRYRMi cYEyBhSRobFCIyQVUsFiMzRygtFDByWSU/Dh8WNzNRaisoMmRJNUZEXCo3Q2F9JV4mXys4TD03Xj 80YnlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vY3R1dnd4eXp7fH1+f3EQACAgECBAQDBAUGBwcG BTUBAAIRAyExEgRBUWFxIhMFMoGRFKGxQiPBUtHwMyRi4XKCkkNTFWNzNPElBhaisoMHJjXC0kST VKMXZEVVNnRl4vKzhMPTdePzRpSkhbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2JzdHV2d3h5ent8f/ 2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AOzGC7LGVj11mllTgKXuLiNxb7mtEbvTa39D7H/zP/bSyv8Am8zCxMSvIse6 2uGNspaYfO32Pft+gx72O9Taz9DV/wAGsujqvWxivqfa6ykNIuoe0tubWf5uyhzz+kot/rqxhfWp wpfj5d14mr02TjmypruPcxjNtm1ZXAKERxa+rj011/Sj8rNwm+7u4vWzmYT66KxmXt/R34eUfRdI Pp/orH1+hd/U3Kp9ZOv14NbOj1Uem6ypzrmOhzQNu/0W2NL/ANJ9N/8A1v8A4RZV3V83Jxnu6hV0 7reFQfpMt+z3NJ+i1jAPU3fm7GsWM++u9r66d9TGvBNLzuc0E+0eoNu/85u9TSySEau7FX/Li/6a 4QF22cl+ReK6XQKri31dv0nbg1zdpPtr/wA1X3Z9mTX+y8bBpdmUl+LjerY1rz6BO6xtrNm11u2y 39Yf+k/64q+E112Vi1u0LLaAQeXQ5rf++rpMX6qUM6zkdUzXVnGqc1+PVU0t3bGt22ZG7fbZ6Xs9 nqP9S1NwxlLTSr1XTkBuw+tbcizo1GLi5DK7HXtqsbbZ6DX7mn9E92z6Njvd/wAZ/wAIuHyjjYz8 pkOfTS7Zc4FwFuw7g59b5sc71duytdx1/Mxut5FPScep+Q6mwWZOz2Ha5s11VvsY9m9znNse/wDw HpKnR9T6qsyk5WUGUUxdaXvDrXXlzrnfTDvUZS70v0lv85/oVLKPFLTUAgXfCx7AdC5mPXmHp7c7 Jyi9zbfsopua0EWNLd9de33Wbmt3/wDBouPj0nMLHMLqWk3Pa3na0F9zWn836P8AnrZ6/njIaceo NeG1msP0c/XSyzd9Cr/rf6V6wK+rN6Xvy7K25FT631+g/wDPL/zIg7v5ajkQJCN3tqywvhLrf89O mf8AlbV+H/pJJZH7U6d/879f/bj/AO9JHin+8P8AF/8AQUcI/dP+N/6E/wD/0NnNxqRi334L3Osa 51rTcHOJbdZu9Vj3lvpN2b3t/wAH6H+D/S+os51uTh2B+JfZjh2rnta7aC4kssx9vtse78+hL7Xl 2U/tF7i4BxrNRA3WF3s93qFrcemr2/6R9v8AxLEO3qdLmjH

Скачать книгу