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He was right behind her Very tall So close Funny, she hadn’t heard him move Not a rustle, not a whisper of air

He seemed to tower above her He was definitely over six feet, lean, lithe, just like a black panther Tall, s s at her nowhe was just riveting

You devil, she thought

He accepted the coffee from her

"Why, actually, o in today?"

"Oh, no, sir Miss Montgomery takes her weekends Unless, of course, we’re in Mardi Gras season, or the like, which we’re not"

"Oh, dear I’m so sorry I’ve missed her"

"She’ll be back in on Monday"

"Well I can always find Miss Montgomery when I really need to do sobut she’ll be here on Monday I’lad"

He was incredibly close She wondered how she could be so rude as to feel that he had "snake" eyes, and yet find his proxi

"I’m so sorry that you’ve wasted your ti his coffee, but his cup was empty He set it down, and took her hands "Why,to swoon Get the vapors She did, indeed, feel as if she earing a corset that was far too tight, when she wore no such apparel

"Why, sir, you are a flatterer"

He s toward the front She was so addled she didn’t think to follow him, to lock the door when he had left

She turned back to the coffee, still s so flattered and unnerved by a handsoer man Not that she didn’t have pride in herself She did, but he was so polite, such a charet back to work

But she gasped in stunned surprise

He was back Right in front of her again

Shis eyes on hers

"Whysir!" she stuttered

"Ah, well, there was just one !" he told her, and it see!" he said very softly And touched her

CHAPTER 4

The Montgomery plantation was an extre along the drive, Sean paused, staring at the beautiful old house It had been built in an age of gracious living with a tremendous amount of ht thousand square feet of living space A serand porch with thick, white columns The porch wrapped around the house, as did that on the second floor of the dwelling He could well iuests escaped the heat of a Louisiana su their bedrooht on that porch beneath the ht

He had no idea how much property still remained to the house, but the laas ht in front of the circular steps and he parked the car, again staring up at the facade of the Montgoood repair

Far better repair than Oakville, certainly But then, it was larger than Oakville Way back when, Sean thought with humor, there had been oed to accrue the second kind

He wasn’t expecting to find Maggie Montgorown very curious, and since the place was in such great shape, it didn’t seem unlikely that there would be a full-ti the bell

He wondered if the door ht out of The Addaht, the bell would be answered by a gaunt, dark-haired, dour-faced woman--the housekeeper from a dozen Gothic-type movies made back in the fifties

His summons was answered by neither

He was incredibly startled when a short, very round and very cheerful woman of about fifty opened the door She wore a frilly apron over a simple flowered day dress Her cheeks were incredibly red, and her s He hadn’t come across Morticia Addams; he had stumbled upon Missus Santa Claus

"Hello My naomery Is she in, by any chance?" He offered her his warht be asked in--even if Maggie Montgo to obsessive bounds He wanted to see her home

"Mr Canady, please step inside," the woman said "The heat today is justsystem is pure heaven!"