Master of Fortune by Katherine Garbera Page A

that she was struggling to protect her little sister.
    “I am so informed. I have no intention of harming your sister, Bethann. I am attracted to her, and if she decided she wants more from me, then there is nothing you can say that will stop me.”
    “All men say that.”
    “Even your husband? Did he make a promise to you and break it?” he asked.
    He’d met Percy Montrose, Bethann’s husband, briefly before the other man had left to run to Tesco for more ice.
    “Especially him,” she said. “But when he messes up he fixes it. And I want to know if Henry Devonshire is the kind of man who will do the same.”
    “Is there really anything I can say that would convince you that I’m an upstanding man? You seem to have your mind made up about me.”
    “I don’t. I’m sorry if it seemed that way. It’s just—listen, I love my sister and I don’t want to see her stuck—”
    Henry put his hand on Bethann’s shoulder. “Me, either.”
    She looked at him, her level stare probing and then she sighed. “Okay.”
    “Henry?” Astrid called.
    “In here,” he said.
    “Percy’s back and we are ready to eat,” Astrid said.
    “Great,” Bethann said, stepping around them and heading up toward the house.
    “What did she want?”
    “Just to make sure I wasn’t going to hurt you,” Henry said. “Whatever happened with Daniel…there was more than the ending of an affair, wasn’t there?”
    “I can’t…I don’t want to talk about that right now, okay?”
    Henry saw the distress he’d caused her with his question. It was the second time he’d seen the sheen of tears in her eyes.
    “Let’s go up to the house,” he said, letting his pursuit lie for the moment.
    She put her arm through his as they walked up to the patio, where her mother had set the table. It was a beautiful day, the kind that they’d learned to relish in England since it was so often cloudy or rainy.
    But today the weather was nice. Percy was a likable fellow who had a dry wit. He had no problems teasing everyone at the table including Henry. Astrid clearly liked her brother-in-law and flirted in an innocent way with the man.
    “Are you a football man like Spencer?” he asked Percy.
    “Not at all. In fact, Spencer used to be a big London Irish fan.”
    “Used to be?”
    “Don’t get around as good as I used to, so I miss a lot of games. Watching it on the telly isn’t the same,” Spencer said, shifting his wheelchair to intercept the conversation.
    “No, it’s not. Are you managing well with the wheelchair today?”
    “Listen to your doctor,” Spencer said by way of answer. “I didn’t and look where it got me. I’m afraid I’m a bit stubborn. May have passed that trait on to Astrid.”
    “I have to say I think you have. She definitely knows her own mind,” Henry said.
    “That she does,” Spencer agreed. “But we did love those games. You know my girls tried to get me to a few once I was in this damned chair but it was too much work and it broke my heart seeing them so exhausted from everything that I told them we weren’t going anymore.”
    “Yes, he used to take both of the girls to the games when they were little. I believe that Astrid even had a poster hanging on her side of the bedroom…. Which player was that?” Percy asked.
    Astrid flushed and Bethann swatted at her husband. “Enough out of you.”
    “You had a poster on your wall?” Henry asked.
    “It was of you,” she said. Everyone at the table was laughing.
    “She had a huge crush on you when you first joined the team,” Mary said.
    “Mum!” Astrid was flushed with color. And for once she was at a loss for words. Here, with the people who knew her best, there were no barriers like the ones she usually kept up.
    “Well, Bethann had a crush on Ronan Keating, and she was an adult then.”
    “He’s cute,” Bethann said.
    “He looks nothing like me,” Percy said.
    “I am allowed to like men who don’t look like you,” Bethann said.
    “No,