Read Online The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds by Bobbi Holmes - Free Book Online Page B

across the yard in the opposite direction. “Sadie!
Bring that back!” Lily called out.
    “Yes, but I have a
feeling your version is more accurate.” Ian watched as Sadie ran around the
yard with the wooden ball in her mouth. “You know, she isn’t going to bring it
back.” Ian chuckled.
    “So what happened
between you two down at the beach?” Lily asked as she walked to Sadie, who was
now lying on the lawn, energetically chewing on the ball.
    Following Lily, his
hands tucked into the back pockets of his denims he said, “I don’t want to go
into it. Let’s just say she made me an offer she didn’t think I could refuse.”
    “Were you tempted?”
Lily asked when they reached Sadie. She reached down and grabbed the ball. In a
scolding voice she said, “You don’t want to chew on that!”
    “Tempted?” Ian glanced
at the house and then back to Lily. He smiled and said, “Strangely, not.”
    “Strangely?” Lily
looked at the slobbery croquet ball in her hand. Wrinkling her nose in disgust,
she wiped it on her apron. Sadie ran off in the opposite direction, expecting
Lily to throw the ball. Instead of throwing it, Lily slipped it into her apron
pocket.
    “I am a man, Lily. When
a beautiful woman hits on you…”
    “So tell me,” Lily
interrupted, “you couldn’t do it because she just didn’t compare to me, right?”
    “Partially.”
    “Partially?” Lily
wrinkled her nose and lightly smacked the side of Ian’s leg with the croquet
mallet.
    “Ouch!” Ian snatched
the mallet from Lily.
    “Oh, that didn’t hurt,”
Lily scoffed.
    “True, but I’m not
going to wait around for you to take a second swing.”
    “So what was the other
reason you didn’t accept her gracious offer?”
    “Honestly?” Ian looked
up at Marlow House. He could see Cheryl standing in her bedroom window looking
down at them.
    “Yes, why?” Lily
glanced toward the house. She saw Cheryl standing in the window.
    “High maintenance
women, especially those with an exceptionally high opinion of themselves—well,
are rather a turn off for me.”
    “Ahhh, I get it, you
tend to go for slobs with low self esteem?” Lily teased.
    “Well…” Ian critically
eyed Lily, his eyes moving up and down her body. Smirking, he reached out and
tugged her messy pony tail. “I wouldn’t say you have low self esteem.”
    “Oh thanks!” Lily
laughed. “Hey, give me back that mallet, I wanna smack you again.”
    “I don’t think so.
You’re dangerous with that thing.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and
led her to the bench. They sat down.
    “Did you know Brianna
Boatman had Alzheimer’s?” Ian asked.
    “Alzheimer’s? I didn’t
know that. How did you find out?”
    “Cheryl told me. That’s
why she believes she has a claim on the estate. Because her aunt wasn’t
mentally competent to make her will.”
    “Do you think that’s
true?” Lily glanced up at the house. Cheryl was no longer standing at the
bedroom window.
    “I have no idea. But if
she wasn’t mentally competent when she had that will written, Cheryl might have
a legitimate claim.”
    “Damn. That really
mucks things up.”
    “Where is Danielle?”
Ian glanced over to where Danielle normally parked her car.
    “She went to see Mr.
Renton, her attorney.”
    “Hopefully he’ll have
good news for her. I’d hate to see Danielle forced to share her estate with
that woman.”
    “ That woman .”
Lily chuckled.
    “I think for the first
time in my life I understand how a woman feels when a man makes an unwelcome
advance,” Ian said in a serious tone. “Yesterday if you’d asked me if a
beautiful woman coming on to me—coming on strong—would turn me off, I would
have laughed.”
    “Do you have to keep
calling her a beautiful woman?” Lily grumbled.
    “Well, she is. I mean
physically speaking. But I have to admit, she made me extremely uncomfortable
out there.”
    “After Cheryl made a
pass at Lucas at the rehearsal dinner, he told Dani about it