Donovan's Child Read Online Free Page A

swing-away armrests. “I hate all this getting-to-know-you crap.”
    â€œReally? You seemed to be enjoying yourself a minute or two ago. But then, that was when you were asking the questions.”
    â€œYou are an annoying woman.” There. It was out.
    She said nothing for several seconds. When she did speak, her voice was gentle. “You’re not going to scare me off, Donovan. If you want me to go, you’ll have to send me away—which means you’ll also have to admit, once and for all, that you’re backing out of the fellowship.”
    â€œBut I’m not backing out of the fellowship.”
    â€œAll right, then. Tell me about your family.”
    He was tempted to refuse. If she’d read his books as she claimed, she knew it all anyway. But he had the distinct impression that if he refused, she would only badger him until he gave it up.
    So he told her. “My father was never in the picture.”
    From where he sat, without shifting his gaze from her face, he could see out the wide front windows. He spotted the headlights of a car approaching down the winding driveway. When the car pulled to a stop under the glow of the bright facade lights, he recognized the vehicle.
    A red Cadillac.
    He ignored the car and continued telling Abilene what she no doubt already knew. “My mother was a very determined woman. I was her only child and she set out to make me fearless. She was a force to be reckoned with. Adventurous. Always curious. And clever. It was her idea that I should write my autobiography when I wasn’t even old enough to have one. She said I needed to cultivate myself as a legend and an authority. And the rest would follow. She died when I was in my early twenties. A freak skydiving accident.”
    Abilene had her elbow braced on the chair arm, her strong chin framed in the L of her thumb and forefinger. “A legend and an authority. I like that.”
    â€œIt’s a direct quote from my second book. If you really had read that book, you would remember it.”
    â€œThis may come as a shock, but I don’t remember everything I read.”
    â€œHow limiting for you.”
    She gave him a slow smile, one that told him he was not going to break her. “Did you ever find your father?”
    â€œTo find him implies that I looked for him.”
    â€œSo that would be a no?”
    An atonal series of chimes sounded: the doorbell. Abilene sent a glance over her shoulder and shifted as if to rise.
    â€œDon’t get up,” Donovan said.
    â€œBut—”
    â€œOlga will take care of it.”
    Abilene sank back to the couch cushions as his housekeeper appeared in the wide-open arched doorway that led to the foyer. Olga cast him a questioning look. He gave a tight shake of his head.
    Olga shut the thick archway doors before answering the bell. Seconds later, there were voices: Olga’s and thatof another woman. The heavy foyer doors blocked out the actual words.
    He heard the front door shut.
    And then Olga opened the doors to the living area again. “Dinner is ready,” she announced, her square face, framed by wiry graying hair, serene and untroubled.
    â€œThanks, Olga. We’ll be right in.” Out in the driveway, the Cadillac started moving, backing and turning and then speeding off the way it had come. Abilene had turned to watch it go. He asked her, “Hungry?”
    She faced him again. “Who was that?”
    â€œDoes it really matter? And more to the point, is it any of your business?”
    Abilene stood and smoothed her skinny little skirt down over those shapely knees. “I can see this is going to be one long, dirty battle, every step of the way.”
    â€œMaybe you should give up, pack your bags, go back to San Antonio and your so-helpful builder friend, who also happens to be the father of your half sister, as well as of your sister-in-law. To the loving arms of your large, powerful, wealthy family.