Her Man Friday Read Online Free

name that meant
dream
. Because to Schuyler, that was precisely what the huge house was. A dream come true.
    She supposed there were a lot of people who would consider the residence excessive, particularly for a single man who had made no secret of his confirmed—and womanizing—bachelorhood. Truth be told, Lily was one of them. But Schuyler had worked hard and sacrificed a lot to earn the wealth he claimed. She had seen firsthand how many obstacles he had overcome to achieve his current status, and how many battles he continued to fight every day to maintain it.
    And it wasn't like he
did
live here alone. There was a huge staff of hourly workers who filed in every morning to see to the day-to-day running of Ashling. Schuyler's mother, Miranda, and his sister, Janey, were residents. Lily, too, with a handful of servants, lived here full-time, though her quarters were significantly more modest than the family's. And, of course, she mustn't forget Chloe.
    As much as she might like to.
    As Lily led Leonard Freiberger through the gallery toward the east wing that housed the private living area where Schuyler kept his office, she strove for polite conversation. "Leonard," she repeated. "That's a lovely name. My mother had a chocolate point Siamese named Leonard. Of course, it goes without saying that we always called him 'Leo.'"
    She wasn't sure, but she thought the bookkeeper grunted something in response to that. She sighed and tried again. "He was rather neurotic, though, even for a Siamese. There were times when we were convinced he thought he was a Turkish Angora."
    Silence greeted the comment from behind, followed by what sounded to Lily like a very weary sigh. She was about to say something more, when finally Mr. Freiberger asked in a flat voice, "Um, why was that?"
    Without breaking stride, she replied over her shoulder, "Well, he just thought he was so much smarter than everyone else, you know? I mean, honestly. A chocolate point Siamese. Can you imagine?"
    When Mr. Freiberger responded with another lengthy silence, she glanced back to find that he was squinting at her—as if the light in the gallery had suddenly gone dim. Men, Lily thought with no small exasperation. They never did understand cats.
    She continued to lead him on their journey, passing the receiving room, the sitting room, the living room, and the atrium, then turned left into the east wing. For some reason, there seemed to be a strange tension emanating from Mr. Freiberger, a tension whose origin Lily couldn't quite pinpoint. So, as always, she fell back on meaningless chitchat to defuse the taut mood.
    "I know you drove here from Philadelphia, Mr. Freiberger and work for Kimball Technologies. Are you originally from the area?"
    "Not Philadelphia, no," he told her. "Although I've worked and lived in the city for about five years now, I grew up in Maryland, in a small town on Chesapeake Bay called Harborside." She could tell by his tone of voice that he carried a lot of fond memories of his upbringing. And she noted that when he smiled the way he was smiling now, he was almost… She sighed involuntarily. Well, he was almost, sort of, kind of… handsome.
    She began to walk again, but this time strode side by side with Mr. Freiberger, instead of two paces ahead of him. And this time she slowed their pace to one that was much more leisurely.
    "It sounds like a wonderful little town," she told him.
    "Yes, well, 'little' would be the operative word," he agreed, still grinning, still speaking warmly, still almost handsome. "There's not much there but oystermen. But you're right—it is wonderful."
    They entered the living quarters of Ashling, but since they were still in mid-conversation—and since Mr. Freiberger was still looking so almost handsome—Lily slowed their pace even more as they approached Schuyler's office.
    "You're from a fishing—or, rather, oystering—family then?" she asked, assuming the obvious.
    Mr. Freiberger nodded, lifting a hand to