The Jewelry Case Read Online Free

greedy neighbor. The lovely thing deserved better.
    She turned toward the realtor. "The house can be fixed up, can't it?"
    "Anything can be repaired, for a price." Ray hesitated, twisting one of his massive rings, as if trying to find tactful words. "But I, er, thought money was a bit of an issue."
    Barry Klein must have spilled more of her personal information to this agent than he'd let on, she thought, fuming. Weren't there laws against that? She'd speak to Barry about that later.
    "Don't worry. I can always sell the family jewels to pay for the repairs if I have to," she said. She meant to head off the topic with a light joke, not let him know how serious her financial situation really was.
    When Ray's eyes widened, however, she quickly realized that her words might be taken as a double entendre , and she felt herself blush. "Oops. I didn't mean it that way. I only meant.... "
    What had she meant, exactly? An elusive memory jangled tantalizingly, and she suddenly recalled that Jonathan had once used the same expression. in her presence. But at that time, she'd had the impression he'd been referring to real jewels, like rubies and diamonds. What on earth had he been talking about? A memory began to surface, vague and flimsy as a ghost, but she could not remember the details. Still, it was strange, how those words had burst out of her mouth.
    "That's just a saying," Paisley said quickly to cover her embarrassment, as Ray's face began to crack into a grin. "You've heard it before, haven't you?"
    "Why, yes, ma'am," Ray drawled in an exaggerated Southern accent, winking. "Although I don't think that would be downright legal, if you'll excuse my saying so."
    She fought down her exasperation. "I mean I'll do anything to get the house in shape, make any necessary sacrifices," she said with asperity. "This place has far too much character to just knock it down. If we're patient, I'm sure we'll find someone who will cherish it, who will restore it to what it must once have looked like. The place is quite beautiful, really, under all that ivy and peeling paint. A ... a ... diamond in the rough."
    Ray looked back at the house as if seeing it for the first time. A flitting expression crossed his face that she could not identify. Then he shrugged. "Diamond in the rough? Maybe you're right. Forget what I said about Steve Lopez's offer. Take all the time you need to see the place. All summer, if you want." He repeated to himself, "Family jewels," and chuckled. Without warning he launched into song, an unexpected rich, smooth baritone pouring out of his barrel chest: "Some women are dri-i-ipping in diamonds, some women are dri-i-i-pping with pearls...."
    She stared at him, as surprised by his about-face as by his sudden singing. The notes from the Broadway musical Annie echoed incongruously in the rural clearing. No one in the world could have looked or sounded less like the greedy orphanage director Miss Hannigan.
    Ray glanced at her, and his face turned red. His hand self-consciously went up and adjusted his gold-colored tie. "Sorry, ma'am," he muttered. "Incurable shower singer. My ex-wife used to drag me to musicals at the Mondalvi Center, and I guess some of the songs got stuck in my head."
    Paisley found herself smiling, a surprisingly painful process; the muscles in her cheeks felt atrophied. It had been a long time since she had found anything humorous, but the thought of the ultra-macho Ray Henderson fidgeting through an endless season of musicals at the behest of an insistent wife tickled her funny bone.
    "You must have been in the military," she guessed with certitude. "No one else uses 'ma'am' these days.
    "Why, yes, ma'am, that's right. Came home from Afghanistan three years ago. It's hard to break old habits."
    If she'd been less tired, she'd asked politely about his military experiences, but the truth was, all she cared about was exploring the house. They hadn't even been inside yet. She felt like a little child on Christmas