Lost in Love Read Online Free

Summer said with a fond smile. Summer’s stepbrother Nick and Rosalind were getting married in the coming year, and Summer was almost as happy as the couple.
    Portia was happy, too. Mostly. Not because she didn’t want Rosalind and Nick to get married—she was ecstatic about that. Her unhappiness stemmed from herself. Next to her sisters, her shortcomings were so obvious. No career, no achievements, no family. Nothing. She was pathetic.
    As if thinking about them materialized them, Vi walked in with Beatrice, who was berating someone on the other end of her mobile.
    “Her underling is incompetent,” Vi explained as she kissed each of them on the cheek. “But she’s been cursing him for the past hour, so she should run out of swear words soon.”
    Bea ended the call. “I have an unlimited vocabulary when it comes to swearing, and when English fails, I resort to French.”
    “French is the best language for cursing,” Rosalind agreed.
    Vi took off her coat and sat on the barstool Summer pulled out for her. “Maybe that’s what I should tell Chloe to get her to study.”
    Vi’s daughter Chloe was fourteen and a complete mystery to Portia. If she had to be honest, her niece intimidated her. When Chloe looked at her, it was as though she was judging and found her lacking.
    “You look tired, Vi,” Summer said as she handed her the martini Niamh pushed across the bar. “How are you doing?”
    Portia looked at her older sister. Vi did look pale and pinched, even more so than she had been the past couple months.
    Vi smiled at Niamh as the bartender set their usual drinks in front of them and picked up her martini. “I had Charles served with divorce papers today.”
    There was a round of gasps, except from Beatrice, who took Vi’s hand in her own.
    “It’s a good thing.” Vi gave them a grim smile. “He was cheating on me, and I hadn’t been happy in a long time. It’s better for Chloe this way, even though she’s not talking to me.”
    “She’s a teenager,” Rosalind said dryly. “They aren’t supposed to talk to their parents.”
    “I loved talking to my mother when I was a teenager,” Summer said.
    “Yes, but you’re odd,” Bea said with a fond smile. Then she faced Rosalind. “Have you and Nick set a date yet?”
    “Not yet.” Rosalind shook her head. “We’re having too much fun nesting.”
    Bea arched her brow. “Is that what the kids are calling it?”
    Rosalind laughed happily.
    “Portia.” Bea turned to her. “It’s your turn.”
    “To do what?” she asked cautiously.
    Vi waved a hand at her. “First tell us why you’re dressed like that. You look like an expensive schoolmarm with your hair pulled back like that.”
    “Is that one of Mum’s suits?” Rosalind leaned forward to look more closely. “It’s a Chanel.”
    She touched her necklace. “I had an interview today.”
    They fell silent. Then Rosalind said, “For a job?”
    “Of course for a job.” She glared at them. “It’s not that inconceivable.”
    “Isn’t it?” Bea chuckled and then put a conciliatory hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
    “Tell us about it,” Summer said.
    “It’s a curator position at the Museum of British Peerage.”
    Vi blinked in surprise. “That job’s made for you, isn’t it?”
    Everyone thought so, except the one person who mattered. “The director doesn’t see it that way.”
    “Make him see it,” Bea said.
    “I told him I would curate the Summerhill collection I’d bring with me.”
    Eyebrows raised, her oldest sister lifted her glass in salute. “That was utterly brilliant, Portia. He’d be a fool not to go for it.”
    “He wants the tiara included.”
    “What tiara?” Summer asked.
    “The Summerhill tiara,” they all replied. Then Rosalind added, “It’s infamous. It’s been in the family forever. You can see it in a lot of the portraits in the family gallery.”
    Vi frowned. “Wasn’t the tiara stored at Suncrest