Read Sealed With a Kiss for Free Online

failed to find a glass. Clearly Roderick hadn’t investigated the
contents of his estate cottages that closely. ‘Cheers.’
    The bathroom was freezing cold. It had black-and-white tiles on the floor, and a huge cast-iron bath. The walls were a nauseating pink. Kate pulled the string hanging down from the wall heater,
then quickly turned it off again when it smelled as if it was about to burst into flames. She was desperate for a hot bath. She turned the taps on full. They clanked alarmingly and, after a couple
of false starts, water came pouring out, filling the room with steam.
    Refilling her champagne mug, Kate grabbed her phone and quickly texted her mother and Emma to let them know she had arrived:
    Hi Mum, cottage is gorgeous. This is the sitting room. Jean looking after me. Love you lots, K Xxx
    She snapped a quick photograph of the battered brocade armchair and the smouldering log fire. She batted away the tiny moment of panic at being miles away from everyone and everything. This is
an adventure, she told herself. I can go home in six months and I’ll have proved my point, and I’ll be able to put ‘Girl Friday’ on my CV and confound potential employers. I
can do this.
    Hi darling, house is heavenly. Look, free champagne from His Lordship. Hooray! No axe-murderers yet. Whole island seems to know I am here already.
     Big kiss to you all. Xxxx
    Emma’s message was sent with a photo of the champagne and the mug. She’d fill her in on what the house was like later, but it was time to sink into the bath, which was now full to
the brim and invitingly bubbly.
    Kate rapidly removed her foot from the water. It was freezing cold. The water heater hadn’t been on long enough to heat the whole tank. A huge swimming-pool bath wasn’t so appealing
when it was cold.
    She washed her face in icy-cold water, climbed into the pyjamas she’d packed in her holdall and pulled back the old-fashioned counterpane.
    Proper blankets.
    Huge, heavy, hairy blankets, and starched linen sheets.
    She squeezed herself into the tightly made bed and was asleep in seconds.

3
Sir Roderick of Posh
    Kate woke up shivering. In place of the roaring fire there was a heap of grey ash. She extricated herself from the blankets and shuffled down to the kitchen.
    Eight o’clock. She’d had fourteen hours of dreamless sleep. Since she’d left Ian she’d struggled to get five hours in a row and had often found herself flicking
mindlessly through TV channels at 3 a.m. Perhaps it was the sea air or the interminable journey that had tired her out, but she felt she could sleep as long again and still be exhausted.
    Taking a cup of coffee through to the sitting room, she was relieved to discover a central-heating thermostat. Log fires were all very romantic, but not first thing in the morning. The house was
just as pretty by daylight, but the silence was deafening. Mission one would be to find the much-longed-for dog. Or cat. Or even both, thought Kate, smiling to herself at having nobody else to
please.
    After a short shower – she wasn’t taking any risks with the hot water this time – she decided to explore the grounds of the estate.
    ‘Kate?’
    She spun round, surprised to hear her name at all, let alone at this time of the morning. She hadn’t got very far, having left the cottage and made her way gingerly up the muddy drive in
her fluffy suede boots.
    ‘Morag Banks.’
    The woman in front of her had short, close-cropped hair and strong, handsome features untouched by makeup. She was carrying a horse’s head-collar, and wiped her hand on muddy jodhpurs
before holding it out.
    ‘How d’you do? Used to ponies?’ She was brisk, but smiling. ‘Come and give me a hand, and then I’ll make you a cup of tea. Must be a bit strange for you, waking up
so far from home.’
    Kate wasn’t sure if it was an instruction or an invitation, but the prospect of more tea was nice. It hadn’t really occurred to her that it would be so much