Amanda by Kay Hooper

didn’t help one bit for her to be fairly certain that her skin would look much better in the coming years because she
hadn’t
tanned; golden skin was just lovely and Amanda hated looking so fair and …
fragile.
    And she bruised easily.
    Realizing suddenly that the silence from Maggie had gone on at least a couple of minutes too long, Amanda looked up at the older woman and knew instantly that she’d said something wrong.
Oh, lord, what?
Christine Daulton
had
played the piano, so—
    Maggie smiled. “it’s probably just as well,” she said. “Perfection would be boring, I should think. Don’t stay out here too long on your first day sunning, Amanda.”
    “No, I won’t.”
    The housekeeper continued on her way across the patio, passing through the open doors of the sunroom and into the house.
    After a minute or so, Amanda turned and went down the wide steps leading into the pool. The dogs, though momentarily undecided and obviously tempted, remained on the side and watched her intently rather than join her in the cool water, which was fine with Amanda. She went under briefly, then struck out with lazy ease.
    The pool was certainly long enough for laps, and Amanda went back and forth methodically, workingfaster and harder once her muscles warmed up. She loved to swim and was good at it, so the exercise was a definite pleasure.
    She cooled down the way she had warmed up, swimming a few lazy laps, then let herself drift, face turned up to the sun and eyes closed against the brightness. And brooded.
    Damn. What did I say to upset Maggie? And just when things were going so well, too!
    “Things” had gone exceptionally well the past three days. She’d arrived here on Tuesday, this was Saturday, and the interim had been much less tense than she’d dared to hope for. Jesse had been eager to spend time with her, and during their interludes together she had encouraged him to talk about this place, the Daulton family, and the long history of this area—which he knew well and related colorfully.
    They had spent hours looking through photo albums filled with decades of the Daulton family, and scrapbooks stuffed with newspaper and magazine clippings detailing their milestones and accomplishments, while Jesse had talked about the rich Daulton heritage.
    Not only had Amanda learned more than she’d known about this place and its people, she had also managed to avoid more touchy subjects.
    As for the others, the first night had revealed attitudes that had not changed very much in the days since. Maggie was friendly but neutral; Kate was rather withdrawn but certainly pleasant enough when they encountered each other—which was, either by chance or by design, rarely; Sully spent as much time as possible at the stables with his horses, appearing only for meals, and his attitude toward Amanda could best be described as truculent; and Reece was so puppy-dog friendly that Amanda distrusted him just on principle.
    And then there was Walker. So far, he’d appeared every evening for supper, presumably by invitation although she had yet to hear one issued. He hadn’t stopped watching her and, she assumed, waiting for her to betray herself, but though she was reasonably sure she’d seen anger flickering in his eyes more than once, there hadn’t been any further hostilities between them.
    She supposed that was something to be grateful for.
    In any case, she was now familiar with the layout of Glory, was beginning to get a feel for the people here, and thought the time was probably right to begin looking for the answers she’d come here to find. After all, next week would see the beginning of June and her second week here—and the days were already hurrying, blowing past on increasingly hot Southern mountain breezes.
    Forcing herself to abandon the peaceful cradle of the pool, Amanda drifted to the steps and got her feet under her. She came up the steps to the sun-warmed tile, pausing to sleek water from her hair, and reached for her