Wife By Deception
TwinsNow you see me–now you don' tWhen her flashy, adventurous, identical twin is killed in a car crash, Tallahassee college professor Kate Jones is left with her twin' s infant daughter. Kate knows almost nothing about the little girl' s father–just that his name is Mitch and her sister left him because he was " mean." Kate loves her niece, and she' ll do whatever is necessary to make sure Arianne is raised happy and healthy. That includes pretending to be her own twin when Mitch suddenly appears, so she can find out what her brother-in-law plans for his child.Mitch Devereaux, a Cajun shrimp boat captain for whom family is all, regrets his unhappy marriage, but he adores his little girl. When his wife flees with their daughter, ignoring a joint-custody arrangement, he tracks her down and hauls her back to Louisiana, determined to have her face a judge.But the woman he abducts is so different from the woman he married. And Kate' s captor is so different from the man she' d heard about….
Читать Wife By Deception онлайн беплатно
âWhat do you want?â Kate asked
âI want whatâs mine.â
âAnd what,â she asked haltingly, âdo you consider yours?â
âDonât worry, chèrâ. Not you⦠I meant my daughter.â
The world tilted crazily around her. He had to be Mitch. Her sisterâs husband.
She had to come up with a plan. She couldnât let this stranger carry her niece off to an unknown future. Yet what could she do? She had no idea where heâd sent the little girlâ¦had no idea where he lived.
If he disappeared now, she might never find Arianne again.
Should she tell him her twin had died? Perhaps heâd soften and handle the matter with compassion and reason. Then again, he might simply leave, glad to be rid of his ex-wife once and for all.
âPack a suitcase for Arianne,â he ordered her, interrupting her thoughts, âand one for yourself. We have a date with a judge. You left before our divorce was final. And guess what? The attorney you hired hadnât even passed the bar yet. He had no authority to act on your behalf. Nothing he handled was valid.â
Kate stared at him. That meant⦠Oh, God, this man was Camrynâs husband. And now he believed her to be his wife!
Dear Reader,
I wrote this book with deep affection for the offshore shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexicoâmen who face incredible dangers in their work, and do so with pride, a strict code of honor and an uncanny communion with nature. During my eighteen months of living and working on a commercial trawler named the Lady Leone, I came to admire Gulf shrimpers as true masters of the sea.
The hero of this book, Mitch Devereaux, is one of this breed, and of another proud raceâthe Cajuns of Louisiana. Theyâre known for their strong family ties; distinctive music, food and dance; making a living off the land, swamp and sea; and an abiding love of a good party. They value zest for life, or, as they call it, joie de vivre. Mitch, however, lost his joie de vivre when his estranged wife ran off with his daughter. Nothing will stop him from tracking them down, bringing them home and forcing his wife to honor their joint-custody agreement.
Little does Mitch know that the woman he finds with his daughter is not his wife, but her identical twin, intent on protecting the baby she loves. This is the story of how Mitch regains his joie de vivre, and how Kate Jones finds the precious spice that has been missing from her life.
As you curl up in a comfy chair to read their story, I hope you laissez les bons temps rouler. A Cajun motto, it means, âLet the good times roll!â
Sincerely,
Donna Sterling
I dedicate this to the Kozma clan, especially Eddie,
for âreading every wordâ; Kenny, for getting me to the express mail office in time; and Michelle, for venturing with me into the swampland⦠and the Cajun dance hall. We passed a good time, chèrâ.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to Ron âBlackâ Guidry, for his swamp tour;
Jesse Lecompte Jr., for answering questions; Doug Lambert, who has a great little shop in the French Quarter; and Joe Cruse of The Stormy Seas, who will always have a place in my heart. And special thanks to Jacquie DâAlessandro, Susan Goggins, Carina Rock and Ann White, for their insightful critiques.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
PROLOGUE
Tallahassee, Florida
Early January
CAMRYN LISTENED for sounds in the early-morning stillness of her sisterâs household. She heard only the patter of rain on the roof and the rustling of Florida wind through the palm tree near her window. No one seemed to be awake.
She climbed out of bed in stealthy silence.
Today was the day sheâd hit the road for New York City. And Kate would discover she had a baby to watch for the next couple of weeks. Kate Jones, Ph.D., college professor, no less, should be able to figure out how to take care of a three-month-old.
Quietly Camryn dressed in the dark. The baby had bawled for hours after sheâd brought her to Kateâs house last night. Stunned to learn of her nieceâs existence, Kate had insisted they spend the night, then took charge of rocking, feeding and soothing the baby.
Camryn had expected she would. Despite the years theyâd spent apart, she knew her sister. They were, after all, identical twins, and the only family each other hadâ¦other than the baby now. Kate would take good care of her until Camryn returned. She would have asked her to baby-sit if she hadnât been afraid Kate would put a kink in her plans. Much safer to force her cooperation.
After gathering her purse, her suitcase and Kateâs car keys, Camryn tiptoed through the darkened house, tossed a letter onto the kitchen table, then hurried outside through the chill January rain to Kateâs rather stodgy BMW. Camrynâs Mustang convertible had given her problems. She didnât trust it on another long road trip. The BMW would have to do.
