"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 009 - Sunset Scandal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)

"That's nice," Emma said. It amazed her that the child had been terrorized just five minutes earlier, and now she seemed completely at ease. Now it's just me who's terrorized, raced Emma's thoughts.
"Okay, no more howls from upstairs," Darcy said, coming back into the kitchen. She sat down at the counter. "So what's this
about COPE? I've heard about them, but I don't really know what they do."
"Maybe you should explain about Molly before I explain about COPE," Emma said guardedly. She tried not to look over at the fruit bowl.
Darcy smiled. "Yeah, I guess this all must seem pretty weird to you. I'm so used to it I forget, and we pretty much never have visitors." Darcy noticed that Katie had finished her ice cream. "More?" she asked Katie.
Katie nodded.
"But Katie, we haven't had lunch yet," Emma reminded the little girl.
"Ice cream for lunch is good," Katie explained.
"She's right," Darcy laughed, getting the ice cream back out of the freezer and spooning a small portion into Katie's bowl. "Here's the deal," Darcy began. "I work here, taking care of Molly Mason."
"The girl who was yelling," Katie filled in.
"Right," Darcy said. "She's sixteen. She was in a car accident about a year and a half agoЧa drunk driver hit her. Now she's a
paraplegic. Her parents hired me to take care of her."
"That's so horrible," Emma said. Her mind immediately flashed on her own horrible experience the previous summer. A friend had been killed while driving drunk. Emma, Carrie, Sam, Kurt, Billy, and Sam's friend Danny had all been passengers in the car, and because their friend had drunk less than they had, they'd all thought he was okay to drive. But he hadn't been, and he'd been killed. Emma still felt horribly guilty that she hadn't stopped him from driving.
"It is terrible," Darcy agreed. "The guy who hit her went to jail, but he'll be out in a few monthsЧwhich really sucks, if you ask
me."
"It doesn't seem fair," Emma murmured.
"Because it isn't fair," Darcy said. "Anyway, my family lives up in Bangor, I needed a job to put myself through collegeЧI'm going to be a freshman at the University of Maine in the fallЧand so here I am."
Darcy took Katie's empty ice cream dish and headed for the dishwasher, which gave Emma a chance to study her.
Katie was right, Darcy really did have
terrific hair. Raven-black and absolutely straight, it reached past her waist. She had high cheekbones, an aquiline nose, and long-lashed, startlingly violet eyes. On the tall side, Darcy looked quite athletic.
"So, that's my story," Darcy said, walking back to the counter. "What's yours?"
Emma told Darcy all about COPE and their fundraising drive.
"Well, I can't ask Mr. and Ms. Mason because they're not on the island right now," Darcy said. "But I could make a small contribution." She got a leather purse from the counter and took out a ten-dollar bill. "Sorry it's not more," she said. "I'm on a really tight budget."
"This is fine. It's great of you to help," Emma assured her.
Darcy looked at Emma with curiosity. "So, what's the deal with you, anyway? Is this little cutie your sister?"
"This is Katie Hewitt. I'm her au pair," Emma said, stroking Katie's hair.
Darcy laughed. "Ah, a hired hand just like me!" Then she glanced at Emma's expensive designer outfit and raised her eyebrows. "Babysitting pays well, huh?"
"I'm not in it for the money," Emma said stiffly. Oh, listen to me, she thought disgustedly. // / don't sound like a prissy rich girl . . .
"What are you in it for, then?" Darcy asked.
"For ... for ..." Emma stammered. Why was she an au pair? "You're extremely outspoken," Emma said defensively.
"That's true," Darcy agreed. "Usually I get called much worse." She lifted her knees up to her chin and put her arms around them. "Anyway, I wasn't judging you. I really can't stand judgmental people. I'm just curious."
Emma pushed her blond hair behind one ear. "I'm trying to find some answers in my life," she said simply.
"Sounds good to me," Darcy agreed reasonably.
"Do you think that girl upstairs ate all her ice cream?" Katie asked.
"Why don't we go ask her?" Darcy said, getting up. "She doesn't get a lot of visitors."
"Wait a minute," Emma said. "Look, you seem . . . well, perfectly normal, but this house doesn't." Emma's eye- strayed signif-
icantly to the human hand in the fruit bowl.
"It's a hoot, isn't it?" Darcy said, following Emma's gaze.
"A hoot? The skull-shaped door knocker? The bloody handprints on the towels in the bathroom? Shall I go on?"
"I got scared," Katie said gravely.
"I'm sorry you got scared," Darcy said. "You'd have to know the Masons to understand. They're . . . well, they're different. You see, this house has been in their family for generations, and it looks so spooky to begin with that they just decided to decorate it spooky."
ul suggest they stay away from interior decorating as a career choice," Emma dead-panned. Darcy laughed.
Emma looked at the fruit bowl again. "You mean that isn't really aЧ"
"It's plastic, honest," Darcy assured her. "Come on, I'll take you up to meet Molly."
Darcy led the way up the long, winding stairway. "Molly! We have visitors!" Darcy called ahead of her.
"No!" a voice shouted. "I don't want to see anyone!"
They turned into a room all decorated in
pink and white, with trophies lining a shelf along the wall. A teenage girl with curly brown hair sat in a wheelchair hi the middle of the room.
"I said no visitors!" the girl in the wheel-chair seethed through clenched teeth.
"Molly, this is Emma Cresswell and Katie Hewitt. And this is Molly Mason," Darcy said.