Sealed With a Kiss (2 page)

Tank didn’t bother saying anything as he
started to leave John’s office. The look he sent him said it
all.

“And don’t spend too much time in Virginia.
I’ve got another job for you.”

Tank grunted. “Middle East or Europe?”

“Neither. Texas. A Senator needs an escort to
New York in three days’ time.”

“I’ll call you when I get back. Try and get
some sleep tonight.”

Tank left and John sat back in his chair. He
turned toward his first-floor window and looked across the
garden.

Fletcher Security was based in an historic
building on the outskirts of town. It had been built in the 1860s
as Montana’s first flour mill. When he’d bought the property, it
had been derelict and in serious need of repair. Over the following
two years, he’d rebuilt most of the interior, keeping as much of
the character as he could, and recreating the rest.

No one seeing the red-brick building would
know what went on inside the property. He provided high-risk
security services for clients around the world. He’d gathered
together an elite group of men and women, mostly ex-military, all
dedicated to their roles in his company. Their list of clients,
past and present, was impressive.

John didn’t advertise - he didn’t need to.
Word of mouth traveled faster than an ad in the New York Times. The
uber-rich of the world knew how to find him. What most people
didn’t know was the other side of his business. The side that had
been giving him sleepless nights for the last few weeks.

Developing state-of-the-art surveillance
software had been a side product of what they did. Out of
necessity, they’d had to look at other ways of keeping track of
their clients and their property. When Samantha Jones joined his
company, she’d quickly slipped into the role of Technical
Development Manager. She had a PhD in electrical engineering from
one of the most prestigious university’s in the world and a mind
that was never content with the word ‘no’.

Sam pushed the limits of whatever project she
was working on, and the drone was no exception.

The phone on his desk rang and John
reluctantly answered it. He’d told his secretary not to put any
calls through unless they were urgent. Apart from World War III
breaking out or anything to do with his daughter, he was hoping to
have a few hours to work on another project.

“What is it, Gloria?”

“Sorry to bother you, but a Rachel McReedy is
here to see you. It’s about Bella.”

The hair on the back of John’s neck stood on
end. “What’s happened?”

“I don’t know.”

He ran through Bella’s schedule for the day.
She’d still be at home. Her ballet class didn’t start for another
hour and the people looking after her would have contacted him if
something was wrong. He’d made sure that nothing concerning Bella
turned into a life or death situation. Ever.

He glanced at the folders on his desk. “Send
her through, but warn her that I don’t have a lot of time.”

He walked toward his office door. Whatever
his visitor had to say would have to be quick. He had a project
plan to work through and clients he needed to contact.

If he finished early, he’d meet Bella at her
ballet class. Tutus and pink tights had to be better than worrying
about surveillance drones. And a lot less dangerous, too.

***

Rachel jumped as the big wooden door in front
of her opened. The man coming out to meet her looked nothing like
Bella. The little girl they’d found had big brown eyes and mahogany
curls.

She’d expected Bella’s father to at least
have dark hair, but he was blond, blue-eyed, and glaring at her as
if she’d interrupted something important.

For a minute, she wondered if she’d found the
right person. But the form she’d seen had definitely been signed by
a John Fletcher. There was only one John Fletcher living in
Bozeman, and he was standing in front of her.

She stuck her hand out, then caught the
straps of her bag as they slipped off her shoulder.

He raised his eyebrows.

Rachel adjusted the straps. She might not
have had any older brothers to teach her how not to be intimidated,
but she did teach a class of eight and nine-year-olds. A man
wearing an expensive gray suit wouldn’t make her uncomfortable.

She stuck her hand out again. “Hello, Mr.
Fletcher. My name is Rachel McReedy. I have something I need to
talk to you about.”

He shook her hand. His cool blue eyes held
her gaze. “I’ve got a conference call in five minutes.”

Rachel nodded. Five minutes was better than
nothing. For the last three days she’d been trying to make an
appointment to see him. The staff at his home had told her he
wasn’t available and she couldn’t get through to his secretary. Out
of desperation, she’d driven to Fletcher Security’s head office,
hoping he’d be able to see her. With only three days left before
Annie’s wedding, she was on her own.

John Fletcher held his door open. “Come
in.”

She tightened her hold on her bag and moved
into his office. “Thank you for seeing me.”

He closed the door and pointed at a chair in
front of his desk. “You’re welcome. What exactly did you want to
discuss with me, Ms. McReedy?”

“Rachel…you can call me Rachel.”

He sat down and looked closely at her. She
wished she’d worn something a little more business-like. Her
‘Welcome to Hawaii’ T-shirt didn’t exactly make her feel confident.
She’d pulled it on after she’d been splattered with paint by an
over-excited student. But she wasn’t here to make a good
impression. She was here to help Bella’s dad understand his
daughter a little better.

She cleared her throat and unzipped her bag.
“I’m a teacher at Bozeman Elementary School. Your daughter, Bella,
spent time with my class last week.”

“Was there a problem?”

Rachel shook her head. “Bella is a wonderful
little girl. I enjoyed working with her.”

“Why are you here, then?”

Rachel wondered if the frown plastered across
his face was permanent. He didn’t seem like the type of person who
smiled a lot. He was completely different to the bubbly, happy,
little girl that had visited her school.

“Ms. McReedy?”

She blinked and yanked her mind back to the
man sitting in front of her. “Sorry.” She took Bella’s envelope out
of her bag. “As well as teaching at Bozeman Elementary School, I
help a group of friends who’ve started The Bridesmaids Club. Have
you heard of us?”

John Fletcher was beginning to look
irritated. “No. I can’t say that I have.”

“We’re sent pre-loved bridesmaids’ dresses
from all over the country. Women who need dresses contact us and
take them for their own weddings. Everything is free. It’s really
rewarding making people’s dreams come true.”

Rachel smiled and John’s frown deepened. She
wouldn’t let his grumpiness distract her from what she had to tell
him. “About a year ago, The Bridesmaids Club received a letter from
a little girl. My friends tried to find her, but they didn’t have
much luck.”

“And you think this letter was written by my
daughter?”

“It was signed by someone called Bella.”

John thought about what she’d said. “You’ve
got the wrong person. I can assure you that Bella doesn’t need a
bridesmaid’s dress.”

“It wasn’t a dress that she wanted.”

John’s gaze sharpened. “What did she
want?”

Rachel had thought long and hard about how
she’d break the news to Bella’s dad. She could be incredibly
diplomatic when she needed to be, but she had a feeling that John
Fletcher didn’t have a lot of time for diplomacy. So instead of
repeating the words she’d decided to use, she passed him Bella’s
envelope.

“It might be better if you read the card
yourself.”

John took the envelope out of her hand. He
looked at the picture on the outside, then glanced back at her.

She didn’t look down.

He pulled the card out and read the message.
“My daughter wants me to get married?”

Rachel had a feeling that the chance of that
happening was practically zilch. He might be handsome in a rugged,
outdoorsy sort of way, but his personality needed work.

She glanced at the card. It was a whole lot
easier than looking into his surprised eyes. “Or she could want a
mom. She might be lonely.”

John’s face hardened. “I can assure you, Ms.
McReedy, that my daughter isn’t lonely.”

Rachel hoped he was right. She zipped her bag
closed, then stood up. “In that case, you’ve got nothing to worry
about. Although you might want to talk to her about finding a wife.
We deal with dresses, Mr. Fletcher, not hearts. Thank you for
seeing me. You can keep the card.”

She left John Fletcher’s office, took her
coat off a hanger, and walked past his secretary. She’d done what
she’d set out to do, but it hadn’t ended well. At least she could
report back to her friends that Bella Fletcher was no longer their
mystery girl.

It was just a pity that John Fletcher didn’t
share his daughter’s personality. If Bella was unhappy, there was
nothing she could do about it.

Not today, anyway.

***

John glanced at his daughter. Bella was
sitting on a kitchen stool, swinging her legs in time to the music
playing on their sound system. She had her head bent over a book,
concentrating on the words.

He took a container of fresh fruit salad out
of the fridge and two bowls out of the pantry. “I met Ms. McReedy,
today.”

Bella looked up at him. Her absent smile told
him she was still stuck somewhere in,
Anne of Green Gables
.
She frowned at the fruit salad, then glanced back at him. “The
teacher from the school I’m going to?”

He nodded and Bella smiled. Her wide grin
caught him off guard. She was so much like her mom that a sharp
stab of grief made him forget what he was about to say.

He wished his wife had been here to see how
beautiful their daughter was. Bella lit up the room with her happy
laughter and unguarded smiles. He was her beginning, middle, and
end, and the only reason he’d been able to function after Jacinta
died.

He cleared his throat and reformed the words
inside his head. “Ms. McReedy said that she enjoyed teaching
you.”

Bella leaned forward and rested her elbows on
the counter. “I liked her, too. She’s a fun teacher.”

Bella’s gaze followed him as he put a serving
of fruit into each bowl. “She came to my office to see if I knew
who’d sent her friends a card.” Bella took one of the bowls and
waited for him to pass her a spoon. There was no flicker of
recognition, nothing that told him his daughter knew what he was
talking about.

He passed Bella a spoon, then walked across
to his briefcase and took out the envelope. “Does this look
familiar?”

The fruit on Bella’s spoon dropped into her
bowl. “How did Ms. McReedy get my card?” she whispered.

John pushed the envelope across the counter
to Bella. “She helps her friends give bridesmaids’ dresses to
people who need them.”

Bella nodded and pushed some fruit around in
her bowl.

“Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Bella frowned. “Daisy sent us a card from
Barcelona. I put it on the fridge.”

Daisy was Bella’s tutor. Unfortunately for
Bella and John, Daisy had called him three nights ago and told him
she wouldn’t be coming back. The two-week vacation she’d first
planned had turned into twelve months of traveling around Europe.
John’s housekeeper was filling in as a substitute tutor, but he
needed to find someone more permanent.

John glanced at the postcard. “That’s nice,
but it’s not what I’m meaning. Why did you ask The Bridesmaids Club
to find a bride for me?”

Bella blushed and looked down at her fruit
salad.

“Bella?”

“It was ages ago,” she muttered.

John wasn’t sure how to find out if his
daughter was lonely. So he didn’t. He carried his fruit salad
across to the counter and sat on a stool beside her. “Mrs. Daniels
said you’re doing really well with your school work.”

Bella shrugged her shoulders.

John stabbed a piece of melon with his fork.
“What did you do today?”

“We did some math and reading. Mrs. Daniels
showed me how to make a chicken pasta salad and a huckleberry
cheesecake. We’re having them for dinner tomorrow night.”

John nodded. He’d seen the weekly work plan
that Daisy had left with Mrs. Daniels. His housekeeper had shown
Bella a whole lot more than cooking skills, but if that’s what
Bella remembered the most, he wasn’t too worried. He was
advertising for a new tutor next week. With the money he was
offering, he didn’t expect to have any problem filling the position
before Christmas.

“Ms. McReedy is nice.” Bella glanced at him
quickly.

John nodded and kept eating his fruit salad.
He had a feeling that Rachel McReedy hadn’t been too impressed with
the welcome she’d received in his office. Her blue eyes had flashed
at him more than once, warning him that he’d annoyed her.

“Is Ms. McReedy going to be my tutor?”

John shook his head. “She’s already got a
job. But she’ll be at your new school when you start.” He watched
Bella pick through her fruit salad, looking for the strawberries
he’d buried at the bottom of the bowl. “How did you find out about
The Bridesmaids Club?”

“Mrs. Daniels read me a story from the
newspaper about what they were doing. I went onto the Internet and
looked at their website.”

John stopped eating. “You found their
website?”

Bella smiled and nodded. For the first time
since he’d mentioned the card she’d made, her eyes lit up. “They
have so many pretty dresses. They’ve even got tiaras and
petticoats. Mrs. Daniels said her granddaughter donated her wedding
dress to The Bridesmaids Club. Mrs. Daniels’ granddaughter found
her husband on the Internet.”