A Match Made at Christmas by Patricia Davids

Author:Patricia Davids
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2022-08-19T16:09:16+00:00

Twelve

The following morning, Sophie’s arm and chest hurt worse than the day before. The bruise had spread down her side. She dressed in a mental fog. A cup of Rose’s special tea the previous night had helped her sleep but left her groggy.

In the kitchen Joanna handed Sophie a bowl of oatmeal and lifted her black traveling bonnet from the peg by the front door. “Have a nice day at school.”

Sophie glanced her way. “Where are you going?”

“I promised Grace that I’d help her get ready for the Thanksgiving dinner. Bye.”

“I thought you could see if Karl and his girls need help fixing a covered dish to take.”

Joanna frowned. “Why?”

“A goot wife never goes visiting without something special in hand. The girls should be shown how to make a simple but tasty dish.”

“I’m not the cook or teacher that you are, and I’m certainly not a wife.”

“You could be soon.”

“Not unless you know something I don’t. See you tonight.” Joanna hurried out.

Sophie doctored the bland, slightly scorched oatmeal with a handful of raisins and brown sugar. At the stove she found Joanna had forgotten to turn the heat on under the coffee. The pot was full of room-temperature water instead of the coffee she needed. She glanced at the clock. There wasn’t time to perk some now. Nor had Joanna fixed a lunch as she had promised yesterday. Sophie settled for peanut butter on bread and an apple.

She ate her oatmeal, gathered her things together and went out the door juggling her books and her lunch in her one good arm. Karl was waiting on her porch steps cleaning a bridle. Rachel was nowhere in sight.

He stood up, tipped his hat and hung the bridle over his shoulder. “You have the sling on again. I reckon it’s foolish to ask if your arm is better.”

What was foolish was the way her heart broke into a gallop at his nearness. She took a deep breath to regain control of her emotions. It didn’t help. She was overwhelmed with the smell of autumn leaves and saddle soap mixed with the essence that was uniquely Karl’s own. Masculine and disturbing.

She could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. She hurried down the steps without looking at him. “I’m better. Where is Rachel?”

“She went on ahead.”

The aroma of fresh coffee wafted up from a cup on the steps beside him and stopped her flight. Her stomach rumbled. Should she ask? It seemed forward, but her foggy head won out over decorum. “Would you happen to have any of that coffee left?”

He looked surprised. “I do. It might not be very hot. I turned the heat off when I went out to do chores.”

“Even lukewarm will be fine. Just black. I really could use a cup.”

“Be right back.”

He strode into his house and came out a minute later with a white mug in his hand. “It’s warmer than I thought it would be.”

She put her books and lunch down, took the mug from him and sipped the warm, dark brew.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.