A Western Heart (Choc Lit) by Harris Liz

Author:Harris, Liz [Harris, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Choc Lit Lite
Published: 2014-05-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

‘Pass the cornbread, Cora, will you?’ Rose asked. As she turned slightly in her chair, her leg touched Nate’s and she quickly pulled it back. Nate shifted his position. A moment later, he leaned forward to take the plate of cornbread from Cora and offer it to her, and she felt his muscular thigh against her leg again.

A wave of heat spread through her.

As she accepted a piece of cornbread, she glanced quickly at his face. Raising his eyebrow slightly, he threw her an amused smile, then he turned to pass the plate to her mother, and she was left staring at the sharp angle of his strong jaw.

‘Did you want another piece of cornbread, Mr Hyde?’ she asked, turning her attention to Will’s father, who was sitting on the other side of her.

‘Not for me,’ Charles Hyde said. ‘If I eat any more, I’ll break the seat of the wagon the moment I sit on it.’ He put his hands on his stomach, looked around the table and laughed.

‘I think I’ll have another piece after all,’ Cora said, leaning across the table to help herself, and smiling at Charles Hyde as she did so. She took a piece for herself and one for Mattie.

Thomas McKinley looked up from his plate. ‘You’ve a mighty fine appetite today, Cora. And you, too, Mattie. What have you two bin doin’ all morning?’

‘Working hard,’ Cora said.

‘Doin’ what exactly?’ her mother asked. ‘It certainly wasn’t the hard work that comes with helpin’ with the washing. You were nowhere to be seen.’

‘I’ve been helping Cora cut the patterns for the dress she’s gonna make,’ Mattie volunteered. ‘We’ve only just begun cutting them and we’ve got a heap more to do.’

‘I’m mighty pleased to see Cora startin’ to take more of an interest in sewing,’ Julia remarked. ‘It’s mending day on Wednesday and there’s a pile of darnin’ to do.’

Cora laughed. ‘Ma likes funning,’ she said, smiling across the table at Nate. ‘There’d be more holes in the clothes when I finished darning them than when I started.’

He grinned at her. ‘My ma wasn’t that keen on sewin’, either.’ He turned to look at Rose. ‘What about you, Miss Rose. Is sewing something you like?’ he asked, his thigh pressing hard against hers.

She put her hand to her cheeks to cool them down.

‘I don’t dislike it as much as Cora does. I wouldn’t say I’m much better than she is, though.’ She felt Cora’s eyes on her face, and looked down at her plate.

‘Where d’you come from, Mr Galloway?’ Cora asked.

He took his eyes from Rose and smiled at Cora. ‘From back East originally, but from Rock Springs more recently.’

‘Why did you leave the East and come West?’ she asked curiously.

‘That’s surely Mr Galloway’s private business, Cora,’ Thomas interrupted. ‘Ignore my daughter, Galloway.’

‘It’s fine, sir. I don’t mind answering Miss Cora. At a very young age, I packed my bags and came West to help my brother, Ethan, run his ranch. He was already doin’

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