Belle by Sarah Price

Author:Sarah Price [Price, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

After Adam’s kindness on Sunday evening, Belle had hoped the week might progress in a more productive manner. Unfortunately, she quickly realized that hopes and dreams were the same thing: great to have but with no guarantees.

The rain continued until Tuesday evening. With the gray skies and the starkness of the house, which lacked any sort of warmth, or any feeling of its being a home—never mind her home—Belle felt as blue as the sky hidden behind the thick clouds. She spent the days cleaning the house, scrubbing walls and floors, washing windows and woodwork. But the house still felt cold and unsettled.

On Wednesday morning, she had ventured down the narrow wooden stairs to the basement, and, with a kerosene lantern in her hand, she had searched the boxes and crates, most of them covered with cobwebs. That was when she made the discovery of an old dresser filled to the brim with yarn.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Yarn meant that she could crochet. Even if it wasn’t autumn or winter yet, the seasons when she usually crocheted, at least she would have something to occupy her time. She dug through the different drawers, each one cleverly sorted by color, and picked out various skeins in shades of brown, cream, and tan. With her newfound treasure tucked under her arm, she hurried back upstairs to the kitchen.

After retrieving her crochet hooks from her bedroom, Belle settled onto the bench at the kitchen table and started a new blanket. She chose the arch column afghan pattern. Using each of the three colors to crochet a thick two-block row, she would use the tan to edge it. Maybe, she thought, with little items like a homemade blanket tossed over the rocking chair in the sitting room, the house might begin to feel like a home.

The thought of home gave her a moment’s pause. She wondered what her father was doing. She glanced outside and, after seeing that it was still raining, decided he was probably in the barn trying to rebuild his grill, the one that would set him on the path to riches. Well, not riches, but financial freedom.

“What are you doing?”

Belle jumped when she heard Adam’s voice. His words were asked not as a question, but more as an angry statement. She regained her composure and set down the four rows of crocheting that she had finished. With as much self-control as she could muster, she looked at him and replied, “I’m making an afghan.”

He stood in the doorway, his large frame filling it. The look of displeasure on his face was more than apparent. “I can see that!”

Surprised by his response, Belle raised her eyebrows. “Then why did you ask?”

He raised his hand and pointed at the yarn on the table. “I meant that yarn! Where did you get that?”

Confused, Belle reached for one of the skeins. “This? Why, I found it in the basement.”

He stormed across the room and snatched it from her hand. “That is not yours!”

Belle frowned, pursing her lips together.

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.