Calico Ball by Kelly Carla & Eden Sarah M. & Holt Kristin

Author:Kelly, Carla & Eden, Sarah M. & Holt, Kristin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, western
Publisher: Mirror Press
Published: 2018-07-09T16:00:00+00:00

“I suppose I ought to learn to drive the team,” Mirabelle said as they rode toward Thornwood. “You wouldn’t have to take time from your work to take me to town.”

Quinn just shook his head. Driving his wife to town wasn’t the enormous inconvenience she made it out to be. He wasn’t such a shabby husband as all that.

“I don’t know how you’ll entertain yourself while I thumb through the bolts of fabric,” Mirabelle said. “You don’t have any sewing of your own to see to, do you?”

His lips tugged upward at her quip. “I do have a bit of fancy stitching I’ve been meaning to finish.”

“You have a talent for needlepoint, do you?” Mirabelle matched his teasing tone.

She had a fine sense of humor. He liked that about her. “Aye,” Quinn replied. “Learned it from m’ da, I did.”

She shook her head in amused disbelief. “You two are full of surprises.”

“You seem to be getting on better with Da,” he said.

“We’re beginning to, and I’m certain it’ll get better and better.”

There was the hopeful positivity he’d seen in her from the moment she’d stepped off the train. It had confused him at first, but he’d grown increasingly grateful for it. She lightened their home and eased many of his worries. She’d changed things for the better since she’d come, and he appreciated that.

“I’ve discovered a bit of cake or sweet bread puts him in a good mood,” she said. “I’ve also learned, through difficult experience, that touching anything that once belonged to your mother, especially the trunk of her clothes, puts him in a sour mood—sometimes for days.”

“He doesn’t even let me touch Ma’s things. He carries a lot of pain there.” As deeply as he’d loved Ma, Da now ached for her. “Thank you for being patient with him.”

“I know what it is to be lonely,” she said. “I can be patient with that.”

She’d been lonely. Was she still?

“How will you pass the time while I do my shopping?” Mirabelle asked.

“You don’t believe I’ll be taking up my embroidery?” He gave her a dramatically overdone look of shock.

Mirabelle laughed lightly. He liked the sound of her laugh; he had from the very first. She simply didn’t laugh often. Why was that? She was a decidedly happy person. She ought to laugh more.

“Are you the kind to spend the day at the saloon, or shall I look for you napping under an obliging tree?” Her smile told Quinn she wasn’t making any accusations.

“As an Irishman, I do have a taste for whiskey, but having seen far too many of my countrymen grow needy for it, I hardly ever touch the stuff.”

“Meaning I ought to look for you asleep under a tree somewhere.” Mirabelle’s smile lit her entire face. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Quinn found it something of a struggle to keep his focus on the road and not on her. Her smile hadn’t disappeared by the time they reached the edge of town. He liked knowing he could bring happiness to her eyes as easily as Trev had.

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