Cowboy Command by Olivia Jaymes

Author:Olivia Jaymes [Jaymes, Olivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-09-28T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Every member of the Reilly household was in attendance on Thanksgiving Day. Presley and Seth had shown up early to help Marion start dinner, or rather Presley had helped Marion while Seth had gone outside to chop some wood so his father wouldn’t have to. It was fun to be in the kitchen cooking and talking with Sarah and Cindy, the wives of Seth’s brothers.

Presley checked out the kitchen window to make sure Seth was still outside before turning back to the three women. “I was hoping you could help me figure out what to get Seth for Christmas.”

Cindy, a pert redhead, smiled and shifted ten-month-old Amie to her other hip. Amie was in a phase where she only wanted to be held by her mother. Even her own father sometimes made her howl in outrage. “Seems to me, Seth has been smiling more in the last month than in the entire ten years before combined. He actually has fun every now and then. I think you’ve already given him a gift. All of us, really.”

Presley waved off the praise. “He just needed someone to get him out of his routine. I haven’t done anything special.”

Marion shook her head and smiled. “You are special, Presley. You’ve worked a miracle with my son. You two are perfect together. He’s the exact right foil for your sparkle.”

“Sparkle? I don’t sparkle.” Presley wasn’t even sure what it meant.

Sarah nodded. “You do sparkle. Everything seems to light up around you. You’re fun, happy, and easy to be around. People seem to be drawn to you. I wish I was like that. I never know what to say to people.”

Presley shrugged. “I never do either. That’s why I just let them do all the talking. It’s easier on me.”

Cindy laughed. “Is that the secret? Letting them talk? If it is, I’m in big trouble.”

Marion shook a spoon in Cindy’s direction. “We wouldn’t have you any other way, young lady.”

Cindy popped a piece of cheese from a platter into her mouth. “Does your family mind that you’re here for Thanksgiving, Presley? They must miss you. Will you be visiting them soon?”

Presley knew there would eventually be questions like this. She’d decided to stick as close to the truth as she could without telling the entire sordid story. “My parents are dead. Well, Mom is, and my real dad is somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you where. My stepfather passed away a few years ago so that just leaves my stepsister and unfortunately, we’re not close.”

Marion’s expression turned sympathetic. “I’m so sorry. Were you young when your mother passed on?”

“I was twenty.” She didn’t bring up how it was one more thing gone wrong in her life along with Oliver. Presley, or Katie, didn’t make great choices in her life. Presley was trying to do better.

Cindy shook her head. “So young, but there’s never a good age to lose someone you love. It’s too bad you’re not close to your sister. Are you near in ages?”

“She’s five years older than me.

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