Just This Once by Jill Gregory

Author:Jill Gregory
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: romance, cowboys, romance adventure, romance historical, romance western
Publisher: Jill Gregory

Fourteen

Josie tossed and turned all the rest of the night and awoke groggily to the song of birds in the garden. Her arm hurt the moment she sat up, and with the pain came a rush of memory.

“No, no, no,” she groaned, plopping back down among the pillows. It wasn’t only the nightmare of the robbery that made her close her eyes tight, but the memory of that scene with Ethan. She still smarted at the sting of his treatment of her. She wouldn’t ever let her guard down with him again, ever even consider reaching out to him as a friend—or anything else.

She ought to stay clear of him. She wanted to stay clear of him. Yet she found herself jumping out of bed immediately after entertaining this thought, and wondering if she would see him downstairs at breakfast.

With this in mind, she hurried through her toilette, selected a pretty floral muslin gown, and brushed her hair until it shone. It fell in gleaming waves, loose and luxurious, then she tamed it into a quick chignon before leaving her room to make her way through the long hall that led to the stairs. She wasn’t trying to impress Ethan Savage, she told herself, squaring her shoulders as her hand closed on the banister. Or even hoping to see him.

No, she just wanted to look her part, and that meant not going about this exquisite house like a ragamuffin. She had to look nice in order to play her role—the servants would certainly raise their brows if she came down in her old gingham, with her hair tangled like a mop. So she told herself as she entered the dining room, her heart beating a bit faster as she anticipated seeing Ethan at the head of the long table.

But he wasn’t there. The dining room was empty, save for the dazzling bouquet of fresh-cut summer roses nestled in a crystal vase at the center of the table and the silver coffeepot and china cups set out on the sideboard.

“Oh, my lady—such a surprise.” Mrs. Fielding had been bustling toward the back hallway when she saw her new mistress from the corner of her eye. She hurried into the dining room after Josie, her arms full of fresh linen. “Never did I expect you would be awake and about so early—nor that you’d come down for your breakfast. His lordship gave specific orders that you were not to be disturbed for any reason, and that Devon should bring you a tray in bed. And indeed, my lady, after all that has happened—”

“You know about the robbery? Ethan told you?”

“Oh, yes, my lady.” The housekeeper clicked her tongue in dismay. “How horrid for you, and for everyone in that house. I won’t sleep a wink tonight thinking on it! His lordship went out a short time ago to see how Colonel Hamring fares this morning. Dear me, what a sweet boy he is—Lord Stonecliff, I mean.” She blushed and shifted the linen in her arms.

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