Just West of Heaven by Maureen Child

Author:Maureen Child [Child, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Author Published
Published: 2015-12-30T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER Twelve

And as that last thought took root in his mind, Ridge saw Jenna stop dead at the rise of the creek. The little girl slowly turned and looked right at him. Their gazes locked, and even from a distance, he saw the blond sprite smile. Then, not for the first time, Ridge felt that odd little push at the edges of his mind.

It was as if something... or someone... was trying to slip inside his thoughts. He almost laughed to himself at the notion, but before he could, that nudge came again and he had to admit to what sounded like nonsense. Nonsense or not, though, Ridge reacted instinctively to what he saw as an attack. In the next instant, he closed his eyes and deliberately tried to blank his mind by envisioning a thick fog bank. He concentrated on the deep, gray, swirling mists, imagining his thoughts clouded, shrouded in the secrecy most people took for granted.

And that probing nudge faded into the mists.

Ridge opened his eyes again to see Jenna’s pouting frown. A chill swept along his spine that had nothing at all to do with the cold wind rippling across the surface of the creek.

Then the moment was gone and Sophie was tugging the girl in her wake again. In a parting gesture, though, Jenna lifted her free hand and wiggled her fingers at him in a tiny wave.

He waved back even as he told himself that something mighty damn strange was going on here. And damned if he wouldn’t find out just what.

●

Sophie and Jenna stopped by the schoolhouse just long enough to see that everything was as it should be. After spending the morning with the children, Sophie was more anxious than ever to get started teaching.

Surprising really, she thought, since back home, she’d never have considered being a teacher. And yet, because of circumstances beyond her control, she’d discovered that not only did she enjoy it, but she actually seemed to have a talent for it.

Remembering the time she’d spent in Hattie’s kitchen with Luke, Travis, and Jenna, she smiled to herself. After the boys had written the stories she’d asked for, Sophie had read to all of them from a book she’d loved as a child. It was a collection of mystical stories about dragons and knights and fair ladies, and the two tales she’d read them had inspired Travis and Luke to run out and try to convince Toby to forge a couple of swords for them.

Smiling now, she hoped the blacksmith would stand firm against the wily pair.

“She’ll be ready for the painting come Saturday, ma’am,” one of the men assured her.

“Excuse me?” Sophie said, dragging her attention back to the matters at hand.

“The schoolhouse,” he said. “She’ll be ready for paint right on time.”

“Oh,” she said, “excellent.”

“Sound to the ground, ma’am,” another man piped up, slapping a palm to one of the brand-new plank walls.

“It certainly looks sturdy,” Sophie agreed and stepped farther inside, letting her gaze sweep across the schoolroom that would be her world.

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