Leila by Cyndi Raye

Author:Cyndi Raye [Raye, Cyndi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, historical western romance, mail order, Mail order brides, United States, Single Author, pioneer and frontier, Western, western romance, western and frontier, Short Stories, Inspiraational, Christian romance
Published: 2018-07-13T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

The person standing at the door of the café was not the same person who had been in boy’s britches an hour ago. Harley looked at his wife, speechless.

Leila had the same look on her face. Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re here to start your job?”

The young woman nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you must be surprised.” Her gown swished as she walked towards them. “I’m Josephine.”

Leila pulled herself together before he did. Actually, Harley took a step back. Sometimes these women scared the life out of him. Why in the world had this beautiful woman dressed down like a boy?

She was tall and thin, wearing a simple gray dress instead of those britches she had on earlier. The dress was pressed and clean. Her hair had been neatly placed in a bun, while her cheeks were now scrubbed. Her face glowed. She had a plain beauty that turned men’s eyes. He knew he was certainly intrigued. Although, she wasn’t as beautiful to him as Leila. No one would ever be more lovely than she was.

Leila watched him with a frown. Was she jealous? Was it possible? She had nothing to worry about and he’d make it a point to tell her so. “What is your name?” he asked.

“It is Josephine when I am wearing a dress but Joey when I’m in britches.” She smiled weakly making a joke of her disguise, her hands clasped in front of her. It was obvious she was worried about the job, yet she didn’t explain her reason for the way she came in earlier. Sometimes, secrets were not meant to be told.

“Welcome, Josephine. Leila will get you started. I’m hoping only to see the young lady in my establishment. Let’s keep Joey from entering while you are working. That will be all,” he told her kindly.

He watched her shoulders relax. Leila took over, showing her what she needed to know. Harley was relieved. He returned to the kitchen, the one place he was at home. It was his domain even though he had to share it with his wife.

Harley looked forward to the afternoon when the café was closed. He was curious how Leila was planning on spending her two hours in front of his cook stove. Did he dare stick around and watch her or would she throw him out of his own space?

He served breakfast and dinner with a bright smile. There didn’t seem to be anything that was going to wipe it off his face. This competition with his wife was interesting to say the least. He loved when she worked her way back here to his kitchen, looking around as if she wanted to see what he was doing.

He hadn’t even started on tonight’s supper yet. Beefsteak was his speciality. Harley whipped out a delicious beefsteak like nobody’s business. The whole town said so.

Sadly, Leila didn’t have a chance. And he didn’t even have to do anything to change the folks opinion. Not that he would ever sabotage her dishes like she had originally thought.

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