Madeline: Cowboys and Cupids Book Book 14 by Zina Abbott

Author:Zina Abbott [Abbott, Zina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-22T23:00:00+00:00

James raised an eyebrow as he considered her words. Interesting observation.

Madeline raised her face, but instead of connecting her gaze with James’s, she blinked several times, a sheen of moisture appearing on her lashes. “It’s always been that way, and I don’t know what I ever did to cause her to hate me.” She covered her mouth with her palm. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later. “I need to know what happened.”

“Have you asked your parents?” James inhaled and held his breath. He suspected his question could be seen as a logical progression in her telling her tale―or it could trigger an emotion-filled response.

Madeline nodded. She tapped her lips several times before dropping her hand to her side. “What I do know is, Mama is my stepmother. She, Cole, and Will came to Columbia shortly before she married Papa. I was a baby, then, about six or seven months old, I think Papa said. He won’t tell me much, but my cousins, Caro and Lottie, were in their early teens, and they remember. Aunt Dorcas told them to stay away from Papa and me, but my cousins used to sneak through the fence that separated our two yards to take care of me. They remember when the sheriff brought me to Papa after my mother died. If my cousins know anything else, they never said.”

“Do you know who your mother was?”

Madeline dropped her gaze and shook her head. “After you made the comment the day we met about me looking Italian, I asked Papa if it was possible. He said he didn’t know much about my birth mother because he only saw her once, and it was a different time back then.”

James winced. Saw her only once? I suspect I know what she was. Once he realized Madeline watched his reaction, he schooled his expression to hide his thoughts.

“I will take your case, Miss Denham. I hope you understand, based on what you just said, I will likely find out very little about your birth mother, if anything at all.”

Her head sinking into hunched shoulders, Madeline slowly raised her gaze to meet his. “I’m not totally naive, Mr. Hennessy. I am aware of the most logical reason why Papa might have seen her only once. I still would like to know who she was and, if possible, where she came from.”

“To find out what you wish to know, I might need to talk to your parents.”

“Do what you must, but please find out what you can on your own first.” Madeline rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. “If we have to go to them, perhaps they will tell you what they keep secret from me.”

Upon hearing the sound of quiet voices approaching, James turned his head toward the door. He next met Madeline’s gaze with his. “I believe your parents have returned.”

Madeline quickly opened her reticule and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which she handed to James. “Here is a list of names. One is

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