Printer in Petticoats by Lynna Banning

Author:Lynna Banning [Banning, Lynna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Cole looked up to find young Teddy MacAllister bending over his shoulder, his russet eyebrows pulled down into a frown. “Mr. Sanders?”

“Yes, what is it, son?”

“I—I got a suggestion for you. ’Bout Miss Jessamine. An’ I brought you something to help.”

“What about Miss Jessamine, Ted? Nothing wrong with her printing press, is there? She got enough ink?”

“Nah, nuthin’ like that. Just now she was helping me load up the Sentinel copies to distribute, and she was sorta snuffly, like she’d been cryin’.”

Cole surveyed the boy in silence. Jess never cried, except for the night her newspaper was firebombed. His neck prickled.

“I’ll just mosey on over there and check on her,” he said.

Teddy shoved a small cardboard box onto Cole’s desk. “This is for you, to take to Miss Jessamine. Like I told ya, before, ’member?”

Inside the box was a collection of dried grasshoppers. “Bugs,” Teddy explained. “It’s what I give to Manette, an’ I thought it’d help with Miss Jessamine.”

Cole couldn’t laugh in front of the boy, but he bit the inside of his lower lip so hard he tasted blood. “Mighty thoughtful of you, Ted. I’ll see it gets delivered, for sure.”

The boy grinned and raced out to mount his mare, his saddlebags laden with newspapers. Smiling, Cole watched him go larruping down the street, and then he sobered.

Jessamine was crying? Why?

He was across the street in twenty seconds. “Eli, where’s Jess?”

The old man looked up from the sandwiches spread out on his workbench. “Dunno. At the restaurant, mebbe. It’s past lunchtime.”

When Cole entered the restaurant, Rita glanced up, tipped her head toward the table in the far corner and headed for the coffeepot. He moved forward and turned the chair that was next to Jessamine backward then straddled it. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, Cole. Why? My goodness, you look awful. Are you getting enough sleep at night?”

“Nope. But let’s discuss that later. Teddy said you’ve been crying.”

Her red-rimmed eyes widened. “Teddy? Well, yes, I have, but how would he know that?”

“He said you were ‘snuffly’ when you were loading up the newspapers. What’s wrong, Jess?”

“Oh, I— It’s nothing, really.”

Rita marched over and stood at his elbow, notepad poised. “You eatin’ or just jawin’?”

“Coffee,” he said.

“Got a nice chicken-fried steak on the menu.”

“Just coffee.”

“Fresh apple pie, too,” the waitress persisted.

“Just one cup of coffee, Rita,” he said, his voice tightening. “Please.”

Rita went back to the kitchen, muttering under her breath. “Stubborn? Never seen two such stubborn...”

Cole hitched his chair closer. “Jess, has something happened? Somebody threaten you?”

She shook her head.

He leaned in closer. “Are you... Oh, my God, are you pregnant?”

She clapped her hand to her mouth to stifle a shocked laugh, then shook her head again. “No, I am not.” Then her eyes filled with tears.

“Jess?”

“It’s this dratted election. The waiting. The rumors. The—”

“You’re not pregnant,” Cole breathed. Hell’s bells, he was halfway disappointed. “Teddy MacAllister was worried about you. He brought over a special gift for me to give you.”

She smiled. “Oh, that’s nice. What is it?”

“A box of bugs.

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