Protecting Jennie by Ann Collins

Author:Ann Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2000-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Jennie sat on her narrow bed, her legs folded beneath her. The lamp on the bureau lit the two Indian rugs decorating the walls. Rae sat on her own bed massaging her sore feet.

“We’ve been here almost a month, Jennie. Do you think our feet will ever get used to this?”

“I doubt it. I have calluses on top of calluses. My mother would cringe if she knew. When I was a girl, I used to run barefoot through the house and gardens. My mother was appalled by my behavior, but my father said, ‘Abigail, let the girl have her fun.’” Jennie smiled at the memory.

Rae laughed, the sound musical and long overdue. Since Matt’s departure, her manner lacked its normal cheerfulness. “Jennie, do you miss your family very much?” Rae’s hands paused in their kneading.

“I think of them often.” Jennie worried about her mother. Abigail Andrews had suffered health problems ever since Jennie’s difficult birth. Was her mother doing all right, or had Jennie’s flight put her in bed? “Yes, I miss them. I like it here, though. The West is so open compared to the city. There’s a certain freedom to it.”

“Will you write your folks again? It’s been a few weeks.”

“I don’t know. There’s so little I can say when I want to say so much. I want to tell them everything that’s happened, about Cole and Matt, the Harvey House, even Miss Thompson.” Jennie leaned back against the wall. “Sometimes I feel sorry for her, you know.”

“Miss Thompson?” At Jennie’s nod, Rae added, “She doesn’t have very many friends.”

“I didn’t know she had any. I’ve only seen her work or disappear into her room.”

“I was being kind,” Rae said. “I don’t think she has any, either. She’s not very friendly to anyone, especially men.”

“She was good to Evan the other night.”

“Yes, but he’s still a boy.”

“She must be lonely at times.” Jennie remembered the consuming loneliness she’d felt when sitting on the train as it chugged away from Boston.

“I think she’s chosen to be alone. Maybe she’s been a Harvey Girl for so long that she’s tired of seeing all these faces every day and prefers to avoid everyone in her off time.”

Jennie pulled her knees to her chest, stretching her white cotton nightdress over them. “I can relate to that. If any train passenger from last week came through this week, I wouldn’t know it was the same person.” Unless it was George Lampton. She still worried that he had identified her, but so far nothing had come of it.

Rae stretched her legs out in front of her and raised one dark blond eyebrow. “What about that rich young Englishman who took a fancy to you the moment he walked in the door?”

Jennie turned up her nose. “He looked like a dandy, all self-important and…”

“And what?”

“Just and. He didn’t interest me in the least.”

“Because he’s not Cole Bryant,” Rae said matter-of-factly.

Jennie narrowed her eyes. “Rae Hansen, what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that whether you admit it to yourself or not, you’re smitten with Cole.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.