Substitute Bride - Miss Martin (Book 1) by Tanner Margaret

Author:Tanner, Margaret
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Anna stared at Dayne in surprise. Other than help her in and out of the buckboard he had made no effort to touch her at all, now he was wrapping her hair around his finger. She wasn’t so naive that she couldn’t see he liked what he saw.

“You’re not going to slap my face for taking such liberties?” He cocked one eyebrow.

“No. I guess I’m flattered. I haven’t ever received much interest from men.”

“The men in San Francisco must be blind, is all I can say. Something smells good.”

“It’s only a stew. I hope you don’t mind, but I ventured down to the root cellar and helped myself to the ingredients, also I’ve got an apple pie on cooking.”

“I thought I could smell that, too.”

“Well, there are some oatmeal cookies resting on the wire rack on the table, you’re welcome to try one or two of those.”

“Thank you. I appreciate all your hard work, Anna. You don’t need to ask me, just help yourself to anything you need. This is your home now and I want you to be happy here. I know we didn’t have the best of starts, but I’m sure the situation will improve.”

“I hope so, too. What I’ve seen so far, I really like. You’ve got a good ranch here. My father’s ranch was only small, with ground that was dry and hungry, so we always had to fight for a living out of the soil. Not that I’m complaining, my childhood was happy.”

Dayne stepped over to the table and picked up a cookie. “Mine was, too. I’ve spent all my life here, except for when I was away at the war.”

“Was it terrible? The war, I mean.”

“Yes, I never speak about it. It’s a time in my life I want to forget ever happened.” Sadness passed across his face and darkened his eyes, causing her to back away from questioning him further. She had seen this same expression with other war veterans. The horrific events they witnessed would never be completely erased from their minds. Dayne must have found out how to cope with his demons, many other veterans weren’t so lucky.

“Will supper be ready soon?” Frankie dashed into the room. “I’m hungry.”

“It won’t be long; you’re welcome to help yourself to an oatmeal cookie while you wait.”

“These are good,” Dayne said, giving his daughter a grin. “Try one.”

Frankie stared at the cookies for a moment, as if she didn’t know what they were, then took the one her father held out and quickly bit into it.

Because she wasn’t expecting any praise from the little girl, Anna wasn’t disappointed when none came, although Frankie gobbled the first one and reached for another.

“No more than two each,” Anna admonished. “Otherwise, you won’t be able to eat supper.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Dayne said. “I’m hungry enough to eat a horse.”

“Yuk.” Frankie screwed her nose up. “I’d never eat horse meat.”

“Hopefully, you will never be hungry enough to want to,” Anna said as she stirred the stew.

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