The Cowboy's Big Family Tree by Meg Maxwell

Author:Meg Maxwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Clementine had been a foster mother for three days. Every time she looked at Phoebe she wanted to hug her. But every time Phoebe looked at her there was this little element of...mistrust? Clementine wasn’t sure what the right word was. The girl was definitely distant with her, though. She didn’t want Clementine’s help with her homework on Monday. She didn’t want to help Clementine set up the dining room for lunch, but she’d jumped at the chance to help Annabel marinade chicken breasts and help clean her station, and she’d asked Georgia if she could teach her how to make a lemon tart, her favorite, then had scrubbed the baking station spotless.

It was only Clementine she didn’t want to be around. Or get close to.

“It’ll take time,” Gram said, patting Clementine’s hand as they sat in the kitchen at the round table by the window, taking a tea break after the lunch cleanup on Tuesday.

Clementine hated when her expressions gave her away. But then again, her gram could always read her. It was just after three o’clock. Phoebe had come racing off the school bus a moment ago, saw Daisy, Annabel’s beagle, in the yard with Annabel after a trip to the nearby vet, and was delighted by a fetch game. The dog raised her head and let out a howling bay and Phoebe did the same, eliciting some stares from passersby across the street. Clementine smiled. She wanted to rush out and ask Phoebe how her day had gone, if she had a lot of homework, if she’d made a new friend at school. But Phoebe looked so happy out there that Clementine stayed put. She was a little afraid that if she went outside to greet Phoebe, the girl would lose her smile.

This wasn’t exactly how Clementine had been expecting this to go. But hadn’t she herself been slow to warm up when the Hurleys had first fostered her? Her parents and her sisters had been so nice and welcoming and Clementine could well remember being suspicious of them and hanging back, afraid to let herself like them too much. Love them.

“We could think about getting a dog of our own,” Gram said, sipping her tea. “A Hurley’s mascot. Phoebe could pick one out.”

“Really?” Clementine said. “That’s a great idea.”

“Remember Dumpling?” Gram asked. “That sweet cat adored you when you came to live with your mom and dad.”

Clementine remembered. The orange tabby would settle herself down against Clementine wherever she was sitting and made her feel loved. After her parents died, the old cat had moved into the Victorian with the orphaned sisters, and Clementine had gotten much comfort from that furry bundle.

Perhaps a dog would work the same comforting magic on Phoebe, help her bond with Clementine too. “I’m going to ask her right now,” she said, rushing out the yard.

But the idea fizzled. Phoebe stared at Clementine blankly. “A dog?” She shrugged and went back to playing with Daisy. “I mean, I like dogs, but I don’t know.

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