The Vigilante's Bride by Harris Yvonne

Author:Harris, Yvonne [Harris, Yvonne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9781441212160
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Published: 2010-06-27T05:00:00+00:00

Coming down from his room two days later, still sleepy and trying to wake up, Luke saw the glow of an oil lamp from the dining room. At four o’clock in the morning, the downstairs was usually dark and quiet. Instead, light shined into the hall, the end of the dining room table lit with a pale apricot glow. The rest of the big room fell into the shadows behind it. He heard comfortable, waking-up noises in the back of the house and the pattering of footsteps. He recognized the hinge creak of the stove’s fire door. The aroma of woodsmoke and boiling coffee drifted into the hall. Curious, he followed his nose.

Wearing an apron over a long blue gingham dress, her cheeks flushed from the heat of the woodstove, Emily removed a pan of biscuits from the oven. Luke stopped in the doorway, admiring her as he always did when she wasn’t looking. Her hair was tied back with a matching blue ribbon and curled prettily from the heat and steam in the kitchen.

“You’re up early this morning,” he said.

Holding the hot pan with a towel, she banged the heavy oven door shut and turned to him. “And how about some nice scrambled eggs this morning?” A dazzling smile nearly blinded him.

Instantly his guard went up. Several times in his life he’d used dynamite, to clear a trail covered by a mountain of mud and rubble or to break loose a snowpack threatening to avalanche a herd. He wasn’t afraid of explosives, but neither was he reckless with them. The potential for mortal danger was only a heartbeat away. The bright smile she gave him was a lit fuse to something.

Fire in the hole! That was what miners yelled when they ran for cover just before the blast let go. And though the words were ringing in his mind, all he said was, “Don’t think I want any eggs this morning. I’m running kind of late.” He picked up the coffeepot and the milk pitcher and ambled through the door into the dining room, feeling her eyes boring into the back of his neck every step he took.

Emily followed a minute later with the biscuits on a flowered plate – the good china, he noticed – and an assortment of jams and preserves in little dishes with little spoons, all daintily arranged on a white napkin on a pewter tray. Luke cocked an eyebrow, wondering. A little tea party in the middle of the night? She wanted something. He filled their cups, then set the pot down.

“Would you like some fig preserves?” she asked.

His mouth puckered. Few things in this world made him shudder, but fig preserves did. So did beef tea. “It’s a little early. Got any grape jelly over there?”

“Here’s some lovely quince.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Grape’s fine.”

She stiffened. Irritably, she pushed the tray toward him and sat back. He moved the fancy dishes around and found some strawberry jam. Almost as good as grape.

Emily stirred a spoon around and around and around in her cup.

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.