The Widowed Bride by Elizabeth Lane

Author:Elizabeth Lane
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Ruby awoke to light streaming through the gauzy curtains. She sat bolt upright. Blast! What time was it? It had to be seven, at least. And she’d meant to get up before dawn to start her busy day.

From the kitchen came the clatter of someone shaking down the ashes in the stove. “Ethan?” she called. When there was no answer she rolled out of bed, swept her hair out of her eyes and tied on her flannel robe. This wouldn’t do, she scolded herself. If she was going to run a boardinghouse, she would need to become an early riser.

Hurrying to the kitchen a moment later, she saw Ethan coming in through the back door with the empty ash receptacle. Freshly shaved, washed, combed and dressed in a clean plaid shirt, he looked annoyingly handsome.

He grinned at her. “Good morning, sleepyhead. You’re just in time for your first cooking lesson—bacon and eggs.”

Ruby followed his gaze toward the counter. Three brown eggs and a thick slab of uncooked bacon rested on a tin pie plate. Beside the plate was a pint Mason jar filled with milk.

She blinked at the sight, wondering if she was fully awake. “It can’t be time for the stores to open,” she muttered. “Where did all this come from?”

“I paid an early visit to Mabel’s. She was just opening for breakfast, and I talked her into selling me a few things. While I’m firing up the stove, you’ll have time to get dressed. Then, as soon as you’re presentable, we’ll…”

Ethan’s voice trailed off. His eyes roamed over her tousled hair, her sleepy face and the curves of her uncorseted body. His gaze deepening, he took a step toward her. Ruby’s pulse skipped as he paused, then exhaled with a ragged breath. “Get a move on,” he growled. “The sooner we start cooking, the sooner we can eat.”

Ruby fled back to the bedroom, struggled into her underclothes, pulled on a clean cotton skirt and blouse and tied on an apron. In the bathroom she splashed her face, scrubbed her teeth and reached for her hair-brush. Her face was hot, her pulse still skittering. For an instant, Ethan had looked as if he wanted to eat her alive—and if he’d taken another step toward her she might have let him.

Stop that! Ruby gave herself a mental slap. She was a grown woman, not a boy-crazy schoolgirl. And life had taught her some hard lessons. One of them was that you mustn’t throw caution to the wind with a man—any man. Especially a man as rootless and changeable as Ethan Beaudry.

As she twisted up her long hair and pinned it into place, her mind ticked over her agenda for the morning. After breakfast she would take the list of cooking essentials, which Ethan had surely drawn up, to the grocery store. Once the items were paid for, she would arrange to have them delivered to the boardinghouse. While she was out, she would stop by the hotel and leave a note at the desk, accepting Thaddeus Wilton’s invitation.

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