Want Ad Wedding by Cheryl St. John

Author:Cheryl St. John [Cheryl St. John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488007811
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-04-19T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Daniel entered the foyer, and Leah met him before he reached the doorway to the sitting room. “Daniel!”

He caught her as she threw herself into his arms. “I’m wet and muddy.”

“I don’t care,” she said, burrowing her face against his shirt. “You’re safe.”

“I’m sorry you had to wait so long.”

She leaned back and looked at him. “Did you catch them?”

“No, they’re long gone. They had their escape planned.”

“Do you think they’ll be back?”

“Hard to say. This didn’t turn out as well as they’d hoped, so they may be discouraged.” He tightened his arms around her and held her close. “One of them was shot. Hopefully they’ve moved on.”

“I went to Opal’s and we gathered the women to pray.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You were supposed to stay in.”

“We were inside when we were at Opal’s. I’ve already heated water,” she said, pulling away and gesturing for him to follow her to the kitchen. “If you bring in the tub, I’ll fill it.”

“I’ll fill it. You’ll watch.”

“Very well.” She sat on a kitchen chair and observed as he carried in the copper tub and used all the kettles of water she’d kept warm on the stove to fill it half full. She’d set out towels, soap and clean clothing. “I knew you’d be wet and tired.”

“That’s thoughtful of you, Leah.”

She stood and headed toward the hall. “I kept something warm for you to eat, as well. It was a long day. Let me know when you’ve finished.”

He washed in the warm water. Only a few months ago he’d had no one to come home to. This was an entirely different life coming home to someone who’d been waiting for him. Someone who cared about his welfare. Leah did care, he was sure. They had entered this arrangement as a convenience, but he admitted to himself he’d hoped for more all along. He was all she had, he reminded himself. She might care, but he wasn’t the one she’d fallen in love with or the one she’d chosen to marry.

A short time later, after he’d eaten the casserole she’d kept hot, she served him a slice of apple pie and poured coffee. “You cooked, too?”

“No, the ladies shared a meal at Opal’s, and I brought home a plate for you. Apparently this is Aunt Mae’s award-winning pie. Seems she enters it in the county fair and has won every year.”

“Not to take away from Aunt Mae’s accomplishment, but we’ve only had two fairs so far and there aren’t that many women to enter pies,” he said with a grin. He ate a few bites of the pie and drank the coffee. “This is all new for me, Leah.”

“What’s that?” She’d seated herself in the nearest chair.

“Someone waiting at home. Someone concerned.”

She folded her hands on top of the table. Her gentle gaze moved over his features. What did she see when she looked at him? What went on inside her head and heart that she didn’t speak aloud?

“I suppose you’ve already done more than your share of waiting at home.

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.