Building Forever by Cat Cahill

Author:Cat Cahill [Cahill, Cat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: clean romance, building forever, clean and wholesome, western romance, historical romance, western historical romance, gilbert girls, cat cahill, sweet romance
Publisher: Cat Cahill
Published: 2019-05-05T05:00:00+00:00

“SOMETHING’S BOTHERING you.” Penny handed Emma a scoop of flour. It was early the next morning, and while Penny had been awake when Emma returned, Emma’s thoughts had been so jumbled that all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and pray for sleep.

“It’s nothing.” Emma added the flour to the mix and continued to stir.

Penny watched silently for a moment. Then she took a breath. Emma braced herself for more questions.

“I’m certain it’s nothing. That’s why you’re about to overstir that batter and ruin our breakfast.”

“Oh!” Emma glanced down. Sure enough, the batter was a little too smooth. Sighing, she passed the bowl to Penny. “Perhaps you should take over?”

Penny laughed. “This is the first time anyone has ever asked me to take over the cooking.” She scooped out the batter and let it drip into little round cakes in the sizzling hot pan.

As the batter began to bubble around the edges, Emma wondered what kind of stove the new little apartment had, and whether Lily and Grace had mastered any of their family’s favorite recipes yet. This, she decided, was far better than running her mind in circles with the fear that her family had no place to live, never mind a stove. Monroe was likely right about her money having arrived. She needed to believe that.

“Folks back home always said I was a good listener,” Penny said. She flipped the first cake so it would cook evenly. Then she glanced at Emma. “I know I come off like a brash gossip, but I can keep the important things to myself. If you have important things you’d like to ease off your mind, that is.”

Emma glanced about the kitchen. They were alone. Dora and Caroline had gone for more water, and Mrs. Ruby was in her office, settling correspondence. Meanwhile, Penny was here, watching Emma with a face so earnest, so ready to hear the secrets that make a friendship, it reminded Emma of Lily and of her friend Susannah at home, with whom she’d been close until the Daniels’ decline in fortune had pulled them apart.

Perhaps it would ease her mind to speak the words aloud to a new friend. “It’s . . . well, it’s complicated.”

Penny expertly flipped the cakes off the pan, as if she’d been doing this all her life instead of only six weeks. “In my experience, girls who look as you do right now are hung up on a beau.”

Emma nearly choked on her own tongue.

“Of course,” Penny said, glancing at her, “we Gilbert Girls don’t have any beaux, do we?” The corner of her mouth turned up in just such a way that Emma knew for certain she could trust Penny with anything. Even the secret that could cost her everything.

“No, but . . .” Emma trailed off as she tried to figure out how to tell Penny about what existed between herself and Monroe.

“It’s the fellow we met the first day, isn’t it? The one who fixed your trunk?” Penny ladled in the last of the water to create more batter.

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