My Heart Belongs in Castle Gate, Utah by Dicken Angie;

Author:Dicken, Angie; [Dicken, Angie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 5100543
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

“Yiayia and Momma ask me bring you koulalakia.” Maria stood shivering at Leanna’s door. Stergios waited at the end of her path, with a cigar hanging from his lips. He lifted a hand in greeting. Maria pushed the tin into Leanna’s hands. “They are Greek cookies.”

“Thank you, Maria,” Leanna said. “I was afraid I wouldn’t have a chance to say good-bye.” She crouched down and brought herself level with the bright brown eyes watering in the cold. “I am going to miss you.” She wrapped her arms around the girl, who immediately squeezed back.

“I hoped Thios Alex and you would dance,” she whined. “I begged him to come with me.”

“You did?” Leanna swallowed hard. “It’s probably for the best—”

“Maria!” Stergios called out and waved for her to come.

“Papou wanted to come instead.” Maria took a couple steps away. “You come to the restaurant once more? Please, Meesus McKee?”

“We’ll see.” She was distracted by Mr. Pappas’s urgency to leave after insisting he come instead of Alex. The man was protecting his son—from her. And the rest of Castle Gate. She understood because she’d also walked away from Alex to protect him.

Maria returned to her grandfather and gave a sad wave. The two continued down the path to town, passing the grimly dressed Mrs. Coffey. She stepped around Maria, her boots sinking into the new layer of snow.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. McKee.” She approached Leanna’s door wearing a summer straw hat held in place by a knit scarf tied beneath her chin. She looked quite ridiculous, but it was the best the woman could do on a miner’s wages. “May I come in?”

“Of course.” She widened the door, shivering at the icy bite of the elements. Mrs. Coffey breezed past, taking her perch by the warm stove and untying her makeshift winter hat.

“Would you care for some tea?”

The woman didn’t answer and hung up her hat and scarf. “I never saw such a personal relationship between a teacher and her student’s family.”

Leanna chose to ignore her and prepared another kettle of water. She’d taken the busybody’s unsheathing of winter clothes as a sure sign that she would stay awhile.

“Is it not yet winter break, Mrs. McKee?” She traced her finger along the square edge of the windowsill.

“It is.” She clenched her teeth. “I assume you are curious as to why the Greeks would dare visit me in broad daylight?”

Mrs. Coffey laughed a thin, tin chuckle. “I suppose if you’re goin’ to volunteer the information, it’d ease mine and Mr. Coffey’s minds about why them folk are ’round these parts.”

Leanna bristled, reluctantly placing two teacups on the table. She hoped Mrs. Coffey would decline the tea, gather up her things, and leave. But the woman sat in the chair, waiting for an answer.

“It was my honor to assist in the birth of Penelope Pappas’s newborn son. It was a matter of providence that I happened to walk the children at the same time an extra pair of hands were needed to bring the child safely into the world.

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.