The Rancher's Bride by Ruth Ann Nordin

Author:Ruth Ann Nordin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: love, danger, western, cowboy, ranch, bride, historical western romance, virgin heroine, virgin hero, tomboy heroine
Publisher: Ruth Ann Nordin

Chapter Eleven

Later that day after Abby put Lloyd down for a nap, she decided to milk the cow since Thayne was still working on the laundry. Most of the clothes were on the clothesline, so he’d made a lot of progress.

Growing up, she’d hated washing clothes. For a couple of years after their mother’s death, Mic had ended up helping since all the laundry was too much for one person to handle. Then, after Wade married Jane, Mic was able to spend that time helping with the cattle. Laundry could be an all-day chore if one had enough people to wash for.

She didn’t envy Thayne having to do it all by himself. She would have told Katie to help him, but he’d asked her to keep teaching Katie, and she figured that was the smarter option. She wouldn’t be here much longer. Katie needed to learn as much as she could in the limited time Abby was here. Abby wasn’t going to be able to teach the girl how to be fluent in reading, but she could at least help the girl to recognize sounds and letters so the girl could work on teaching herself. That was better than nothing.

Abby was almost done milking the cow when she heard someone come into the barn. She glanced at the doorway and saw Thayne.

“Do you need help with the laundry?” she asked as she straightened up on the stool she was sitting on.

“No, I’m fine.” He looked around. “Is Katie out here?”

“She’s in the house. She wanted to make lunch. Do you want me to get her?”

She was ready to get up, but he waved for her to stay seated. “I wanted to talk to you in private.” Before she could ask him what was on his mind, he pulled up a trunk and sat next to her. “I wanted to apologize about earlier. Katie’s lived out here since she was born. She’s only known me and her father, and, as you can tell, we don’t go to town any more than we have to. While the solitude is something I need, I can see that it hasn’t been the best for her. She doesn’t understand how some of the things she says can be inappropriate.”

Abby offered him a smile. So that was what he was doing. He’d picked up on her embarrassment earlier that day when Katie had blurted out that she was having her woman’s time, and he wished to make her feel better.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Abby said. “She’s just a child. I’ve been around plenty of children who were outspoken. Even if she lived in town, she would probably be this way. Some children are shy and quiet while others are bold and loud.”

“Yes, but if she was surrounded by more people, I think she would be more careful about what she says.”

“Even so, I can think of worse things for a child to be.”

Her mind unwittingly went back to an incident at the schoolhouse where a girl who, out of spite, cut another girl’s hair and made half the class make fun of her.

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