Read A Dark & Stormy Knight: A McKnight Romance (McKnight Romances) for Free Online Page B

Grandpa are always grumpy.”
    “People usually are when they don’t feel
good. Your grandma’s going to take a while to get better, and that’s got
everyone frustrated.”
    “But that’s not Mama’s fault.”
    Sol slid his arm around her. “I know. It
ain’t nobody’s fault. It just is.”
    Eden seemed to think about that for a several seconds before asking, “Then why’s
Aunt Beth mad at a Mama?”
    “Is she?” Sol pulled back to look at his
daughter.
    Eden shrugged. “She says she’s done her share and now it’s Mama’s turn. She says she’s
got too much to do at home. But Mama came as soon as she could.”
    That surprised Sol. Sure, Georgia’s younger sister had three kids, but she’d always been one for pitching in. He
couldn’t imagine her not helping, even if she couldn’t be there full time. Then
again, he was probably biased. He liked Bethany. She was the only one of Georgia’s family who always acted happy to see him when he ran into her in town. Then
again, grumpiness was contagious. If she’d been taking care of her folks since
the stroke, Bethany was probably infected, too.
    “I wouldn’t worry too much about that,”
Sol said. “Sisters fight sometimes. Then they get over it. You’re sharing a
room with Hannah and Leah, so you’ll see. And if Bethany doesn’t help your
mama, then we’ll have to.”
    Eden frowned. “They don’t like you neither. Grandma and Grandpa, I mean. And not
just when they’re not feeling good.”
    Of course they didn’t. He was the one who’d
ruined their daughter’s life. “I know, honey. It don’t matter. But I don’t mean
just you and me. All of us McKnights’ll help.”
    Eden nodded solemnly. “That’d be good.” She offered him a lick on her Popsicle. Sol
took it then planted a blue kiss on his daughter’s forehead.

Chapter Four
     
    Maybe Sol will be in a better mood after
a week with Eden, Georgia thought as she drove the last stretch of road to her
ex-in-laws.
    Though they talked every day, Georgia wasn’t getting much more than a light sketch of her daughter’s day before some activity with
one of Sol’s younger siblings pulled Eden from the phone. She was glad her
daughter was having a good time with Sol’s family, but it got lonely hearing, “Mom,
I’ve got to go. Hannah’s going to do my nails.” Or “Mom, I’ve got to go.
Grandma’s letting me collect the eggs.” Or “Mom, I’ve got to go. We’re riding
to that old house up the road. Leah says it’s haunted.”
    She wished she could grab her daughter
and go all the way back to Dallas.
    Earlier, while she’d waited for her
mother to finish her therapy, Georgia had called Daniel. Commiserating on the
phone with him about their absent children was a comfort. Like Georgia, he talked to his daughter every day on the phone and had even spoken to his ex a
few times.
    “Is that weird for you?” Georgia had asked.
    “Kind of,” he’d admitted. “She seems more
like the woman I married. I keep waiting for her to blind-side me with her Mr.
Hyde personality, but . . .” He took a deep breath. “So far,
Deanne seems happy to be with her.”
    “And what would you do if she wasn’t?”
    “I’d bring Deanne home,” he said without
a moment’s hesitation. “Whether that’s fair to Tracy or not. Deanne comes
first.”
    That was the answer Georgia wanted to hear. Daniel was exactly the kind of man she wanted Eden to model her ideal man
after. He would never consider doing something as stupid as riding a
bull.
    Georgia had already decided heating things up over the phone was a bad idea. She needed
to be able to see him, to read the clues on his face that would tell her
whether he was willing to go where she wanted. If he thought it was yucky, as
the girls would say, she needed to know when to stop, so she didn’t embarrass
herself as well as him. But maybe she could risk laying a little groundwork. “I’ve
been thinking . . .”
    “What?”
    “It’s