Read Gerrity'S Bride for Free Online

closer.
    “Oh, I almost forgot,” Emmaline said, as if in surprise. “There’s a package from France that I found in my room back home in Lexington that I thought you might like.”
    “From France?” Her eyes widened as Theresa sank onto the bath stool, oblivious of the towels beneath her bottom. “My Miss Olivia says that’s a place across the ocean.”
    Emmaline nodded agreeably and resumed her washing, donning a façde of nonchalance. “Of course, you might not like playing jackstraws. But...we could skip rope.” She dared another look at the child, who had leaned even closer. “But then, I’m really a very good rope skipper, and you might have a hard time learning.”
    “Oh, no,” Theresa said quickly. “I can learn real fast. My Maffew says I’m smart as a whip.” Her mouth drew down suddenly as a new thought struck her. “You won’t be here very long, anyway. Maffew says you’ll be leaving soon.”
    “Well...” Emmaline turned quickly to the child, but it was too late. She had jumped from the stool and, with only one backward look, was gone, slipping through the doorway and running through the kitchen.
    “Where’ve you been, pigeon?” The deep voice sounded beyond the half-open door, and Emmaline slipped once more beneath the surface of the water, sloshing it precariously close to the brim of the tub.
    “Talkin’ to that lady,” Theresa said. “She’s takin’ a baff.”
    “With the door open?” Tinged with a trace of amusement, the voice came closer, and Emmaline reached for the towels Maria had left.
    “Are you wantin’ more company in there?” Matt asked from around the doorway. “We usually keep this door shut when the room is being used,” he drawled.
    “Please pull it shut, would you?” Emmaline held the towel in readiness as she bent forward in the water, her knees pulled to her breasts.
    “Sure you don’t want company?” From just beyond the door, his voice reached her, tinged with taunting amusement.
    “Please, Matt,” she whispered, her words wispy with embarrassment.
    He reached one long arm within the room, his fingers grasping the knob, and deliberately closed the door.
    “Don’t be late for breakfast,” he called to her abruptly. “Maria usually only serves once. After that, you’re on your own.”
    “And I hope you choke on yours,” she muttered as she stepped over the edge of the tub and enfolded herself in the towel she still clutched.
    * * *
    The last rays of the sun set the sky aglow in shades of pink and orange contrasting with the darker bands of purple that chased the daylight below the horizon. The porch faced west, and Emmaline sat on the top step, her arms wrapped about herself as she watched in awe, her eyes wide.
    “Never seen a sunset before?” he asked in a faintly teasing fashion.
    She shrugged, the movement lifting her shoulders, then allowed her glance to meet his. “Lots of them,” she answered, her arms dropping from her waist, her hands clasping easily in her lap.
    “Looked like you were all wrapped up in this one.” He nodded toward the sky in the west, where the scudding clouds were still gleaming at the edges. The pink had darkened to cerise, rimming the gray, ominous cloud bank as though a paintbrush had been swept across the upper edge.
    “It’s different,” she admitted quietly. “Stronger, somehow. Maybe just because there’s so much more of it.” She turned back to the vision that was even now fading rapidly beneath the horizon, and her sigh was audible.
    “There’ll be another one tomorrow night.” He made his way to where she sat, his stride long and his boots loud against the wooden porch. In an easy motion, he sat down beside her and stretched his long legs before him.
    She eyed him from beneath lowered lids, her glance making a guarded survey. His pants were snug, wrapped about his thighs and calves as if custom-made to fit the muscular shape they covered. Dusty and worn at the seams, they were