Read The Stepmother: An Everland Ever After Tale for Free Online Page B

want a man who is kind and noble and good.”
    A man, in fact, nothing like the one she’d found. The food turned sour on Jack’s tongue, and he forced himself to swallow. “That’s a civilized man?”
    She looked away, and he didn’t know if it was on purpose or accident that her gaze landed on Zelle. “Yes,” she whispered.
    She’d given up everything she’d known to come way out here and marry a man she’d never met. A man she’d agreed to marry because he met her “requirements,” based on someone’s lie.
    She deserves better. The thought hit him out of nowhere, but he knew it was the truth. Jack cleared his throat, and offered her what he could. “I’m sorry, Meri. Sorry I’m not who you were expecting.”
    “It’s not your fault.” Her smile was sad, accepting, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “You got bamboozled too.”
    I’m not so sure about that . But he could never say it aloud. “Another day or so, after this storm’s passed, I’ll go into town for supplies. I’ll see if I can find you someplace else to stay.” He took a big bite of her stew, to try to distract himself from the pit that was yawning open in his stomach at the thought of her leaving. “Someplace more civilized.”
    “Alright.” She wasn’t looking at him.
    “And I’ll see if I can get to the bottom of this. Figure out who sent those advertisements, okay?”
    She glanced up at him then, and the fire in the hearth flickered in her dark eyes, making it hard to read her expression. Was she pleased about going back to town? Or disappointed to give up her dream of marrying a civilized doctor? She nodded once, and tried to smile, and his chest tightened at how pitiful she looked.
    Zelle began to bang the spoon against the table then, and they both jumped, scrambling to get her more water. Meri’s hand accidentally brushed against his as they stood by the counter, and the moment felt… right . Like she belonged here with him, working together. Making his princess feel better.
    Later that night, Jack stretched out in the chair beside the hearth. Zelle had finally fallen asleep, curled against his shoulder as he paced. As usual, she was sucking her thumb, but this time she’d wrapped her chubby fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, and hung on. He cherished the feeling.
    Zelle was what was good and right in his world. So why was he still thinking about the woman curled up on the pallet of blankets in front of the fire? The woman who had the coziest bed in the house tonight, thanks to all the washing she’d done during the day?
    The woman who might’ve been his wife, had he been a different man.
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER FOUR

     
     
    Meri woke up with little pudgy fingers wrapped through her hair. She opened her eyes to see Zelle curled up a few inches away, sucking on the thumb of the hand not wrapped around Meri’s braid. Her sweet little baby breath blew across Meri’s cheek. This was the second morning she’d woken up like this, and had to admit that it was pretty wonderful.
    Since the big snowstorm had passed, Jack had done his best to keep the door to his bedroom shut, to trap the warm air in the main room, where they now slept. They each used the bedroom for privacy, but the three of them had spent their time here. And though Meri thought that she would go batty cooped in a small house for three days straight, it had actually been quite nice. Relaxing even, especially after the trip here. It was even energizing, to spend so much time alone with him .
    Each evening, Jack read aloud to his daughter. Sometimes from novels, sometimes from how-to manuals. Zelle would fall asleep there on his chest, while Meri sat at the kitchen table and knitted or read or wrote letters to Lettie, telling her all about the mysterious man she found herself trapped with.
    After his “princess” fell asleep, Jack would continue to read, silently. Meri found herself missing his voice, missing the way he