A Love to Cherish Read Online Free PDF Page A

days. Even on bad days the number was impressive. She’d made a good living in Placerville, thanks in part to the money Naomi had given her when she’d fled San Francisco in panic.
    She owed Naomi more than she could ever repay. Who would have thought that when Naomi found her all those years ago, a starving, injured urchin on the street, she would become the mother Belle couldn’t remember? The Lord certainly worked instrange ways, Belle thought. Until today she and Wan Yo had been able to handle the rowdy miners who tried to take liberties with her. Now Wan Yo was injured and likely to be laid up for weeks, and she had been forced to hire a stranger to protect Tommy from his grandfather.
    Belle realized that a man of Casey Walker’s intelligence was going to want answers soon, and she still hadn’t decided on the best way to handle those questions. She’d always found that honesty worked best, but could she trust Casey Walker with the truth?
    The man had appeared from nowhere, and she knew nothing about him. For all she knew he could be T.J.’s man, though he didn’t seem the type her father-in-law usually hired. She had seen some of the rough, uncouth drifters who worked for T.J. when he needed special jobs done. No, Casey Walker wasn’t that type. He was almost too handsome, she thought. When he smiled at her she had been strangely stirred by that deep dimple in his cheek and those remarkable hazel eyes. Not green, not brown, but a mesmerizing combination.
    “Should Sanchez cut more wood, senora?”
    Belle gathered her scattered thoughts and concentrated on Dolores, the Mexican woman who helped her in the kitchen. Neither she nor her husband, Sanchez, were young, but they had needed work and were willing to accept the small salary Belle could afford.
    “What did you say, Dolores?”
    “Wood, senora. Should Sanchez cut more wood for the cookstove?”
    “No, not now. I’m going back to check on Wan Yo and I’d prefer that Sanchez stay with you until Ireturn. The town is teeming with riffraff looking for work or easy pickings, and it’s not wise for a woman to be alone.” She was thinking of Dinks and how close he had come to raping her. If it hadn’t been for Casey Walker. …
    Dolores nodded her understanding. “Si, senora, I will call Sanchez and you can see to Wan Yo. But Wan Yo will need a man’s help with certain chores until he can get around on his own. Sanchez will do that for you. What about the little one? Who will protect him with Wan Yo laid up?”
    “I hired a man today to see to Tommy’s safety.”
    “Do you think the niño’s grandfather …”
    “I don’t know. I told you about Tommy’s grandfather because I wanted you to be aware of the danger once you started working for me. No one else knows, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
    “Si, senora, you can trust me and Sanchez. If not for you we would be living on the streets or dying of starvation. You can depend on us. Go see to Wan Yo and Tommy, we will finish the cooking.”
    “I’ll be back before the customers start arriving,” Belle said as she headed out the rear door.
    Casey felt out of place. Doctor Lincoln had just left and Wan Yo was sleeping off the sedative he’d been given. Tommy sat by the old man’s bedside, keeping watch, while Casey prowled the tiny parlor. When Belle said she occupied four small rooms behind the restaurant, she hadn’t been lying. He felt like a bull in a china shop. Barely six paces in any direction and he’d be in another room. Wan Yo occupied one bedroom, which meant Tommy probably slept on the cot he’d seen in the tiny kitchen, and the other bedroom belonged to Belle.
    Casey stopped pacing when he felt Tommy yanking on his hand. “When is Wan Yo going to wake up, mister?”
    “My name is Casey, Tommy.” He hunkered down until he was eye level with Tommy. “You’re fond of Wan Yo, aren’t you?”
    “Aunt Naomi sent him with us. He takes real good care of me and Mama.”
    Casey