After the Storm: Clean Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

afternoon.  Going into the parlor, he called out, “Anyone home?”
                  He heard someone on the stairs and went to the bottom.  “Hello, daughter,” he said, smiling.  “How was your day off?”
                  “I had a very nice day.  I made some brownies this morning and had lunch with Timmy,” she said, reaching the foyer.  “I went to Elliot’s to get some material to make pillowcases with.  I ran into Brody Benson and he told me something very peculiar.”
                  He followed her into the kitchen, where she started peeling potatoes.  “What did he tell you?”
                  “Well, he was somehow under the impression that I wasn’t interested in seeing anyone.  I don’t know where he would get such a silly idea,” she said.
                  Uh-oh , Switch thought.  “I might have mentioned something like that to him.  You haven’t been out with anyone but Sawyer and that was just as friends.  I thought maybe you’d gotten soured on men—”
                  “Stop lying!” she pounded the counter, making him jump.  “He said that you basically warned him away.  Why would you do that?  It’s none of your business!”
                  Switch dropped all pretenses.  “Renee, it was for your own good.  You’re a very beautiful young woman and I see the way men look at you.  You’re my little girl and I’m not going to let anyone take advantage of you.”
                  “Take advantage of me?  Do I seem like the kind of girl who gets taken advantage of?” she asked.
                  An odd look flitted across his face.  “Not exactly.”
                  “What does that mean?”
                  His dark eyes sparked with irritation, a rare emotion for him, but he kept his words gentle.  “Renee, I know that you, um, uh, enjoy men.”
                  Deep embarrassment froze her in place and her hand clenched around the paring knife handle.
                  “I’m sorry, honey.  I’m just trying to protect you,” Switch said.  “I know you’re mad at me and that’s ok, but please try to understand.  I’m your father, and fathers protect their kids.”
                  Renee laid the knife down on counter and wiped her hands on a towel.  “I know you mean well, but have you done the same thing with Skip?”
                  “Well, no, but he’s so shy around girls—”
                  “But if he wasn’t?  If he enjoyed girls, would you go around warning them away from him?” she asked.
                  “It’s different for girls, Renee,” he said.
                  “Well, not for this girl,” she said, walking out of the kitchen.
                  “Where are you going?” 
                  She mounted the stairs to the second story, Switch following her.
                  “I’m going to pack.”
                  “Pack?  Where are you going?” Switch asked, alarmed.
                  “I’m going to find my own place so that no one meddles in my business anymore,” she said.
                  Switch put a hand on her arm.  “You can’t move out.  Renee, don’t do anything rash, honey.”
                  She whirled around to face him when she reached the top of the stairs.  “I can’t I move out?  Why?  I make my own money, and I’m twenty now.  If I were a man you wouldn’t be telling me that.  You didn’t say that to Jethro when he moved to New York a few years ago.  I never thought you were sexist, Pa, but I see that I was wrong about that.”
                  “It’s not like that,” he said.  “Don’t leave.  Where are you going to go?”
                  “I’ll stay at the hotel until I