Angel of the Cove Read Online Free PDF

his racing pulse. A warning to tread carefully where Anna Prentiss was concerned flashed in his mind. He’d just met her, and yet he felt drawn to her like no other woman he’d ever known.
    The fact that he was a preacher was probably the reason for this strange feeling that filled him. It was his job to help all the people in the Cove. For the next few months she would be attending his church, and he hoped he could provide her with any spiritual guidance she needed—just as he did for everyone else in the Cove.
    But even as he tried to convince himself that his interest in Annawas related to his calling to serve God, he knew it wasn’t true. The feelings she’d stirred in him weren’t the same as he’d experienced when helping others in his congregation. He felt something different for Anna Prentiss. Something new.

Chapter 3
    A nna scraped the last bite of supper from her plate and popped it in her mouth. Maybe it was the mountain air or the long trip, but the simple food had been better than she could have imagined. Mountain cooking might be different than her mother’s, but Granny’s meal ranked right up there with the best she’d ever eaten. She laid the fork on her plate and pushed back from the table. “Granny, that was delicious.”
    Granny chuckled. “Twarn’t nothin’ fancy.”
    Anna glanced at the empty bowls on the table and smiled. Nothing could have topped the fresh mountain greens Granny had gathered from the surrounding hillsides. The pan-fried apples, sweet corn relish, and greens cooked with hog jowl had made a meal fit for a king. “If this meal is an indication of what you have, then I’m in for a treat this summer.”
    Granny pushed to her feet and began to stack their plates. “Well, I reckon we make out all right when it comes to eatin’. The good Lord’s done provided us with game to hunt and fish in our streams, and we spend the summer a-layin’ up food from our gardens. But them fresh greens shore did taste good after eatin’ canned food all winter.”
    Across the table from her, Simon leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. “Granny’s one of the best cooks in the Cove. You can always depend on a good meal at her house.”
    Granny arched an eyebrow and turned toward the dry sink. “Isthat why you always come a-visitin’ late in the afternoon? So’s you can eat?”
    Simon rose from his chair and gathered up several bowls. He winked at Anna. “I guess she’s caught on to me.”
    He stopped beside Granny, and she reached up and patted him on the shoulder. “You come anytime you want, preacher boy. I’ll share whatever I got.”
    Anna studied the two as they joked back and forth. It was plain to see they shared a special relationship. They had kept up a lively conversation throughout supper, no doubt to make her feel welcome, and it had worked. Uncle Charles had been right about this being a peaceful place. The only sounds she’d heard since arriving were the birds that flew into the trees around the cabin and Granny’s horse in the ramshackle barn behind her home. With a full stomach and the quiet night surrounding the cabin, she had a feeling she would sleep well.
    Anna jumped to her feet, picked up the pitcher from the table, and carried it to Granny. “Let me help wash the dishes.”
    Granny turned from the dry sink in the corner of the kitchen and glanced back at the table. “Simon, if you’ll bring the rest of the dishes from the table, I’ll wash ’em and Anna can dry. Won’t take but a few minutes with all of us a-workin’.”
    And indeed, it wasn’t long before Granny was handing the last pot to her. Anna dried it and set it on the table with the other clean dishes. “If you’ll show me where these go, I’ll put them up.”
    Granny shook her head. “No need for that. Won’t