Broken Promises Read Online Free PDF Page B

replied. "So I'll pick you up around two." Turning from him, she grabbed her flashlight, clicked it on, and dashed into the darkness.
    As she made her way back to her cabin, she considered the ramifications of taking Zak up in her father's plane. He'd be furious if he knew, but it would only be for two hours, so she'd keep it from him. He didn't need that stress.
    She also knew that Zak had the same effect on her as in the past. Nothing had changed. But after Sunday's flight, there would be no more dealings with Zak. He'd left her once. He'd leave her again. There was no place in her life for Zak de Neuville now.

CHAPTER THREE
     
    Tess pulled up in front of the white frame house in Baker’s Creek where she grew up. When she stepped into the living room, she detected the unmistakable aroma of cinnamon and warm yeast. Aunt Ruth met her at the door. "Hi, sweetie," she said. "You'd better go into the kitchen and assure your father that you got through your first day at camp in one piece. He's been in a stew all morning waiting to hear from you."
    Tess looked toward the kitchen and saw her father sitting at the table reading the paper, but she could tell he wasn't into it because the paper was crinkled where his hands held it, and one foot was shaking in agitation. "How's he been doing, other than worrying himself into a frazzle about Timber West?" she asked.
    Aunt Ruth pursed her lips. "He's as cantankerous as an old dog. I only put up with him because I know that underneath that crusty exterior he's soft as a kitten."
    Tess laughed. "You're right. Did you give him what for, for going to the camp yesterday?"
    "You better believe I did," Aunt Ruth said. "I turn my back for a couple of hours and he's off. Well, he's not getting away today."
    Tess followed Aunt Ruth through the dining room. "How did he take it?"
    Aunt Ruth glanced back, and said, "He grumbled something about domineering women, and I reminded him that it was a matter of survival of the fittest." She tapped her brother's shoulder on the way to the stove. "Tess is here." She set a platter with scrambled eggs and hash browns in the middle of the table, then slipped on oven mitts and lifted a tray of fresh baked cinnamon rolls out of the oven and set them on a hot pad beside the platter of eggs and hash browns.
    Tess kissed her father on the forehead, and said, while pulling out a chair adjacent to him, "Well, I survived my first day at Timber West."
    "Did you have any problem with Jed Swenson?"Gib asked, while serving himself from the platter.
    "No, he never showed up," Tess replied, while reaching for a cinnamon roll. "Am I supposed to put up with behavior like that, or can I fire him?. "
    A worried frown creased Gib's brow. "Don't be too quick to do that," he said. "He's a good worker... knows logging and equipment. But he can be kind of stubborn at times."
    "If that's not the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is," Aunt Ruth interjected.
    Tess winked at her aunt, then said to her father, "Swenson wasn't at the meeting in the cook shack or at my office later, as I requested. He's openly defying me. Do you put up with that?"
    "I haven't been around him that much," Gib said. "I hired him a few weeks before my heart attack, and I was lucky to get him. Before you fire him, you'd better have someone in mind who'll step in. Word's out that Carl Yaeger's about to buy the tract between Timber West and the ridge, and if he does, he'll be hiring. If you get rid of Swenson you might find yourself without a woods boss, and no one else to take his place."
    "Well, Swenson's not any use to me right now," Tess said. "If he doesn't show up soon, I'll have to let him go." She licked warm icing from her fingers, then said to her father, "If   Carl Yaeger buys the tract, do you think he'll let us keep going through like we always have?"
    "I hope so," Gib replied. "If he doesn't, we're in trouble. There's no other access to the pole timber area unless de Neuville lets us