Chief Cook and Bottle Washer Read Online Free PDF

husband.
    For once in her life, there was no one to
reprimand her, not her father, her three brothers, nor Charlie.
    If only she had checked the water before she
left the gas station. How could she have been so stupid?
    "Now what?" She shaded her eyes and glanced
down the road. From the looks of the map Bertha had drawn it was
still miles to the ranch. Too far to walk with a baby.
    "Just my luck."
    She glanced through the windshield at Sammie
Jo. The baby needed feeding and changing. Her diaper had to be
drenched, and Emma felt lucky she wasn't screaming her head off
from teething.
    "Serves me right," Emma said shaking her head
with disgust. "after all Charlie taught me, you'd think I'd
learn."
    Charlie again. She should have put him
entirely out of her mind by now. Should have. Still as time went on
she found herself wondering if he hadn't been right all along, she
couldn't handle this.
    What had he said? Funny, a few months ago she
could quote him word for word. "You know nothing about babies. It
isn't your place. You're deliberately ruining our chances of
marriage. Let her grandfather take her."
    Grandfather? Sammie Jo for all general
purposes didn't have a grandfather. It had been Mr. Collins himself
that refused to believe Kate was having his son's baby. That's why
Kate made her promise to take care of Sammie Jo. That's why she
left Emma custody in her will.
    That had done it. Charlie clearly wanted no
part of Emma if she was going to take the baby and raise it as her
own. It wasn't right, he had said. It wasn't as if the baby didn't
have kinfolk. And just remembering those words brought all her
determination front and center.
    Joel Collins hadn't wanted that
responsibility. Emma had. She loved Sammie Jo with all her heart
and soul. But the elder Mr. Collins became interested after Kate
died. He even wrote a letter requesting to see the baby. Fear of
losing Sammie Jo had put Emma on the run.
    Hot, tired, and frustrated she leaned
negligently against the side of the truck, feeling the sweat
trickle down her back and stick to her T-shirt. Panic threatened,
draining her strength. Shaking her head, she threw her hands on her
hips. She could handle this. She slid her boot against the gravel
and watched as the dust settled on top. Things could be worse.
    Six months of being mother, father, and
sibling to Sammie Jo had taken its toll on Emma. Six months and
still she couldn't be certain of her rights. She had to find a
lawyer.
    In normal times Frank, her oldest brother
would be around to help, but these weren't normal times. She left
anything close to normal back in East Texas. For the first time in
twenty-four years she was truly on her own. A year ago she might
have thought it exciting. Now she knew better.
    "Oh Frank, where are you now?"
    She glanced at Sammie Jo again. Somehow,
looking at the baby made her stronger. "Thank God you're such a
good baby."
    Sammie Jo leaned to one side of her car seat,
sweating and sleeping, an angelic expression on her face. Emma
envied her again.
    Turning around she looked down the long dusty
road. Six thirty and still hot enough to boil sweat. The sun exuded
a bright orange haze in the lower western sky. Would her new boss
be expecting his supper from her tonight? Something about the man
seemed so familiar she only wished she could put her finger on it.
Maybe she'd seen him in Devil's Corners before. Still, that mystery
would have to wait, she had other, more immediate problems.
    Would she even have a job when she reached
the ranch. And then there was the slight problem of Sammie Jo. The
fact that she hadn't mentioned the baby.
    First things first, she sighed, rule number
one by Frank Smith. "Take care of yourself first, then tend to the
rest. And never go anywhere without water." He would say. Now she
remembered it. God, she missed him. She missed Sam and Jesse too,
but Frank had been her protector from the day she was born. Her
oldest brother had protected her from their over-bearing father