Courting Miss Adelaide Read Online Free PDF Page B

business.” Laura smiled, then rose to give Adelaide a quick hug. “I’ll be back to quilt on Monday. I’m only blocks away if you need me,” Laura said, then left.
    Adelaide restored order to the shop and then climbed the stairs, her stomach lurching at the prospect of facing Mr. Graves and the entire committee. If she had more say in what happened, maybe she wouldn’t be in this mess. In her world, an unmarried woman couldn’t discern anger in a man, couldn’t challenge the decisions of men. Couldn’t be deemed fit to rear a motherless child, though countless widows raised their own children.
    If only I had a way to get through to these men, to let my voice be heard.
    Then maybe—
    “Oh, why am I even bothering to dream about what can’t be undone?” she said to the empty room.
    Adelaide whipped off the apron, smoothed her navy skirt and then donned hat and gloves. Mr. Graves would not see how dejected she’d been since the committee’s decision.
    In fact, she wouldn’t let Mr. Graves see her heart at all.
    Downstairs, she flipped the sign in the window to CLOSED, left the shop and stood at the edge of the boardwalk, waiting while horses of every description clopped past. The sight of the huge animals always left Adelaide weak in the knees. Would she ever get over her fear of horses?
    Seeing an opening, she hustled across the street, holding the hem of her skirt out of the dust. Arriving safely on the other side without being crushed by the temperamental beasts, she heaved a sigh of relief. In front of The Ledger, she took a moment to slow her breathing. Grasping the handle of the door, she turned the knob when the door burst open.
    A young man slammed into her. The red-faced youth steadied her with his hand. “Excuse me, miss! Are you all right?”
    Adelaide fluffed her leg-of-mutton sleeves. “I’m fine.”
    “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. I’m rushing to get to the courthouse. A horse thief is being arraigned today, and I’m sitting in on the trial.” Holding a pad and pencil aloft, he puffed out his chest like a bantam rooster. “I’m a reporter.”
    “Not apt to be one for long if you knock down a loyal reader, James,” warned a deep masculine voice, a familiar voice that sent a wave of heat to Adelaide’s cheeks.
    The young man’s complexion also deepened to the color of beets. The editor smiled, softening the harshness of his words, and gave Adelaide a wink. The second time he’d winked at her. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but smile back.
    “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Miss Crum.”
    Adelaide’s gaze darted to the editor. Heavenly days, no one took care of her. Even hearing the words unsettled and somehow thrilled her, too.
    “I’ll expect a full report on the proceedings, James.”
    The young man nodded, then took off at a run across the street, his long legs dodging buggies and wagons on his way to the courthouse.
    Adelaide turned back to the editor. “I don’t believe his feet touched the ground.”
    Brown eyes sparkling with good humor, Mr. Graves chuckled. Without a coat, attired in a pin-striped vest and white shirt, he’d rolled his sleeves to the elbow giving her a clear view of muscled forearms. His broad shoulders filled the doorway.
    The kind of shoulders one could lean on, tell every trouble to, a luxury Adelaide had never had.
    Laura had said Charles looked like his father. Adelaide resembled her mother. Odd, history repeating itself that way.
    He gestured for her to enter ahead of him. “Come in.”
    The instant Adelaide stepped inside, the odor of ink filled her nostrils. With the presses running, the noise level forced her to raise her voice several notches, disconcerting her. But not nearly as much as the man beside her, who looked more male than any man she’d ever met.
    “Your reporter seems like a conscientious young man.”
    “Yes, but a bit out of control.”
    Exactly how Adelaide felt at the moment.
    He led her to a desk the likes of