Daughter of Joy Read Online Free PDF Page B

when Mr. MacKay likes his supper, ” she murmured, turning back to Ella, “but I’m sure it’s past time to start.”
    “Supper’s already cooking. I talked Conor into letting me prepare the meal this evening, to give you a chance to settle in a bit. The bread’s finished baking and in the warming oven. It’ll be another hour before the stew’s ready.” She paused. “You do like beef stew and fresh bread with apple pie for dessert, don’t you?”
    Abby’s niggling sense of homesickness began to ease. Though she had wept herself into a near panic over what she was about to undertake just before Conor MacKay had arrived this morning, Ella’s continued acts of kindness warmed her heart. She had been here barely two hours and, already, Abby knew she had made her first friend. Thank you, Lord, she thought, lifting a quick, fervent prayer.
    Then she grinned. “It sounds heavenly. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness. I owe you one very big favor.”
    Ella laughed merrily. “Don’t give it another thought. It was the neighborly thing to do. Besides, you’re now the only other woman in ten miles, so one thing is certain. We’re sure to be trading favors back and forth a lot!”

    From his study, Conor heard the kitchen’s back door slam. He laid aside his fountain pen and recapped the inkstand. Though he had planned on catching up on the ranch accounts before supper, his heart was not in it. After the long ride to the Springs today, he was tired.
    Not that he could fully blame his distractedness on the long day of travel, he admitted ruefully. Try as he might to keep his mind off of her, his thoughts kept creeping back to his new cook and housekeeper.
    Conor leaned back in his chair, placed his arms on the armrests, and closed his eyes. His little talk with Abigail Stanton earlier today had revealed many things. He’d verified what he’d suspected. She was a woman of strong convictions who would not be easily swayed or intimidated. She was also surprisingly honest.
    Her claim that she had taken the position at Culdee Creek because she could not bear to work with little boys right now seemed forthright enough. But surely there were deeper, more self-serving reasons at work. There always were.
    Conor had but to discover them, and discover them he would.
    He expelled a deep breath and shook his head in frustration. Why, oh why had he agreed to hire her? Selfdisgust welled in him. He was a fool. He’d always be a fool. Hadn’t his father hammered that into him over and over when he was a boy?
    “Life’s nothing but hard work, disappointment, and pain, ” his father had slurred many a night, drinking himself into another of his black despairs. “You’re a fool if you think otherwise, ” he would howl, pounding his fists into the walls, the furniture, and sometimes even Conor’s young, defenseless body. “There’s no fairness, no goodness, no love left in the world!”
    Yet still Conor had clung to hope. Surely somewhere there was fairness, goodness, and love left in the world. Surely someday, somewhere he’d find a woman to love him as deeply and unconditionally as had his mother. His good, God-fearing, gentle mother …
    He’d clung to that hope, Conor thought bitterly. Clung to it tenaciously until Sally walked out and Squirrel Woman died. Then he’d clung to hope no more.
    Voices, women’s voices, rose from the kitchen. The savory smell of beef stew and the rich, yeasty scent of bread wafted by. Conor’s mouth began to water. It had been weeks since he had had a good home-cooked meal.
    Straightening in his chair, Conor slowly opened his eyes. Time to get on with it, he told himself. He needed to fetch Beth, who’d refused to come downstairs since Mrs. Stanton’s arrival.
    He couldn’t blame her really. It was hard to take another woman into their home. Would she turn on them, too?
    Conor shoved to his feet. If he had any say about it, no one would ever hurt his daughter again. And no one was