Give My Love to Rose Read Online Free PDF

on the couch with
his mother.”
    The boy’s blue eyes widened as he swallowed
hard, nodded and turned his gaze quickly to the trees. Marston was
chuckling as he too turned his attention back to the forest.

Chapter Four
    Marston had to admit that boy impressed him.
Even after an hour of staring into the woods he had yet to move a
muscle or make a peep.
    Marston wished that damn woman would wake up
so he could leave. He glanced over at the boy when he heard his
tiny stomach rumbling. The boy grabbed his stomach and grimaced but
didn’t say a word.
    “ You hungry?”
    “ Ha! You lost!” the boy
exclaimed with laughter, but one look at Marston’s stern face had
the laughter dying on his tongue. “Yes, sir. I’m
hungry.”
    “ Your mama have any taters
around here? I’m afraid that’s about all I’m qualified to
make.”
    “ You’re gonna cook for
me?” the boy asked wide-eyed.
    Marston shrugged as he stood up. “Would you
rather starve?”
    “ No, sir!” the boy
replied, leaping to his feet. Marston rolled his eyes and followed
him into the house. Rose was still lying on the couch and Marston
wondered if the woman was okay. He knew of women swooning and
passing out before but he didn’t think it normally lasted so
long.
    “ The potatoes are in this
box. I’m guessing that’s what taters are, aren’t they?” the boy
asked as he pointed toward a wooden box in the corner.
    “ Yeah kid, that’s what
taters are.”
    “ You don’t have to call me
kid. My name’s Langston Junior, but mama calls me Langley. I guess
you can too.”
    “ I’d rather just call you
kid,” Marston countered, opening the potato box and gathering up an
armful of them. He laid them on the counter and several rolled
away, toppling off the counter and bouncing across the
floor.
    Marston heard Langley stifling laughter and
he glared at the boy. Why the hell was he bothering cooking for the
damn kid? He sighed, knowing it was because he knew exactly how it
felt to be a hungry kid.
    Marston glanced around the counter and his
brow raised when he saw the sink with faucets. “Y’all got running
water in here?” he demanded, knowing it was something becoming
quite common among the rich but not commonly found in poorer
households.
    “ Yeah,” Langley replied as
he gathered up the fallen potatoes. “Papa installed it to make
things easier on mama. We even got a water closet where we can take
showers,” he added, pointing toward one of the closed doors. The
dirty water goes out some pipes and flows back into the stream
which is where the clean water comes from. We still gotta use the
outhouse though. I can’t wait ‘til we can do that in the house too.
I went out to use the outhouse the other night and nearly ran
straight into a big ol’ bear!”
    “ I’ll bet that was
scary.”
    “ Oh, it was!”
    “ Probably made using the
outhouse easier.”
    Langley laughed, but that laughter died when
Marston pulled his large knife from its sheath and went about
peeling potatoes. “That’s a big knife!” Langley exclaimed. “What do
you need a knife that big for?”
    Marston grinned. “Some men got big
bodies.”
    Langley swallowed hard. “I’ll just run on
out to the cellar and get some peppers to cook with those
potatoes.”
    Marston was certain he heard his ears thank
him as the kid took off out the door. He had never in his life met
anyone who talked so much.
    ***
    “ Ma’am?” A deep voice
broke into Rose’s dreams and she resented it. She had been dreaming
that she’d been sleeping upon a luxurious bed with silk sheets and
pillows as soft as clouds. There hadn’t been a single thing she had
needed to clean and nothing to cook and no one to look after.
There’d been plenty to eat and Langley had everything he could
possibly want.
    Sometimes dreams were cruel—especially when
they were so far from being the truth.
    “ Ma’am, do I need to go
get a doc?” that voice spoke again.
    The voice wasn’t completely