His Brother's Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

They wouldn’t
get rich from them but just as Jesse had said, they’d keep them
from starving. He hoped.
     
     
    * * * *
     
     
    Grace stared at the house
in stunned silence. It was two stories, just as Jesse’s letters had
said, but that was about all you could say for it. The windows were
so dirty she couldn’t see a thing beyond them. The railing on the
porch was broken, most of it having fallen into the yard. Two
chairs sat by the front door, one leaning precariously to the
left.
    Chickens ran loose,
pecking at the dirt around the house and Grace searched for a
single blade of grass. She found it in the pasture where cattle
stood grazing.
    A barn off to her left
looked as pitiful as the house. A hole large enough to fit the
wagon inside glared at her from the roof and the lean-to off to one
side was at an odd angle. A few buildings further from the house
were in ill repair and all in all, the entire place was in
ruins.
    And this was to be her
home?
    She turned to look at Rafe
where he stood by the wagon. He had the nerve to smile at her,
spread his arms wide and say, “Welcome home.” He glanced at Jesse
before nodding to him. “Take her things in, unhitch this wagon and
come help me with the roof.” He turned and walked away without a
backward glance at her. She watched him disappear inside the barn
before she looked back to the house. The thought of what lay inside
caused her stomach to ache. She could only imagine.
    Turning to look behind her
at Jesse, she offered him a tentative smile. “Could you help me
down?” He jumped from the wagon and rounded the side, offering her
his hand. When her feet were on the ground, she took a deep breath
and glanced in the direction Rafe had gone before making her way to
the house.
    Her spirits were about as
low as they could get, or so she thought, when she stepped over the
threshold of the house. She was stunned, too overwhelmed by the
shape of the interior to even move. She only did when Jesse prodded
her to do so as he started carrying her trunks inside. She watched
him take them upstairs, the boards creaking with every step he took
before she looked back at the sitting room.
    The furniture was in decent shape but the fabric coverings
were old and faded. A thick layer of dust lay on every surface and
the ashes sitting in the bottom of the fireplace looked as if
they’d been there for years. The curtains hanging over the windows
were so dark brown, she couldn’t tell if that was the color of them
or if they were just that dirty. She was betting on dirty.
Everything else was. Even the floor. She could see a trail through
the dust that led from the stairs into the next room. She followed
it, finding an unused dining room then the kitchen just beyond.
This room, unlike the others, wasn’t in as bad a shape. Well, dirt
didn’t cover every surface. There were dishes sitting
on the shelf above the sink. The table looked clean but the stove
gave her pause. Dried food splatters were cooked onto its surface.
The floor looked as if someone had tried to sweep it but it did
little good.
    Turning and exploring the
rest of the house, Grace was met with the same sight in every room.
The bedrooms weren’t littered with dust but she could tell it had
been ages since anyone bothered to give them a thorough cleaning.
When she’d seen all she cared to, she searched for Jesse. She found
him in the bedroom at the end of the upstairs hall. The room was
larger than the others she'd seen and from the smell of it, it
hadn’t been aired out in a while.
    She smiled at him when he
turned to look at her. Her things were stacked in the corner by the
dresser and she gave the space another look. “Is this to be my
room?” she asked, knowing the question was dumb before the words
were out of her mouth.
    He nodded his head at her,
his face once again turning bright red. “Yeah. Used to be my ma and
pa’s room but it’s ours now. If it’s okay with ya.”
    Grace stared at him, his
use of the