His Brother's Wife Read Online Free PDF

word “ours” ringing inside her head. She watched his
ears turn red before he cleared his throat and said, “We can wait
until the wedding before I move in though.” He fidgeted, swiped at
his nose with his fist and shot her a quick glance. “Unless you
want me to move in now.”
    She blinked at him. Move
in? To her room? It took her a full minute to find her voice.
“Well, seeing as we’re not properly wed, maybe we should wait. It’s
improper enough for me even to be living here before we’re married,
let alone us sharing a room.” He looked ready to run and Grace had
to wonder how much the boy even wanted a wife. He didn’t look as if
he was that worldly but what did she know of boys? Most women
waited for marriage to act upon any such fleshly desires. How the
male half of the population went about things was beyond her
knowledge.
    He looked relieved with
her answer, his breath let out in one long sigh. “Don’t matter to
me none. Rafe’s the one said I had to sleep in your
room.”
    “Did he now?” Grace could
only imagine what that man had said. He seemed to enjoy watching
her squirm in town when confronted with the fact she’d promised
herself to a fourteen-year-old boy. Of course, just thinking of him
caused her pulse to jump and his image floated in her minds eye
moments later. There was trouble waiting for her where he was
concerned. She could feel it in her bones.
    “Well, I’m sure with a
thorough cleaning the room will be just fine.” She walked to the
bed, laying her hand on the blanket spread across the top. It would
need replaced before she slept on the thing. Turning, she smiled at
Jesse before placing her bag on the bed. “I don’t suppose you have
someone who helps with the chores in the house, do you?
    “Someone like
who?”
    “Well, a hired servant? Or
a woman from another farm who helps?”
    Jesse shook his head
“Nope. Just me and Rafe. We do what we have to.”
    “I see.” Grace turned a
full circle, noticing the dust collecting on the dresser top. The
house was a mess and no one would be around to clean it. No one but
her, that is.
    Was this why Jesse had
ordered a wife? He needed someone to clean his house? She let her
gaze linger on him while letting her last thought run through her
mind. If he didn’t have anyone to clean, that meant no one would be
there to cook either. She sighed. The boy wasn’t looking for a
wife, he was looking for a mother.
    Marrying and having a
family of her own is all she’d wanted when she set out to find a
husband but she didn’t expect her first child to be a
fourteen-year-old boy. “I think I’ll get settled in,” she said.
“Besides, I do believe Rafe asked for your help in the
barn.”
    Jesse snorted and his face
twisted into a grimace. “He thinks he owns the place. Let him fix
it.”
    The animosity in his voice
was clear. For whatever reason, he and Rafe didn’t get along. A
host of questions popped into her mind but she ignored them. There
was plenty of time for that. “Well then, what do you do around
here?”
    “Cook and clean but since
I got you now, I don’t have to do that anymore. I can do other
things.”
    “Like what?”
    He looked perplexed before
shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll find something. My pa was busy from
sun up to sundown. I’ll just do what he did.”
    “Do you think he would fix
the roof on the barn?” She bit back a smile when he shot her a
look.
    He glanced out the window
where the barn sat. Grace looked as well. Rafe stood on the roof
staring down at the hole. He’d shed his coat, letting her see that
the breadth of his shoulders was just as wide without the added
bulk of all that material. He lifted his hat, pushing his hair back
before resettling it and bending to grab a plank that lay by his
foot. She watched him work for several minutes before the sound of
her name startled her. She turned to Jesse, seeing a frown on his
face.
    “I’m going to go help
Rafe. You need me to cook supper