His Brother's Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

tonight or can you handle
it?”
    She smiled to cover her
embarrassment of being caught staring at Rafe. “I think I can
manage. Anything in particular you would like?”
    He shook his head and
started across the room. “Don’t matter to me.” He stopped when he
reached the door. “Well, as long as it ain't eggs. I’m sick of
‘em.”
    “Isn’t,” she
said.
    “Huh?”
    “As long as it isn’t eggs.
Ain't isn’t proper.”
    He raised an eyebrow at
her before shaking his head and leaving the room. She listened to
his feet shuffle across the floor and the stairs creaking under his
weight before turning back to the window. Rafe looked up then, his
gaze focused on the house, and even though Grace knew he couldn’t
see her through the dirt coating the window, her pulse leaped and
butterfly’s danced in her stomach.
    She turned, putting him
out of her mind. She had more important things to think about than
how handsome Rafe Samuels was. Like figuring out a way to break
Jesse’s heart without causing too much pain.

Chapter Five

     
     
     
    The sun was setting by the
time Rafe walked across the yard toward the house. He stopped by
the water pump, filling the bucket and giving his face and hands a
scrub. The air was filled with the scent of cooking food and his
stomach had been growling since noon. He hoped whatever Grace had
fixed wasn’t eggs. He was sick of them.
    Jesse ran into the house
in front of him, the door slamming as it closed behind him and Rafe
shook his head. He wasn't sure what had gotten into the boy. Jesse
had climbed the ladder onto the barn roof after taking Grace's
things inside and started helping him with the repairs without a
word said. Which suited him just fine. The less they talked, the
less they fought. His sudden urge to help was uncharacteristic and
he wondered where the sudden desire came from. He hadn't asked but
he had an idea.
    When Rafe stepped into the
house, his hunch was proven right. Jesse was there, standing by the
sink, his face and hands washed while his gaze followed Grace as
she flitted around the kitchen setting dishes on the table. She
looked up at him as he shut the door, their gazes clashing for
brief moments before she looked away. He hung his coat and hat on
the peg by the door and smoothed his hair back. Then, he just stood
there. He glanced at Jesse. Maybe that’s why the kid was standing
like a statue by the sink. He didn’t know what to do
either.
    The last time Rafe
remembered a woman in this kitchen, it had been his ma, some ten
years earlier, before he took off to fight a war that left more
scars than he wished to think about. His ma had spent most of her
days cooking and cleaning and from the looks of the room, Grace had
done the same.
    She’d traded in her frilly
pink dress and feathered hat for a less fancy version. There were
no ruffles on this one and the color was a dark green. Her hair was
pinned to the back of her head, a few whips falling down around her
face. An old flour sack was tied around her waist as an apron and
without all the ruffles from her fancy dress Rafe could see how
tiny she was. Her waist was small, his hands would span it with
little help, and the curve of her hips was more enticing than it
should have been. He looked away when she turned toward
him.
    “Do you two eat standing
up?”
    Jesse cleared his throat
and took a step toward the table. “No ma’am. Just waitin’ til you
was finished.”
    “Waiting until you were
finished,” she said, correcting him. Rafe watched Jesse’s face,
waiting for the blush, but the frown he threw her way was
unexpected. He shot a look at him before he grabbed one of the
chairs and plopped down in the seat like he couldn’t hold his body
weight up any longer. When Grace turned to look at him, Rafe
followed suit and took his place at the head of the
table.
    Rafe looked at what Grace
had sat out for them in astonishment. He wasn’t even sure where she
got most of it. Of course, he didn’t