Patchwork Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

those difficult people, we deserve an easier assignment.” Braden shook his headand rolled his eyes. “Not sure if we’re going to get it this time.”
    “No, I don’t think we are.”
    Lord, please let this work out.
    The first outbuilding they came to was a well-built barn with a wide breezeway marching between big box stalls. Several horses poked their noses out into the aisle to nicker a welcome to an old friend and to greet new ones. Hobo sidestepped, head up, cautious as he looked around.
    “Whoa there, buddy.” He left the old mare standing to lay a hand of comfort on his boy’s neck. Snow tumbled from his black mane.
    Best to get these horses rubbed down, dry and stabled and no sense in hurrying. His stomach might be rumbling, but he wasn’t looking forward to heading up to the main house to eat. Meredith would be there. That made his gut clench tighter.
    Maybe it would be best to avoid her, he decided, if that could be possible as long as he had a job here. That young woman had as good as lied to him. He’d had enough people in his life being less than honest, and he wasn’t looking for more of the same.
    “Ho there.” A man about his same age with a friendly grin and a trustworthy look hiked down the main aisle. “I’m Eli Sims. You must be the new trainers. Good to meet you. Let me lend a hand with your horses.”
    Braden stepped forward to ask a few details about Mr. Worthington, as Shane knelt to uncinch saddles and unhook harnessing. He kept half an ear to their conversation but couldn’t seem to concentrate. At least he hadn’t been fooled by her for long. Not that the not-so-country girl was on his mind. He was doing his best to purge every thought and image of her from his brain.
    Whether or not he was successful was another question entirely.
     
    Meredith couldn’t forget the look on Shane’s face when Mama had spoken down to him, which was by her guess the exact moment he realized she was not the country miss he’d assumed her to be.
    Did he hate her? Was he the kind of man who would understand? She hadn’t meant to mislead him. Was her parentage her fault? Hardly. They lived in the country, so she technically was a country girl. It wasn’t a lie she had let him believe, but she hadn’t corrected him.
    She regretted that now. She stared out her bedroom window instead of at the history book open on the desk. She could not concentrate and let her gaze wander over the roll of high prairie and the rugged Rocky Mountains hugging the horizon. Sunset dusted the snow-capped, craggy peaks with dabs of mauve and streaks of purple.
    “Meredith.” Matilda, her older sister, poked her head around the door frame. “Mama wanted me to come fetch you. Dinner is about to be served.”
    “Dinner.” She was not in the mood. “I don’t suppose I can have a tray sent up here?”
    “Mama is mad enough as it is. I wouldn’t ask if I were you.” Sympathy softened Tilly’s features, making her almost pretty in the lamplight.
    If only a fine beau could see Matilda as her sisters did, with a beauty of spirit, a sweetness of temperamentand a generous soul that made her the finest catch in all of Angel County. Men were notoriously shallow, as Meredith had decided, and so dear Tilly was still unmarried and, worse, unbeaued at the age of twenty. Not a single man had come courting, when marriage and a family were all that her sister desired.
    “Then I suppose I’ll survive dinner.” With a wink, Meredith closed her textbook, pushed back her chair and climbed to her feet. The sun was going down on the day and on her hopes. Her one chance to prove herself as a sensible driver to her parents was over. “Do you think it will be the topic of conversation? My big failure as a driver.”
    “You may have to endure a few comments from Mama, but Papa believes a woman should know how to drive,” Tilly encouraged. “Remember how he bought Sweetie for me, so I could be more independent? And that