Romancing Olive Read Online Free PDF Page B

butter and grease. As the fork clattered to the floor, John saw the stares of other diners and the boy slunk back in his seat. Olive wiped the children’s faces and piled the leftover ham onto bread. Peg yawned and her eyes threatened to close while Olive hurried to get the children to the wagon. The sun was setting and she tucked Peg into a soft spot between a bag of flour and the new fabric. Peg’s tiny hand, found its way under her cheek and her eyes closed before Olive snapped the reins. Olive was exhausted herself as she clucked the horses and struggled to keep the two boys against her.
    * * *
    Where in the hell was that old crow, Jacob scowled. Out with the children, my children, no damn idea where she was going, he thought, as he turned his mare onto the road leading into town. When he saw the wagon approach, not a half-mile from home, he let out an involuntary sigh of gratitude. His horse, Bessie, thankfully, would know her way home in a blizzard and as he stepped down from his own mount, he smiled at the picture he beheld. John was in Miss Wilkins lap; snoring and Luke jostled in his slumber against her arm as she held the reins.
    “Where’s Peg?” he asked.
    “Oh, Mr. Butler,” Miss Wilkins said.
    “Where’s Peg?” he asked again and pulled Luke into his arms.
    Miss Wilkins gestured to the back of the wagon. Jacob turned his head and saw the sleeping angel amidst a mountainous pile of supplies.
    “If I am to stay awhile at your farm, it is only fair that I contribute to the coffers. You mustn’t have realized your cupboard was nearly bare. I made a list this afternoon,” Miss Wilkins said.
    “I can feed my family,” he replied.
    “But you’re not expected to feed mine as well,” she said. “I think we had best get the children home now. Don’t you?”
    “We’ll talk about this later, Miss Wilkins.”
    * * *
    Olive’s eyebrow rose in a salute to the thrown gauntlet as she urged the horse quietly to home. She lifted the slumbering Peg, as Mr. Butler carried the boys to the barn. Peg’s breath was warm and wet against her neck as she laid the child down on the small bed. The little pink mouth lay open and Peg let out a sigh of contentment as she curled into a ball. Olive eased the worn shoes from Peg’s feet and unbuttoned her dress. The petticoat underneath was filthy and barely covered the child’s round backside. Olive pulled a worn blanket over Peg’s shoulders and she snuggled down as her thumb came to her mouth.
    Olive found her two valises on the porch and the horse and wagon, gone. She should have guessed Jacob Butler was a proud man and he would not view her purchases as a contribution but rather a gift. Pride goeth before the fall , she quoted silently.
    Olive poured water into a basin and took the pins from her hair. She washed off the dust and dirt from her trip to Spencer, but she could not cleanse from her mind the look on John’s face when the cowboy spoke to him in the bank. The twenty-eight pearl buttons on her nightgown buttoned, she shook her head and rubbed her scalp as she sat down at the kitchen table. It was then she noticed Mary curled in front of the fireplace on a blanket. Olive knelt beside the girl and lifted a stray strand of hair from her cheek. What goes through this child’s head when night falls and dreams stir, Olive wondered. She leaned down and kissed her and Mary scuttled further under the blanket. Olive settled back onto the hard chair to brush her hair the required strokes.
    In bed shortly, her head hit the pillow and Olive succumbed to the tiring events of the day. Her eyes were barely open when she turned her itchy nose into the rough fabric of the sheets. Her lids rose and she caught the scent of a man, Jacob Butler. The smell was intoxicating. Earthy and masculine. Olive gave into the guilty pleasure and reassurance the aroma brought and refused to think about the implications of sleeping in a strange man’s bed.
    * * *
    Jacob stood at the window