The Bride Backfire Read Online Free PDF

for the first time since Opal spied him. “That Larry Grogan stirring the pot again? We’ll sort him out as needed, though I thought after his threshing accident he’d learned to settle down.”
    â€œSo you did get my letters.” Opal couldn’t hold back the grumble. After all, it wouldn’t have done him any serious harm to write back more often.
    â€œSporadically.” Ben’s apologetic smile turned appreciative as he continued to look toward Larry. “Who’s the girl? Don’t tell me old Larry’s nabbed himself a pretty little wife while I was gone!”
    Opal just about swallowed her tongue at the realization Ben’s appreciation focused on none other than Willa Grogan. Willa had, now that she thought about it, blossomed during his absence. But in the after-church swell of greetings, folks had moved around just enough to confuse the rest of her family.
    â€œWho? The blond?” Elroy shook his head. “Nah, that’s Clara Reed—Dr. Reed’s wife.”
    â€œNever bore any partiality toward blonds,” Ben denied. “The brunette—looks sort of quiet but with a spark waiting to come out.”
    â€œThat’s Midge.” Pete thrust his jaw forward. “Now, you may be my elder, but I’ve got an eye on that one. You can’t just come waltzing in here and decide you’re interested in her spark when I’ve been fired up about her for—”
    â€œThat’s enough, Pete!” Opal stepped in before her brother worked himself into a lather over nothing. “Since when would you describe Midge as quiet anyway?”
    â€œWell...” Loyalty warred with truth and Pete settled for a shrug. “He don’t know her.”
    â€œYet.” Ben dropped the word like a gauntlet, biting back an obvious grin as Pete tensed up again. “So why’s she standing next to Larry?”
    â€œBecause you’re not looking at Midge.” Opal shot a pointed glance at Pete before laying a warning hand on Ben’s arm. “The pretty brunette with the quiet air and the attachment to Larry? That’s Willa Grogan.”
    â€œWilla!” Astonishment rang in four male Speck voices, setting off a chain reaction.
    â€œShe grew up nice,” Ben mused amid Pa’s spluttered warnings.
    Elroy and Pete craned their necks and gaped as though seeing Willa for the first time in, well, about four years.
    The whole tableau would have earned a roll of the eyes and a sigh from Opal at any other time, but as things stood, she swiftly separated herself from the Speck men. After the thunder of her family’s joint exclamation, how could the Grogans not stir up a storm?
    Sure enough, Larry’s and Diggory’s darkening expressions signaled trouble.
    Lucinda, never one to smooth ruffled feathers, bustled over to throw protective arms around her only daughter and glower at Ben.
    Opal fixed her gaze on Adam—whose face mirrored the resignation in her own heart. “Sorry,” she addressed her apology to him. “Ben didn’t recognize your sister is all.”
    Diggory shouldered forward. “He shouldn’t have been looking.”
    â€œHold on.” Ben held up his hands, palms out in the universal signal of avoiding trouble. “I meant no disrespect. It’s been years and my family needed to bring me up to speed on the new faces.”
    â€œI’m not new.” Puzzled curiosity arched Willa’s brows, making her eyes seem brighter than usual.
    â€œNo, Miss Grogan”—Ben swept off his hat and gave a little bow—“though I didn’t recognize you alongside Mrs. Reed and some others. The years bring changes.”
    â€œSo I see.” Surely that wasn’t interest tingeing Willa’s agreement? A faint pink flushed her cheeks as she glanced at Ben in a way Opal would’ve pegged as admiration.
    An admiration sure to invite adversity.
    Opal bit her lip.