To Wed in Texas Read Online Free PDF

affection, the aunts had accused her of being cold and heartless. When she did, they’d laughed at her and called her childish.
    “I’m sorry.” She steeled herself to face the consequences of her action.
    “No.” Daniel held up a hand. “It’s not your fault.” He glanced at the window as though wishing for an escape. “I’m not used to anyone hugging me.”
    “It won’t happen again,” Karlee promised.
    “You did nothing wrong.” Daniel took a deep breath. “I think it quite normal that people living under the sameroof would occasionally touch. In a proper way, of course.”
    Karlee watched him closely. “Of course,” she whispered. He was justifying her action, letting her get away without criticism. He wasn’t going to make fun of her.
    “We have to figure out how to make this arrangement work.” His words were painstakingly slow. “I’ve had no woman in my house since my wife died. I want no woman in my life now. I only want someone to care for the twins, nothing more. There are things I must do here, times I’ll be away.”
    “I understand.” Karlee felt the room suddenly grow warmer. “I didn’t come here, Reverend McLain, for any purpose other than the children.” How could he think she’d been making an advance? She’d never done anything like that in her life. Even when she’d thought of it a few times with young men, her aunts had lectured her in shifts for hours.
    A proper young lady never flirts, she’d been drilled. The lesson always ended with a list of reasons no man would ever look her way. After all, she had no family, no money and no land. She was taller than almost every man she met, a trait no husband would want, not to mention the curse of her red hair.
    “Well, good night.”
    He looked every bit as uncomfortable as she felt.
    She raised her head with another idea. “Maybe we should shake hands on our bargain?…to keep everything proper.”
    Daniel offered his hand. “I like that idea, Spinster Whitworth.”
    Karlee placed her hand in his. “To working together, Reverend McLain.”
    He held her fingers for only a moment then turned and vanished from the room.
    She remained still until she heard his footsteps end atthe bottom of the stairs, then unpacked. Within minutes, the room was hers. Hers! She’d placed a coverlet her mother hand quilted across her bed and, for lack of a shelf, lined her books up along the windowsill. A jewelry box with a broken lid held handkerchiefs atop the chest. Her few clothes fit easily into the drawers. And her hatbox filled with yellowed letters was shoved beneath her bed.
    Slipping into a nightgown almost twice her size, she quickly crawled beneath the covers. Monday, if she lasted that long, she’d buy a nightgown and ship this one back to Aunt Rosy. Her aunt had made such a production of giving it to her when Karlee packed, as if it were a great sacrifice and Karlee hadn’t known that it was really her oldest gown.
    She’d also select material for a new dress on Monday. And scraps, if the stores in Texas had scrap barrels. She’d make her dress and the twins each a cloth doll with button eyes. She might not be able to cook, but she could sew. It would be a delight to make a dress from clean, new material.
    Karlee closed her eyes, smiling into the darkness. At the end of the month, if she lasted that long, she’d use just a few cents of her own money to buy a comb for her hair. A real comb, not just pins. She’d save the rest of the money, for in thirty days she’d no longer be penniless. She’d be a woman of means.
    Daniel stood on the porch just below her room. He could hear her moving around, moving in. He’d been so sure he wanted her gone from his life. Only minutes ago when he’d returned from town, he planned to ask her to leave, but then he had seen her silently crying in the shadows.
    Daniel rubbed his forehead with his fist. She wasn’t some old woman or slow-witted girl he could easily fool.She wouldn’t be