Jesse by Barbara Goss (best romantic books to read TXT) 📗

“How’d you guess?”

He touched her nose.  “You’ve got flour on your nose.”

They both laughed, and Jesse thought how glad he was that he’d married her. Even if love never came, he sure liked her enough to not care.

They sat down to eat. Jesse loved her dinner, and he praised it, which brought a smile to her face that made her eyes sparkle.

 “How was your day?  Did you find Roy?”

“Nope.  His wife hasn’t seen him in two days. Then, I went to see Delia.”  Jesse expected a look of jealousy to appear on his wife’s face, but he was wrong—she smiled instead.

“Poor Delia—how is she?  Did she know where Roy is?  Did you tell her we’re married?”

Jesse laughed. “Shall I answer your questions in that order?  Fine: yes and yes.”

Charlie gave him a playful swat on the shoulder.  “Scoundrel!”

“She said Roy’s in hiding because he’s afraid of my calling him out.  When I told her we’d married, she slammed the door in my face.”

Charlie had that excited look on her face that told him she had news, too. “I got to meet your friend, Judd, today.”  Her smile faded.  “He came over to tell us he’d spotted two people messing around our house one morning while we were traveling. He said they scampered away when they saw him. Naturally, I told him about our break-in, and it shocked him.  He invited me over to meet his wife, Molly, one day.  I like Judd.”

“Did he wonder who you were?” Jesse asked.

“No, he sent his congratulations.  He ran into Sean in town and heard the news.”

“I figured—small towns and all.  I wanted to tell him myself, though.”

Charlie’s eyes lit up again.  “I’d offer you a second helping of chicken and dumplings, but I want you to have plenty of room for dessert.”

“You made a dessert?  I’ll soon be too heavy for my horse, at this rate.”

Jesse went over his day while in bed that night.  Should he go to Sterling’s Mill to look for the coward?  He knew he felt genuine feelings for Charlie.  He’d never enjoyed coming home so much in his life, and she sure kept things lively.  He also loved her vivacious personality; how could anyone be depressed around Charlie?

While Jesse was in town getting supplies, Charlie decided it was time to give the house a good cleaning.  She scrubbed the floors, dusted, and washed the windows.  She concluded that in all the time Jesse had lived there, he’d never cleaned.  She smiled.  That only meant he needed her.  She felt so happy that she hummed as she worked.

  A knock on the door jarred her from her scrubbing, and she wiped her hands on her apron and answered the door.

“Sophia!” she exclaimed.  “Come in.  What a delightful surprise.”

Sophia took a seat, and Charlie put the kettle on for tea.

“I just had to tell someone, and we’ve always shared our news.”

Charlie hadn’t seen her sister this excited in ages.  “Do tell.”

“We have consummated our marriage,” she said excitedly.  “Isn’t that part of married life wonderful?”

Charlie sat. “I... um... wouldn’t know about that yet.”

“You and Jesse haven’t... ”

“No.  We are in love... but, you see,” Charlie stalled to think up a good reason, “we thought we’d wait until we know each other better.”

“What?” Sophia said.

“Well, it all happened so fast.  We fell in love, and of course, we kissed and all that, but we both decided that we didn’t know each other well enough yet.”  Charlie felt relieved when Sophie nodded.  It meant she believed her, although her story was close to the truth.

 “Sophia, let’s keep this between us, all right?”

When Jesse came home, she relayed the conversation she'd had with Sophia to him as she helped him put away the supplies.  “It wasn’t a big untruth.”

“Of course, it wasn’t.  You did well.”

 “What’s this?” Charlie held up a large ham bone.  “Did you want me to make pea soup?”

“Not exactly.  I’ve brought you home a little surprise.  Are you ready?”

Excitedly, she asked, “Do I need to close my eyes?”

“No.  It’s outside.  Come and see.”  He took her hand and walked her out to the horse shed. Tied to the shed was the cutest dog she’d ever seen.

“Oh, Jesse!  Can we keep her?”

“Him.  We can keep him. I bought him for you.  I want you protected when I’m not at home.”

Charlie bent down to pet the dog, and he licked her hand while wagging his tail excitedly.

“This doesn’t mean you’re going to leave me for days or anything, does it?” she asked Jesse.

“It’s not in my immediate future, but I don’t know for sure what I’ll be doing for a living,” he told her.

She continued to play with the dog, but most of her excitement had abated.  “Can I name him?”

“He’s yours.”

“Is he a German Shepherd?”

“Yes.  He’s about a year old.  His owner, Carl Whitman, hated to part with him, but he said that once the dog went with me, he’d know his new owner, and as long as you’re with me, you are, too.  However, any strangers are fair game for him.”

“Shep.  I’m naming him Shep.”  She hugged the dog.  “Thank you, Jesse.”

“We’ll need a watchdog because gossip has it that Roy is back in town.”

Chapter Twelve

Sean McMullen answered a knock on his door to find Roy Barkley leaning on his porch railing.

“Roy!” he greeted. “What can I do for you?”

“Howdy, Sean.  How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

Roy stood, shuffling his feet. “I need a huge favor.  I need to borrow two dollars.”  He added in a desperate voice, “I’ll pay you back on payday.”

 “Payday?” Sean scratched his head.  “Do you have a job?”

“Yes, at the Sterling’s