A Bride for Cameron by Barbara Goss (read novels website .txt) 📗

with her.  That left only one thing for her to do.  She decided to stay, but she hadn’t made up her mind how to get over her anger and disappointment at Cameron.  She’d married a truly dishonest man.

She was thankful that when she walked into the dining room,  only the children were sitting at the table.  Hannah wasn’t ready to deal with Cameron yet, and she had no idea of how she would.

“Bessie’s making us pancakes,” Annabelle said excitedly.  “I love pancakes.”

“Me,  too!” Georgie chimed in.

Hannah took a seat and inhaled.  “They smell heavenly.”

“Father went to work already,” Annabelle said.

“Yes, I suppose he has loads of work to do at his office.”

Bessie came in then with a plate full of steaming hot pancakes.  “Good morning,  Mrs. Hart. I hope you slept well.”

“I’ve slept better.  I think I missed that evening walk. It tires me out.”

“Well, it’s warm and sunny today.  I’ll bring your drinks out.”  Bessie disappeared back into the kitchen.

“What will we do today, Mama?”

Before she could answer,  Cameron walked in.  “We’re going on a picnic!” he said before even closing the door behind him. “Your nanny can’t make it today.”

Both children squealed with delight.

Hannah wasn’t sure how to react,  so she sat staring at Cameron, unsure of what to say.

“Mama, should I tell Bessie to pack a basket?”

“That’s an excellent idea, Annabelle.  Take Georgie with you.”

When the children disappeared into the kitchen,  Hannah said calmly,  “I imagine this picnic will begin at noon?”

Cameron nodded.

“Make sure you have them back by half-past one.  Georgie needs a nap, and Annabelle has schoolwork to do.”

Cameron sighed loudly.  “So,  you won’t go on the picnic with us.”

Hannah shook her head.

Cameron sat down at the table across from her.  “What can I do to make amends for what I’ve done?  I’ll do anything. I know that together we can get through this.”

Hannah bit her bottom lip as she wondered if now were the time to tell him how she felt.  She’d just formed the words when the children burst into the room.

“Bessie said the basket will be ready by noon.”  Annabelle and Georgie sat back down at the table to finish their breakfast.

Hannah had lost her appetite.  She pushed from the table and said to the children,  “You can go to your playroom before your picnic, but when you get back, it’s naptime for Georgie and schoolwork for you,  Annabelle.”

“You aren’t coming on the picnic, Mama?” Annabella asked.

 ““No, sweetheart.  Mama has a headache and needs to rest for a few hours.”

Once upstairs in her room, Hannah lay on her bed and wept.  The hurt she'd seen in Cameron’s eyes had gotten to her.  She had to remain strong,  though, because she knew she could never trust a man who lied as he had.

Still, how could she leave the children, especially when she truly loved them?

Hannah pounded her pillow. Just when she’d begun to like Cameron Hart.

Chapter Thirteen

After Cameron and the children had left, Hannah told Bessie she was going visiting.  “If Cameron doesn’t mind the children, Georgie needs a nap, and I have schoolwork set out for Annabelle in the playroom.”

“Yes. I’ll keep my eye on them.  Don’t you worry,”  Bessie said.

When Chloe Wilson opened the door,  she smiled.  “I was hoping you’d stop by again.”

“I happen to love your tea,” Hannah said.

Chloe led her to the kitchen.  “I’m not much of a cook or baker, but my neighbor brought over a coffee cake yesterday,  and it’s very good.” Chloe cut a piece for Hannah and poured them both a cup of tea.

“That worthless sheriff was here this morning.  I don’t like that man,” Chloe said.

“Asking questions about the murder?”

“No,” Chloe answered.  “He wanted to know why you were visiting both Mrs. Monroe and me.  I told him you and I were friends, and it was none of his business.”

Hannah shook her head.  “Now, why would he care?”

Chloe shrugged.  “Does Mr. Hart—I mean, Cameron—mind you visiting me?”

Hannah sipped the hot tea as she thought about her answer. “Oh, you know how men are.  He’s worried about my reputation.  I told him that I liked you,  and I’d pick my own friends.”

“Good for you.”  Chloe’s face grew serious,  and she fingered her cup nervously. “I’m not as bad as people think.”

“Tell me about you and your life, Chloe.”

“Are you sure you want to hear it?  It’s not a happy tale,  and I don’t want to spoil a happy visit.”

“I want to know all about you. I sense a very good person inside of you that has somehow just gotten off on the wrong path in life.”

Chloe’s lips trembled.  “Where to start?  I grew up in an orphanage and haven’t an inkling who I am or where I’m from.  I left there at eighteen.  The home got me a job in a hotel in Kansas City.  I washed dishes and scrubbed floors.  One of the maids there, Peggy, told me she was leaving to take a job in Hunter’s Grove,  and that the pay was a lot more than what I was making.  She said it was a saloon job.

“When we arrived,  the woman who’d offered Peggy the job, Lilah, said the saloon wasn’t hiring,  but she was.  Somehow, naïve as we were, we ended up at Lilah’s.  At first, I cleaned the house, but Peggy went right upstairs,  and she’d show me all the money she’d made.  Then,  one day,  Lilah offered me a job upstairs.  I was afraid, but what else in life did I have to look forward to, and who was there to be disappointed in me? There was no one, so I took the job.

“My first customer was an older man,  and I got scared at the last moment and