Read Online A Creed Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller - Free Book Online Page A

looked, he saw that she was smiling. Her eyes glistened a little, though.
    Seeing he was watching her, Juliana turned quickly and busied herself scraping the last of the stew from the kettle into a bowl and basically herding a clearly charmed Wes over to the table.
    She didn’t even make him wash up, which might have galled Lincoln a little, if he hadn’t been so busy thinking what a fine daughter he and Beth had brought into the world.
    Although Wes loved his woman, Kate, and to Lincoln’s knowledge his brother hadn’t been unfaithful from theday the two of them had taken up with each other, his amber-colored eyes trailed Juliana’s every movement, danced with mischief whenever he met Lincoln’s gaze.
    He knew , damn it. Wes knew Juliana had his younger brother’s insides in a tangle, and he was bound to rib him without mercy.
    “You’d better spend the night,” Lincoln said to his brother, even though, at the moment, that was about the last thing he wanted. “Snow’s coming down hard.”
    Wes shook his head, shifted slightly so Gracie could plant herself on his knee. “I’ve gotta get back. Poker game.”
    It wasn’t long before he’d finished his meal and said goodbye to Gracie. This, too, was like Wes—he’d been uncomfortable in the house since Dawson died. Once, he’d even confided privately that he half expected their murdered brother to tap him on the shoulder from behind.
    Gracie went off in search of the other children, and Tom and Joseph were still outside plucking turkeys. Avoiding Juliana’s eyes, just as he sensed she was avoiding his, Lincoln put his coat on again, followed Wes into the cold and walked alongside him toward the barn.
    About midway, Wes chuckled and shook his head, then gave a low whistle. He hadn’t even hesitated whenhis horse and mule weren’t where he’d left them; he knew Lincoln would have attended to anything he’d left undone.
    “What?” Lincoln asked, sounding peevish because he knew what the answer would be.
    “You,” Wes said happily, snow gathering on his hair and shoulders and eyelashes again. “Every time you looked at that schoolmarm, I thought I was going to have to roll your tongue up like a rug and shove it back in your mouth.”
    Lincoln felt his neck warm. He was half again too stubborn to honor Wes’s good-natured taunt with a reply of any kind.
    Wes laughed outright then, and slapped Lincoln hard on the back as they slogged heavily through the snow. “She’s smitten with you, little brother,” he went on. “I figured I’d better tell you that, since you can be a mite thickheaded when it comes to women.”
    “I suppose you’re an expert?” Lincoln bit out, raising his collar again. Damn, it was colder than a well-digger’s ass. If he could have willed green grass to sprout up right through the snow, he would have done it.
    Wes laughed again. “If you don’t believe me, just ask Kate,” he said lightly.
    Lincoln happened to like Kate, even if she was a “light-skirt,” as his old-fashioned mother put it, but he wasn’t about to put any questions to her, especially when it came to something that personal.
    He was silent until they entered the barn, now nearly dark. Both of them knew every inch of the place, and neither of them hesitated to let their eyes adjust to the lack of light.
    “Thanks,” Lincoln said awkwardly. “For the tree, I mean.”
    Wes found his horse and opened the stall door, began saddling up. “That was for Gracie,” he said. “You want me to stop by Willand’s Mercantile and get some presents for those other kids?”
    The offer touched Lincoln. “No,” he said, his voice sounding gruff. “Ma laid in a good supply of stuff before she left. There’ll be plenty to go around.”
    Wes nodded. “That’s good,” he said.
    “I guess you must have seen Ma recently?” Lincoln ventured. Their mother was a sore spot between them; Lincoln accepted that she was a little on the irritating side, while Wes still