Read Online Allie's Moon by Alexis Harrington - Free Book Online

usual;
good lord, it was nearly eight o’clock, Althea noted when she
glanced up at the parlor clock. Getting Jeff Hicks fed and settled
were tasks that she hadn’t anticipated.
    Olivia had made the dinner biscuits in an
effort to be helpful, and Althea took one, but eating it was a
labor of love. Olivia could try her patience down to its last
fiber, and then she’d do something sweet like making these biscuits
or ironing. Unfortunately, Olivia had no talent for the domestic
arts. Althea owned several chemises with large, iron-shaped scorch
marks that Olivia had branded upon them, and her biscuits could be
used for cannonballs.
    On her plate, Althea mashed a boiled potato
with her fork. “We do know something about him. He was the sheriff
and he needs the work. We certainly need the help. Anyway, Will
Mason recommended him, and I think that counts for something.”
Althea kept her own misgivings and Will’s reasons for the
recommendation to herself. Olivia would probably fuss and worry too
much if she knew the details. “Besides, he won’t look so
disreputable after he’s cleaned up. I’ll give him a haircut and
he’ll look better.”
    Her sister dropped her knife on her plate
with a clatter. “You’re going to touch him?” she whispered. “Do you
think you should? After all, he’s a man—I mean isn’t it
indecent?”
    Althea didn’t know whether to laugh or frown.
Olivia was even more innocent than Althea, and her own experience
with men was limited to serving dinner to Lane Smithfield. “Cutting
a man’s hair isn’t indecent. I used to cut Father’s hair.”
    “ But that was different. He was, well,
he was a relative.”
    Now she did laugh. “Don’t worry, Olivia.
Cutting Mr. Hicks’ hair isn’t going to jeopardize my reputation or
my immortal soul. If I have to deal with him, I want him to look
tidy.”
    Olivia took a nibble of her biscuit. “Well, I
hope he won’t be here long. You know how difficult it is for me to
adjust to changes.” She looked up, her expression emphatic. “We’ll
still have our picnic, won’t we? I mean, we don’t have to invite
him, do we?”
    Althea took a sip of her coffee. “Of course
not. Jeff Hicks is a handyman, Olivia, not our guest. Except for
eating his own lunch, he’ll be busy working while we picnic.”
    Olivia took up her knife again. “All right.
You won’t forget to make the tea sandwiches and potato salad, will
you?”
    A picnic was not something Althea really had
time for. She had ironing to do, and the rugs needed to be beaten,
aired, and put in storage. The graves needed weeding and that was a
task that she could not delegate to Jeff Hicks or anyone else. But
to keep Olivia happy, she would set aside her other chores. “No, I
won’t forget. I’ll get up early to fix them.”
    There would be no needlepoint tonight. By the
time the dishes were washed, Althea was ready to fall into bed. It
had been a very long day and tomorrow promised to be just as
tiring.
    But when she turned down the wick on her
bedside lamp, Althea found her mind on the man staying in the
lean-to. She didn’t know what to think of Jefferson Hicks; he
wouldn’t meet her gaze, he didn’t speak unless directly questioned,
and then he responded in short, clipped sentences. Although she
knew it was none of her business, it bothered her that he was
squandering his life on dissolution. Despite his grubby appearance,
something about him touched her—he looked as if neither he nor
anyone else in the world cared one whit about him.
    Althea knew that feeling very well.
    ~~*~*~*~~
    Late that night Jeff lay on top of the bed
he’d just finished making in the little lean-to. It was only an old
corn husk mattress that Althea had given him, but the sheets were
clean and he didn’t feel right about crawling between them without
a bath. He figured he’d take one at dawn, when he could see his way
to the trough.
    He’d been lying here a long time watching a
moth bump restlessly around