Read Online An Improper Situation (Sanborn-Malloy Historical Romance Series, Book One) by Sydney Jane Baily - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sydney Jane Baily
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bite of the treat.
She sighed. How could the man be so dim?
“That the odd female writer has a man of no relation and two children staying with her.”
“At least the children are relatives,” he offered, but it was clearly not meant to ease her mind, and Charlotte grasped that he’d known all along what was worrying her. And he was amused!
“ It’s not funny, Mr. Malloy. I have to live here. What if my neighbors want to ride me out of town on a rail?”
Perhaps he was trying to look serious but he was failing. He finished up the tart in two more bites.
“I didn’t think you cared a fig for what people thought of you. They all think you’re eccentric anyway, don’t they?”
That hurt. What’s more, she did care. She longed to fit in, if only she knew how. She had feared for years that it was too late, that any attempts by her to enter into the social life of Spring City would be rebuffed and she would be laughed at.
But what did Reed Malloy think? That she was odd, that she didn’t care about anyone else’s opinion? Did he think she was made of stone?
The expression on her face must have been morose, indeed, for he came to crouch before the swing, his eyes locked on hers.
“I was only teasing. I’m sure that the good people of Spring City think that you’re as upstanding and straight-laced as they are. Even more so, since you live the life of a hermit.”
She winced. “I never meant to be a hermit.”
She tried to laugh as if none of his words mattered. But failing dismally, she lowered her eyes and started to play with the red cloth covering the basket on her lap.
“What did you intend for your life? You don’t like being thought of as odd or as a hermit or a wanton.” He was speaking so plainly, he deserved an honest answer.
“ I guess, at this point, I’d settle for ordinary.”
Without warning, his hand was on her chin, raising her face and forcing her to look at him. “That you’ll never be, lady writer. Don’t pretend to be any different from who you are, but,” and he paused, seeming to search her green gaze for the very essence of her being, “don’t hide from what life has to offer either. There’s more to the world, Miss Sanborn, than this homestead outside of a little town called Spring City.”
He was going to kiss her. She knew it, absolutely, from the look on his face to the intensity in his sky-blue eyes. His hand was still on her chin. All he had to do was hold her there and then bring his mouth a little closer.
“ We’re hungry,” came Lily’s call from just inside the screen door.
Charlotte gasped and she watched Reed’s eyes widen slightly with surprise. Then he smiled.
“As for the rumors, they’ll all blow over,” he paused, fixing her with that sparkling gaze once more, filled with mischievous laughter, “or maybe we’ll give them a real reason to gossip.”
With that threatening statement, he took the basket from her, retrieved his own, and left her alone on the porch, her pulse still racing.
Charlotte stared after him, trying to calm the flutter that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her stomach.
Chapter Five
The peculiarity of having them in her home began to wear off by the following week. The awkwardness of running into Reed Malloy as she went to the water closet or came out of the bathing room in her father’s banyan, of finding a man’s razor by the bathtub and little girl’s stockings in the wash bowl—all of it had happened and been passed over and was now being ignored as if it had always taken place.
Amazing, as far as Charlotte was concerned, was that items, broken for years, were fixed as if by magic, such as the hole in the study floor and the cracked stair tread. She would hear Reed whistling outside with a saw in one hand, the kids sitting nearby chatting with him, and then by the end of the day, the work was done. She always thanked him, which he would shrug off, giving her an enigmatic
She sighed. How could the man be so dim?
“That the odd female writer has a man of no relation and two children staying with her.”
“At least the children are relatives,” he offered, but it was clearly not meant to ease her mind, and Charlotte grasped that he’d known all along what was worrying her. And he was amused!
“ It’s not funny, Mr. Malloy. I have to live here. What if my neighbors want to ride me out of town on a rail?”
Perhaps he was trying to look serious but he was failing. He finished up the tart in two more bites.
“I didn’t think you cared a fig for what people thought of you. They all think you’re eccentric anyway, don’t they?”
That hurt. What’s more, she did care. She longed to fit in, if only she knew how. She had feared for years that it was too late, that any attempts by her to enter into the social life of Spring City would be rebuffed and she would be laughed at.
But what did Reed Malloy think? That she was odd, that she didn’t care about anyone else’s opinion? Did he think she was made of stone?
The expression on her face must have been morose, indeed, for he came to crouch before the swing, his eyes locked on hers.
“I was only teasing. I’m sure that the good people of Spring City think that you’re as upstanding and straight-laced as they are. Even more so, since you live the life of a hermit.”
She winced. “I never meant to be a hermit.”
She tried to laugh as if none of his words mattered. But failing dismally, she lowered her eyes and started to play with the red cloth covering the basket on her lap.
“What did you intend for your life? You don’t like being thought of as odd or as a hermit or a wanton.” He was speaking so plainly, he deserved an honest answer.
“ I guess, at this point, I’d settle for ordinary.”
Without warning, his hand was on her chin, raising her face and forcing her to look at him. “That you’ll never be, lady writer. Don’t pretend to be any different from who you are, but,” and he paused, seeming to search her green gaze for the very essence of her being, “don’t hide from what life has to offer either. There’s more to the world, Miss Sanborn, than this homestead outside of a little town called Spring City.”
He was going to kiss her. She knew it, absolutely, from the look on his face to the intensity in his sky-blue eyes. His hand was still on her chin. All he had to do was hold her there and then bring his mouth a little closer.
“ We’re hungry,” came Lily’s call from just inside the screen door.
Charlotte gasped and she watched Reed’s eyes widen slightly with surprise. Then he smiled.
“As for the rumors, they’ll all blow over,” he paused, fixing her with that sparkling gaze once more, filled with mischievous laughter, “or maybe we’ll give them a real reason to gossip.”
With that threatening statement, he took the basket from her, retrieved his own, and left her alone on the porch, her pulse still racing.
Charlotte stared after him, trying to calm the flutter that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her stomach.
Chapter Five
The peculiarity of having them in her home began to wear off by the following week. The awkwardness of running into Reed Malloy as she went to the water closet or came out of the bathing room in her father’s banyan, of finding a man’s razor by the bathtub and little girl’s stockings in the wash bowl—all of it had happened and been passed over and was now being ignored as if it had always taken place.
Amazing, as far as Charlotte was concerned, was that items, broken for years, were fixed as if by magic, such as the hole in the study floor and the cracked stair tread. She would hear Reed whistling outside with a saw in one hand, the kids sitting nearby chatting with him, and then by the end of the day, the work was done. She always thanked him, which he would shrug off, giving her an enigmatic
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