Read Online Autumn's Angel by Robin Lee Hatcher - Free Book Online Page B

scent of her cologne lingered. Clay found it an oddly disturbing fragrance. Earthy. Sensual. Unforgettable. At last it drove him out the back door of the theater where he stopped and filled his lungs with fresh autumn air.
    â€œEthan, keep your eye on the ball.”
    Clay turned in the direction of Merry Browne’s voice. On the vacant land south of the house, Merry prepared to throw a ball toward her brother who held a bat high and behind his head. Some distance in back of Ethan, Elsie waited to chase the ball if he missed it.
    Baseball. A sport that had grown in popularity from coast to coast. During the war, he’d participated in many friendly games with other Union soldiers. Those games had helped keep boredom at bay and his mind off of blood and death and the acrid smell of smoke that could linger in a man’s nostrils long after battles were over.
    He walked toward the Browne children.
    Merry threw the ball. Ethan swung at it and missed. Elsie chased after it.
    â€œYou need to widen your stance,” Clay called to the boy.
    Ethan straightened and looked Clay’s way, suspicion in his eyes. “You ever played baseball?”
    â€œAs a matter of fact, yes. I have.”
    â€œWhen?”
    Clay took Ethan by the upper arms and angled the boy’s shoulder toward Merry. “Back when you were still in diapers.” He couldn’t see Ethan’s frown, but he knew it was there all the same. “I’ve even seen the Chicago White Stockings play.”
    Ethan looked up and behind, skepticism giving over to excitement. “You have?”
    â€œYep.” Clay turned the boy’s head forward. “Your feet need to be a few inches wider than your shoulders. There. That’s good. Keep a bit more weight on your right foot. Bend your knees a little. A little more. Now hold the bat about here. That’s right. Keep your head steady.” He backed away from Ethan and stepped off to the side. “Okay, Merry. Throw him a good one. Ethan, be ready for it. Don’t try to hit it too hard. That’ll come later.”
    The boy missed Merry’s first pitch, but he connected with the ball the next time, surprising his older sister as well as himself.
    â€œThat’s it!” Clay shouted. “You did it!”
    Looking as proud as if he’d hit the ball over the roof of the theater, Ethan held the bat toward Clay. “You do it, Mr. Birch.”
    â€œMaybe later. Right now I’m hungry. I thought I’d fix something for lunch.” He turned on his heel and started toward the house. To his surprise, the three Browne children left their game and followed him inside.
    Merry said, “Aunt Vena was going to make lunch after she finished writing to the Hitching Post catalogue.”
    Clay stopped in the middle of the kitchen. “The Hitching Post ? Why was she writing to them?”
    â€œSame reason as before.” Merry shrugged. “To find herself a husband.”
    â€œTo find herself a husband .”
    The words reverberated through Clay.
    â€œTo find herself a husband .”
    So what had he thought she would do? He’d offered her and the children this house to live in temporarily. He was paying her a modest salary, one he could ill afford to pay. And he’d promised her a bonus if the opera house turned a good enough profit after its opening—which would take a miracle. Short-term fixes, all of them.
    â€œTo find herself a husband .”
    When he’d burst into the office a short while ago, proclaiming the good news about Ada May Innsbruck, he’d wanted nothing more than to pick Luvena up and spin her around in celebration. Well, maybe he’d wanted one thing more than to spin her around. He’d wanted to kiss her. Truth was, whenever he was with Luvena, he wanted to kiss her. Sometimes when he wasn’t with her, he still thought about kissing her.
    â€œTo find herself a husband .”
    It wouldn’t be