Read Online Ever After by Odessa Gillespie Black - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Odessa Gillespie Black
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couldn’t come soon enough.
* * * *
Aromas that reminded me of home led me downstairs.
Family members sneered at me as I passed them. I probably had dressed in something they’d never be seen in. A pair of casual green capris and a matching shirt that covered everything. Not nearly as bold as the me in my dream with my chest falling out of a dress.
I had brushed my unruly curls up into something that resembled a style and topped it off with lip gloss and mascara. I didn’t normally bother with those things, but this guy was worth it, even if he was mean and standoffish. If Cole thought I was beautiful after a plane ride and a roll down a hill, maybe he could move from possibly being attracted to unable to keep his hands off me in a day.
In the dining room, children laughed, parents reprimanded, and forks clinked. I avoided them and ducked into the kitchen where I met Nancy, a round, elderly woman whose only joy in life was cooking for the staff and guests.
In the hospital-sterile scullery, stainless steel counters and restaurant grade appliances spanned the walls. A small table with ten chairs—small compared to the thirty-person table in the dining hall—sat in the middle.
“This is where the staff members take their meals. You don’t mind to eat with us?” Nancy’s eyes were large.
“I’d rather eat with y’all than be eaten by the vultures in the other room. They keep giving me mean looks.” I winced with a half-hearted smile.
“I like you.” She nodded, pulling a plate out of the pantry.
It was massive, food on one side and dishes for every sort of occasion on the other side. An old, wooden table that would seat about as many as the table in the dining hall sat in the center of the room. It wasn’t carved and fancy, but it was nice.
“Three helpings of everything. I know,” Nancy said.
Confused, I started to reply, but a man’s grunt followed.
Cole staggered to the other side of the table. He jerked a chair out and plopped down, forehead to hand. Not a word. Not a glance.
“Headache?” Nancy slapped stuff on his plate.
“Something like that.” He glanced pointedly at me and went back to face-in-the-palm.
“If I’m that much of a bother, I’m sure you could find someone else to show me around. Maybe Dalton?”
“Sure. Whatever. He seems like your type,” Cole said.
Nancy’s head wagged back and forth between us, her brow furrowed.
“Cole Kinsley. That’s no way to talk to ladies or your employer.” She sounded motherly. “You better watch that mouth.”
Cole’s mouth pinched shut.
Nancy turned to fill another plate, grumbling all the while.
Cole cut his eyes at her but didn’t dare sass back. He swiped up his fork.
Instead of handing an overloaded plate to me so I could take it elsewhere, she made it a point to place it directly across from Cole.
“This is Cole’s attitude adjustment. After he eats, you’ll hear a change in his tune.” Nancy gave me an apologetic smile and patted Cole on the shoulder. “I keep telling you, you’re going to have to slow down on all that food. One day that metabolism is going to slow, and all those calories and cholesterol are going catch up with you. You’ll never find a wife if you’re fat and mean.”
“A wife is the last of my concerns. I work off the food when I’m actually working. I had things to get accomplished today.” Cole aimed an irritable look at me. With a mouthful of food, he forced something that could have been a grin. “You should trade with me for a day. I can cook.”
Wow. He made jokes.
He made an awful giggle-snort through the food in his mouth. Manners weren’t his strong point.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full. You’re hopeless.” She clucked her tongue and then turned to me. “My dear, if you’d like seconds, you should probably put in for them now. Cole can down some food.”
I stared fearfully at Cole’s plate. Could he really eat all that?
He gave her that little eye gesture
* * * *
Aromas that reminded me of home led me downstairs.
Family members sneered at me as I passed them. I probably had dressed in something they’d never be seen in. A pair of casual green capris and a matching shirt that covered everything. Not nearly as bold as the me in my dream with my chest falling out of a dress.
I had brushed my unruly curls up into something that resembled a style and topped it off with lip gloss and mascara. I didn’t normally bother with those things, but this guy was worth it, even if he was mean and standoffish. If Cole thought I was beautiful after a plane ride and a roll down a hill, maybe he could move from possibly being attracted to unable to keep his hands off me in a day.
In the dining room, children laughed, parents reprimanded, and forks clinked. I avoided them and ducked into the kitchen where I met Nancy, a round, elderly woman whose only joy in life was cooking for the staff and guests.
In the hospital-sterile scullery, stainless steel counters and restaurant grade appliances spanned the walls. A small table with ten chairs—small compared to the thirty-person table in the dining hall—sat in the middle.
“This is where the staff members take their meals. You don’t mind to eat with us?” Nancy’s eyes were large.
“I’d rather eat with y’all than be eaten by the vultures in the other room. They keep giving me mean looks.” I winced with a half-hearted smile.
“I like you.” She nodded, pulling a plate out of the pantry.
It was massive, food on one side and dishes for every sort of occasion on the other side. An old, wooden table that would seat about as many as the table in the dining hall sat in the center of the room. It wasn’t carved and fancy, but it was nice.
“Three helpings of everything. I know,” Nancy said.
Confused, I started to reply, but a man’s grunt followed.
Cole staggered to the other side of the table. He jerked a chair out and plopped down, forehead to hand. Not a word. Not a glance.
“Headache?” Nancy slapped stuff on his plate.
“Something like that.” He glanced pointedly at me and went back to face-in-the-palm.
“If I’m that much of a bother, I’m sure you could find someone else to show me around. Maybe Dalton?”
“Sure. Whatever. He seems like your type,” Cole said.
Nancy’s head wagged back and forth between us, her brow furrowed.
“Cole Kinsley. That’s no way to talk to ladies or your employer.” She sounded motherly. “You better watch that mouth.”
Cole’s mouth pinched shut.
Nancy turned to fill another plate, grumbling all the while.
Cole cut his eyes at her but didn’t dare sass back. He swiped up his fork.
Instead of handing an overloaded plate to me so I could take it elsewhere, she made it a point to place it directly across from Cole.
“This is Cole’s attitude adjustment. After he eats, you’ll hear a change in his tune.” Nancy gave me an apologetic smile and patted Cole on the shoulder. “I keep telling you, you’re going to have to slow down on all that food. One day that metabolism is going to slow, and all those calories and cholesterol are going catch up with you. You’ll never find a wife if you’re fat and mean.”
“A wife is the last of my concerns. I work off the food when I’m actually working. I had things to get accomplished today.” Cole aimed an irritable look at me. With a mouthful of food, he forced something that could have been a grin. “You should trade with me for a day. I can cook.”
Wow. He made jokes.
He made an awful giggle-snort through the food in his mouth. Manners weren’t his strong point.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full. You’re hopeless.” She clucked her tongue and then turned to me. “My dear, if you’d like seconds, you should probably put in for them now. Cole can down some food.”
I stared fearfully at Cole’s plate. Could he really eat all that?
He gave her that little eye gesture
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