Read Online Instant Prairie Family (Love Inspired Historical) by Bonnie Navarro - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bonnie Navarro
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with my bedding first? Then we’ll see what time it is. Maybe your pa wants you to be in bed soon.”
She sought a confirming look from her employer but found him silently staring at her. “How ’bout we talk in just a minute, once you’re done getting the bedding?” he suggested, and turned back to the dishes before she could answer.
* * *
Her new room smelled fresher now. She stood back and inspected her work... Well, the work she did after the boys “helped” her to make her bed. One more thing she would need to add to her list of lessons for them. Mr. Hopkins had come into the room with a bed key and tightened the ropes under the mattress so it no longer sagged. She closed the window most of the way, leaving only a crack open so the air could continue to circulate without the bugs eating her alive.
“Excuse me, Miss Stewart. Did you want me to put your chest and boxes in your room now or leave them here?” Mr. Hopkins stood right outside her door, awaiting her answer. He took up the majority of the doorway with his broad shoulders and muscled forearms perched on each side of the door frame.
“If you could bring them in here, that would be very nice. Thank you. You could put them right there.” She pointed to the corner under the window and moved so he could get past her even as the boys climbed onto the bed.
“Boys, it’s time to go get ready for bed.” His statement was met with groans, but neither boy argued as they left the room. He looked up to see her watching and grinned as if he knew a secret.
“Now,” he whispered, “Tommy will be back in five seconds to ask if you can read—”
“Pa, can Auntie House read to us?” Tommy shuffled back into the room right on time.
Abby fought not to laugh out loud as Mr. Hopkins gave her a knowing glance and a wink above
Tommy’s head.
“I was about to talk to her about that, but if you don’t get ready for bed, there won’t be time for anything other than prayers.” His voice was as stern as ever and didn’t give away the humor Abby read in his eyes.
“But she could come for prayers, couldn’t she?” Tommy persisted.
“Tomas Daniel,” Mr. Hopkins said in a deep, low voice.
“Yes, Pa. I’m going but, please.” The boy was close to whining.
“Go get ready for bed.” The command left no room for argument.
Tommy left the room, walking like a man sentenced to face the firing squad. Abby watched him walk away and then turned to find Mr. Hopkins watching her with a guarded expression, the lighthearted humor forgotten.
“You don’t have to go upstairs and help with bedtime, Miss Stewart. You’ve done more than I expected today. Is there anything you need?”
Disappointment sliced through her. Why should it matter if she helped the boys into bed or not? But it did. She wanted to hear the prayers and kiss their foreheads just as she had done with her nieces and nephews for the last fourteen years.
“I would love to read them a story if it’s all right with you.” She bit her lower lip, trying to find a nice way to imply that he might not want her involved in such a private family time. “I don’t know your routine with the boys. What they do at bedtime or what you will expect me to do in the days to come.”
“Well, it will take some time to get used to having a woman around here again,” he stated cryptically.
“I imagine. I was wondering... I don’t want to ask anything that’s none of my business, but just how long has it been since a woman lived here?”
A shadow passed over his face for a minute and she held her breath, afraid she had just offended her employer on her first day there.
“It’s been two years since my wife’s aunt left.” His vague answer left her with more questions instead of answers. Did the boys still miss their great-aunt? How much time would she have to work here before the end of the harvest? Should she hold them at arm’s length so that when she left, they wouldn’t miss her too much?
She sought a confirming look from her employer but found him silently staring at her. “How ’bout we talk in just a minute, once you’re done getting the bedding?” he suggested, and turned back to the dishes before she could answer.
* * *
Her new room smelled fresher now. She stood back and inspected her work... Well, the work she did after the boys “helped” her to make her bed. One more thing she would need to add to her list of lessons for them. Mr. Hopkins had come into the room with a bed key and tightened the ropes under the mattress so it no longer sagged. She closed the window most of the way, leaving only a crack open so the air could continue to circulate without the bugs eating her alive.
“Excuse me, Miss Stewart. Did you want me to put your chest and boxes in your room now or leave them here?” Mr. Hopkins stood right outside her door, awaiting her answer. He took up the majority of the doorway with his broad shoulders and muscled forearms perched on each side of the door frame.
“If you could bring them in here, that would be very nice. Thank you. You could put them right there.” She pointed to the corner under the window and moved so he could get past her even as the boys climbed onto the bed.
“Boys, it’s time to go get ready for bed.” His statement was met with groans, but neither boy argued as they left the room. He looked up to see her watching and grinned as if he knew a secret.
“Now,” he whispered, “Tommy will be back in five seconds to ask if you can read—”
“Pa, can Auntie House read to us?” Tommy shuffled back into the room right on time.
Abby fought not to laugh out loud as Mr. Hopkins gave her a knowing glance and a wink above
Tommy’s head.
“I was about to talk to her about that, but if you don’t get ready for bed, there won’t be time for anything other than prayers.” His voice was as stern as ever and didn’t give away the humor Abby read in his eyes.
“But she could come for prayers, couldn’t she?” Tommy persisted.
“Tomas Daniel,” Mr. Hopkins said in a deep, low voice.
“Yes, Pa. I’m going but, please.” The boy was close to whining.
“Go get ready for bed.” The command left no room for argument.
Tommy left the room, walking like a man sentenced to face the firing squad. Abby watched him walk away and then turned to find Mr. Hopkins watching her with a guarded expression, the lighthearted humor forgotten.
“You don’t have to go upstairs and help with bedtime, Miss Stewart. You’ve done more than I expected today. Is there anything you need?”
Disappointment sliced through her. Why should it matter if she helped the boys into bed or not? But it did. She wanted to hear the prayers and kiss their foreheads just as she had done with her nieces and nephews for the last fourteen years.
“I would love to read them a story if it’s all right with you.” She bit her lower lip, trying to find a nice way to imply that he might not want her involved in such a private family time. “I don’t know your routine with the boys. What they do at bedtime or what you will expect me to do in the days to come.”
“Well, it will take some time to get used to having a woman around here again,” he stated cryptically.
“I imagine. I was wondering... I don’t want to ask anything that’s none of my business, but just how long has it been since a woman lived here?”
A shadow passed over his face for a minute and she held her breath, afraid she had just offended her employer on her first day there.
“It’s been two years since my wife’s aunt left.” His vague answer left her with more questions instead of answers. Did the boys still miss their great-aunt? How much time would she have to work here before the end of the harvest? Should she hold them at arm’s length so that when she left, they wouldn’t miss her too much?
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