Read Online Katie: Bride of Virginia (American Mail-Order Brides 10) by Sylvia McDaniel - Free Book Online Page A

there and not spend so much time digging up old hurts. First Katie, then Frank and even his mother seemed to hang on to that dreadful situation. Why couldn't they all just think about today and not concentrate on the past.
    “Great! I'm fixing eggs for breakfast. How many would you like?”
    “None. I need to get on the road.”
    “Oh, where are you going?”
    “I'm going into town to buy lumber for new racks for the barrels that will be arriving soon,” he said trying to think of a way to bring up the missing money.
    Katie's eyes narrowed and she frowned. The memories of Eloise getting mad because he'd forgotten to ask her to go to town with him, returned. Obviously, he'd not learned his lesson. And now his current wife was going to be upset with him.
    “It would have been nice to know you were going to town. There might have been some things I'm needing or I might even like to go with you,” she said.
    He frowned, knowing once again he'd not thought of his wife. “Would you like to go?”
    She shook her head, walking towards the kitchen. “No, thank you. But I will create a list of items I need and could you please go to the post office for me. I have two letters to mail.”
    “Of course,” he said feeling guilty. “How about if I promise the next time I'm going into town we'll make a day of it?”
    She smiled. “I'd love that.”
    Now he was back in semi-good graces, when moments before he'd worried she had taken the money. But if she wasn't going to town with him, what would she do with the cash if she stole it? Could she be mailing it to someone in one of those letters or both?
    But what if she had nothing to do with the missing money?
    “Someone has been in the petty cash,” he said blurting it out, hoping to see her reaction.
    She turned from making her list, her brows raised to stare at him. “And you think it was me?”
    “I don't know what to believe, but almost a hundred dollars is missing from the cash box,” he said knowing this wasn't going well for him. Why did it seem that since their wedding night, he'd done one wrong thing after another and still she hadn't yelled at him, but quietly gotten her point across.
    She shook her head. “I don't even know where you keep the cash box. Do you need money? I brought fifty dollars with me in case I needed to return to Lawrence. I'd be happy to give it to you.”
    Eloise would have screamed and yelled at him. But Katie smiled, and then shot an arrow of logic straight into his heart that made him realize he'd screwed up. The woman was kind and logical, and damn, but that hurt worse. He could tune out a raised voice, but that smile of hers twisted him in knots.
    Now he really was the worst husband ever. His wife was offering to give him money when she learned someone had stolen his cash. And he knew she couldn't have much or she would never have become a mail-order bride.
    “Thanks, but there are more funds in the bank. I just hadn't planned on stopping there today,” he said.
    “You're welcome to use my cash, if you need to,” she said giving him a big smile.
    “That's okay,” he just wanted to get going. “I know we need to talk, but if you don't mind, I want to get on the road.”
    He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “See you tonight.”
    “Sure,” she said. “Just don't wait too long, Daniel. Secrets should never be between a husband and wife.”
     
     
     
    #
    When the back door to the kitchen opened, Katie looked up from cleaning to see a strange man enter. He removed his hat. “Mrs. O'Malley, Jack Edwards, foreman, Mrs. O'Malley. Is Mr. O'Malley around?”
    A curl of uneasiness spiraled through Katie, but she drew her shoulders back and smiled at him. “I'm sorry, but he's gone into town. I'm surprised he didn't say something to you. He went for lumber for the new racks he's going to build.”
    “Oh, that's right. I completely forgot.”
    She wanted him to leave. Her husband didn't want men in the house while he was gone and