Read Online Marrying Stone by Pamela Morsi - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Pamela Morsi
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wistfully of Cambridge and the bustle of eager students and the musty aged smell of the library. I am eager to return to the world that I know.
The family also has a daughter. Her name is Margaret.
----
CHAPTER FIVE
ROE'S MUSCLES ACHED and the back of his neck was red and scorched from the sun. He carried the bucket of fresh eggs he had collected from the wily and cantankerous old hens into the cabin.
For three days he'd been living and working like an Ozark farmer. It wasn't a role he had taken up without a bit of protest. He had tried more than once to pay Onery Best for his room and board. Cash money was clearly in short supply. Still, the old farmer had insisted that work was what they needed. So with a willingness that was born of years of fitting in at schools and among strangers, Roe had "put his hand to the plow" both figuratively and literally.
He didn't expect thanks, and he certainly didn't get it from Meggie Best. It was a curious situation—one he'd never encountered before. First she'd jumped on him as if he were her long-lost lover and now she avoided speaking to him as if he were contagious.
"Good morning," he said evenly when he saw her. No matter how remote she appeared, civility was second nature to Roe Farley. He would treat his worst enemy with politeness. Meggie Best wasn't his worst enemy.
Her vague nod of acknowledgment irritated him. He could well remember the warmth of her smile as she gazed at her brother. Though she wasn't the musician her father and brother were, it was clear she was the brightest in her family. If only she would acknowledge him, he felt they could be friends of a sort.
"Thought I'd try to be of help to you." He set the egg bucket on the chopping stump and smiled.
She nodded wordlessly.
Her iciness irked him and prompted him to teasing. "I wanted to give you more time to burn the biscuits."
She glared at him but held her tongue as her father and brother walked in the door.
"Meggie-gal," Onery said as he made his way to the table. "It's mighty early in the morning to be having a lovers' spat." The old man chuckled at his own joke.
Roe had had quite enough of that nonsense himself and took his own seat at the table.
The three men sat together every morning in the gray light to plan the day's work. Roe had come to look forward to these moments. The camaraderie of working toward a common goal and the warmth of the two men beside him were new experiences for him. His hands were already callusing over and although he knew he was yet no farmer, he was working hard and he thought he might well be shouldering his share of the work. Meggie set his tin of cornmeal mush down on the table in front of him without a word. The finely carved wooden spoon, her spoon, was dipped in the mush.
Roe murmured his thanks but when he glanced in her direction she'd already turned her back on him.
"Meggie darlin'," Onery said loudly with a teasing wink toward Roe. "Feigning disinterest is right ladylike and all, but if you don't get out of this snit, the fellow's gonna plumb lose interest in ye."
Meggie shot her father a furious look that only made him laugh harder.
"She's really quite good-natured when you get to know her," Onery told Roe.
Roe smiled and cleared his throat a little uneasily. Still, as he watched Meggie bend over to hang the cookpot back on the fireplace crane, he once more regarded the young lady with favor. She was a fine-looking woman, he thought, and she probably should have married long ago. Roe fervently wished that she had.
Uncomfortably, he vividly remembered the sweet taste of her mouth and the pleasant roundness of her bottom against his lap.
The young woman stood up quickly and almost caught Roe admiring her. Determinedly, he turned his attention to his plate, raising his foot up to rest it on the first rung of the chair. This caused his knee to jut out from the edge of the table.
"You got a rip in your trousers," Jesse commented.
Roe glanced down and
The family also has a daughter. Her name is Margaret.
----
CHAPTER FIVE
ROE'S MUSCLES ACHED and the back of his neck was red and scorched from the sun. He carried the bucket of fresh eggs he had collected from the wily and cantankerous old hens into the cabin.
For three days he'd been living and working like an Ozark farmer. It wasn't a role he had taken up without a bit of protest. He had tried more than once to pay Onery Best for his room and board. Cash money was clearly in short supply. Still, the old farmer had insisted that work was what they needed. So with a willingness that was born of years of fitting in at schools and among strangers, Roe had "put his hand to the plow" both figuratively and literally.
He didn't expect thanks, and he certainly didn't get it from Meggie Best. It was a curious situation—one he'd never encountered before. First she'd jumped on him as if he were her long-lost lover and now she avoided speaking to him as if he were contagious.
"Good morning," he said evenly when he saw her. No matter how remote she appeared, civility was second nature to Roe Farley. He would treat his worst enemy with politeness. Meggie Best wasn't his worst enemy.
Her vague nod of acknowledgment irritated him. He could well remember the warmth of her smile as she gazed at her brother. Though she wasn't the musician her father and brother were, it was clear she was the brightest in her family. If only she would acknowledge him, he felt they could be friends of a sort.
"Thought I'd try to be of help to you." He set the egg bucket on the chopping stump and smiled.
She nodded wordlessly.
Her iciness irked him and prompted him to teasing. "I wanted to give you more time to burn the biscuits."
She glared at him but held her tongue as her father and brother walked in the door.
"Meggie-gal," Onery said as he made his way to the table. "It's mighty early in the morning to be having a lovers' spat." The old man chuckled at his own joke.
Roe had had quite enough of that nonsense himself and took his own seat at the table.
The three men sat together every morning in the gray light to plan the day's work. Roe had come to look forward to these moments. The camaraderie of working toward a common goal and the warmth of the two men beside him were new experiences for him. His hands were already callusing over and although he knew he was yet no farmer, he was working hard and he thought he might well be shouldering his share of the work. Meggie set his tin of cornmeal mush down on the table in front of him without a word. The finely carved wooden spoon, her spoon, was dipped in the mush.
Roe murmured his thanks but when he glanced in her direction she'd already turned her back on him.
"Meggie darlin'," Onery said loudly with a teasing wink toward Roe. "Feigning disinterest is right ladylike and all, but if you don't get out of this snit, the fellow's gonna plumb lose interest in ye."
Meggie shot her father a furious look that only made him laugh harder.
"She's really quite good-natured when you get to know her," Onery told Roe.
Roe smiled and cleared his throat a little uneasily. Still, as he watched Meggie bend over to hang the cookpot back on the fireplace crane, he once more regarded the young lady with favor. She was a fine-looking woman, he thought, and she probably should have married long ago. Roe fervently wished that she had.
Uncomfortably, he vividly remembered the sweet taste of her mouth and the pleasant roundness of her bottom against his lap.
The young woman stood up quickly and almost caught Roe admiring her. Determinedly, he turned his attention to his plate, raising his foot up to rest it on the first rung of the chair. This caused his knee to jut out from the edge of the table.
"You got a rip in your trousers," Jesse commented.
Roe glanced down and
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