Read Online Nellie (The Brides of San Francisco Book 1) by Cynthia Woolf - Free Book Online Page A

accommodating the children’s needs.”
    As they approached the table James held Nellie’s chair out for her.
    “Thank you, James.”
    “My pleasure, madam.”
    James unfurled her napkin and set it gently in her lap, then did the same for Blake.
    “So tell me, Nellie.” Blake leaned back in his chair. “What is there about Nellie Malone, that I should know? You can’t be just a widow with two beautiful children.”
    “There’s really not anything else to know. My life revolves around my children. I teach Henry at home and Violet…well, you know about Violet.”
    “You mean sweet Violet, the adventurer?”
    She giggled. She couldn’t help it. He made her feel like a school girl stepping out with her beau for the first time unchaperoned.”
    “A lovely sound. You should laugh more often, Nellie.”
    “Back home there wasn’t a lot to laugh about. My in-laws were very strict and I owed them everything. They also made it perfectly clear that if it were not for the children, I would have no home. They did dote on the children, for that I’m grateful, but I might as well have not existed in their eyes. I decided then and there to move out and find somewhere that I could raise my children without that kind of horrible influence.”
    “Was that when you went to see Mrs. Selby at Matchmaker & Co.?”
    She nodded. “Yes. The agency was a god-send as were you. You might as well know, I didn’t expect to find someone, who would have me and the children…especially so quickly.”
    “I’m glad I found you.” He waved a hand in her direction. “You also have been a god-send. I hadn’t expected to find someone so beautiful, that would be willing to marry me, a saloon keeper.”
    Nellie bowed her head, in an effort to regain her composure. His compliments always made her feel a little giddy. She hadn’t gotten any compliments from a man or from anyone else for that matter, since Robert’s few and far between ones and nothing since he’d been gone almost since Violet was conceived. He’d always been especially nice to her when he wanted sex, though.
    She had to admit she was lucky. Blake was handsome and kind, also doted on her children. He included Henry whenever he could, though even Henry already knew Violet was Blake’s favorite. The knowledge was hard for him, seeing Violet have the kind of father that he himself had. Nellie kept a special eye on Henry. She didn’t want him to get jealous or resent Violet because of her relationship with Blake.
    She needn’t have worried. Blake did his best not to show favoritism and Henry seemed to appreciate the effort. He was rather grown up for a ten-year-old boy.
    “What has you so deep in thought?”
    “The children, and how good you are with them. You act like their father more and more each day.”
    “I’m exceedingly fond of your children. Henry is a fine boy. He must have idolized your late husband.”
    “He did. Henry was very close to his father. It was perhaps harder for him to lose his father than it was for me to lose my husband. In some ways, I’d been expecting it from the time Robert volunteered to go.”
    “Volunteered? Volunteered to leave you?” His eyebrows shot upward. “That seems exceedingly stupid on his part.”
    “Robert was a staunch patriot. It’s in his blood to serve the country. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all served with honor. Robert couldn’t bear to be any less a man.”
    “So, in your mind, serving in the army is what makes you a man?”
    She shook her head. “Not at all. I know it’s honorable and all that, but I think war is the stupidest institution on the planet. We lost so many men on both sides, all Americans, to that stupid war.”
    “I’d keep that opinion to yourself when we have our dinner guests. Some of them made a lot of money in the war.”
    James brought the soup tureen and filled her bowl with the fragrant, hot liquid. She tried some. The smooth seafood bisque slipped down her throat