Read Online Olivia's Mine by Janine McCaw - Free Book Online Page A

been
apart, even for this short while. How she wanted to be beside him,
walking with him, telling him her deepest secrets and fears in an
honesty only man and wife can share. He had been her first and only
lover, and his body was a safe haven for her. The wedding night had
not been their first night together, that had happened several
years before while they were both young and curious. It had been an
awkward journey of discovery, with desire overtaking fear as they
moved closer to that first sweet release.
    There were some subtle changes since she had
last seen him. His hair had grown, cascading in waves behind his
ears that were never there when his hair was close cropped. His
arms and legs were firm and hard due to the constant physical
activity. He had a kind of confidence that never surfaced around
her family. Perhaps the mine was a good place for him, she
thought.
    He glanced at her and saw the same young girl
he had fallen in love with as a teen. She still had that carefree
way about her, but there had been a maturity of late, perhaps due
to her leaving her family ties behind and beginning a new life.
Frank was glad she was out from her family’s influence. It was a
time for them to begin something new, something where he would be
her lover and provider.
    This thought was in his mind as he gently
eased her onto her back and raised himself over her where he could
take her beauty in. She reached for him, their eyes meeting
together, a smile crossing both their faces. So began their
intimacy in their first new home, something they would never have
again, but always remember fondly.

Chapter Eight
     
    A little later than originally intended,
Frank and Olivia went to the Bentall's to pick them up. They were
surprised to learn that Marty was staying home. Frank said he would
try to smuggle a shot of McMichael’s good rye back for Marty.
    When she first arrived at the wedding
reception, Olivia felt like she was being starred at more than the
bride was.
    “Why is everyone looking at me?” she asked
Lucy.
    “Because you’re young, married and not
pregnant which is more than they can say for the bride…oh and
because you’re new here,” Lucy laughed. The earlier events of her
day were being put behind her.
    “What?” Olivia gasped.
    “Forget the story about them moving away and
wanting to get married in front of their friends. This is an
old-fashioned shotgun wedding plain and simple. But relax and have
a good time because it is a McMichael shindig after all, and they
don’t come often and they don’t come cheap. The bar is free
tonight.”
    “Are you sure? About the bride I mean?”
    “Olivia, this is a small town. I’m sure.
Okay, first things first, that stern looking woman with the two
beautiful girls, that’s Mrs. Schwindt. She’s the McMichael nanny.
Those are McMichael’s daughters, Lara and Christina. They are the
royalty of this town.”
    Mrs. Schwindt, decked out in her Sunday
finest of black on black, reminded Olivia of a governess her father
had once hired who lasted about a week and a half. She had beaten
the children once too often and had been caught by her father who
promptly smacked her back and threw her out the door faster than
she came in. But the two girls didn’t seem terribly frightened of
the woman, so Olivia told herself not to judge a book by its cover.
The youngest daughter, Lara, as beautiful as Lucy had said, had
long blonde hair tied up in a French braid for the occasion. She
wore a lovely knee-length blue velvet dress with lace around the
collar and cuff, and a few flowers in her hair. Olivia thought she
must have been a flower girl during the wedding ceremony as her
dress was a younger version of the one her sister Christina wore.
Christina, Olivia noticed, was a truly blossoming young woman with
hair as fair as her young sister’s, and a smile that lit up the
room. She was on the verge of adolescence, and Olivia noticed the
teenage boys hovering around her.
    “See that