Read Online Place Of Her Own by Lynn A. Coleman - Free Book Online

these tasks for me.”
    She peered at him, as if trying to determine what meaning lay behind his words.
    “It’s not that I find the work beneath me. I just don’t like doing it. I will because I must, but it doesn’t give me the same joy I find in training Kehoe and Kate.”
    Her eyes flew open. “You named your mare after me?”
    Heat rose up his neck and covered his ears. “Yes,” he confessed and went back to searching for the whetstone. He wanted to confess his love for her, but held back. Now was not the time.
    “Shelton?” Her voice wavered.
    He looked up at her. “Yes?”
    “It’s not possible.” Katherine ran out of the barn.
    A strong drive to run after her captured his heart. But his head kept his feet firmly planted. There would be opportunities in the future to speak with her, to convince her that they did in fact have a future. But he could not provide that future, not just yet.

    Katherine trembled as she yanked a large pot out of the kitchen cupboard. Why did every encounter with Shelton make her long to be in his arms? How could the simplest things he said make her want to confess her past to him? She wanted a future with him. But Hiram Greene had made it clear that she was not fit for his family. No, a relationship with Shelton was impossible.
    “Nothing is impossible with God.”
The fragmented piece of scripture rang in her head. “Lord, you don’t understand.” Katherine let out a mild cough. “That didn’t come out right. But, Lord, You have no idea who Hiram Greene is.” She cleared her throat again and set the pot on the stove with a clang. “Lord, I know You know all, but even You have to admit that man is …”
    “Is what, dear?” Grandma Mac asked.
    Katherine looked up and saw the older woman standing in the doorway.
    “I didn’t mean to interrupt your prayers, but if you keep banging those pans, there won’t be one fit to fry in.” Katherine looked down. “I’m sorry.”
    Grandma Mac sat at the kitchen table. “Tell me, what’s on your mind, child?”
    Katherine took a tin measuring cup out of the drawer.
    “Has Shelton Greene acted inappropriately toward you?”
    “Shelton? He’s the only man who’s treated me like a woman.”
    “So you do love him.”
    “No,” Katherine replied, a bit too quickly. “I respect him. Probably too much.”
    Grandma Mac narrowed her gaze. “Not all men behave badly, you know.”
    Katherine’s hands shook. She put down the measuring cup and turned away from Grandma Mac’s knowing gaze. The past blazed through her memory as quickly as a bolt of lightning in the sky.
    Holding back tears, she faced Grandma Mac again. Her pale brown eyes spoke volumes.
    Katherine sat beside the intuitive woman. “You know, don’t you?” she whispered.
    “I’ve suspected from the start. Whenever any man got within ten feet of you, your back stiffened. But you let your guard down around Shelton. At first I thought it was because he was family. Now I suspect you love him. But because of your past you don’t feel you have the right to have a blessed union with a man. Am I right?”
    Katherine nodded. “Yes. But there’s more to it than that.”
    Grandma Mac lifted her chin. “You can tell me, dear.”
    “If I could ever truly love a man, it would be Shelton.
    But …”
    “But what, honey?”
    “When Shelton’s father owned me, before I came to move here … just before Urias found me, five years ago … Mr. Greene made it very clear that he would never consent to a union between me and his son.”
    “I see. So because you were once their servant, you aren’t allowed to love Shelton? Or do you think Shelton’s father would disown him if he married you?”
    “Family is very important to Shelton. I don’t think I’ve had one conversation with him in which he didn’t discuss his commitment to provide for and help his family. I could never stand in the way of that.” Katherine stopped herself from saying more. Some things were best