Read Online Rainy Day Dreams: 2 by Virginia Smith, Lori Copeland - Free Book Online Page B

Evie!”
    The little girl flew across the room, arms opened wide, and threw herself at Evie’s skirt. Evie immediately set down the plate she’d been scraping and knelt to gather the child in a tender embrace. Her eyes closed, and she buried her face in dark brown curls and breathed in slowly as though the scent were heavenly. When she opened her eyes, she sought out Noah. Her expression affirmed Kathryn’s guess. Evie longed for a child of her own.
    The embrace ended, and Evie held the child at arm’s length. “But where’s John William?”
    “His grandpa took him home. He said he wanted to come here to see you, but he was not allowed.” She lowered her voice and leaned forward as though confiding a secret. “His grandpa was cross with him.”
    “Was he now?”
    The child gave a solemn nod.
    “Well, perhaps he was in a hurry. Go and sit down by Mama, and I’ll bring your dinner.”
    She ran off, and Evie smiled at Kathryn as she straightened. “John William is Will Townsend’s grandson,” she explained. “His parents died when he was an infant, and Will is raising him. Hestays with Louisa during the day while his grandfather works at the mill.”
    Kathryn worked under Evie’s direction by fetching half-full bowls from the tables and returning them full from the stove. The men who remained mumbled their thanks and she was the object of many bashful glances, though on the whole they seemed to have gotten over their initial enthusiasm at her presence and retreated into a communal shyness. Thank goodness for that. A quick smile or two was easy enough, and much preferable to the weighty stares of before.
    When she set the final bowl on the corner table in front of Noah, Louisa aimed an entreaty at her. “Won’t you join us? You too, Evie,” she called across the room. “This table needs a stronger female presence. I feel like a trout in a salmon stream.”
    Kathryn couldn’t help but return the infectious grin. She had already eaten and probably should return to the Faulkner House with the tray she promised to bring Miss Everett, but when Evie arrived at the table with the teapot and the cup she’d emptied earlier, what could she do but accept? Besides, the two men seated here, Noah and David Denny, were clearly leaders in Seattle. What they had to say about the possibility of an Indian attack would no doubt be vital information.
    Evie slid into the chair beside her husband, and Louisa had already been seated at the opposite end of that side of the table with the little girl stationed between her and David. That left only the chairs on either side of Jason empty. Not a place she would have selected, had there been another choice. Embarrassment for fainting still itched beneath the calm surface she projected, and bordered on humiliation at the realization that she had come to in his arms. A distinctly uncomfortable position in which to awaken. Judging by the speed with which he had deposited her in the chair, he enjoyed the situation as little as she. Before sitting, she slid her chair slightly away from him to create a satisfactory distance between them.
    This position placed her directly across the table from Louisa,whose smile became warm. “We haven’t been introduced. I am Louisa Denny, and this is Emily Inez. We just call her Inez.”
    The child, who barely sat tall enough to see over her plate, paused with a dumpling on a miniature fork to flash a pair of appealing dimples. “Pleased to meet you.”
    Kathryn returned the little girl’s smile. “And you, Inez.” She looked up. “I am—”
    “Kathryn Bergert, lately from San Francisco, and cousin to Madame Garritson.” Louisa displayed a set of dimples that matched her daughter’s. “I know all about you.”
    “Madame is a distant cousin of my father’s,” Kathryn hurried to say, and then added, “By marriage.”
    A look of understanding arose in the woman’s eyes. “I see.”
    From the other end of the table, Evie gave her an