Read Online Romancing the West by Beth Ciotta - Free Book Online

surely no more than five or six, was nestled in the branches, sniffling and talking to herself.
    Kaila couldn’t make out the anguished words, but the stilted sobs and hiccups tore at her heart. Her biggest concern was that the girl would slip and fall. “Young miss,” she called softly so as not to startle the tyke. “Are you hurt?”
    The girl peered down at Kaila with teary green eyes. She shook her head no, her blond curls bouncing with the effort.
    “Are you stuck?”
    Another shake of the head and more sniffles.
    “Perhaps you could climb down then and we’ll discuss whatever is causing you distress.”
    She set her chin at a stubborn angle, clapped onto the next branch and climbed a little higher.
    Heart fluttering, Kaila tossed down her satchel and parasol and edged closer to the trunk of the tree. She wanted her arms free in case the girl fell. When the blond monkey settled safely on yet another limb, Kaila looked over her shoulder for help. No one was around. “Oh, dear.” She tilted her head back, smiled up at the girl and kept her voice as calm as possible. “My name is Kaila. What’s your name?”
    After a long moment she sleeved tears from her cherubic face and croaked, “Zoe.”
    “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Zoe. I have homemade cookies in my satchel. They’re quite delicious, if I do say so myself. Would you care for one?”
    She bit her lower lip, nodded.
    “Excellent.” Kaila’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Come down then. Slowly and . . . no?” Blast.
    The sniffling tyke summoned Kaila with a crooked finger. “Could you bring a cookie for Sparkles, too?”
    As the child was quite alone, she had no clue as to the identity of Sparkles. Regardless, Kaila took a napkin full of cookies from her satchel and stuffed them in the reticule looped over her wrist. She couldn’t fathom climbing a tree in her cumbersome ensemble. She didn’t want to scale the tree at all, but felt she stood a better chance at reasoning with Zoe face to face, ginger cookies in hand.
    Again, she surveyed the area.
    Deserted.
    Before she could second guess her actions, she took off her ostrich-plumed hat, shimmied out of her bustled skirt, and, dressed only in bodice and bloomers, worked her way toward the wide-eyed girl. She did so with surprising ease. The branches were strong and plentiful, and she was fit and limber. Well done, she thought as she positioned herself on a branch opposite Zoe. To pull such a stunt on her native soil would have been scandalous. Women of title simply did not climb trees. She supposed her actions would raise a few eyebrows even here in Arizona Territory. Not that she’d shimmied a tree, but that she’d done so in her bloomers. Best to talk Miss Zoe down before anyone happened along. Though she’d abandoned her title, she still possessed dignity.
    She dipped into her reticule and passed Zoe a cookie.
    The girl thanked her and pointed. “Sparkles is sitting right next to you.”
    “I see,” she said, even though she didn’t. She imagined, however, as she guessed Zoe was doing. “I’ll set your cookie on this branch, Sparkles. Help yourself and do enjoy.”
    Zoe pursed her lips and nodded to the empty space next to Kaila. “Sparkles says you talk funny.”
    “I’m from England. Do you know where that is?”
    “Far away.”
    “Indeed.”
    “Sparkles comes from far away, too. She’s a forest fairy.”
    Kaila smiled at the space that was Sparkles. “A very pretty one, too. As are you, Miss Zoe. Lovely creatures, the both of you.”
    She smiled at that and nibbled on her cookie. Her cheeks were tear streaked, but her eyes were now dry. Progress.
    “What were you and Sparkles talking about before I interrupted?”
    “My brother.”
    “Is he all right?”
    “He’s in trouble.”
    “For what?”
    “Hitting our teacher.”
    “Oh, dear.”
    “Wasn’t his fault,” Zoe said with her mouthful. “Them mean boys called him liar.”
    “Hmm.”
    “And our uncles