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

figmans.”
    Kaila furrowed her brow. “Figmen?” Was that anything like a forest fairy?
    “Said someone made them up.”
    She pondered that then nodded. “Ah. Figments. Those boys said your uncles are figments of someone’s imagination.”
    Zoe swiped crumbs from her plaid dress. “That’s what I said.”
    “Indeed it is.” Kaila angled her head. “So why are you up here?”
    “If Papa’s busy lookin’ for me, he can’t whup Zach.”
    “Zach’s your brother?”
    She nodded. “Papa told him if he got in one more tussle, he’d get a whuppin’.”
    Kaila frowned. “Is that so?” The bully.
    A dog barked at the base of the tree and she made the mistake of looking down. Her vision blurred. Oh, dear. She hadn’t realized how far up she’d ventured. She blew out a breath, focused back on Zoe. “Yes, well, it’s most noble of you to protect Zach, but your mother must be terribly worried.”
    Zoe wrinkled her nose. “Do angels worry in heaven?”
    “Pardon?”
    “Papa says mama lives in heaven. Says she’s an angel.”
    Kaila blinked. “Oh. I, well, I . . .” The branch she was sitting on creaked and her heart leapt to her throat. She wiggled closer to the trunk and grasped the limb above.
    “It’s cuz you’re heavy,” Zoe said, though not unkindly. “You should get down.”
    “Yes, well, you go first. Don’t worry about your brother. I’ll walk you home and make certain your father understands the situation and does not . . . whup.”
    “Maybe we should bring him a cookie.”
    Kaila blew stray hairs out of her eyes, tried to steady her nerves. “Excellent idea. I have plenty in my satchel. Can you make it down on your own, Zoe?”
    “Yep. See ya later, Sparkles!” She scrambled to the ground in a heartbeat, leaving Kaila in the care of an invisible forest fairy.
    “You wouldn’t allow me to fall would you, Sparkles?” Kaila asked through clenched teeth. Fighting a bout of vertigo, she swung her body to a lower branch and . . . “Oh, no.”
    “What’s wrong?” Zoe called from below. “I’m caught. My bloomers, they snagged and . . . Bloody hell.”
    “You said a bad word.”
    “I know. I’m sorry, but I’m a bit flustered at this moment.”
    “Want me to climb back up?”
    “I do not!” Just what she needed. A little girl risking her neck to free her bloomers. “Maybe if I wiggle . . .” She slipped, heard a rip, and yelped as she clung to a branch.
    “You loose now?”
    “No, Zoe.” Kaila said, tamping down her panic.
    “I’m still stuck.”
    “I’ll get help. Look. There’s Papa!”
    “No, wait! Wait!” But she was gone.
    The dog, however, was rooting in her satchel, no doubt in search of ginger cookies.
    “Shoo, you meddlesome hound! Go away!”
    The long-nosed mutt stared up at her and licked crumbs from his snout. Then to her utter horror, he snapped up her skirt and took off running.
    “Bloody hell.”
     
    Morbid thoughts assaulted Athens as he searched high and low for his five-year old daughter. It wasn’t the first time she’d run off, but it was the first time he hadn’t found her within ten minutes of looking. After checking in to make sure Mrs. Wilson was all right and learning what had precipitated Zoe’s disappearance, he’d delivered his son to Parker for safekeeping.
    “We’ll talk later,” he’d told the ill-repentant boy, struggling to contain his exasperation. Zach had accidentally clipped the schoolmarm when she’d tried to break up a fight between him and another boy. Soon after, Zoe had gone missing. His children were driving him to an early grave with their constant shenanigans. The sooner Seth delivered Emily, the better.
    He’d schooled his frustrations and set to fetch his daughter, a girl who talked a blue streak to animals and imaginary friends, but clammed up around strangers (which constituted the whole of Phoenix). He’d expected to find her at the livery hiding out in a stall and playacting with the blacksmith’s new