Read Online The Brides of Chance Collection by Cathy Marie Hake, Kelly Eileen Hake, Tracey V. Bateman - Free Book Online Page B

emotions sway behavior beyond reason. Nevertheless, I understand grief is to blame, and I’ll manage to deal with it. By and by, he’ll become accustomed to my presence.”
    Gideon cast a quick glance at the closed bedroom door. Miriam understood why. The last thing either of them wanted was for this to turn into a shouting match. His brothers didn’t need to overhear this conversation at all. His voice lowered to a growl. “This is his home. You make him…uncomfortable.”
    Miriam stopped and looked at him. For a moment, their gazes held. “Mr. Gideon Chance, this isn’t about what makes your brother comfortable. We’re all bound to be uncomfortable for some time. I’m scarcely accustomed to any of this myself, but this is not about adults’ feelings—it is about children’s needs.”
    “Polly and Ginny Mae have all they need!”
    She shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid that simply proves my point. They are warm and fed, but the same can be said of your horses and hounds. Why, when I took the laundry down from the line last evening, Polly claimed the smallest man’s shirts as her own dresses!”
    Gideon’s neck and ears went ruddy.
    “At first, I could scarcely credit it, but then I took stock of the clothing, and I realized my niece was wearing the only dress she owns! Pardon me if I’m drawing the wrong conclusion, but as far as I can tell, you men let that little girl run about in a man’s shirt. How could you allow such a travesty?”
    “Travesty? It’s no travesty. Bryce and Logan outgrew those shirts. It’s shameful to waste.”
    “Shameful! Why, you cannot mean—”
    “They serve Polly just fine.” He glowered at her. “Besides, who’s going to see her but us, anyhow?”
    His assertions left her spluttering. The matter was far from closed in her opinion. He wasn’t about to have her dictate his family’s ways; she refused to leave her sweet little nieces alone with a band of barely civilized men. He folded his arms akimbo.
    “Best you forget these opinions and wild notions about staying, Miss Miriam. For the next few days, you’d do well to rest. You’re looking peaked, and that won’t make for a very good voyage.”
    “Voyage?”
    “Home,” he asserted. His head nodded, as if to paint an exclamation mark in the air to punctuate his feelings. “We’ll just trade in your return ticket for an earlier departure.”
    “What return ticket?”

Chapter 8
    W hat return ticket?” Gideon echoed for the dozenth time as he went out to work with the horses. He smacked his gloves against the fence post and tamped down the urge to bellow in outrage. He wanted to shake the teeth right out of Miriam’s pretty head. How could she have come halfway around the world and planned to stay? Her father must be daft, sending her to Hannah. Hannah was only a tad bit older, so expecting her to shield Miriam from the real world and shelter her from harm was utter nonsense. In essence, they expected Daniel to shoulder that burden—but Daniel was in no shape to do so, and Gideon wasn’t at all eager to fill those shoes.
    “How much does a trip to the islands cost?” he wondered aloud. He moaned. Money was tight. Real tight. They had enough for provisions but not enough for frills. He yanked on his right glove. Faced with being strapped for another year or getting saddled with a prissy missionary’s daughter, he’d go for the lesser of the two evils. Miriam would have to go—and soon.
    Real soon.
    Moments after his brothers had gotten up, they started grumbling. Paul finally stuck his head around the bedroom door. “Where the…uh, Titus and I can’t find our shirts, and Bryce’s britches up and disappeared.”
    “I’m responsible for the missing garments,” Miriam confessed. Her tone was so conciliatory, Gideon knew he’d underestimated the scope of the problem. This woman had her heart set on staying, and she’d give in, make sacrifices, and bend over backward to convince his brothers that