Read Online Tomorrow's Promise (The Hawks Mountain Series) by Elizabeth Sinclair - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Elizabeth Sinclair
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time to stay for a cup?”
He smiled, and she felt her knees turn to water. “Coffee would be great.” She tried not to watch as he dropped into one of the kitchen chairs. The man would put any woman’s heart to pounding, but she had to fight that before she fell into another man’s charm-trap.
Thankful for something to do, Faith turned to the task of making a pot of coffee. When the pot was set up and had started emitting gurgling sounds that indicated the brew cycle had started, she busied herself with getting out cups, spoons, sugar, and cream and placing them on the table.
As she worked, she was very aware of Cole’s intense gaze following her every movement. Heat radiated through her body. She fought off the feelings. Just stop it, Faith! You invited the man to stay, so if you didn’t want him here, why did you ask him to have coffee with you? It wasn’t that she didn’t want Cole here. She did, but at the same time, he scared her. Or was it that she scared herself? No man, not even Sloan, had ever affected her so strongly.
By the time the coffeepot gurgled its last, Faith no longer had an excuse to avoid Cole. She poured two cups of the hot, fragrant brew and carried them to the table.
He sipped at the black liquid and sighed. “This is just what I needed.”
That he drank his coffee black didn’t surprise her. She’d learned in the brief time she’d known him that Cole didn’t seem to have patience for skirting around an issue. The run-in with the town drunk the day she’d arrived in Carson came to mind. He did what he saw as right and made no excuses for it. Oddly, she liked that. If nothing else, she always knew that he cared what happened to her and Lizzie.
He set his cup down and studied her for a moment. “Are you sure you want the job I offered you?”
His question surprised her. “Yes. Why do you ask?”
Cole shrugged. “Well, you didn’t seem too eager to take it at first. In fact, I sort of thought you just didn’t want to work for me, and then all of a sudden you accepted it.”
Faith looked into her cup and stared blankly at the milk bubble floating on the surface. How did she answer this without telling him he was right—that she was afraid of being close to him, afraid she couldn’t control her growing attraction to him? That she didn’t trust him, but even more important, she didn’t trust herself?
“I—” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Lizzie about to eat something she’d found on the floor. She jumped up and rushed to her daughter and took away what looked like a piece of dirt. “No, Lizzie. That’s yucky.” Lizzie’s bottom lip protruded and started to quiver. “How about a cookie?”
Faith carried Lizzie to the cabinet and got her one of Granny Jo’s cookies, then set her in the highchair next to the table. Cole leaned his chair back on two legs. “So why did you come back here to a little town where you had to know that jobs would be in short supply?”
Good grief! The man went from one impossible question to another. “It was time.”
“Why?”
“Why did you come back?” she asked, hoping to turn the tables on him so she wouldn’t have to go into the details of her life after leaving Carson.
Cole wasn’t stupid. He realized immediately what Faith was up to. But he decided to go along with it . . . for now. Maybe if he opened up to her, he could get her to open up a bit. His gut told him something was bottled up inside her that was poisoning her thinking, and, if he could, he wanted to help her get past it.
He dropped his chair back down on four legs, and then leaned his forearms on the table. “A while back, my dad, Sheriff Ainsley, had a cardiac incident and decided to retire.” He grinned. “I have a feeling that my mom had something to do with his decision. So, while she packed for their move to Florida, he called me and asked me to fill out the remainder of his term as sheriff. I had already made plans to leave the Richmond
He smiled, and she felt her knees turn to water. “Coffee would be great.” She tried not to watch as he dropped into one of the kitchen chairs. The man would put any woman’s heart to pounding, but she had to fight that before she fell into another man’s charm-trap.
Thankful for something to do, Faith turned to the task of making a pot of coffee. When the pot was set up and had started emitting gurgling sounds that indicated the brew cycle had started, she busied herself with getting out cups, spoons, sugar, and cream and placing them on the table.
As she worked, she was very aware of Cole’s intense gaze following her every movement. Heat radiated through her body. She fought off the feelings. Just stop it, Faith! You invited the man to stay, so if you didn’t want him here, why did you ask him to have coffee with you? It wasn’t that she didn’t want Cole here. She did, but at the same time, he scared her. Or was it that she scared herself? No man, not even Sloan, had ever affected her so strongly.
By the time the coffeepot gurgled its last, Faith no longer had an excuse to avoid Cole. She poured two cups of the hot, fragrant brew and carried them to the table.
He sipped at the black liquid and sighed. “This is just what I needed.”
That he drank his coffee black didn’t surprise her. She’d learned in the brief time she’d known him that Cole didn’t seem to have patience for skirting around an issue. The run-in with the town drunk the day she’d arrived in Carson came to mind. He did what he saw as right and made no excuses for it. Oddly, she liked that. If nothing else, she always knew that he cared what happened to her and Lizzie.
He set his cup down and studied her for a moment. “Are you sure you want the job I offered you?”
His question surprised her. “Yes. Why do you ask?”
Cole shrugged. “Well, you didn’t seem too eager to take it at first. In fact, I sort of thought you just didn’t want to work for me, and then all of a sudden you accepted it.”
Faith looked into her cup and stared blankly at the milk bubble floating on the surface. How did she answer this without telling him he was right—that she was afraid of being close to him, afraid she couldn’t control her growing attraction to him? That she didn’t trust him, but even more important, she didn’t trust herself?
“I—” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Lizzie about to eat something she’d found on the floor. She jumped up and rushed to her daughter and took away what looked like a piece of dirt. “No, Lizzie. That’s yucky.” Lizzie’s bottom lip protruded and started to quiver. “How about a cookie?”
Faith carried Lizzie to the cabinet and got her one of Granny Jo’s cookies, then set her in the highchair next to the table. Cole leaned his chair back on two legs. “So why did you come back here to a little town where you had to know that jobs would be in short supply?”
Good grief! The man went from one impossible question to another. “It was time.”
“Why?”
“Why did you come back?” she asked, hoping to turn the tables on him so she wouldn’t have to go into the details of her life after leaving Carson.
Cole wasn’t stupid. He realized immediately what Faith was up to. But he decided to go along with it . . . for now. Maybe if he opened up to her, he could get her to open up a bit. His gut told him something was bottled up inside her that was poisoning her thinking, and, if he could, he wanted to help her get past it.
He dropped his chair back down on four legs, and then leaned his forearms on the table. “A while back, my dad, Sheriff Ainsley, had a cardiac incident and decided to retire.” He grinned. “I have a feeling that my mom had something to do with his decision. So, while she packed for their move to Florida, he called me and asked me to fill out the remainder of his term as sheriff. I had already made plans to leave the Richmond
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