Read Online Welcome to Harmony by Jodi Thomas - Free Book Online Page B

snorted, and Reagan wondered if that was his idea of a laugh.
    “I heard about your sister dying, Mr. Truman, and I’m real sorry,” Noah said. “I want you to know if there’s anything I can do to help . . .”
    Jeremiah frowned. “News travels fast.”
    Noah smiled. “Cell phones. I called my sister when I heard she’d pulled Rea out of class, and she told me. I came straight over to see what I can do.”
    The old man stared, taking measure of the kid before him. “You could drive her to town. She’ll be making the arrangements. I’ve got work here that can’t wait.”
    Reagan shoved the money into her pocket, and Noah barely had time to say good-bye before she pulled him toward the truck.
    Once they were on the road, an awkward silence rested between them. Preacher looked like he was worried about her breaking into tears. Reagan couldn’t tell him that she’d known Miss Beverly was dead for almost a week.
    Finally, she broke the silence. “How come old Dog didn’t bite you? He still looks at me like I’m a burglar half the time.”
    Noah shrugged. “I’m good with dogs and babies.”
    “Try again.”
    He smiled. “I tossed him the last of yesterday’s lunch I’d left in the truck. He ate it, bag and all.”

Chapter 10

    HANK GRABBED TWO OF THE WALKING STICKS IN THE BACK of the cart and handed one to Alexandra.
    She followed along behind him, glad to be away from the scene at the house. “Does your aunt Pat really climb over the fence and steal apples?”
    “Yep, and I drive the getaway car. She says they make the best pies in the county. She also considers it her duty to check on the trees now and then to make sure Jeremiah is taking care of things.”
    Alex pulled on one of the branches, feeling it give in her hand even though it looked dead with winter.
    “Now if you’d like to join the thieving come spring,” Hank said, “you have to do it right, so listen to the rules. Only get the ones on the ground. Aunt Pat says then it’s not stealing, it’s retrieving.”
    Alex laughed at the thought of Hank’s eighty-year-old aunt stealing apples. “You know I could arrest her for it whether she’s picking or lifting.”
    “Go ahead,” he said as if he meant it. “One less woman at my ranch would suit me fine. I got my mom, two widowed great-aunts, two divorced sisters, and a four-year-old fairy princess. I haven’t said a word at the dinner table in five years.”
    Alex raised an eyebrow. She almost felt sorry for him. No wonder he spent so much time at the fire station. The old family ranch had been his unofficially since he turned eighteen, but his mother had always lived there. When Hank’s two great-aunts retired from teaching school years ago, they moved in. Then Hank’s sisters came home a few months ago, both broken from divorces. She couldn’t imagine how Hank handled them all. Two old women, two divorced women, a mother who thought of herself as an artist, and a four-year-old niece too ill to walk.
    When Alex looked up, he was smiling. She’d almost forgotten what he looked like when he smiled.
    “Arrest them all,” he said. “I could use the silence. Aunt Pat may steal them, but Aunt Fat eats them.”
    Alex laughed. Hank had always called his two great-aunts Pat and Fat, even though his aunt Fat was thin. She’d known the two old ladies all her life and had no idea what their first names were. When they’d taught they’d both been called Miss Matheson.
    “How long have you been helping your aunt in these robberies?” She pointed a finger at him.
    “All my life.” He held the old walking stick up as if on guard. “Plan on arresting me, too?”
    “No. It’d just be a waste of time. Your aunt would recruit another mule to haul her loot. I might as well wait until I catch you all red-handed.”
    She swung her stick in challenge. He blocked. She swung again, and the fight was on. They moved into the shadows of the trees where the air was still and cold. Something seemed