Read Online When I'm with You by Kimberly Nee - Free Book Online Page B

dozen different directions, and she lost her hold on all of them.
    To make matters worse, a deep, even breathing came across the room. Martha was already asleep, no doubt dreaming of her upcoming wedding and new life with Robert.
    She had one more thing to envy about Martha now—her ability to sleep so easily. Sleep refused to come to Katie.
    â€œWhat made it so wonderful?”
    â€œCaptain Sebastiano. We’re going to be married, you know.”
    She scowled at the ceiling. It wasn’t too difficult to see herself uttering those same words. Apparently she’d once been foolish enough to believe people might see her for more than just what she had done in order to survive.
    It wasn’t meant to be.
    They had whispered about her. Pointed at her. One fine lady had actually dragged her daughter away from Katie, as if the girl might catch something simply by sharing a walkway with her. She had tried not to let them get to her, but all that pretending was tiring. It was partly why she had chosen to leave St. Phillippe. In Bermuda, no one knew and so no one judged. They saw her for what she was now, not what she had been a year ago. The woman she had been a year ago was dead. Katie had every intention of making certain that remained the truth.
    Hopefully, she’d be able to survive Rafe marrying another just as well. Compared to that, living with her secret would be the easiest thing she’d ever had to do.

Chapter Six
    One of the blessings about working in a house the size of Marchand Hall was that the work was never finished, as Katie wouldn’t know what to do with herself without work to keep her busy. There was always something that needed cleaning, mending, replacing or polishing, and there was always a crisis of some sort. Thankfully, those usually happened in the kitchens, outside Katie’s domain. She could hear Mrs. North’s shrill voice from halfway across the great hall, and it had a way at plucking along her spine until her eyes almost watered. That was not a blessing.
    But for the most part the house ran smoothly, and as Katie glanced over at Martha, she smiled. A smoothly-run house was a wonderful place to be in service. Right now, they were in the library, which was one of her favorite rooms. They sat on the floor, polishing the vases and urns on display. The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the ocean and were currently open to let in the warm breeze.
    Lucy came in to stack the fresh firewood on the grate. She was small and pale, and, as the most recent addition to the staff, she was also on the timid side. Remembering what it was like to be the newcomer, Katie came over to the hearth, dust rag in hand, and took down the small walnut clock from the mantle.
    â€œGood morning, Lucy.” She ran her cloth over the gleaming wood. “How’re you settling in?”
    Lucy’s thin shoulders lifted in a half-shrug. “Thi’ house is so big. I got lost twice yesterday an’ Mrs. North nearly screamed herself hoarse when I finally got back to the kitchen. How d’you keep from losing your direction?”
    Martha looked up from a particularly ugly green-and-yellow floral vase. “I counted doors. The bachelors’ quarters were by far the worst. Too many rooms by half. And I never wanted to get lost down there. Too many bachelors.”
    â€œOh, but how much time did you spend there?” Katie grinned.
    Lucy’s cheeks flushed dull red, but Martha laughed. “Enough. Especially when Mr. Andrews was here. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.”
    Lucy looked over at Katie. “Who is Mr. Andrews?”
    â€œHaven’t the foggiest. He was before my time.” The clock thunked against the mantle as she set it down. “But it sounds as if he was quite easy to look at. One you wouldn’t mind becoming lost for. Even in the bachelors’ quarters.”
    They all burst into giggles, even Lucy.
    â€œGood morning,