California Romance Read Free Page A

it in an uproar?” A bellow from behind Sarah sliced through the commotion.
    Silence fell. Sarah released the children. They turned to stare at Gus Stoddard and a dark-haired, dark-eyed stranger standing in the open doorway of their tiny cottage.
    “Here I am bringing a guest home and what greets us?” Gus roared. “A barroom brawl! Shame on you all.” He turned and focused most of his wrath on Sarah. “You, Sarah. You’re a grown woman. I expect you to keep these kids under control.” He waved an arm toward the cluttered room that served as both the kitchen and sitting room. “Look at this mess. You’ve let it fall apart the past couple of weeks. Rubbish everywhere.” He kicked at an empty whiskey bottle. “You’re to be keeping the place clean, girl. I’ve told you time and time again.”
    Sarah felt her cheeks flame in red-hot anger.
Keep this place clean? How dare you!
She wanted to shout into his face that it was he and his disheveled pack of rowdy youngsters who turned this tiny shack into a garbage heap most days. If Mama hadn’t worked so hard that she collapsed a few days before the baby came, perhaps both of them wouldn’t have died in childbirth. Sarah had been too overwhelmed with trying to care for her dying mother to keep the place straightened up.
    Gus glowered at her and continued his rampage. He waggled a finger in her face. “You, m’girl, are not making a very good impression on Mr. Edwards. I told him you kept a tidy house.”
    Sarah shoved her anger to a corner of her mind and shifted her gaze from her stepfather to the stranger. So this was Tice Edwards, with whom her stepfather did business. An older man, but not as old as Gus, he stood tall and proud, with coal-black hair cut short and slicked back. No ragged beard or mustache marred his chiseled face. Above a straight nose, his dark eyes gleamed with interest and amusement. When he caught Sarah’s appraising look, he nodded slightly. “Good evening.” His words were refined, silky, polished, but his bold stare made Sarah squirm.
    She dropped her gaze and stared at a crack in the floor, mind awhirl. Just who was this obviously wealthy and high-class Tice Edwards? Certainly not one of Gus’s usual companions. Many a night Sarah and her mother had been forced to endure the company of rowdy and ill-mannered guests crowded into the house, but Mr. Edwards had never been part of those gatherings. Whatever did he see in her stepfather?
    While she was still trying to piece together the significance of Mr. Edwards’s unexpected visit, Gus strode across the room, draped a heavy, dirty arm across Sarah’s shoulders and grinned at his guest. The matter of the filthy cabin suddenly seemed insignificant. “So, what do you think of her, Tice? We sort of caught my daughter unawares, and I know she ain’t dressed for company, but you can see she’s a real looker. Think she’ll do?”
    Sarah flinched at her stepfather’s touch and twisted free. Her throat went dry.
Do?
What kind of employment was Gus arranging for her
this
time? Scullery maid? Cook? Upstairs maid? Probably not, she reasoned, if the cottage was intended to be a job reference. It really
was
a jumble tonight. Perhaps Mr. Tice Edwards would turn up his nose and stalk out the door in a huff. Judging from appearances, the man could afford many servants. Why would he consider hiring anyone Gus Stoddard put forward? Sarah swallowed and chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. Perhaps working in a fine home would be a step up from serving as a drudge to Gus.
    The next instant she saw the intense, eager look on Tice’s face. Sarah decided she did not want to work for him after all—no matter how much he might pay. As unpleasant as her life was with Gus Stoddard, now that her mother was gone, she didn’t like the looks of this expensively clad stranger. He stared at her like she was a slab of prime beef hanging in the butcher’s window. She couldn’t abide the thought of those probing