Catherine's Awakening Read Free Page A

attractive as Wade Masters.
    “Supper’s ready,” she called as she rang the big bell hanging from the kitchen
    porch. The men came in quickly, washing up out at the pump before tramping into the
    dining room. There were six hands on the ranch, in addition to Wade and his father,
    John, although only two would be eating with the family tonight. The others were
    camped out on the range, watching over the stock.
    Wade’s temper hadn’t improved, that was obvious from the way he glowered at her
    as they settled ‘round the table. His father sat at the head, but they all knew Wade was
    the real man in charge at Sweet River Ranch. John was as retired as a Texan man could
    get, working for only a few hours a day, puttering around the barn doing small projects.
    That, combined with his hard hearing, left him detached from most ranch operations.

    13

    Joanna Wylde
    The men sat down as she took her place at the foot of the table, then they all bowed
    their heads for grace. Wade spoke, his words the same as always.
    “Bless us, oh Lord, and these, thy gifts…”
    To her annoyance, Catherine wasn’t able to keep her eyes focused downwards,
    stealing a peek at Wade from beneath her lashes. He didn’t exactly seem filled with the
    spirit of prayer. His eyes bored into her, and she realized that each word of the blessing
    was coming through clenched teeth. Yup, still pretty angry.
    “Through Christ, our Lord, Amen,” he said, and the men fell to their food hungrily.
    Nobody seemed to notice that the stew was burned, or if they did, they weren’t saying
    anything. One of the things she’d learned as the daughter of a ranch hand was that a
    hungry man hardly cares what he eats. If it’s hot, that’s good enough after a long day of
    work.
    Wade wasn’t eating, though.
    “I hear that they’re looking for a teacher in town,” he said, the words a gauntlet
    thrown across the table. “I can’t imagine what kind of woman would want a job like
    that. A real woman wants to get married and take care of her man.”
    “That’s definitely true,” John Masters said, dipping his biscuit in the gravy. “Too
    many men, not enough good women to tame ‘em. I don’t know who they’ll be able to
    find to fill the position—all the local girls have kids to watch. And no Eastern woman is
    going to come out here, not unless they’re prepared to pay a whole lot more. The last
    time they had a man take over he wasn’t worth a damn. It’s not men’s work, anyway.”
    The ranch hands nodded sagely, as if they cared one bit about the teacher’s job.
    Catherine took a deep breath, and then spoke.
    “I put my name in for the teaching position,” she said. Like a row of startled
    puppets, the men stopped eating and turned to look at her. “After all, it’s not like I have
    a husband or children. You’ve been very good to me here, but it’s been a year and it’s
    time for me to move on. There’s a house in town for the teacher, and I think I’d do very
    well there. I was always good in school, you know.”
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    Catherine’s Awakening
    “That’s a damn fool idea,” John said, sounding so much like Wade it startled her.
    “You belong here on the ranch, you’re one of us. And the work you do here is
    important. We can’t keep this place running unless all of us do our part.”
    She opened her mouth to protest, but to her surprise, Wade jumped in first.
    “I agree, it’s a damn fool idea,” he said. “But the reason Catherine should stay isn’t
    because of the work. We can hire someone to keep house if we need to. She should stay
    here because we’re a family, and this is where she belongs.”
    “Beside that, you’ll be marrying soon enough. They’ll take your wages if you leave
    before the school year ends,” John said, speaking to her directly. “It’s about time you
    and Wade tied the knot.”
    “What?” she gasped, even as Wade spoke forcefully.
    “Dad, keep your mouth shut.”
    Silence fell over the table,