Ella: an Everland Ever After Tale Read Free Page B

the store. It wasn’t until he hopped to the next table, holding the rope for balance and bracing his right hand on the displays of merchandise, that Ella looked down.
    His right trouser leg—dark and pressed and neat—was pinned below his knee. She swallowed the hot taste in her throat, not sure why this injury would bother her more than the others she’d seen and read about in the decade since the war had ended. Was it because he was so young and handsome otherwise? How remarkable, that he’d been able to overcome the loss of a limb, and still manage this thriving store!
    He swung to a stop beside her, and Ella forced her gaze up his body—his very well-built body—up to his face. And immediately felt guilty. Whereas, behind the counter, his expression had been open and welcoming, now he wore a carefully blank look. This close, she could see that his eyes were really a pale blue-green, but were now hooded, his brows tight and his jaw hard.
    He’d caught her looking. Well, how could he not? She’d all but been gaping at him from the moment she saw him, and then had stared at his missing leg. She wondered what he’d seen on her face in that moment, and wondered why she felt so guilty about it. Swallowing, Ella offered him a sickly smile. “I’m sorry.” Sorry for staring. Sorry for making him lose that gorgeous grin. Sorry for his injury.
    This time his smile was tight and forced, looking like he was humoring her. A pale comparison to the way his face had lit up when he was laughing at her earlier. “Lace, you said?”
    He was all business now. Dropping his hold on the rope, he shifted his hold on the table, canted his right leg out behind him for balance, and bent to reach for a half-hidden basket. Pulling it out from under the table, he hoisted it on top of two bolts of cotton, and Ella sucked in a breath at the way his muscles worked under the skin of those large forearms. No wonder his upper body was so well-built; he had to compensate for the loss of his foot and leg.
    She could probably stand there all day, watching him pull smaller bolts from the basket, but he laid out a twist of white lace, as if waiting for her to inspect it. Intently aware of his heat beside her, his compelling bare forearm nearly touching her, Ella smoothed one finger down the white lace, ashamed of the dirt under her nails.
    “Thank you.” Her voice caught, and she had to clear her throat. “Thank you, but I picked up something similar this morning.” Hesitantly, she tilted her chin towards him, ready to stare back down at the lace again if he rebuffed her attempt at reconciliation. “Do you have anything else?”
    Without answering, he tipped the basket over, spilling out the frills and ribbons and trimmings, and then turned back towards the counter. Ella busied herself pawing through the pile—so different from the ordered structure around her—but she wasn’t really looking at it. No, she was seeing a pair of pale blue-green eyes flickering with disappointment at her rudeness.
    With a sigh, Ella squeezed her eyes shut, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. She flicked her gaze towards the counter again, seeing him bracing his weight on it while he hopped around the edge back towards his seat. Just when she’d thought her stomach couldn’t sink any further, she realized that he’d created this mess for her, and would have to get back over here later to clean it up.
    Straightening her shoulders, Ella told herself that just wasn’t possible. She’d neaten up here. Focused now on her task, she examined each piece, roll, and bolt of embellishment, putting aside the ones with possibilities, and placing all the others neatly back into the basket.
    Soon, she’d picked out a pretty white ribbon for Eunice’s green silk. Her middle stepsister wouldn’t like the plainness of it, but Ella could pair it with a few yards of this thick white fringe, and Eunice probably wouldn’t even notice it. Without the ribbon