Jodi Thomas Read Free Page A

about. “My aunt really is a good cook.”
    “My pleasure.” Colt looked into her eyes and wondered if this woman had ever really cared for anyone except her aunt. “I’ll be direct with you, Miss Whiddon. I don’t know if this is going to work out or not, but I’m willing to give it a try for the month. You’ll have the run of the house and I’ll try to stay out of your way as much as possible. I’ve had no chance to give my daughters lessons and it’s time they started.” His three children ran through the room and thundered up the stairs to the loft. He sighed. “I’m willing to give anything a try. Anything.”
    Etta ran past them, growling like a bear, and followed the girls up the steps.
    “Even taking on a tutor and her aunt?” Joanna held a tight grip on her Bible.
    Colt’s grin made him look younger. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
    Joanna let out a breath she felt like she’d been holding since they’d stepped off the train. “Yes, she is, but no one’s ever realized it but me. I couldn’t leave her behind.”
    “I don’t think I need to warn you, this is not the place for any woman, much less an older one. Life’s not easy on the frontier.”
    Joanna lay her Bible down on the room’s one table. “Life’s not easy anywhere, Captain, when you face it alone.”
    Colt wondered if she was talking about herself or her aunt, and he felt suddenly embarrassed that it mattered. “Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got my duties. I may be gone a few days.” He nodded slightly toward the loft. “Will you be all right here?”
    “Of course,” Joanna said, hoping her tone sounded more confident than she felt.
    * * *
    Almost a week passed before the captain walked back into his house. He’d been in the saddle for so many hours he wasn’t sure his legs would ever be straight again. The cold winter moon looked frosty in the cloudy sky as he took one last glance at the camp before opening the door to his cabin.
    For a moment he just stood looking around as if he’d accidentally stepped into someone else’s house. A warm glow came from the fireplace and the air smelled of baked bread. Only Miss Whiddon’s Bible on the table assured him he was in his own quarters.
    “Hello,” he whispered as he looked at the three homemade stools pulled close to the fire. The room seemed more like a home than it ever had. Dried flowers banked both sides of the mantel and pictures drawn in charcoal almost covered one wall.
    “Hello?” He stepped inside and moved to the fire. Funny that he should think of this place as home. Nowhere had ever been that to him. He was born on a fort in south Texas and had grown up moving from post to post.
    “Anybody here!” he yelled.
    “Quiet,” someone whispered from the opening to the loft. Colt looked up as Joanna descended the steps. She was wrapped in a midnight-blue robe that hugged her neck and brushed her bare feet. He looked away trying not to think of how intimate it felt to see her in her nightclothes.
    “Oh!” Joanna stopped as she reached the end of the steps. “It’s you. I thought it was the sergeant coming in with the firewood.”
    “Sorry.” Colt wasn’t sorry at all, but he didn’t know what else to say. “Am I only welcome if I’m toting wood, Miss Whiddon?”
    “Of course you’re welcome.” Joanna moved beside him, looking him straight in the eyes as though she’d never feared anyone in her life. “This is your house, Captain.”
    At her last word squeals broke out from the loft. Suddenly voices filled the room. “Daddy!”
    The girls were down the stairs and in his arms before he could say another word. They yelled and danced around him like forest elves who’d found a treasure. He hugged each one and endured wet, smacky kisses on his whiskery cheeks. Then all three talked at once in a language he had trouble understanding on the best of days.
    Joanna stood back and watched this strong man with his daughters. He brushed his large