The Courting of Widow Shaw Read Free

back to her preparations. The ladies usually didn’t rise until noon or later, so Mattie always had time to fix up something mouth watering for supper.
    “Mattie, how long have you worked here?”
    She whirled around, wiping her hands on her apron. Her slightly freckled face held a perpetual flush of color. Steven presumed the heat of the kitchen caused it. He’d rarely seen her anyplace else but the kitchen. “I’ve been here six months, sir.”
    He smiled and kept his tone light. “And how many times have I asked you to call me Steven?”
    “Oh,” she said on a giggle. “I’m sorry, sir. Yes, sir. Steven.” She nodded, and the rosy color in her face intensified. She turned around to stir something in a pot. “Are you here for breakfast? I’ve got oatmeal cooking, and I can warm some bread to have with peach preserves.”
    Steven poured himself a mug of coffee and sat down at a rectangular table that went nearly the length of the kitchen. “That sounds fine.”
    He took a sip of coffee, allowing the steamy liquid to slide down his throat and fill his empty stomach. “I’ll need some broth later on, to take up to our…guest.”
    “Yes, sir. Is she…is she going to be all right?” Mattie continued stirring what he knew now to be oatmeal. “I heard about the fire and the…beating.”
    Steven’s gut clenched every time he thought about Glory’s injuries. “I think she’ll recover just fine. At least Emmie seems to think so and she’s a good judge of these things. But Mattie, it’s important that youdon’t speak about her to anyone. I’ve asked Ruby to tell the girls the same. I know I can trust all of you.”
    “Yes, sir. I won’t tell a soul about her.”
    “Good, I appreciate it. And Mattie?”
    “Yes, sir?”
    “Don’t call me sir.” He chuckled quietly to himself when her face flamed again.
    With his belly full, Steven climbed the stairs again, anxious to see if Glory had woken up. She had had no fever last night, which he thought a good sign. But the bruises to her body had been unsightly in the dark and he could only imagine what they looked like in the light of day.
    Steven entered his bedroom to find Glory taking peaceful breaths as she continued to sleep. On the bedside table, he found a jar of salve that had been deposited by Emmie, no doubt. She’d told him to wash Glory’s body, then apply the salve to all the bruises. Steven had hoped Emmie would have done the deed herself, leaving him in the clear. But Emmie, like Ruby and all the others, wanted no part of the woman who’d love nothing better than to run them all out of town.
    Steven sighed. He couldn’t blame them. Gloria Mae Shaw had made a nuisance out of herself, but he believed she had never posed any real threat to Rainbow House. Lorene hadn’t worried about it, but then his mother wouldn’t find fault with the Reverend’s daughter, no matter what she’d wanted to do.
    Steven poured water into a bowl and set it down on the bedside table. He took a seat on the edge of the bed, carefully peeling back the covers. Glory’s long hair covered most of the skin exposed by theripped garment she wore. The dark-brown dress, tattered now, had to come off.
    Perhaps it was a good thing she was in a deep drugged sleep or he doubted she’d let him come anywhere near her. But her bruises needed tending and Steven was the only one to do it.
    He came around to her backside and unbuttoned the dress. With care, he lowered the dress down, exposing her shoulders, and lower yet to uncover most of her back. He slipped the dress off easily after that, deciding to leave the chemise, her cream-colored undergarment, on for her modesty and his own sanity.
    Steven’s hands trembled as he lifted the chemise to peer down her back. Thankfully, there were no bruises, only the sight of soft glowing skin that led down to the curve of her spine.
    He took a deep swallow.
    Doctoring a woman like Glory made his nerves go raw.
    Sensations ripped straight