Tupelo Gold: Sweeter than Honey (Eclipse Heat Book 4) Read Free

him, I will require a monthly stipend…
    There had been more, but the gist was the same. The Blain woman couldn’t have known, but her message had been delivered at a very bad time in his marriage.
    Six months before, Hamilton and Comfort had visited a doctor in Abilene. The physician had told both of them flat out his wife wasn’t ever going to be able to have children.
    Something had been broken inside when Comfort had sustained a beating delivered by Owen Bailey. It shamed Hamilton that he hadn’t been able to protect her from her husband’s abuse, and he regretted every day that he hadn’t been the one to kill the bastard. The doctor’s diagnosis had been a final blow delivered by Owen Bailey from the grave.
    Comfort had been desolate that she wouldn’t be able to give Hamilton a son to carry on the Quince name. He’d been surprised to find out how much he wanted a child of his blood, as well.
    When he’d gotten the Blain woman’s letter, he hadn’t believed it at first. He’d investigated her claim by visiting the address she’d given him. One glace at Jacob had convinced Hamilton the boy was his. The kid had Quince stamped all over his features.
    Hamilton had spent the next four months trying to figure out how to explain his son to Comfort and trying to get to know the boy who viewed him suspiciously at best. When Hamilton had arrived this time, Mary had upped her fee and Jacob had been waiting.
    “If you’re our pa, how come we can’t go home with you?” The boy’s question had pushed Hamilton’s decision. And then there was the girl. There was no way she was Hamilton’s child, but the boy was adamant in his refusal to leave his sister behind.
    Hamilton glanced at his son proudly. Jacob was somewhere between six and seven and sharp as a tack. He was a good brother and would grow into a fine man.
    “Where will we live, sir?” That had been the only question Jacob had asked. The girl hadn’t said anything. Hamilton wasn’t familiar enough with children to know if this was normal. His niece, Brody Quince, had always been a talker.
    “You and your sister will live in Eclipse with me and my wife.” Hamilton hoped what he said was true. The two young’uns sitting beside him on the buggy seat were a far-cry from the baby Comfort had had in mind. But he was bringing her children to raise.
    “Eventually, we’ll move to the Double-Q Ranch.” He and the kids might be moving into the empty house a little quicker than planned if things didn’t go right today. He was counting on Comfort’s desire for a family to keep that from happening.
    Once they’d left the crowded coach, Hamilton had expected to listen to the kids chatter during the last leg of the journey. But they’d remained silent. For the most part, the little girl had slept, curled up on the back seat.
    The boy, Jacob, had inspected the light cover Ham offered him before he’d spread it over his sister. “I’ll keep watch,” he’d told her. 
    When they drew closer to Eclipse, she sat up in the back, as if she knew it was time to wake up now. It startled Hamilton when she leaned forward and tugged on his jacket. He half-turned, facing her so he could hear her whispered words.
    “What should I call you, sir?” After six months of watching Hamilton interact with her brother, she hesitantly ventured the question.
    “Pa.” Shame flooded Hamilton. He’d devoted his one hour monthly visits to trying to get to know his son.  When it came time to take him home, Jacob had made it clear, he wouldn’t leave his sister behind. Hamilton agreed. Even if the Blain woman had been fit to keep the girl, which given the woman’s bent toward blackmail was questionable, the child belonged with her brother.  
    Evidently satisfied by his answer, the girl subsided and leaned against her older brother’s side, holding on as Hamilton slapped the horses into a trot, revising his explanation to Comfort, trying to add the girl’s presence to his