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.It had been irrational for Olivia to think there was a snake in her bed, too, but she had.Young or old, real or imagined, fear was fear.Jules had thought a lot about Meriel that day, and now he experienced anger toward his sister for leaving her baby.What had been so important that she couldn’t care for her own child?His sister’s daughter sat at his table.The fact took some time to sink in.She’d never known a family, and now here he was, a man she’d never met—hadn’t even known existed.No wonder she didn’t trust him yet.They’d have to build that trust.Together.“Tell me more about your life at the academy, Emily.”She set down her fork and folded her hands in her lap politely.“Mrs.Hugh was the headmistress.She checked our rooms and our beds each morning before we went to the classroom.”“Checked for what?” he asked.“To make sure the room was clean and the bed neatly made.”His gaze slid to two perfectly made beds across the room.Not a wrinkle in sight.“Go on.”“Class began at seven-thirty.Mrs.Pierce was my teacher when I was small, and Miss Rose became my teacher when I learned to read and write.”“Were your teachers good to you?”Her blue gaze never left his.“Miss Rose taught me English and spelling and history.I did all my work on time, and I received high marks for my achievements.”“That wasn’t what I meant.Were they kind to you?”She appeared to think a moment.“Miss Rose is very kind, sir.Sometimes she came to our room and read to us at night.And she often took us out of doors for walks and nature adventures.” She gave Olivia a fond yet timid smile.“And when the others all left on holidays, we celebrated, just the two of us.On Christmas we cut down a little tree for the tabletop and decorated it with berries and cut-paper figures.It was ever so much fun.”“Just the two of you? Where were the other students?”“Their parents came for them, sir.”Thinking about the two of them alone together at Christmas, Jules’s meal settled like a lump in his belly.He dared a glance at Olivia.She had set her fork down, as well, and now stared at her plate, her cheeks flushed.“You don’t remember your mother, Emily?” he asked.“No.”He let that fact finally sink in.“Miss Rose said I have a grandmother.”He nodded and studied her curious expression.“Her name is Lorena.I remember her as being very pretty, with dark wavy hair.”“Like mine?” Emily asked.Jules’s throat tightened.“Exactly like yours.”“Do you think she will want me?”Her straightforward question caught him unprepared.His mother had loved her children, but she hadn’t protected them the way a mother should.Maybe it had even been a mistake to contact her.If her current husband was anything like his father had been, their home wouldn’t be a good place for Emily.“Well, I—I can’t say.She has a life in Cincinnati.”“We brought a map,” she told Jules.“I looked at Ohio.”He nodded.“Miss Rose and I planned our trip here with the map.We figured out the miles and the trains to take.”“You must have been scared.”She thought for a moment.“Leaving the academy was scary.”He laced his fingers and rested his chin against them, with his elbows planted on the table.“You’re safe here,” he told her earnestly.“I won’t let anything happen to you, and I’ll find somewhere for you to live.”“At another academy?” she asked.He didn’t want to agree with her now.He’d thought finding a school would be in her best interests…but hearing the way she talked about her life there… She took being alone for granted.There were times growing up when he’d believed being alone would have been better, but he knew differently now.He’d spent plenty of holidays alone or punching cattle, but Emily was a child.She deserved someone to look out for her best interests and provide a home.His own father had never been a good provider, and Jules had made up his mind he would never do that to a wife or kids.He was going to have his ranch operating, build a home and be financially stable before he took on the responsibility of anyone other than himself.Kids needed someone to love them.So far, everything he’d seen told him Olivia Rose was that person for Emily.If things were different—if he’d had more time to fulfill his plans—he might be able to think about keeping the two of them on.But he wasn’t ready, and anything less was unfair to the kid.No matter how hard it was, he had to keep Emily’s best interests in mind
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IndexCidney Swanson [Saving Mars Saving Mars (epub)
Christine Wood [Life Plan 01] A Life Plan Without You (epub)
Clair Delaney [Coral 01] Coral (epub)
Christine Cody [Bloodlands 01 Bloodlands (epub)
Christina Ross [Unleash Me, A Unleash Me, Vol 3 (epub)
Christine Flynn [The Hunt for Once Upon a Christmas Eve (epub
Christian Fletcher [The Left Left on the Brink (epub)
Christopher G Nuttall [Royal The Royal Sorceress (epub)
Christina Ross [Unleash Me, A Unleash Me, Vol 1 (epub)
Andrew Stark Drawing the Line, Public and Private in America (2009)