AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He couldn’t. Having grown up with her Aunt Eddy’s excellent cooking flavored with spices and the peppers of Mexico, she found the food disappointingly bland. Back home meals had been a time of laughter and conversation. Here? Silence. The family shared the table like strangers.
Attempting to draw Anna out, Regan asked, “Anna, what’s your favorite time of the year? Summer? Spring? Winter?”
Anna cast her father a hasty glance as if seeking permission to speak. He gave her a nod.
“I don’t have one.”
Regan wasn’t deterred. “Personally, I like summer, because after my sister and I did our chores, we could swim in the canyons and ride our horses. We could lie in the grass and read, or look for shapes in the clouds. We’d see lions and eagles. Portia even saw a dragon once. Have you ever lain on your back in the grass and looked for shapes?”
“No, ma’am.”
“How about kite flying?”
“No.”
“Surely you play marbles?”
Anna chuckled. “No.”
“Then we shall have to make an Anna Fun List.” Regan stood, leaned over the table, and stuck out her hand. “Shall we shake on it?”
Anna glanced tentatively at her father and her great-grandfather, then finally reached out and took Regan’s hand. They shook.
“Good. Now, Mr. Ben, may I have more stew, please?”
Regan shot her intended a smile.
For the rest of the meal, Colton watched Regan Carmichael charm his daughter. Anna wasn’t any more outgoing than usual but there was a glow of interest and curiosity in her manner that was new. Regan continued to regale them with tales of catching tadpoles and helping to brand cattle with her neighbor, Mr. Blanchard.
“Anna, did I tell you about the time my sister and I had to jump in Mr. Blanchard’s pond to get away from an angry swarm of hornets?”
The wide-eyed Anna shook her head.
So, the Lee family listened as Regan related the tale of Mr. Blanchard attempting to set fire to a hornet’s nest built under the eaves of his porch. “My sister and I were holding the ladder he used to climb up to the nest, but when those hornets came pouring out of that hive, we dropped the ladder and hightailed it out of there. They chased us all the way to his pond. We jumped in and ducked underwater. When we surfaced, the hornets were gone but Portia and I were soaked from our boots to our braids.”
“Did you get a whipping for getting all wet?”
“No,” Regan said gently. “My Aunt Eddy and Uncle Rhine didn’t mind if we got wet or dirty if we were having fun. They were just glad the hornets didn’t sting us.”
Anna appeared puzzled by that. Having grown up under Minnie’s rigid guidance, Colt understood why. Ben was watching Regan as if unsure what to make of her. Colt felt the same way.
Anna finally asked her, “So if you were my new mama, I could play outdoors and get dirty?”
“Yes, and I’ll probably get dirty with you.”
Her jaw dropped. She stared in amazement at Colt and he couldn’t suppress the smile that curved his lips. Regardless of how he felt about the adventure-loving Regan Carmichael, instinct said she’d be good for his daughter.
For his part, Ben harrumphed, pushed back from the table, and carried his empty bowl into the kitchen.
Colt met Regan’s curious gaze but he didn’t respond.
Regan asked Anna, “So what’s the first thing you want to get dirty doing?”
He could see Anna thinking it over and he found that surprising as well.
She finally replied, “May I think about it?”
“Of course. It’s a big decision. I’d have to think it over, too, if I were you.” Regan turned her attention his way. “Do you think your grandfather will allow me to help clean up?”
