Charmed by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

freight train, nuzzling his face against her knee. “His family’s in Ireland, like most of mine.”
    “Does he get lonely?”
    Smiling, Ana scratched under Quigley’s jaw. “We have each other. Now, would you like a snack while you tell me about the rest of your day?”
    Jessie hesitated, tempted. “I don’t think I can, ’cause it’s close to dinner, and Daddy— Oh, I almost forgot.” She rushed back to the table to pick up a package wrapped in candy-striped paper. “This is for you, from Daddy.”
    “From …” Unconsciously Ana linked her hands behind her back. “What is it?”
    “I know.” Jessie grinned, her eyes snapping with excitement. “But I can’t tell. Telling spoils the surprise. You have to open it.” Jessie picked it up and thrust it at Ana. “Don’t you like presents?” Jessie asked when Ana kept her hands clasped tightly behind her back. “I like them best of anything, and Daddy always gives really good ones.”
    “I’m sure he does, but I—”
    “Don’t you like Daddy?” Jessie’s lower lip poked out. “Are you mad at him because Daisy broke your pots?”
    “No, no, I’m not mad at him.” Not for the broken pots, anyway. “It wasn’t his fault. And, yes, of course I like him—that is, I don’t know him very well, and I …” Caught, Ana decided, and she worked up a smile. “I’m just surprised to get a present when it’s not my birthday.” To please the child, Ana took the gift and shook it.“Doesn’t rattle,” she said, and Jessie clapped and giggled.
    “Guess! Guess what it is!”
    “Ah … a trombone?”
    “No, no, trombones are too big.” Excitement had her bouncing. “Open it. Open it and see.”
    It was the child’s reaction that had her own heart beating a shade too fast, Ana assured herself. To please Jessie, she ripped the paper with a flourish. “Oh.”
    It was a book, a child’s oversized book with a snowy white cover. On the front was a beautiful illustration of a golden-haired woman wearing a sparkling crown and flowing blue robes.
    “
The Faerie Queen
,” Ana read. “By Boone Sawyer.”
    “It’s brand-new,” Jessie told her. “You can’t even buy it yet, but Daddy gets his copies early.” She ran a hand gently over the picture. “I told him she looks like you.”
    “It’s a lovely gift,” Ana said with a sigh. And a sneaky one. How was she supposed to stay irritated with him now?
    “He wrote something inside for you.” Too impatient to wait, Jessie opened the cover herself. “See, right there.”
    To Anastasia, with hopes that a magic tale works as well as a white flag. Boone.
    Her lips curved. It was impossible to prevent it. How could anyone refuse a truce so charmingly requested?
    *  *  *
    Which was, of course, what Boone was counting on. As he shoved a packing box out of his way with his foot, he glanced through the window toward the house next door. Not a peep.
    He imagined it might take a few days for Ana to calm down, but he thought he’d made a giant stride in the right direction. After all, he didn’t want any antagonism between himself and Jessie’s new friend.
    Turning back to the stove, he lowered the heat on the boneless chicken breasts he had simmering, thendeftly began to mash potatoes.
    Jessie’s number one favorite, he thought, as he sent the beaters whirling. They could have mashed potatoes every night for a year and the kid wouldn’t complain. Of course, it was up to him to vary the menu, to make sure she got a healthy meal every night.
    Boone poured in more milk and grimaced. He had to admit, if there was one part of parenting he would cheerfully give up, it was the pressure of deciding what they were to eat night after night.
    He didn’t mind cooking it so much, it was that daily decision between pot roast, baked chicken, pork chops and all the others. Plus what to serve with it. Out of desperation, he’d begun to clip recipes—secretly—in hopes of adding some variety.
    At one time he’d