Duncan's Bride by Linda Howard Read Free Book Online

he said. “Go catch a mouse.”
    Madelyn knew what to do now. She got the sterilized jugs she had noticed on her first trip through the kitchen and found a straining cloth. He gave her a strange look as she held the straining cloth over the mouth of the jug for him to pour the milk through. “Grandma Lily used to do this,” she said in a blissful tone. “I was never strong enough to hold the bucket and pour, but I knew I’d be an adult the day she let me pour out the milk.”
    â€œDid you ever get to pour it?”
    â€œNo. She sold the cow the summer before I started school. She just had the one cow, for fresh milk, but the area was already building up and becoming less rural, so she got rid of it.”
    He set the bucket down and took the straining cloth. “Then here’s your chance for adulthood. Pour.”
    A whimsical smile touched her lips as she lifted the bucket and carefully poured the creamy white liquid through the cloth into the jug. The warm, sweet scent filled the kitchen. When the bucket was empty she set it aside and said, “Thank you. As a rite of passage, that beats the socks off of getting my driver’s license.”
    This time it happened. Reese’s eyes crinkled, and his lips moved in a little half grin. Madelyn felt more of that inner shifting and settling, and knew that she was lost.

CHAPTER THREE
    â€œT HERE ISN’T MUCH nightlife around, but there is a beer joint and café about twenty miles from here if you’d like to go dancing.”
    Madelyn hesitated. “Would you mind very much if we just stayed here? You must be tired, and I know I am. I’d rather put my feet up and relax.”
    Reese was silent. He hadn’t expected her to refuse, and though he was tired, he’d been looking forward to holding her while they danced. Not only that, having people around them would dilute his focus on her, ease the strain of being alone with her. She wasn’t right for him, damn it.
    On the other hand, he’d been up since four that morning, and relaxing at home sounded like heaven. The hard part would be relaxing with her anywhere around.
    â€œWe could play Monopoly. I saw a game in the bookcase,” she said. “Or cards. I know how to play poker, blackjack, spades, hearts, rummy, Shanghai, Spite and Malice, Old Maid and Go Fish.”
    He gave her a sharp glance at that improbable list. She looked as innocent as an angel. “I lost my Old Maid cards, but we can play rummy.”
    â€œJokers, two-eyed jacks, threes, fives, sevens and Rachel are wild,” she said promptly.
    â€œOn the other hand, there’s a baseball game on television tonight. What the hell is a rachel?”
    â€œIt’s the queen of diamonds. They have names, you know.”
    â€œNo, I didn’t know. Are you making that up?”
    â€œNope. Rachel is the queen of diamonds, Palas is the queen of spades, Judith is the queen of hearts, and Argine is the queen of clubs.”
    â€œDo the kings and jacks have names?”
    â€œI don’t know. That little bit of information has never come my way.”
    He eyed her again, then leaned back on the couch and propped his boots on the coffee table. She saw a hint of green gleam in his eyes as he said, “The little plastic doohickey on the end of your shoelaces is called an aglet.”
    She mimicked his position, her lips quirking with suppressed laughter. “The dimple in the bottom of a champagne bottle is called a punt.”
    â€œThe empty space between the bottle top and the liquid is called ullage.”
    â€œA newly formed embryo is called a zygote.”
    â€œBird’s nest soup is made from the nests of swiftlets, which make the nests by secreting a glutinous substance from under their tongues.”
    Madelyn’s eyes rounded with fascination, but she rose to the challenge. “Pink flamingos are pink because they eat so many shrimp.”
    â€œIt takes