Heart of Glass by Jill Marie Landis Read Free Book Online Page A

Simon,” she finally said. “There’s no need to mention that to Mr. Colin right now. He and I will settle up later, when he’s got the place up and running again.” Hopefully, being comfortably installed in the house again would inspire him to look toward the future and bring the fields back to life.
    “When do you want us to start?” Simon seemed relieved.
    She planted her hands on her hips and looked out over the back garden where Myra was on her hands and knees tugging at a stubborn patch of weeds.
    “I’ve sent for furniture. Hopefully, it will arrive in a day or two. Have men here to unload and move it into the house. The lumber and supplies should be here within the week. Until then, there is plenty of preparation work to do.”
    “Sure will be good to see the old place come to life again,” he said. “It’s been like livin’ with an open sore, starin’ at the house, seein’ it so dark and forlorn. Eugenie and me are sure glad you showed up, Miss Kate. I know in time Mr. Colin will be too.”
    “Thank you, Simon. I hope you’re right.”
    When he left she looked toward the
garçonnière
. Thankfully, there had been no sign of Colin all morning. Daring him to throw her out yesterday hadn’t been enough to rouse him. Eugenie said he hadn’t even mentioned her this morning when his breakfast was delivered. Obviously, he had no idea with whom he was dealing; she would never walk away without a fight.
    The only way she could succeed was if she avoided him for the next few days. As long as she didn’t raise his ire before the repairs were well underway, there was every chance she just might get him to see things her way.

THREE
    F or three days Colin refused to let Kate Keene bait him. Remaining locked in self-imposed isolation in the
garçonnière
grew more difficult, however, for with each passing day the sounds of hammering and sawing at the main house intensified.
    What irked him almost as much as her presence and obvious disregard for his wishes was that Miss Keene refused to let
Belle Fleuve
fall into further neglect. If the house was to be saved, he should be the one restoring the place, not her. But he hadn’t the physical strength or the funds. All he possessed was an abundance of regret.
    Not a day passed when he didn’t berate himself for leaving his mother and sister alone to face the upheaval of war. As the sole surviving male, he should have put in for a discharge and returned home to run the plantation. Looking back now, he realized he might have done as much or more to fight the Union army right here on River Road. At the very least, he may have been able to keep the Yankees from commandeering the house.
    Even if he had been forced to lock her up, he could have somehow stopped Amelie from running off with a no-account deserter. He would never forgive himself for not coming home to save his mother, his sister, and their home, but he had had no notion of how bad things were.
    His mother’s infrequent letters reached him weeks after they were written, and by then there was little he could have done. He hadn’t even learned of Marie’s death until a letter from a Baudier cousin reached him months after his mother was already gone.
    When someone knocked on the
garçonnière
door at noon Colin knew it was Eugenie. He called out to her to come in. She appeared with a covered tray, but neither the food nor her presence drew him out of his malaise.
    “I want that infernal pounding stopped,” he ordered.
    Eugenie shrugged and avoided eye contact. “A few things need fixed is all.”
    “Who’s doing the work?”
    “Simon and some of the others.”
    “On whose orders? Is that woman still here?”
    “You mean Miss Kate?”
    “Who else?”
    “She’s still here.”
    “Then either you or she is ignoring my demands.”
    Eugenie’s eyes widened. “I told her you wanted her gone.”
    “She’s no doubt responsible for all that pounding. Am I right?”
    Where was she sleeping? On what?