His Heart for the Trusting by Lisa Mondello Read Free Book Online Page A

It's quite a
contrast.”
    He'd upset
her.  That much was evident by the sudden tightness in her voice and the
stiffness in her movement.
    “Clothes are
just the outer shell.  There's much more to me.”
    “I'm sure there
is.  That's something I'd like to discover.”
    “That's not
likely to happen.”
    He shook his
head at his stupidity.  “I offended you and I didn't mean to.  I'm sorry about
that.  I just...hadn't pictured having a woman as beautiful as you in my home
making a baby blanket for my kid.”
    “Backpedaling
won't help.”
    “How about
this, Sara?  I find you very intriguing and I'd like to get to know you
better.”
    She sighed, her
eyes drifting back to the squares in her lap.  “That's something you'll have to
do without, Mr. Broader.”
    He quirked an
eyebrow and straddled the chair next to where she sat at the table.  “Now who's
backpedaling?  'Mr. Broader' is awfully formal.”
    “You're my
employer.”
    He chuckled. 
“Since when?  You've been speaking your mind with me ever since you stepped
foot on this ranch.  Why put up a wall of etiquette now?”
    She was silent
for a few seconds.  When she spoke, her voice was very quiet.
    “It's easier
that way.”
    “In some ways,
maybe.  When two people are strangers.”
    “We're
strangers.” 
    She looked at
him then and he saw a glimpse of the fire in her he'd come to enjoy.  He couldn’t
help but laugh.
    “Not anymore. 
Everywhere I look I see you in this house.  I've come to rely on you being
here.”  More than he'd ever relied on anyone, he realized.
    Sara lifted her
chin just a bit.  “Living under the same roof doesn't mean we know the intimate
details of each other's life.  We hardly know each other at all.”
    He nodded his
agreement.  Sara was quiet when she spoke.  But her words were always
deliberate.  Like nothing could ever really ruffle her feathers.  He had the
delicious feeling he'd like to do a little ruffling with her, just to see a
little spark ignite, to see those dark brown eyes flash with some fire.  But he
suspected that was a rarity with a woman like her.
    He quickly got
up from the table to the sound of the whistle from the kettle.  He grabbed it
off the burner to quiet it before it woke Jonathan.  The baby would be waking
soon enough without helping things along with extra noise.  Besides, Mitch was
enjoying the quiet conversation. 
    Sara had set
two mugs with tea bags on the counter before setting the kettle to boil.  Mitch
didn't drink tea, but to him it was an invitation.  And he was going to accept
it rather than put his foot in his mouth again.  They'd spent nearly two weeks
together in his house and knew as much about each other as the day she'd
arrived.
    He poured the
cups of tea, dropped two spoons into the mugs and carried them over to the
table.
    “So why did you
come back?”
    Her expression
pinched into a frown.  “Out of everything you could ask about me, that is what
you want to know?”
    Mitch
shrugged.  “It's a place to start.  I figure I have a good idea about why you
left.”
    “You do?”
    “Sure.  I may
not have known you from talking to you, but I've been here over ten years. 
I've known your mom the whole time.”
    “And mother's
talk,” she said with a soft groan.
    “Did you think
it was a secret?”
    “I guess not.”
    “You don't have
to tell me anything you don't want.”
    “I don't really
like to talk about myself all that much.”  Sara carefully folded the pieces of
fabric she'd just cut and placed them in a basket on the table.  She stared
down at her tea and bobbed the tea bag up and down in silence.
    “Lillian wanted
something you weren't prepared to give?”
    “How did this
all of the sudden turn to Lillian?”
    Sara eyed him
wryly.  “You didn't think you'd be the only one doing the discovering, did
you?”
    “Touché.”
    “It's natural
for me to want to know about Jonathan's mother.  When I look at him, all I can
think about