Leftover Love by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online

strength was still there.
    “Miss MacDonald.” The contact was broken almost as soon as it began, and she was subjected to the study of his dark gaze. “I thought you were in the area to trace your family roots. That’s what you told Dorothy in the newspaper office.”
    It was a direct challenge of the story she had given Mattie. Somehow Layne knew she had to come up with some plausible explanation for the differing reasons for coming to the Sand Hills. Maybe Mattie would never suspect in a thousand years that Layne was her daughter, but Layne didn’t want anything to turn her thoughts in that direction.
    “That isn’t quite true. You see, when my aunt found out I was coming here, she asked me to check the records to see if I could fill in some of the missing details about her husband’s family.” She was talking fast, a sure sign that she was lying. “She’s having an elaborate family tree made for him as a birthday present, and there were some dates she didn’t have. So I promised her I’d look to see if I could find them. It didn’t take much of my time to go through the old records and files.”
    Her explanation seemed to satisfy Mattie, but Mattie had no reason not to believe her. Layne had the uneasy feeling that Creed Dawson was reserving judgment. Or maybe her own sense of guilt was prompting her to read things into his reaction that didn’t exist. It was entirely possible that he disapproved of her being there simply because she was inexperienced at the job, and a woman. She was probably taking it all too personally.
    “I see,” he murmured, then seemed to rouse himself like a great bear, shrugging aside an item that had lost his interest. “Your day starts at six in the morning,” he informed Layne, then briefly swung his gaze to the older woman. “See you tomorrow, Mattie.”
    For a man of his size, he moved with cat-footed ease to the front door and walked out into the night. There were a lot of questions Layne would have liked to ask about Creed Dawson, but it didn’t seem wise to question Mattie about her partner’s seemingly odd behavior.
    “Are you all settled in?” Mattie inquired with mild interest.
    “Yes, I am,” she confirmed.
    “You might want to have an early night tonight,” Mattie advised. “The day starts at six, but that means breakfast at five thirty.”
    Which was a good deal earlier than Layne was used to getting up in the morning. “You get a head start on the sun, don’t you?”
    “In the summer the day begins earlier than that. There’s a lot of work to be done. I have a stack of paperwork waiting for me, so I’ll see you in the morning.” Mattie left her to walk to the door of the side parlor, which had been turned into an office.
    Deprived of the chance to become better acquainted with Mattie that evening, Layne eventually returned to herroom and took Mattie’s advice about getting an early night.
    The alarm clock went off at four thirty the next morning. The harsh, clanging noise drove Layne out of the bed and into the darkness of the unfamiliar room. She groped for the wall switch. The overhead light nearly blinded her with its sudden glare, but she spied the clock on the dresser and finally silenced its dreadful clatter. Half asleep, she scooped up her toothbrush and cosmetic case and padded down the hallway to the bathroom. She absently noticed that there were lights on downstairs and realized she wasn’t the first one up.
    By the time she had dressed in her new workclothes and boots, the aroma of frying bacon was permeating the house. When she walked into the kitchen, Layne noticed that the table was set for five. Mattie was at the stove, deftly turning the strips of thick bacon sizzling on the grill. She spared one glance over her shoulder at the sound of Layne’s approach.
    “Good morning,” Layne said, although she wasn’t sure she was fully awake yet.
    “Morning. Check the oven and see if those biscuits are done,” Mattie