M. Donice Byrd - The Warner Saga by No Unspoken Promises Read Free Book Online

they’re just dense,” he said taking a bite. “Here, try it.”
    She took it from him, and stared at it with leery eyes as if he just handed her a horse apple to eat.
    “I could try again.”
    “Don’t waste food, Meredith.”
    She knew he was right and it made her mad at herself for acting like she could cook when she knew their old dog, Rance, had died the night she’d slipped him some burnt chicken she’d cooked. She never cooked again despite her parents’ assurances that her cooking had not killed the dog.
    “If you have some bacon grease and milk, I might be able to whip up some gravy for the biscuits,” Blake said.
    “Is goat’s milk all right? I can go to the Broberg’s for cow’s milk if you’d rather.”
    “I think it’ll be fine. But honestly, I’d eat it even if it wasn’t.”
    “You must be starving to say that without tasting it.”
    His stomach gnawed a bit with hunger but by no means could one call that starving and it annoyed him when people used that word so casually. He couldn’t forget what it felt like to never have enough food in his belly. He knew, despite her slender form, she had never been truly hungry. Perhaps she had skipped a meal, once or twice, but he’d bet she’d never gone a full day without eating.
    Blake fought back the unbidden memories and forced himself to smile at her. It came automatically like pulling one’s hand away when coming in contact with a hot pan.
    Meredith recoiled slightly.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked with a cheery voice.
    “I was about to ask you the same thing?”
    Unsure how she detected his mood shift when he covered it up with a smile, he turned away, unwilling to meet her eyes or answer her question.
    “Where’s the bacon grease?” he asked scanning the countertop and reaching for the flour he’d seen her use earlier.
    Within another fifteen minutes , they were eating. Blake ate four biscuits slathered in thick bacon gravy and two scrambled eggs and Meredith ate about half as much but declared herself stuffed to the gills. As promised, Blake offered to help with the dishes but she only accepted as an excuse to prevent him from leaving. She may have told herself she was lonesome but in truth she enjoyed the company of the handsome stranger.
    “Well, thank you for dinner,” Blake said lightly.
    “I bet that was the first time someone invited you to eat with them then made you do the cooking and the washing up,” she laughed.
    He chuckled. “I’d do it again.”
    “Me, too.”
    There was a brief lull in the conversation and Meredith wasn’t sure how to proceed.
    “It was nice meeting you,” he began but she cut him off.
    “Would you like to spend the night in the barn? The hayloft has a nice breeze at night if you keep the loft doors open. I hate to think of you out there in the dark riding that beautiful horse and being waylaid by renegades.”
    He stayed silent as he searched her face, trying to read any unspoken meaning into her words. Was she truly concerned for his safety or was she being polite or perhaps was she missing her husband and hoping for a quick encounter with a stranger who wouldn’t be around to remind her of her indiscretion.
    “I don’t know if I should.”
    “Please,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know how hard it would be to be alone at night. I hear every noise. It would be nice to know there is another human being nearby.”
    Blake felt a sudden urge to protect her; to stand watch outside her door so she could get a good night’s sleep. She was so tiny; he suspected she would be no match for any man with ill intent, only the little hellion inside gave her a fighting chance.
    “I’d like that.”
    Meredith sighed and smiled widely with relief. Suddenly a bundle of energy, she grabbed two blankets out of a chest in the corner and led him out to the barn to get settled. Snatching a lantern off a bent nail inside the barn door and a Lucifer from the matchbox a foot away, Meredith lit the wick and