Promise Them (The Callahan Series Book 6) by Mitzi Pool Bridges Read Free Book Online

with her anyway? She’d made it through menopause with less trouble than this.
    Susie pulled on her arm. “Gran? Are you okay?”
    Nellie pulled her blond-haired granddaughter into her lap and kissed her cheek. “Gran’s fine.”
    “You don’t have a boo-boo?”
    “No boo-boos.” How could she worry her granddaughter?
    Yet, she’d worried her son and his family the day she’d come back from the pond. She couldn’t do that again. They shouldn’t have to worry about her. They had their own worries.
    But try as she might, Nellie couldn’t shake the negative feelings creeping over her. Deliberately turning to happier thoughts, she remembered the day she saw Duncan Callahan for the first time. She was in her second year of college, he a senior. In his Stetson and cowboy boots, he cut quite a figure. Admiring him from afar, she wished she were like the other girls—self-confident, worthy. Instead, she was timid and introverted, fearful of saying or doing the wrong thing. Awkward.
    Still, whenever the good-looking cowboy was around, her eyes feasted. One day, he came over to talk to her. “Hi,” he said.
    She’d smiled, her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth.
    “Would you like a soda?”
    She wanted to say yes. Instead, she shook her head. He tipped his hat and smiled. “Next time, then.”
    Nellie thought she’d died and gone to heaven. But how could she go out with someone who looked so wonderful and seemed so nice? Nellie had no idea how to handle nice.
    He asked her three more times before she agreed.
    She’d pretended a confidence she didn’t feel and a self-esteem that was a lie.
    Even now, she couldn’t believe he’d fallen in love with her and asked her to marry him. She’d thought he would see through her act, see who she really was, and for the longest time was afraid of the day he would discover her secret.
    Duncan had told her many times, “I was pulled in by those green eyes and your glorious red hair. Thought I’d die if you didn’t say you’d go out with me. Knew I would if you refused to marry me.”
    How could she say no to such a man?
    She’d pushed her conflict aside and accepted his proposal, and vowed to love him as he should be loved and more. Later, when evil reared its ugly head, she knew he deserved better and had called off the engagement. Only Duncan wouldn’t hear of it. In the end, she’d acquiesced. She’d never been sorry for her decision.
    It had been easier than she’d thought to keep her promise. She had fallen in love with him the moment she laid eyes on him and had loved him every day since.
    Susie tugged on her arm again. “I’m hungry, Gran.”
    Nellie jumped up. Where had the morning gone? Quickly, she put together Susie’s favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich and set it on the table with a glass of milk.
    Susie sent her a grateful grin.
    “After your nap we’ll practice your numbers.” Susie would start kindergarten in late August, and Phyl wanted to give her a head start. She was a fast learner. Smart.
    “Can we practice letters instead?”
    Nellie chuckled. “This time. But you’ll have to tackle those numbers later.”
    She was through eating and in bed within fifteen minutes.
    Was there anything more enjoyable than a grandchild? A flash of Beau in the pond, his face close to hers, his lips coming closer made her stumble.
    Shaking off the memory, she started for the kitchen. A knock on the front door stopped her. She opened the door and, seeing who stood there, took a step back. “Dani?”
    “Hi!”
    When had Beau’s children returned? “Come in. Please.” She held the door open a little wider. “Is everything all right at home?”
    “Yes. Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
    Since the family preferred the kitchen, Nellie led the way and motioned for Dani to sit. “Can I get you something to drink? Tea? Soda?”
    “Tea would be nice.”
    Nellie fixed two glasses, set one in front of Dani, and took a chair across from her. The