Rapunzelle: an Everland Ever After Tale by Caroline Lee Read Free Book Online

forward while looking so demure. Even the way she smiled at a stranger— chert , the way she kissed a stranger—told him that she was open for adventure.
    So he clicked his heels, and gave a little bow, and said, “Thank you, moya ledi. ” Somehow, the title seemed appropriate. “I’d appreciate any help you could give.” Especially since your father is the last person in this town I’d hoped to see again.
    With the rain over, the townspeople were picking their ways among the puddles, and soon Zelle’s short friend was hurrying towards them, waving and calling for her friend. Max grinned, slapped his hat on his head, and shook Dmitri’s hand once more. “I’ll expect you out at the ranch the day after tomorrow, then,” and he was gone before Zelle’s friend arrived.
    When the shorter, plumper girl rocked to a stop beside Zelle, she peered up at him with narrowed eyes and then glanced between the two. Zelle blinked innocently, and the other girl broke into a grin that had Zelle giggling. After that, she tried to introduce him to her friend, but Dmitri had less interest in meeting this “Briar”. Instead, he wanted more time alone with this mysterious, intriguing beauty.
    His luck had run out, though. Reminding Zelle of her promise to her father, Briar dragged them both away, and Dmitri plunked back down on the bench in front of the inn. He was heartened, however, to see that just before the two women turned the corner, Zelle glanced back over her shoulder at him. And her smile…? Well, it gave him plenty to think about, after she was gone.
    Zelle Carpenter, eh? What was it about her that made him want to kiss her, and shake some sense into her? Why didn’t she act like all the other women he’d known? And why was that otherness so chert appealing? Maybe he was just interested in a short affair before returning home to his horses, but he suspected not. He suspected that there was more to her, and to his reaction to her, than he’d experienced before.
    Zelle Carpenter? Dmitri sighed, and rested his head against the rough wood again. He had to forget about her. Her father was his only lead, his only hope, and she was… Well, she was a doctor’s protected daughter. No matter that she’d crawled into his lap and kissed him. No matter that she smiled up at him in a way that made him feel like the most important man on earth. No matter that she seemed equally fascinated by the rain and by horse breeding. No matter that she was the single most-intriguing woman he’d met.
    He had to forget her.
     
     
    “You’re quiet today, Princess.”
    Zelle popped a bite of potatoes into her mouth to hide her smile at Papa’s old nickname for her. “Just listening.” With her parents’ frequent calls on patients, it was rare that all three of them were home together for dinner. Usually, unless Mother was at a birth, she’d cook for Papa, but at least once a week some—if not all—of them dined at Spratt’s Eatery. So it was nice for them all to be together, and Zelle had been enjoying listening to them talk about their cases and the outcomes. She’d always admired her parents’ partnership.
    “Did you and Briar get caught in that rain?” Her mother took a sip of milk. “I thought about you when it rolled through.”
    Zelle shrugged, and nodded. “Yes, but we stopped near the inn to stay dry.” She neglected to mention that Briar had gone into the mercantile, and that she’d been alone on the porch. She picked at the potatoes again. “I met the Russian duke Briar told me everyone has been talking about. He was quite…” Charming . Sexy. Unbelievably appealing. “Kind.”
    The glance her parents sent each other told Zelle that they’d heard her unspoken words, and she sighed and stuffed a bite of roast into her mouth. How was it, that at almost eighteen years old, she was still being treated like a little girl?
    “I thought you’d met him already?” Mother was glaring at Papa, who just shrugged and