Rescued (Flowers of the Bayou) by Arlene Lam Read Free Book Online

she'd be strangled. But it was a day made for being in the water. Keeping more than a decent distance between her counterparts and herself she became bold enough to wade knee deep and a smile a mile wide spread across her face at the cooling effect.
    She could see Georgia closing the gap between them and felt bad for retreating even farther away but the farther she went the more determined Georgia became. She was vaguely aware that the water no longer was at her knees but her waist and upon trying to maneuver herself toward shore somehow managed to slip against the smooth rocks below and went under.
    It was sobering, and Amelia came up sputtering. She nearly screamed in panic before realizing that she was still able to stand, the water now over her shoulders, she was on the tips of her toes.
    Jordan could see her worried expression from a distance and didn't need to ask to know what her problem was. With sure and strong strokes he swam to her and gently took her hand. "Come on I'll help you."
    Nodding she decided no more wadding. After all she just proved it could be dangerous, at least to her. When she was close enough to shore Amelia felt Mr. Bradford let go of her hand. "Thank you." She heard herself say but only barely over the pounding in her chest.
    Jordan had to tear his eyes away from her form, the water making her shift near transparent. "I'm going to have to teach you to swim." he chuckled.
     
    *
     
    Embarrassment was now a constant Amelia thought. Heat rose to her cheeks as she remembered how she had embarrassed herself the last two days on several occasions, there was the kitchen incident where she'd fallen on her butt in front of Mr. Bradford, he'd startled her in his quest to find his sister.
    Then of course the murky river bed experience, the breakfast accident where she'd dropped all the contents of a plate and fumbled up her words. She was quickly becoming a babbling idiot.
    She wasn't herself and whenever Mr. Bradford was around she was far from being herself. So it was fair enough to say she was frustrated, and now for the life of her she couldn't remember where she put the dust pan.
    She gave an exasperated sigh—as silly as it all was, she was sure that if one more thing, just one more little bitty thing went wrong she was going to cry. Walking out and into the large corridor she dropped down to her knees looking under the heavy carved oak tables that lined the hall—today was going to be rough.
    Upstairs Jordan stretched out his long form, a yawn escaping as he swung his legs off of his desk and over onto the floor. He and Jasper had been going over plans for expanding their lumberyard by buying out one of their less prosperous competitors. It was a tedious process and he was worn out.
    It all of course lead to Jasper beating around the idea of going into business for himself. Something he felt Jasper should have done long ago, he was a strong businessman and he knew he would do fine.
    Reclining back, he reached for his glass and drained it of its contents before rising up and heading for the dark oak doors that were the exit from his room. Making his way down the windy staircase he greeted Andrew as he walked by and Vivian who busily muttered a greeting of her own while walking blindly to the garden. Scanning the foyer he saw no sign of Georgia but that was usual he had found. By noon she was out and about playing and it was rare to see her before dusk.
    Walking past the library he stopped, the cook or maid or whatever her title, was coming toward him thoughtlessly ready to collide into him. He swore the woman had to be a walking calamity. "Amelia—" He started in warning, and wished he'd thought better as she jumped a mile high. "I didn’t mean to startle you." He apologized. Steadying her quickly Jordan bent down to pick up the tin dustpan that she dropped.
    Stilling her nerves Amelia almost laughed. After all she was becoming somewhat comical. "Thank you Mr. Bradford I swear I need to be more