Robin Lee Hatcher by Promised to Me Read Free Book Online Page B

the window with a new sense of purpose. She wasn’t without options. She was young. She could work hard and make a home for herself. She didn’t need a husband. She only needed to keep faith in God.
    I will look to you, Lord. I will trust you to guide me. I will never turn away from you again. No matter what tomorrow brings, I will follow you.
    Jakob hitched the team to the rail outside the hotel, then lifted Aislinn into his arms while his older children scampered down from the back of the wagon.
    “Mind your manners,” he cautioned them sternly before leading the way inside.
    Ian and Laura were both behind the front desk.
    Ian—a slimmer, younger version of his father—grinned when he saw Jakob. “Sure, and we weren’t expecting to see yourself in town again so soon. You must’ve come to see the lovely Miss Breit.” His grin broadened. “You’ll find her in the dining room, having herself a bite of breakfast.”
    Jakob scowled, not liking the man’s merry tone, as if this were all some sort of joke.
    Before Jakob could move on, Laura stopped him. “Let me tend the children while you see to your business.”
    He chose not to refuse the offer, quickly passing the toddler into her open arms. With a glance, he reminded Maeve and Bernard that they were to behave, then strode away.
    His gaze found Karola the instant he entered the dining room. Wearing a dress of lemon yellow, she was seated before a large window. The morning light spilled through the glass to create a halo effect around her upper body. She looked almost … angelic.
    Remember why you’re here.
    As she lifted a cup to her lips, Karola glanced toward the doorway. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw him, revealing surprise or distress; he couldn’t be sure which. She set the cup down without taking a drink.
    He strode across the room and stopped beside her table. “Karola.”
    “Jakob.”
    “I need to talk to you.”
    She looked out the window. “There is nothing more to say. I cannot marry you. I was wrong to think I could. We are strangers to one another, and you do not want a wife.”
    “That may very well be, but I need one. That’s why I sent for you.”
    He saw her shoulders rise and fall with a deep sigh.
    “You owe me, Karola.”
    This drew her gaze back to him. “You would force me to marry you against my will?”
    He grunted, an irritated sound of dismissal. “That isn’t how I do things. The last thing I want is an unwilling woman sharing my home.”
    “Then what is it you do want?”
    He pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down. “I want you to take care of my children. I sent for you because I believed you’d be good to them. I still believe it, despite how bad things went yesterday.”
    “Jakob, I cannot—”
    He felt his temper rising, and his voice rose along with it. “You got what you wanted, Karola. You wanted to come to America. Well, here you are, and I paid for every mile of the journey without getting anything in return. You don’t want to marry me? Fine. So be it. But we had an agreement, and since you’re the one who reneged, I think it’s only fair that you work off the debt you owe me.”
    She stared at him. “Reneged?” Confusion—and perhaps fear—sounded in her voice.
    “It means to break one’s commitment, to go back on your word.” He drew in a deep breath, trying to calm himself, then blew it out slowly. “I’ll give you the same salary as I did the housekeepers I hired last year, and I’ll apply it against the cost of getting you here. When the debt’s paid off, you’ll be free to go if you want. That’d be about right after the harvest is in.” After the harvest, he should be able to look after the children himself. He’d have the winter to figure out what he should do next.
    “And where would I live?”
    He looked up at her soft question.
    “Miss Joki is right. I cannot stay under your roof. There would be gossip.” A frown pinched her golden eyebrows. “I had thought