Short Straw Bride by Dallas Schulze Read Free Book Online

effect on her rapid heartbeat.
    When the toweling had been cut and wrapped in brown paper, she gave Andrew an absent thank-you without really seeing him. Picking up the package, she turned to leave, her eyes catching Luke’s.
    “I hope the new curtains are what you wanted, Mr. McLain.” She hoped he wouldn’t notice the slight breathlessness in her voice.
    “Thank you for the help, Miss Williams.” He nodded and smiled at her, and Eleanor hurried out before she could make a fool of herself by collapsing at his feet.
    Luke let his eyes follow her as she left, watching her walk past the big front window. It wasn’t until she’d disappeared from sight that he turned his attention to Andrew Webb. The suspicion in the other man’s eyes had deepened but Luke ignored it. Webb had had plenty of time to make his intentions known to the girl. If he hadn’t done so, then he had no one to blame but himself if someone moved faster.
    Luke gave him the order for the supplies. He loaded a case of canned peaches and sacks of flour, sugar and other staples into the buckboard. It wasn’t until they were almost done that he remembered the curtains he was supposedly anxious to have made. He didn’t give a damn about curtains but, remembering Eleanor’s earnest help, he felt his conscience tug at him. Moving to the bolts of fabric, he picked up the muslin she’d indicated. He started to carry it to the front of the store and thenhesitated. Obeying an impulse, he picked up the bolt of blue fabric she’d been fingering. If he married her, he could give it to her. And if he didn’t, well, then, he could give it to whomever he did marry.

Chapter Four
    L uke McLain attended church alone the following Sunday, and his presence incited only a smidgen less speculation than it had the week before. After the services he exchanged greetings with people he knew but made it a point to intercept the Williams family before they reached their carriage. A few minutes’ conversation and a smile and he was the recipient of an invitation to join them for Sunday supper.
    It was no wonder Mr. McLain had hinted for an invitation to dine with them, Dorinda Williams pointed out on the carriage ride home, what with Anabel looking particularly pretty today.
    “Just be your own sweet self, precious, and Mr. McLain won’t be able to resist you.” Dorinda gave her daughter a fond look. Luke was following on horseback, giving the family a few moments alone.
    “I don’t know if I want to marry a rancher, Mama. All that dirt…and those animals.” Anabel wrinkled her short, straight little nose.
    “The McLains are just about the wealthiest folks hereabouts,” her father put in.
    “Really?” Anabel straightened and gave her father a calculating look at odds with her delicate pink-and-white image. “How wealthy?”
    “Now, you know I can’t tell you that, pussycat.” Zeb clicked his tongue at the horse that drew the little carriage. “That’s confidential information.”
    “But this is important, Daddy.” Anabel thrust her lower lip out in a pout. “I’m not asking for myself, you know. I’m thinking about you and Mama. It’s my duty to marry someone who can provide for you in your old age.”
    “Isn’t that just like her?” Dorinda said, to no one in particular.
    “Yes, isn’t it.” Eleanor’s muttered comment brought her aunt’s attention to her. The sentimental tears that had filled Dorinda’s hard blue eyes vanished the moment she looked at her niece.
    “You see that you don’t push yourself forward the way you did last week. ‘Six years, four months and twelve days,’” she mimicked sharply. “I was never so embarrassed in all my life. You just rememberwhere you’d be if your uncle and I hadn’t taken you in.”
    “Yes, Aunt Dorinda.” Eleanor kept her eyes lowered, knowing that her resentment must be plain to read, even to someone as insensitive as her aunt.
    “Is everything ready for supper?”
    “Yes, Aunt