Southern Seduction by Brenda Jernigan Read Free Book Online

settle into her new home, but that had proven to be a difficult task since she was considered an outsider in running the affairs of the plantation. Brooke had to remind herself several times to be patient. It would take time to win over not only the staff but also Travis.
    Finally, yesterday she had begun to feel as though she was starting to win over the household staff. Several of the servants had stopped to consult with her instead of pretending that she didn’t exist. Brooke considered that a big step forward.
    She thought it might have helped when she’d volunteered to accompany several of the children to gather nuts from the pecan grove located behind the big house. It was something she’d never thought she would do since she had never been particularly fond of children, but she decided she needed to do something useful. So she assembled four boys and three girls and several wicker baskets and headed out.
    M uch to her surprise, Brooke found she enjoyed spending the afternoon with the children. Having thought that she didn’t have anything in common them, Brooke was amazed they seemed to take to her. It was delightful to listen to their laughter and giggling.
    George, who looked to be about nine, announced that he was the shaker. Of course, Brooke had to ask what a shaker did.
    He informed her proudly, his little chest swelling with pride. “It’s the mos’ important person ‘cause I gets the nuts out of the tree.”
    “So how are you going to get the pecans?” Brooke asked. “That tree is very tall.”
    George grinned widely, his white teeth gleaming against his dark skin. “Here, you hold dis, Miz Brooke.” He handed her a cane pole. “Cause I’m goin’ to climb that there tree.”
    “It’s pretty tall,” she’d warned him.
    “Don’t matter none,” George answered with supreme confidence. He marched over to the huge tree where two of the other boys formed a step with their linked hands and gave him a lift up. After he’d successfully reached the second branch, he called for Brooke to hand him the pole.
    “You must be careful.”
    “Oh, Miz Brooke, I done dis a thousand times before.”
    She was sure he hadn’t climbed this tree a thousand times, but she’d give him credit, he was an expert climber, navigating the lofty branches as nimbly as a squirrel. Once he’d reached the upper-most branches, he began thrashing the limbs with the cane pole, and the pecans showered over everyone below like raindrops falling from the sky.
    Brooke set down the basket she was carrying. “Let’s see who can gather the most nuts. There will be a special treat for the winner.” All the children’s eyes grew wide at the prospect of a contest. “On your mark, get set, go,” she said and the children took off in all directions.
    She laughed at the children scampering around and making a big game out of the drudgery of gathering nuts. She couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed something trivial so much.
    She and her rowdy crew returned to the kitchen with several big baskets filled to the brim with nuts. Brooke asked Katie, one of the girls in the kitchen, to give all the children cookies and milk for their efforts, declaring they were all winners.
    Everyone in the kitchen had smiled at Brooke, making her wonder if kindness was something they weren’t accustomed to seeing from the mistress of the house.
    She supposed that the servants were slowly coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t such a bad person after all. It had felt wonderful to be doing something useful and productive.
    Thank goodness, Mammy ran the house, and Prosper ran the kitchen. So far Brooke hadn’t met the mysterious cook .  He’d traveled to one of his relative’s homes, but would be back soon so she’d been told. Mammy seemed to be a little of everything to everyone, and that was fine with Brooke, who was still trying to win the housekeeper over. So far she’d had a little success, but not much.
    She could imagine the