The Heart's Voice by Arlene James Read Free Book Online Page B

when she could cook him a real meal.
    “Everybody needs money,” she replied.
    He held up four fingers, counting off the reasons he didn’t. “Medical disability. Military retirement. Inheritance. Good investments.”
    “And the rent on that garage apartment?” she asked.
    “Soon,” he said nonchalantly, averting his eyes.
    She didn’t let him get away with that. Reaching across the side chair that stood between them, she placed a hand flat against the center of his chest. He looked down at it, then slowly lifted his gaze toher face. “You can rent an apartment without a cookstove, then?” she asked pointedly.
    He blinked and chewed. She lifted an eyebrow insistently. Finally he grinned. “Got a stove same place I got yours. Used. Dealer in Duncan.”
    She narrowed her eyes, thinking that he’d worded his reply rather oddly. “It’s not the same one, then?” He shook his head. “You swear?”
    His mouth quirked. “Never swear. Much. When I hit my thumb with a hammer, maybe.” She laughed, and he grinned. “Not the same,” he promised. “Honest.”
    She couldn’t help noticing that his eyes crinkled in a most attractive way at the outside corners when he smiled, and for the first time she was truly glad that he couldn’t hear the husky tone her voice had acquired. “I just don’t want to take advantage of you, Dan—no more than I can help, anyway.”
    “I understand.”
    “I know you do. You’re just such a blessing to us, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
    He shook his head. “I am blessed. You work hard.” He poked a thumb at his chest. “I get checks in the mail.”
    “You deserve those checks,” she told him, looking up into his chiseled face. He was a handsome man, with those blue eyes, and a good one, too. That much had become very obvious.
    CJ banged on the metal high-chair tray, but sheignored his bid for Dan’s attention, keeping it all for herself.
    “Maybe I do work a lot,” she said, “but it’s because I have to, and it’s nothing compared to what you do out of the kindness of your heart.” She thought of the clean white kitchen walls, the glass light fixture snugged against the stain-free ceiling, the door and the window where the compact air unit would soon be installed, the butter-yellow cabinets and mottled-gold countertop set with a white enamel double sink. After hanging the cabinet doors and connecting the stove to the propane, he was going to add shelves around the refrigerator and build a new cellar entrance set flat into the floor, since she needed the cellar space for additional storage and the floor space for the dining table. He intended to install new cellar steps, too, as well as strip, seal and paint the kitchen floorboards. After that he’d rip off the porch and build her a new one that she and the kids could actually enjoy. It was almost too much, and she felt tears gather in her eyes.
    “Thank you,” she whispered, going up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. He needed a shave, and the delicate rasp of sandy whiskers lightly abraded her lips. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like to kiss a man’s rough cheek.
    Suddenly he whirled away and moved to the back door, but then he paused and looked over his shoulder. She couldn’t read what crowded intothose blue eyes. “Welcome,” he mumbled, and slipped outside.
    A moment later she heard the water running from the spigot in back of the house and looked ruefully at her new kitchen sink with its shiny faucet. Her fingers wandered up to touch her lips, and for a moment she wondered what it would be like to kiss Dan Holden on the lips, to be kissed by him.
    A vague guilt pricked her. Was she being disloyal to Cody and the Kinders by thinking of Dan as more than an answer to prayer? Maybe she was more selfish and needy than she realized. She marveled at how much God loved people. For no reason she could understand He loved her enough to let her stumble across Cody, to bring her here to Rain Dance