The Stepmother: An Everland Ever After Tale by Caroline Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

shoulder blades, making her skin itch.
    Finally, after she’d plopped the last of the rolls into the pan, and showed Zelle how to clean the flour from her hands with the wet rag, she turned. Jack was standing, his arms crossed and hip leaning against the stone of the hearth. His glare was directed at the back of Zelle’s head; her new braids, specifically.
    “I hope you don’t mind.” She’d blurted it out, ashamed at the quaver in her own voice.
    But the look he turned on her wasn’t angry. “Mind what?”
    “Her hair. It seemed long enough to tie back.” The lines between his brow eased, and she couldn’t seem to make her mouth stop moving. “Longer than when I arrived, even. It certainly grows quickly, doesn’t it?”
    He scratched at his beard and glanced back at his daughter. “Yeah. Faster than any I’ve known.”
    “So I braided it. I hope you don’t mind.”
    “Why would I mind?” He pushed away from the wall and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. She couldn’t help but think he was back to looking furtive again.
    “You were glaring at the braids.” At the sudden narrowing of his eyes, she swallowed. Shoot .
    “Just thinking that I’ve never learned to do something like that.”
    She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “That’s why she needs a momma, I think.”
    As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her eyes widened. Why had she said such a thing? They’d managed to avoid any discussion of the future during the last few days. Oh, they’d talked about the bogus wife advertisement, and tried to come up with names of anyone who might have a reason to trick the two of them into marriage—and they couldn’t think of a single one—but they hadn’t actually talked about if they were planning on going through with it. But now she’d gone and put her foot in it and said something as outright as that …
    To her surprise, though, Jack’s expression softened. Those lips turned up sensually, and those blue eyes raked her from her apron to her braids. “You might be right, Miss Almassy.”
    Meri sucked in a breath at his agreement…and more than that, the thoughtful look in his eyes. He was really considering marrying her? Even if it was just Zelle’s sake? She offered him a hesitant smile, and was gratified to see his eyes widen and look away quickly.
    Clearing her throat, she wondered if she should pursue the subject, or change it. “How did your wife do Zelle’s hair?”
    And just like that, he shut down again. He hunched his shoulders, as if trying to make himself appear smaller, and darted his eyes towards her nervously. “What makes you say a thing like that?” She’d expected grief, if anything. Not this…edginess.
    Oh well; in for a penny, in for a pound. She shrugged. “It’s obvious that you don’t know what to do with it—it looks like you cut her hair to keep it from tangling.” She was being kind; it looked like he hacked it off with the same knife he’d used on his own hair. “So I wondered what her mother used to do with her hair.”
    He stared at her for a long moment, his expression carefully blank and his chin tucked down against his chest. Finally, he took a deep breath—she most emphatically did not allow her eyes to watch the play of muscles under the flannel of his shirt—and said, his voice devoid of any emotion, “Zelle didn’t have enough hair, then.”
    “Oh.” That meant that his wife must’ve died when the girl was quite young. An infant, even. Had she died in childbirth? How sad; this man obviously adored his daughter, and must’ve loved his wife very much. Now it was her turn to look away, to hesitate. She watched Zelle drawing lines in the flour that had spilled onto the table, and was glad the girl had a chance to enjoy the mess. “I’m sorry.”
    “What for?”
    “For…” She looked up and met his eyes again, not sure what emotion she saw behind them. “You must miss her very much. Your wife. I’m sorry that she’s