Through the Deep Waters by Kim Vogel Sawyer Read Free Book Online Page A

and she eased back into the chair.
    Amos heaved a prayer of gratitude that he wouldn’t have to catch her after all. He’d never held a girl before, and his hands went moist just thinking of doing so now.
    The train whistle blasted, the sound piercingly shrill so close. Both he and the girl winced. Guests spilled out of the hotel and headed across the street to the loading platform, their clamoring voices nearly as loud as the whistle had been. In a few more minutes, he’d be able to take his eggs inside and show them to the manager. But he needed to do something else first.
    He hitched two steps closer to the girl—one wide stride, one shorter one.She shrank back, her blue eyes sparking with distrust. He stopped. “I want to say I’m sorry for scaring you. I didn’t see you there until I’d already sat down, or I would have left you alone to sleep.” From the look of her pale face, purple-smudged eyes, and trembling limbs, she needed a good long rest.
    Sympathy twined through his chest followed by a host of questions. Why was she sleeping on the hotel porch? Was she old enough to travel alone? She didn’t appear to be, so where were her parents? Why was she so skittish? Her reaction to his approach brought back painful reminders of his family’s dog slinking away in fear from Pa. He swallowed and asked, very kindly, “Will you forgive me?”
    She stared at him, her brow puckering as if she were confused. Her rosy lips parted, closed, then parted again. Her answer sighed out, so soft he might have imagined it. “Yes.”
    Amos smiled, more relieved than he could explain. “Good. Good.” He picked up his basket of eggs and started for the dining room. His feet on the floorboards made an odd bump-clunk , his bad leg falling heavier than the other.
    “Mister?”
    The girl’s timid voice stopped him. He looked over his shoulder.
    She was pointing at his hip. Her cheeks wore bright splashes of pink. “What … broke you?”
    Heat rushed to his face. The question was tactless, yet her tone held no rancor. He sensed she didn’t intend to insult him, so he decided to answer. “A wagon wheel rolled over me when I was eleven.”
    “Oh …”
    Her expression held such deep dismay he wanted to assure her. “It was a long time ago. It doesn’t bother me anymore.” Well, it did, both in physical pain and embarrassment, although not as much as it had in the beginning. But he didn’t need to tell her all that. To his relief, a small smile appeared on her face. “Good-bye now, miss.” He plodded the remaining distance to the front doors and started inside. But before he crossed the threshold, he glanced at the girl.
    She still sat in the chair but with her hands braced on the armrests, leaningforward a little. Tense. Alert. Like a prairie dog keeping watch for a preying hawk. His heart turned over. She’d asked what had broken him. An unexpected question formed in his mind.
    What had broken her?

Dinah
    Dinah waited until the man with the basket of eggs entered the dining room. Then she flopped back into the chair with a sigh of relief. Had she really fallen asleep out here in the open? What a foolish thing to do. Anyone could have sneaked up on her—and someone did!
    When the chair legs crashed against the floor, she’d been certain he was coming after her. In her sleepiness, his dark suit, combed-back hair, and solid form had too closely resembled another man. But then he spoke kindly. And then he limped. And then he asked her forgiveness.
    She shook her head in wonder. He’d only frightened her, but he asked for her forgiveness. He hadn’t even sneaked a look at her chest—she knew because she watched his eyes. He behaved respectfully, speaking to her gently while keeping his eyes and hands to himself. No, he hadn’t been anything like the men who visited the brothel or the man who’d hurt her.
    Even so, she needed to be careful.
    Now wide awake, she contemplated going inside. She’d tried to go in