WESTERN ROMANCE: A Ranch to Call Home (Texas Romance, Mail Order Bride Romance, Clean Romance, Christian Romance) (Clean and Wholesome Romance) by Grace Warren Read Free Book Online Page B

are breaking a law, you will ruin your father-in-law’s reputation in
this town—a town he helped built.”
               
Alton pursed his lips with mock-thought. “Well, then, I guess no one can find
out.” He rolled his eyes.
               
“I’m serious.”
               
“Relax. I’m not going to get caught. I got drunk at our wedding, and no one’s
said a word about that.”
               
“You got drunk at our—?!” Mary Anne pressed her palms to her face and growled.
Once she got some animosity out of her system, she slapped her hands down on
the table and sneered at Alton. “Listen, we have a deal here. You can’t be
doing this, or there will be negative consequences for you.”
               
Alton lowered the paper to his lap. He tilted his head at her and smirked. “Is
that so? And by ‘negative consequences,’ do you mean a divorce? Because I don’t
think that would do ol’ daddy’s reputation any good either, would it?”
               
Mary Anne paled. Regardless, she still tried to look tough and angry, but Alton
clearly saw through it.
               
“You’ve got nothing, sister. So, like I said, relax. I won’t get caught, I just
need a drink every now and again.” He raised the paper again. “Living life
sober all the time just ain’t natural.”
               
Mary Anne gaped at the newspaper for a few seconds. Ultimately though, she had
no way to counter-argue him, so she reluctantly left the kitchen in defeat. She
was only a few feet away from the kitchen when she heard Penny and her mother
start to sing a hymn of some sort. They were out of key, but hearing them
express their faith and be who they were in the safety of this house was—
               
A rotten idea popped up in Mary Anne’s mind. Grinning, she hurried over to
where Penny and her mother were, which was in the front room. They were sitting
on the couch, but when Mary Anne entered the room, both of the women stood up
and stopped singing.
               
“Oh,” Mary Anne said, blushing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think—I didn’t want to
interrupt.”
               
“We were just having some fun,” Alton’s mother said, her voice bitter and her
eyes narrowed. She had yet to start liking Mary Anne. “It’s been a while, what
with all of the children’s tutoring sessions and what not.”
               
Mary Anne glanced at Penny, who shrugged.
               
“Uh,” Mary Anne said. She cleared her throat, and after a few awkward seconds,
she remembered what she had hurried in there for. “Oh, um, Miss Smith, I’m
afraid there is something I need help with. It involves a problem your son
has.”
     
               
After Mary Anne had explained the situation, Alton’s mother had stormed into
the kitchen and yelled his ear off about his drinking. Mary Anne thanked God
that her father had been out of the house at that particular moment—see his
friends or doing who knows what.
               
In any case, Mary Anne’s silly and simple plan actually worked. Alton’s mother
had gotten him to promise to get rid of the alcohol and never go near the stuff
again.
               
Mary Anne would have been happy, if Alton hadn’t sworn vengeance against her.
               
“What?” Mary Anne said, now alone in the kitchen with a pissed off Alton.
               
“You heard me,” Alton said. “You’ll pay for this.”
               
Gripping the newspaper tightly, he strode out of the room with an indignant
huff.
               
Mary Anne wasn’t sure how seriously to take him, so she figured it would be
best to forget this whole awkward event ever happened.
               
That had been a mistake.
     

 
    Alton
     
               
His new father-in-law liked to nag Alton and Mary Anne to go to these