A Ring for Cinderella Read Online Free Page B

talk.”
    She didn’t like him giving orders. But he was right. It was past Paul’s bedtime, and the boy’s eyelids were drooping. “Come on, Paul, let’s get you tucked in. And you can read for a little while.”
    He was about to protest until she’d tacked on the
     reward of reading. Paul loved books. “Can I read all of Peter Pan?”
    That was his longest book and would prolong going to sleep for almost an hour. With a tender smile, she agreed. “Okay, but don’t blame me if you don’t want to get up in the morning.”
    “Do you have any Hank, the Cow Dog books?” Zach suddenly asked.
    Paul halted on his way out of the room, a frown on his face. “No. Who’s that?”
    “I’ll send you a couple. They’re stories about a cow dog named Hank who takes care of a ranch.”
    “Wow!” Paul exclaimed, using his favorite word. “That’d be neat. When will you—”
    “Paul,” Susan intervened. “Say thank you.”
    “Thank you,” he repeated, and flew across the room to hug Zach around the waist. “I can’t wait.”
    Zach rubbed the boy’s head. “I’ll see that you get them right away.”
    With a bright smile on his face, Paul ran out of the room. Susan, after sending Zach an apologetic smile, followed him. Zach didn’t realize what a treat new books were to Paul
    But she did. Gratitude filled her as she followed her brother.
     
    What an appealing kid. He’d call a bookstore in the morning and have them send over whatever “Hank” books they had on hand.
    As memory of what had occurred this evening came back, Zach began to pace the small room. What
     happened next depended a lot on Susan. And it could be costly to him. But he’d already invested ten thousand dollars in his grandfather’s happiness. And it had paid off.
    When he’d left tonight, Gramp was more relaxed than he’d been in quite a while. And he’d had a smile on his face.
    Susan came back into the room.
    “Is Paul in bed?”
    “Yes. Thank you for offering to send him a book. He loves them.”
    “No problem.”
    There was an awkward moment as Zach tried to think of how to approach the difficult subject.
    “Well,” Susan said, a false brightness in her voice, “I won’t keep you. I’m sure it’s been a long day.”
    “Yes, it has, but we still have to talk.” He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out his checkbook. Whether she agreed to his plan or not, she had earned the rest of her money for tonight.
    “Oh, no! No more is necessary. I mean, the first check was very generous. And I didn’t do much.”
    He stared at her, speculation in his eyes. In his experience, women didn’t usually turn down money, whether they’d earned it or not. She must have some scheme already worked out in her head.
    “You earned it.”
    “No, really. Your grandfather is a very nice man. I enjoyed meeting him.”
    “You brought him a lot of happiness.” He wrote out the check and ripped it out. “Here.”
    “Zach, really, I don’t feel right about taking the check.”
    “You’ll change your mind when you hear what I’m going to ask you to do next.”

Chapter Three
    S usan stared at him, confused. “You mean you want me to visit your grandfather again?”
    “Well, that’s part of it,” he said, not quite meeting her gaze.
    “I’ll be glad to visit him, but—”
    “We have to get married.”
    He said those words calmly, in a normal tone of voice, as if what he said made sense.
    She stared at him. “What did you say?”
    “I said we have to get married.”
    She sank down onto the lumpy sofa, not sure her legs would hold her any longer. “That’s—that’s ridiculous.”
    “Yeah.”
    That was all, just that one laconic word, as if his bizarre statement didn’t need any more comment. Slowly, she extended her hand, the one that held the
     check. “I think you’d better take this and go, Mr. Lowery.”
    “And break an old man’s heart?” he asked softly, staring at her.
    She immediately pictured Pete Lowery in