Cutty (Prairie Grooms Book 8) Read Online Free

what I mean,” she said and held the baby away from her. “Good heavens, what a smell!” She quickly exited the kitchen, Honoria’s little legs kicking in mid-air as she went.
    Harrison chuckled. “Works every time.”
    Imogene shook her head in disapproval. “Men. They can stare down the barrel of a gun without batting an eye, but when it comes to changing one dirty diaper, they all turn into sniveling cowards.”
    Harrison dished himself up some eggs, came to the table and sat. “Guilty! I’d stare down the barrel of a cannon any day rather than face –” He shuddered. “– the diaper of death!”
    “And to think there will be two such harbingers of mortality in the house soon,” Belle said as she patted her belly.
    “Colin will have it much worse than I do,” Harrison said.
    “What makes you say that?” Belle asked.
    “He was always the smelly one when we were young. I’m sure his offspring will be the same. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, you know.”
    Belle’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What? Are you saying that my child is going to smell worse than Honoria? That’s absurd!”
    “This is not a discussion to have at breakfast!” Imogene cut in. “Control yourselves!”
    Harrison pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, but did anyway. “You’ll see.”
    Colin entered the kitchen and noticed their odd expressions. “What?”
    Harrison winked at Belle. “The harbinger’s father has come.”
    “Stop!” she chided and turned to Colin. “We were just discussing babies.”
    “Yes, I passed Sadie in the hall. I see Harrison managed to pass off that dastardly imp of his to her mother.”
    “Don’t call my child a dastardly imp,” Harrison said.
    “I just heard you call her that before you brought her downstairs.”
    Belle and Imogene glared at Harrison. “Really?” Belle drawled.
    “She’s only dastardly when she does … well … what she just did. Sniveling coward that I am, I brought her to the one brave enough to handle such a travesty.”
    “Ah, she must have done a splendid job of soiling her diaper this morning,” Colin quipped.
    “You have no idea,” Harrison muttered and reached for the bacon.
    Imogene shook her head. “For Heaven’s sake, what’s it going to be like with two babies in this house? There’ll be no suffering any of you!”
    “I’m afraid you’ll just have to suffer with the rest of us, dear cousin,” Colin said. “After all, where else would you be?”
    “Where else, indeed.”
    Colin studied her a moment, then said a quick blessing and breakfast got underway.
    After the meal Imogene went upstairs to her room, sat on the bed and sighed in frustration. She did feel like a parent whose children had grown and left. She felt idle, unproductive, and it was beginning to drive her crazy. She needed something to do and someone to do it with.
    In short, she needed an adventure.
    “But what?” she asked herself. Going back to England would be an adventure, but out of the question. Her family was here, as was the man she loved. And even though she missed England, she could never leave Cutty.
    She decided to go into town to see him. Maybe spending the day with him would make her feel better. After all, wasn’t he her purpose now? The man needed help and lots of it. But she could only do so much for him when it came to his children. Telling them he was their real father was a task only he could undertake. It wasn’t her place to tell them, even though she itched to do it at times.
    Besides, if she said anything, it would do more harm than good. They’d see him as a coward for not telling them himself, and what good would that do? All she could do in the meantime was encourage him.
    But that was hard to do when she wasn’t with him. Something she’d best remedy. She just hoped that when she did, he didn’t make her mad again. She’d just gotten over her recent anger, and she’d been so flustered the last few days that she