Finding Her Way Home Read Online Free

inspiration and Americana. The place was decorated in red, white and blue with American flags sprouting from potted plants, eagle-topped fountain pens crowded into coffee mugs and a display case filled with various other souvenirs and giftitems. The walls were plastered with military photos and Uncle Sam posters. One of them pointed straight at her. Uncle Sam Wants You!
    â€œHello, hello. Sorry to keep you waiting.” A tall, willowy blonde carrying a basket of snowy white towels swept into the office with an air of cheerfulness. Cheyenne did a double take. This young, beautiful woman could not be the Widow Wainright.
    Pale hair pulled into a loose topknot with unfettered strands framing a delicate, heart-shaped face and wide blue eyes, she made Cheyenne think of a fairy-tale princess. There was a vulnerable sweetness about her completely out of context with Cheyenne’s idea of an independent widow.
    â€œAre you Mrs. Wainright?”
    â€œKitty, please. We don’t stand on ceremony in Redemption.”
    So much for assumptions. “I’m Cheyenne Rhodes.”
    â€œHow can I help you, Cheyenne? Need a room? Or just looking at the gift shop? I have some great gift ideas.”
    â€œA room please.”
    â€œYou’re in luck! I just happen to have a vacancy.” She made a cute face and bunched slim shoulders in a girlish gesture. “Too many of them, actually, but that’s the nature of Redemption. The only time I’m filled up is during the Land Run celebration.” She dug out a registration form and pushed it across to Cheyenne. “New in town or passing through?”
    Was everyone in this town nosy?
    â€œNew.” Using one of the pens with a flying eagle topper, Cheyenne bent her head to the form. “Do you have a room with cooking facilities?”
    â€œOh, sure. Half of my units are long-term rentals with kitchenettes. Otherwise, I couldn’t keep the doors open.” Kitty placed her forearms on the glass countertop. Rose potpourri stirred around her. Everything about this woman was fresh and clean and inviting. “Does this mean you’ll be staying a while?”
    â€œUntil I find an apartment.” Or move on.
    â€œGreat. You can come to our Bible study and meet some of the other townsfolk. Redemption is a nice place to settle.”
    As much as Cheyenne wanted to make friends and have a real life again, she wasn’t excited about a Bible study. If she’d ever had any faith, it had disappeared the night Dwight Hector broke into her garage.
    â€œIf you’ll just sign the guest register here.” Kitty tapped a finger against the lined page. “I’ll take down your credit card info and we’ll be all set.”
    Feeling as if she’d stepped back in time, Cheyenne complied, waiting patiently while Kitty entered the numbers the old-fashioned way, without the use of a credit card machine. When the widow finished, she took Cheyenne’s registration form to a metal file box.
    â€œWell, look at that,” she said, holding the card at an angle above the box. “You’re from Colorado.”
    Cheyenne tensed; the thought raced through her head that Kitty had put the name and state together and come up with a news report.
    â€œFormerly,” she said, words terse and defensive.
    Kitty lifted wistful blue eyes, apparently unaware of her guest’s reaction. “My late husband and I honeymooned in the mountains near Breckenridge.”
    Cheyenne took a second to make the mental shift from her anxious thoughts to Kitty’s meaning. The place steeped in pain and sorrow for Cheyenne was a place of loving memory for the young widow.
    â€œThe mountains are a beautiful honeymoon destination,” she managed, wondering if she would ever stop feeling edgy and suspicious.
    â€œYes, they were.” The woman stood for several seconds, lost in thought and probably in memories of the man she’d loved and lost.