Jessie's War (Civil War Steam) Read Online Free Page A

forgotten he’d
had one. Damn thing was both unfamiliar and unwelcome.
    He turned back to the stove
and continued with his task.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Making you breakfast. I
figure it’s the least I can do, since you’re letting me stay.”
    He’d intentionally kept his
tone light, because he needed to set her at ease, and her brother’s words hadn’t
done it. He couldn’t say what he needed to regain her trust. All he could do
was cook her a meal and hopefully remind her of a time when his presence hadn’t
caused her pain.
    He needed to forget his own,
too.
    She crossed her arms across
her chest and squared her shoulders. “The night, you mean. You leave today.”
    With the knife he held in his
hand, he made a vague gesture at the gray, sooty landscape outside the window. “I
think we’re snowed in, Jess. I can’t imagine I’m going anywhere.”
    She didn’t bother to follow
his gaze. “You’re going to have to try. You’re not welcome here.”
    He’d suspected that the
moment he’d walked through her door, though the words cut. What he’d wanted,
all those things he would have done if circumstances had been different, didn’t
matter. If he was lucky, he’d one day get the chance to explain his long
absence to her. If he wasn’t, then all the reasons in the world wouldn’t make a
bit of difference.
    He forced a devil-may-care
grin and tried to cajole her as he’d cajoled her mother all those years ago. In
those days, Jessie had always had his back. “Oh, come now, what would the
ancestors say about that?”
    “Don’t mock my ancestors. If
they had any sense, they’d applaud my judgment.”
    “That’s no way to talk about
one’s ancestors. I’m sure yours are a sensible lot.” He motioned to the scarred
but sturdy kitchen table, where he’d once sat as a welcomed guest with her
family. “Why don’t you sit down? Breakfast is ready.”
    “Is it poisoned?”
    For some reason, her question
reminded him of all the times he’d teased her while sitting at this same table. Remind her of those times. Get her to
trust you . She’s just an asset.
    But she wasn’t, and never
would be.
    He pushed the thought away. “I
suspect if anyone here was gonna be poisoned, it wouldn’t be you. I’m told it’s
bad form to poison my ‘generous benefactor,’ so it wasn’t something I planned.
I suppose if you have some handy, I could oblige. I hear arsenic goes quite
well with eggs, and you once told me it’s plentiful in these parts.”
    “Eggs with a side of arsenic.
Sounds divine and it would serve me right for taking you in.”
    “I guess it’s too bad I didn’t
think about it,” he said. The laughter he allowed to filter into his words wasn’t
entirely disingenuous. He had always liked her fire. The plate clanked loudly
against the table as he placed it in front of her. He took a seat across from
her and appraised her for a moment. “Eat. You look thin.”
    Her eyes shone with wary
irritation, and she made no move to take up the fork he placed in front of her.
“For Christ’s sake.” He leaned over to take some eggs from her plate. “See?” he
asked around a mouthful of food. “Not poisoned.”
    As if mocking him with her
slowness, she leaned forward and took an overly cautious bite.
    “Nice, Jess.” They ate in
silence for a few moments. “You look pretty.”
    Her expression shuttered, the
teasing he’d seen in her eyes disappearing. Her lips tightened, and she pushed
her plate away. “This helps the white folk remember who I am. Has nothing to do
with you.”
    He stayed silent for a long
time, waiting for her to go on.
    She kept her eyes locked on
the wall behind his head. “People stay away if they think I’m like my
grandfather. After Pop died in that mine collapse—oh, right, you weren’t
here for that—I figured it was best. This way, I know whoever comes to my
door isn’t here for a social call.”
    Any light he felt just from
finally being in the same room