Short Straw Bride Read Online Free Page B

importance of tending one’s immortal soul, Mama.” Anabel thrust her lower lip out ever so slightly in the pretty pout that she’d spent hours perfecting.
    “Very admirable of you,” Reverend Mulligan said dryly.
    “Is this another daughter?” Luke asked, turning to look directly at Eleanor.
    “My brother’s child.” Zeb Williams’s tone was flat. “We took her in when he was killed a few years ago.”
    There was an awkward little pause, and Eleanor felt the color rise in her cheeks. Her uncle couldn’t have made it more clear that she was an unwanted burden, hardly worth noticing. Tears of embarrassment burned the backs of her eyes.
    “Eleanor, this is Luke McLain. His brother, Daniel.” Reverend Mulligan hurried to fill the silence when it became clear that neither her aunt nor her uncle had any interest in introducing her.
    “Pleased to meet you, Miss Williams.”
    Eleanor raised her gaze to Luke McLain’s face, oblivious to his brother’s equally polite greeting. Up close, he was even more overwhelming than he’d seemed from across the churchyard. His eyes were gray, the same clear color as a lake under a stormy sky. They were like polished steel against his tanned skin.
    “Mr. McLain.” The whispered acknowledgment was all she could get out. Her heart was pounding against her breastbone, making her voice breathless. She could barely hear Luke’s greeting to Andrew Webb over the sound of her own pulse in her ears. And then he turned back to her and smiled and she felt her knees go weak.
    “Have you lived in Black Dog very long, Miss Williams?”
    “Six years, four months and twelve days,” she answered, without thinking. She saw his brows shoot up and immediately wished she could catch the words back. She’d kept track of the days like a prisoner counting out her sentence, but she’d neverintended to reveal as much to anyone, least of all Luke McLain.
    There was a moment of shocked silence, and then Anabel giggled. “You shouldn’t tease Mr. McLain, Eleanor. Why, it almost sounds like you haven’t been happy with us.”
    “I didn’t mean that at all,” Eleanor mumbled, lowering her lashes to conceal the rebellion in her eyes. She’d get an earful from Aunt Dorinda later, she knew. And heaven knew what Luke McLain must think of her.
    The awkward moment was interrupted by the arrival of Letty Sinclair. Eleanor felt a twinge of annoyance. Letty was her best friend and, ordinarily, she would have welcomed her presence, but on this occasion Eleanor couldn’t help but feel that Anabel’s soft blond beauty overshadowed her enough without the addition of Letty’s more exotic dark good looks. Guilt over the selfish thought made her smile all the more warmly as she turned to include Letty in their little group.
    Reverend Mulligan made the introductions. Eleanor watched in resignation, sure that Luke McLain would be completely smitten by Letty’s raven hair and dark eyes. There’s Italian blood there, mark my words, Aunt Dorinda had said darkly when Letty first moved to Black Dog. ButItalian blood or not, the healthy condition of Letty’s bank balance assured her place in the town’s small society, even if her charm and generosity hadn’t already done so.
    Better that Luke be smitten by Letty than Anabel, Eleanor thought. Better almost anyone than Anabel. By the time the minister had finished the introductions, Eleanor was already envisioning the wedding with herself as a heartbroken but noble bridesmaid.
    “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Sinclair,” Luke said, looking polite but not overly smitten.
    “It’s Mrs. Sinclair,” Letty corrected, smiling in a way that made her eyes sparkle. “I’m a widow these three years past.”
    “You must have been a child bride,” Daniel McLain said, his eyes blatantly admiring Letty’s trim figure.
    “I’ll take that as a compliment, Mr. McLain.”
    “It was intended as such, Mrs. Sinclair,” he responded with a grin that might have