Spring Blossom Read Online Free Page A

his back
even as he called, “Come!”
    The door opened partway and a round, smiling
face framed by wisps of white-blond hair appeared. “Are you
decent?” she asked and he laughed shortly as he ran his long lean
fingers through his hair.
    “I never seem to be when you come skulking
about.”
    “I am not skulking,” Maggie returned
indignantly as she stepped into the room, closing the door behind
her. “Anna left your tray and you took so long waking up that the
coffee was growing cold.” She stopped short a few steps from the
bed. “Oh! You don’t wear a night shirt!”
    “No, I don’t wear a nightshirt,” he returned
wryly as he made certain the blankets covered his torso to the
waist. “You really are shameless.”
    “I know,” Maggie agreed, before placing the
tray across his lap. “Are you going to look at the horses today?”
she asked as she plopped herself down on the bed beside his right
hip.
    Pouring coffee from the small silver pot, he
smiled, nodding his head as he steadied the try with his free hand.
“I am.”
    “I could help you choose,” she offered and
reached out to take the small piece of roll he offered.
    “You fancy yourself a good judge of
horseflesh, do you?”
    Maggie nodded, chewing on the roll. “There
is a prime little mare that is in foal and I don’t believe Papa
knows.” She reached for another piece of roll. “You could have two
for the price of one!”
    Hunter stared at her in amazement. “Now,
that’s disloyal of you, Miss Downing,” he said sternly. “And how is
it you know that the mare is in foal and your father does not?”
    “I was there when Salamander mounted her,
that is how,” she informed him with absolutely no hint of
embarrassment. “I just happened to be in the loft.”
    While Hunter believed that young people
should be aware of the act of procreation, he somehow did not think
Alastair would share his views. “Is your father aware that you’ve
witnessed such things?” he asked softly.
    Maggie brows arched upward. “Good heavens,
no! Papa would be scandalized.”
    “And you’re not?”
    Shaking her head, Maggie said, “The breeding
was a mistake, actually. The stable boys let Salamander get away
from them and, of course, once he smelled the mare, they could not
keep him away. They would have been injured if they had interfered.
Still, Papa wouldn’t be happy to know about their blunder.”
    Hunter could visualize this sprite
witnessing the particular event; it was a wonder she had not fallen
headlong from the loft while she straining to see! “I don’t think
it would be fair of me to dupe your father, do you?” he asked.
    Maggie shrugged her shoulders, licking a
sticky finger. “You would be saving the stable boys from a
scolding,” she returned. “Unless, of course, the breeding didn’t
take and the mare is not in foal. Then Papa would never know what
happened.”
    Hunter chuckled; she was such a delightful
minx. “You had best get out of here, Miss Downing,” he said a
moment later. “I do believe you're corrupting me.”
    Maggie merely shrugged.
    “I’m serious, Maggie. I am about to get out
of this bed.”
    Maggie flew into action then, knowing she
had over-stepped the bounds of propriety again. At the door, she
turned back. “You won’t tell Papa I was here?”
    Hunter shot her a good impression of a
frown. “I’ll have to give the matter some thought.”
    “You won’t!” She laughed and raced from the
room.
    *
    The day was bright and sunny and not overly
humid, considering the time of year. It was mild with the smell of
freshly cut grass and hay in the air mingled with the headier odors
of animals.
    Hunter propped one booted foot on the lower
fence rail while his forearms rested on the upper rail of the
corral. Several mares were paraded by for his inspection. Treemont
boasted some extremely fine animals and, as a result, he was having
a difficult time choosing.
    Maggie had changed into her best
forest-green riding