Spring Comes To Barncastle Inn Read Online Free Page B

me.”
                  “Ah, Marin, you're only ten years old. You really shouldn't worry about a boy being cute, just yet. You have plenty of time much later to think about boys.” Sadie couldn't help it. The girl was too obvious and Andy too disinterested for someone's feelings not to be hurt eventually. Then again, maybe this was only a case of simple puppy love. Trouble was, puppy love was always real for the puppy.
                  “I know.” Marin sighed. “But he's so smart. He knows all about computers and birds and camping, and everything, just like Daddy. And at the bus stop, some other kids were being mean, and Andy stood up for me and made them quit.”
                  “He's a fine young man. I think it's neat that you compared him to your dad.”
                  “My dad is the best man in the world. I just wish he wasn't sad sometimes. I think he needs to get married again and then he'll be happy.” Marin nodded.
                  Sadie tried not to say, “Ha,” and succeeded. Instead, she said, “That's a lot of pressure on a woman, trying to be someone's happiness.”
                  “Huh?”
                  “Your daddy will need to be happy on his own, before he can be happy with someone else. Besides, happiness comes and goes quickly.” She'd been schooled in that painful lesson herself, and hadn't always learned. Like now, when every day she saw the kind of relationship she craved in the deepest corners of her heart.
                  “I guess that's true.” Marin looked thoughtful.
                  Time to change the subject, away from Peter and happiness and puppy love. “Well, I was going to have you help me down to the gatehouse to work on the store, but it poured last night and it's muddy all over. What would you say if we made cookies instead, so we can bring some of them for supper with your dad tonight?”
                  “Oh, it's been forever since I've made cookies with anyone.” Marin beamed.
                  “Okay, help me up so we can get to the kitchen before everyone gets back.”
    **
    The smell of burned tomatoes, vegetables, and beef still hung in the air when Peter entered the kitchen. He paused to offer Sadie a hand as she negotiated the threshold. With her nose wrinkled, she paused for a moment on her crutches on the inside doormat. Marin came in behind her, unwinding her scarf.
                  “I, uh, tried to make beef stew in the slow cooker, and it scorched. Which is why I swung by Wok Stars for takeout before I picked you up.” He set the large brown paper bag on the edge of the dining table. “It was either that or the last few slices of leftover pizza in the fridge.”
                  Sadie laughed. “I've had cooking disasters of my own. Chinese is fine, just fine with me.”
                  “I thought,” he said, stepping to the kitchen window and opening it a few inches, “that the smell would have disappeared by now.”
                  Marin shrugged out of her coat. “Air freshener. I think we're out of it. You know the kind that they sprayed inside a car and left in a parking lot in Texas. And the car was full of garbage, in  July? Well, we need that.”
                  “You can add it to the shopping list.” Peter pointed at the notepad on the fridge. It was the easiest way for him to remember what to buy.
                  “You seem organized,” Sadie observed, making her way to the nearest chair.
                  “Please, sit down.” He pulled out the chair for her. Manners, manners. But then he wasn't used to company yet. With both him and Marin being busy, he hadn't ventured any invitations to anyone locally. First time for everything.
                  Sadie smiled up at him as she settled onto the wooden seat.