Sugar Plums for Dry Creek & At Home in Dry Creek Read Online Free Page A
Author: Janet Tronstad
liked it well enough be fore he made the final deal. So far, the ground had been fertile and the place quiet enough to suit him.
Judd watched Amanda and Bobby leave the hardware store be fore he reached into the nail bin and pulled out an other nail. Fortunately, the older men had given up on the idea that he should talk to the new woman. They probably realized heâd botch the job.
Outside of talking with Linda at the café and smiling politely when Mrs. Hargrove had delivered the books the school had sent him when heâd decided to homeschool the kids, Judd hadnât had a conversation with a woman since his cousin had left the kids with him. Well, un less you counted the court clerk heâd talked to on the phone.
Judd never had been much good at talking to women, at least not women who werenât rodeo followers. He had no problem with women at rodeos, probably because they did most of the talking and he al ways knew what they wanted; they wanted a rodeo winner to escort them around town for the evening. That didnât exactly require conversation, not with the yelling that spilled out of most rodeo hang outs in the evening.
As long as his boots were polished and his hat on straight, the rodeo women didnât care if he was quiet. He was mostly for show any wayâif he was winning. If he wasnât winning, they werenât that interested in talking to him, or even interested in being with him.
The few temporary affairs heâd had with rodeo followers didnât leave him feeling good about him self, so eventually he just declined invitations to party. By then he was counting up his prize money after every rodeo any way, with an eye to when he could leave the circuit and set him self up on his own ranch.
In those years, Judd hadnât known any women outside of rodeo circles, and he thought that was best. Judd never seemed to know what those women were thinking, and he didnât even try to sort it all out. He liked things straight for ward and to the point. The other kind of womenâthe kind that made wivesâal ways seemed to say things in circles and then expect a man to know what they meant. For all Judd knew, they could be speaking Greek.
Judd had a feeling the new woman in Dry Creek was one of that kind of women.
No, he wasnât the one to talk to her about what she was doing here, even though he had to admit he was curious. She sure knew how to hang a sign in that window.
Chapter Three
L izette shifted the sign with her left hand and took a deep breath. It had taken her the better part of three days to get the practice bar in place along the left side of the room and the floor waxed to a smooth shine. She still had the costumes hanging on a rack near the door waiting to be sorted by size, but sheâd decided this morning it was time to put the sign sheâd made in her window and start advertising for students.
She could still smell the floor wax, so sheâd opened the door to air out the room even though it was cold out side. At least it wasnât snowing today.
Lizette had bought a large piece of metal at the hard ware store yesterday and some paint so she could make her sign. The old men sitting around the stove in the store had obviously heard she was set ting up a business, because they were full of suggestions on how she should make her sign.
Of course, most of the words centered on the Baker part of the schoolâs name, but she couldnât fault them for that. She was heartened to see they had so much enthusiasm for a ballet school. If this was any indication of the interest of the rest of the people in the community, she just might get enough students to pull off a modified Nutcracker ballet for Christmas after all. Sheâd even assured the men in the hard ware store that no one was too old to learn some ballet steps. In fact, sheâd told them that lots of athletes used ballet as a way to exercise.
The old men had looked a little
Judd watched Amanda and Bobby leave the hardware store be fore he reached into the nail bin and pulled out an other nail. Fortunately, the older men had given up on the idea that he should talk to the new woman. They probably realized heâd botch the job.
Outside of talking with Linda at the café and smiling politely when Mrs. Hargrove had delivered the books the school had sent him when heâd decided to homeschool the kids, Judd hadnât had a conversation with a woman since his cousin had left the kids with him. Well, un less you counted the court clerk heâd talked to on the phone.
Judd never had been much good at talking to women, at least not women who werenât rodeo followers. He had no problem with women at rodeos, probably because they did most of the talking and he al ways knew what they wanted; they wanted a rodeo winner to escort them around town for the evening. That didnât exactly require conversation, not with the yelling that spilled out of most rodeo hang outs in the evening.
As long as his boots were polished and his hat on straight, the rodeo women didnât care if he was quiet. He was mostly for show any wayâif he was winning. If he wasnât winning, they werenât that interested in talking to him, or even interested in being with him.
The few temporary affairs heâd had with rodeo followers didnât leave him feeling good about him self, so eventually he just declined invitations to party. By then he was counting up his prize money after every rodeo any way, with an eye to when he could leave the circuit and set him self up on his own ranch.
In those years, Judd hadnât known any women outside of rodeo circles, and he thought that was best. Judd never seemed to know what those women were thinking, and he didnât even try to sort it all out. He liked things straight for ward and to the point. The other kind of womenâthe kind that made wivesâal ways seemed to say things in circles and then expect a man to know what they meant. For all Judd knew, they could be speaking Greek.
Judd had a feeling the new woman in Dry Creek was one of that kind of women.
No, he wasnât the one to talk to her about what she was doing here, even though he had to admit he was curious. She sure knew how to hang a sign in that window.
Chapter Three
L izette shifted the sign with her left hand and took a deep breath. It had taken her the better part of three days to get the practice bar in place along the left side of the room and the floor waxed to a smooth shine. She still had the costumes hanging on a rack near the door waiting to be sorted by size, but sheâd decided this morning it was time to put the sign sheâd made in her window and start advertising for students.
She could still smell the floor wax, so sheâd opened the door to air out the room even though it was cold out side. At least it wasnât snowing today.
Lizette had bought a large piece of metal at the hard ware store yesterday and some paint so she could make her sign. The old men sitting around the stove in the store had obviously heard she was set ting up a business, because they were full of suggestions on how she should make her sign.
Of course, most of the words centered on the Baker part of the schoolâs name, but she couldnât fault them for that. She was heartened to see they had so much enthusiasm for a ballet school. If this was any indication of the interest of the rest of the people in the community, she just might get enough students to pull off a modified Nutcracker ballet for Christmas after all. Sheâd even assured the men in the hard ware store that no one was too old to learn some ballet steps. In fact, sheâd told them that lots of athletes used ballet as a way to exercise.
The old men had looked a little
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