Adele (Angel Creek Christmas Brides #18) - Cynthia Woolf Page 0,12
treats me well, so far, but I must keep my heart protected. I don’t want heartbreak as I had with Richard.
CHAPTER 4
Adele entered the house directly into the living room. The stairs were at the back of the room directly in front of her and a hallway was to her left.
She didn’t know what she expected but the tidy, comfortable looking room wasn’t it. A large braided rug covered the center of the floor. The chairs on each end of the overstuffed sofa were in the Queen Anne design and all three were upholstered in dark blue damask. The curtains were white with blue flowers.
As they walked down the hall, their boots sounded loudly against the hardwood floor.
Edward stopped at a set of open double doors. “This is the dining room. The men all join the family for every meal.”
She noticed the oak table was very large and could seat twenty easily. “That’s nice. I like the idea of everyone taking meals together. You said you have ten men. Is that correct?”
“I do. Each man is worth his weight in gold. They have all been with me for years. You saw Cookie. He’s been here for as long as I can remember and a couple of the other men as well. You’ll meet them all in a few hours at dinner.”
He stopped at the next door along the hall. “This is the bathing room. Catherine insisted. She said she wasn’t living like poor white trash and bathing in the kitchen.”
The hallway ended at the kitchen which was clear of the smoke and steam.
Edward stood in the middle of the kitchen with his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry you’ll have to clean this up on your first day here. Mrs. Underhill will be back this evening but not in time for dinner.”
“Then I guess we’d better finish this tour later so I can get a bath and start preparing the food. I’ll have to see if I can figure out what she was planning, unless you already know.”
Edward shook his head. “You’ll have to check with Cookie. He does the cooking when she’s gone.” He squinted his eye, frowned and scratched his head. “I can’t figure out why he’d be cooking bacon at this late hour.”
“We can ask him when we find him after my bath. Also, we’ll have to resume the tour later. I have work to do now. Would you grab my bags and place them in the bathing room, please? I see a couple of buckets on the stove. I’ll fill those and start them heating. I need to change before I clean anyway. I’m not doing housework in my mother’s wedding dress.”
Adele finished her bath and felt rejuvenated. She hadn’t felt that good in weeks. She’d laid back in the porcelain tub and forgotten all her worries. No thoughts about Richard and most definitely nothing about Edward finding out about her. She didn’t think about Lissa or what she would do about her. Adele had even dozed off for a few minutes before scrubbing herself nearly raw.
When she emerged from the room in a plain black bombazine skirt and blue striped cotton blouse, she found Edward sitting at the kitchen table.
He looked up but didn’t smile. “Did you have a nice bath?”
“Yes, as a matter-of-fact I did. What’s wrong? Did I take too long? I—” She began to unbutton her sleeves and roll them up so she could clean the kitchen.
He waved her away. “It’s nothing to do with you. Well, it is, but not about your bath.”
Adele’s heart pounded in her chest and her stomach roiled. Did he know about Richard? Should I not unpack my bags? She stopped rolling up her sleeves. “What am I supposed to have done?”
“You married me.”
“And that’s bad, why?”
He stood abruptly. “Because I just caught Lissa trying to sneak out of the house to run away.”
Adele thought she would collapse with relief. He doesn’t know about Richard.
“Oh, Edward, I’m so sorry. What will you do?”
“I don’t know. Right now she’s in her room. I’m afraid to leave her there because I fear she’ll try it again.”
Adele thought for a moment. “Bring her down here with her favorite book, preferably one she can read. Does she have one like that?”
“She has a McGuffey Reader. Will that work?”
“Perfect. While I clean she can read to me out loud. When I’m finished, she can take me to find you. Where will you be?”
“I’ll be in the barn with Cookie, grooming the horses.”
She