Adele (Angel Creek Christmas Brides #18) - Cynthia Woolf Page 0,17

her laughter at the antics of the kittens this morning, he knew she’d love the colts and the filly.

As he walked to the chicken coop he wondered what it was about Adele that drew him. She was beautiful, with her fiery, red hair and clear, light green eyes. Was it her beauty that attracted him? Did she have a temper to go along with that red hair?

*****

Adele finished with the milk and put the full can on the floor for Edward to do with as he pleased. She assumed he would take it to the icehouse and would hopefully have one there from yesterday to bring back to the house.

She put two skillets on the stove. These cast iron skillets were the largest she’d ever seen. Each had to be fifteen inches in diameter and was almost too heavy for her to pick up. She put bacon in one and waited for Edward to return with the eggs before she lit the fire under the other pan.

She turned at the shuffling of small feet entering the room.

“My papa will send you away. When my mama comes back you—”

Adele closed her eyes and prayed for patience, then opened them and looked at her new daughter. “Lissa you know that’s not true. Your father wants me here.”

“That’s enough, Lissa.” Edward entered the kitchen from the back door. “I’ve told you, your mama is not coming back. Not ever. She died, sweetheart.” He set the egg basket on the counter, knelt before his daughter and wrapped her in his embrace. “We talked about this matter. She can’t come back even if she wanted to. She’s gone to Heaven.”

Or Hell for abandoning her family.

Lissa began to cry. “Why would Mama leave me? Didn’t she love me?”

He hugged his child closer and looked up at Adele.

Her heart went out to Edward. He’d tried to keep Lissa insulated from the truth about her mother and that course of action had only made things worse.

He leaned back. “Of course, she loved you but, I cannot lie to you, she felt she needed to go away with another man. She left us, you and me. There are no words I can say that will change that fact.”

Lissa looked at him, tears running down her face. “Did I do something to make her go away?”

He hugged her tight and rubbed her back. “Never. You didn’t do anything but be a wonderful daughter to her and to me. Lissa, I love you very much. Nothing will ever change that. If you give Adele a chance, you might find that she’s a very nice lady.”

Lissa looked over at Adele, sniffled and swept her gaze up and down. “Maybe.”

Adele smiled and moved away from the stove toward her husband and child. “I’ll do my best to make you happy and to teach you the proper skills for a lady.”

“I don’t want to be a lady.” She kicked at a nonexistent rock. “I want to be a cowboy, like my papa.”

Adele folded her arms across her chest. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. Your father will have to decide when it might be time to teach you. It’s very hard work, and you’re probably not big enough yet.”

“He’s already taught me some stuff. I gather the eggs.” She looked at her father and then at the basket on the counter. “Well, most of the time. And I can milk Elsie part way.” Her shoulders sagged. “I can’t carry the bucket though, I’m too little.”

Adele squatted down in front of Lissa. “Maybe we can do that chore together. You milk her as far as you can and I’ll finish and carry the pail. What do you think?”

Lissa pursed her lips and thought about Adele’s suggestion for a moment. “I guess that’d be okay.”

Adele smiled, though she wanted to jump for joy. Maybe she would get the girl to like her. “Great. We’ll try it tomorrow morning, if you’d like.”

“Okay.”

She said the word, but her eyes were narrowed, and Adele doubted she would be much use, after all.

Edward hugged Lissa again and then stood. “Great, I’m glad to see you two getting along.”

Adele nodded, but didn’t take her gaze off of Lissa. “So am I. Now, I must continue preparing breakfast.” She headed to the counter to wash the eggs.

“I’ll do this.” Edward came up behind her. “You’ll find clean eggs in the icebox. We save them on Sundays and then we are a day ahead, so we don’t have to hurry