Free A Bride at Last by Melissa Jagears Page A

hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. A clatter of rocks drew their attention across the creek.
    Up on the embankment, Richard’s menacing glare stayedintact despite his needing to grab a tree limb to keep him from slipping farther down the earthen wall.
    The cold water around her ankles did little to cool the flushing heat spreading through her body. They weren’t doing anything wrong, but for some reason, she wasn’t sure Richard would agree.

Chapter 6
    Kate glanced about the crowded sanctuary. Would Mr. Kingfisher fire her right now in front of everyone? She’d approached him to ask for time off tomorrow to go to court with Anthony, but now . . .
    “Mr. Fitzgerald’s accusations are more than enough to merit your suspension at the very least.” Mr. Kingfisher shook his head, his brows heavy with irritation. “There’s no good reason for you to have been in Mr. Jonesey’s arms, improperly dressed.”
    She wouldn’t let Richard get her fired. “Mr. Fitzgerald has skewed the entire incident. He’s intent on taking Anthony, so he’s trying to make the situation sound as bad as possible in an attempt to make Silas seem unfit. I told you, I was wading in the creek with Anthony, and Silas was helping me cross a trench.”
    Mr. Zahn, a board member standing next to Mr. Kingfisher, shrugged. “She did meet expectations before this orphan stuff came up, Bob. One tumble in the creek doesn’t negate that.”
    She gritted her teeth. Orphan stuff. To them, Anthony was nothing but a bothersome detail. She glanced at the rows of chairs where the congregants mingled before heading home. Anthony was talking to a friend in the corner by the organ.
    Both Silas and Richard hovered not far from him.
    “This year’s already started.” The voice of one of the ladies on the board quietly broke into the men’s debate. “Is letting her go worth the time we’d waste locating a replacement?”
    “But she’s been late once already this past week, Mrs. Monteclaire.” Mr. Kingfisher’s hand swooped out and almost hit her. “Now she’s dallying with a stranger—inappropriately dressed, no less!”
    Kate winced and glanced around hoping no one else heard his heated announcement. “I took my stockings off to wade with Anthony, yes, but I’ll likely never see him again, and I . . .” Her throat constricted. She would not cry in front of these men. She sniffed and tightened her facial muscles to ward off the flow.
    Within a minute or two, she might be back in the same position Jasper Goldwater had put her in two years ago when she’d arrived in Missouri as a mail-order bride and found him to be so much worse than he’d painted himself in his letters—or rather the letters his brother had written for him.
    She’d not be penniless and without a job again if she could help it.
    “No need to fire her. She’s only had trouble with punctuality while keeping the boy, and he’ll be gone next week.” Mr. Zahn looked at the woman next to him. “Mrs. Monteclaire’s right—we’d be in a terrible lurch if she leaves.”
    “Then fine.” Mr. Kingfisher pulled at his tie.
    That was it, no apology? No asking Silas for his take on the events Richard had blown out of proportion?
    If the superintendent was willing to fire her because of one random man’s testimony, would the judge believe her accusations about Richard’s misconduct? Richard would surely call her a liar, and since Mr. Kingfisher hadn’t even bothered to ask her if the story was true before accusing her of wrongdoing . . .
    Would Richard mention seeing her in Silas’s arms at thehearing to discredit him? Surely that wouldn’t matter between men—they’d not consider misconduct with a woman as detrimental to a man’s ability to parent.
    She wrung her hands. “Do I still have my job?”
    “Yes, but I don’t want you dillydallying with any more men.”
    “With all due respect, Mr. Kingfisher, I wasn’t.”
    “She’s always been upstanding