Free Tupelo Gold: Sweeter than Honey (Eclipse Heat Book 4) by Gem Sivad

his limit. But this was different. He scooped the boy from the sofa and sat down with him on his lap, hugging him tight in his arms. 
    Jacob looked shocked, then indignant, then embarrassed.
    “You’re my flesh and blood and I’ll not lose you again. Remember that.”
    “And Sally?” Jacob persisted.
    “Sally’s your flesh and blood and we’ll not lose her either. Stop worrying.” Hamilton would worry for both of them. He only hoped he could make his words true. Then, it all seemed a lot easier when Comfort and Sally entered the room.
    “I’ll be damned.” Stunned, Hamilton stared at the two Quince females, both decked out in fine shoes, lovely dresses, and expensively coiffed hair. 
    “Comfort,” he asked, “What are you about to do?”
    “The children and I are going shopping to see what these stores have to offer. I might find something I want to add to the CQ’s inventory. I expect we’ll find something to buy while we’re out. We’ll leave you to your business, now.”
    Sally grinned at him excitedly. Her hair had been pulled away from her face and coiled in a rather old-fashioned crown of braids on top of her head. At her neck, pinned to her collar, she wore Hamilton’s mother’s heirloom broach.
    “I don’t know how you managed it, but somehow, you’ve made her into a miniature Cordelia Sarah Quince. She looks like my mother.” If he hadn’t known he wasn’t Sally’s pa, he would have sworn she was his child.
    “You look real pretty, Ladybug,” Jacob told his sister. “I’ll watch out for the women.” Hamilton hid his grin as the six year old, trying to be a man, took his place at Comfort’s side.
    “You look very handsome, too, Jacob.” Comfort smoothed his tie, then turned to Hamilton. “When we return, we’ll stop by the lawyer’s offices and wait for you. If there are any doubts about the outcome of your meeting, we will arrange to introduce our very Quince looking children.” Comfort’s jaw was set in a determined line. 
    He nodded, getting the message loud and clear. Sally was going to be his daughter one way or another.
    * * * * *
    Comfort and the two children explored the shops in Wichita although a pall of worry hung over the family. Comfort stopped at an ice cream parlor for a treat after they were too tired to walk further. 
    Her stomach was aflutter when they finished and found their way to the lawyer’s office. The clerk looked up expectantly when they entered and then ushered them into the inner room where Hamilton and the Quince lawyer conferred. 
    Hamilton looked up with a tense smile on his face. Her heart plummeted at the same time she noticed the two people on the other side of the room.
    Sally saw the woman at the same time and hugged up close to Comfort. Jacob stepped closer to his sister as if protecting her.
    “Perhaps it would be best if the children waited in the outer room.”  Lawyer Kincaid cleared his throat importantly.
    Comfort escorted the kids back to the front office and knelt in front of them. “I’ll be right back. Your papa has about finished his business. We’ll be going home soon.”
    She left the children with the clerk and returned to the inner room where Hamilton waited.  Mr. Kincaid introduced the two other people as Will Talent and Mary Blain.  Comfort recognized the woman’s name as the person who’d kept the children after their mother died.
    Without waiting for an invitation to speak, the Blain woman said brusquely, “You’ve caused me a lot of trouble and you need to pay me something for my time. Why I tracked down this fellow and brought him here to claim his daughter. Now you up and say she’s yours. That’s not the story you were telling before.”
    The fellow in question cast his accomplice an uneasy look before he said, “If’n the girl’s mine. I want her.” 
    “Well, she’s not yours.” Comfort clasped her hands in front of her demurely as she spoke to the lawyer. “My husband felt it would be