Free Winnie Griggs by The Bride Next Door Page B

Kip is behaving himself just like I told you he would.”
    Everett made a noncommittal sound and, with a nod, headed back downstairs.
    When she called him upstairs for the noonday meal, Everett deliberately took his time. No point appearing overeager.
    “Your oven and I are getting along much better today,” she said as they took their seats at the table. “You won’t find nary a scorch mark on these rolls.”
    Again she asked if he’d like to say grace, and again he passed the task to her. He noticed the speculative look she gave him, but he kept his expression bland. There was no reason for him to explain himself.
    He didn’t pray aloud, or pray much at all if you got right down to it. The clergyman who held the living on his father’s estate in England had made certain he was familiar with the Bible and that he attended church services regularly. And for most of his childhood, Everett had been quite faithful to those teachings.
    That had changed when he’d realized that his illegitimate status made him and his mother lesser people in the eyes of those oh-so-pious folks who surrounded him. And then he’d been summarily exiled from his home to America.
    Now he knew that religion was for children and women, those who needed something spiritual to cling to as an emotional crutch.
    He considered himself more of a social Christian—one who went to church service because it was expected. And to set the proper example for his younger sister.
    But there was no point going into all of that with Daisy. She obviously felt quite differently.
    As she passed him the platter of meat, she smiled. “I hope you like venison cooked this way. It was my father’s favorite meal. I do believe he would’ve eaten it every day if it had been available.”
    Everett met her gaze as he served himself. “I find it strange that you speak of him with such affection.”
    “Strange how?”
    “You ran off to get away from him. And worse, he didn’t come after you, but rather let you travel alone and by foot, though he had to know where you were going.” Such actions were unforgivable.
    “My relationship with my father is complicated, but regardless of how we parted, I do still love him very much.”
    Was she just being tactful? “Admirable of you, it seems.”
    She shook her head. “You sound like you don’t believe me, but it’s true. It’s just that, even though I love him, there are times when I don’t like him very much.”
    She wasn’t making a whole lot of sense.
    Apparently, she saw the doubt in his expression. “My father always said it was my mother who kept him on the straight and narrow,” she explained. “When she was around, there was no temptation strong enough to lure him away. That’s what kept him sober and happy when I was little.”
    She pushed her food around her plate with a fork. “I tried to be a good daughter when I started traveling with him again, to take care of him and give him as much love as Mother did. But I guess I wasn’t enough. He’d be okay for a while, but the yearning for drink and cards would get hold of him, and the next thing I know he’d have gambled away most of our earnings.”
    And she still claimed to love him? Had her affection made her so blind?
    “When I learned he’d won the deed to the building next door, I tried to convince him to come with me, but he kept saying he was too set in his ways to change.”
    “That doesn’t excuse his letting you set out on your own instead of giving you a proper escort.”
    She dredged her fork through her gravy. “That’s not exactly how it happened.”
    “What do you mean?”
    She still didn’t quite meet his eyes. “I never gave him the chance to bring me here.” She finally looked up. “We were over in Thornridge and had another of our arguments.”
    She looked so lost, so regretful that Everett almost reached out to touch her arm in support. But he’d never been comfortable with such emotional gestures.
    “It was a small