Free A Lesson in Patience by Jennifer Connors Page A

her manners, put a hand on the boy's arm to stop him from asking any more questions. Smiling at Ginny, she apologized. “We weren't expecting guests. Colby didn't mention he'd brought anyone home with him. My name is Georgia, and this is my youngest brother, Nate.”
     
    Returning the smile, Ginny replied, “It's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Ginny.” Ginny wondered how Colby wanted to play this. They agreed not to be married, but she didn't know how he would handle any questions from his siblings. She decided to wait until he was around to answer too many personal inquiries.
     
    “Where is your brother now? Is he going to have breakfast with us?”
     
    “Nah, Colby already left to check the stock. He won't be around until this afternoon.” Nate continued to shovel food into his mouth during his explanation.
     
    Georgia, who had stood up to retrieve a plate for Ginny, began to dish out from a platter of eggs and ham. Handing her the plate, she offered, “Colby's been gone for a few days and needs to make sure everything went well in his absence.”
     
    Something about the way Georgia spoke reminded Ginny of all the ladies from her Regency England novel. Perhaps it was Eloise's influence, but it seemed that Georgia was striving to be extremely ladylike.
     
    “Oh, and he didn't mention me at all, huh?” Ginny couldn't say she was surprised, just annoyed.
     
    “No, he didn't. May I ask why you've come to visit us?” Georgia looked pained to ask, as though she was stomping on some piece of etiquette she'd practiced so hard to perfect.
     
    “I'm... uh...” Ginny didn't want to say the wrong thing. After a moment, she decided to be as honest as she could. “I'm your new governess. I'm to teach the boys, and I suppose be a chaperone for you.” Ginny addressed Georgia, since Nate had obviously grown bored with her when compared to his breakfast.
     
    Georgia's eyes lit up with excitement. “That's wonderful. Since Eloise married, the boys schooling has been lacking.”
     
    “There's another brother, right? Frank?”
     
    “Yeah, Frank left with my brother to check on the cattle. He thinks he's bigger than he is.” With that, Nate shoveled one last bite in and left the table in such a hurry that he nearly knocked his chair over.
     
    Looking embarrassed, Georgia said, “Don't mind, Nate. He's a little jealous because Colby started showing Frank how things are done around here. In a few years, he'll do the same with Nate.”
     
    “Of course,” Ginny didn't know what else to say. All her siblings in her real life were much older. She had to live through a lot of “why does he get to do that and I can't” conversations with her mother.
     
    “After breakfast, I can show you around.” Georgia smiled again. She had a beautiful smile, with perfect white teeth. She was also stunning. Her hair was golden blond and wavy, coming out of a loose ponytail in the back of her head. Her eyes were sky blue, and she had a very flattering figure. Not that it mattered, but in this part of the world, a pretty and available girl were very sought after.
     
    “That would be great. Should we collect Nate as well. From what I hear from Tim, he can get himself into trouble very quickly.”
     
    With a laugh that sounded almost musical, Georgia said, “Tim would know. He's always caught in the middle of one of their schemes.”
     
    Ginny was impressed with how mature Georgia seemed. At eighteen, she should be silly and frivolous. It was probably difficult to be either when living in the frontier.
     
    “So, do you have any boyfriends?” Might as well cut to the chase.
     
    Looking down into her lap, Georgia took on a bright, embarrassed hue. “No. I suspect that Colby would like to marry me off as soon as possible, though. No one has captured my heart as of yet.”
     
    Ewwww , she thought. Sounded like too much romantic drivel. I t was probably one of the things I'm supposed to do here anyway.
     
    “Well,