Free Blackstone's Bride by Teresa Southwick Page A

caused Abby to warm to her topic. That smile on his face caused her to warm to him. She started talking faster. “It’s always been my belief that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.”
    “Hmmm.”
    “While you’re about it, he’ll learn how to be a man.” She recalled Katie’s disbelief when Jarrod told her he wouldn’t let any harm come to her. Chances were good that Tom had never had a decent man to look up to. “Show him how to be a good man, Jarrod.”
    “Abby Miller, did you just say something nice to me?”
    “Good Lord, no. Whatever gave you a crazy idea like that?”
    He stuck his hands in the pockets of his denims. “Beats the heck out of me.”
    In spite of her vehement denial, Jarrod knew she had just paid him a compliment. That surprised him some, since more often than not she was hot under the collar about something he’d said or done. He was surprised how much her favorable opinion meant to him. It felt good to talk to her about the kids and the things that had been bothering him. He hadn’t wanted to resort to tanning Tom. Her notion of letting him tag along, of teaching him, well, maybe it was a good one.
    The ranch would probably be Tom’s someday. Jarrod figured it wasn’t likely he’d ever have a son of his own to leave it to, since he didn’t want a wife.
    He glanced at the house. “Do you think they’ve had enough time to look Bea over?”
    Abby shrugged. “Maybe we should give them a little longer. What do you think of her, Jarrod?”
    “She’s just what the doctor ordered.”
    “I’m glad you feel that way.” She looked up at him and smiled. Her eyes sparkled with pleasure at the praise.
    She was real pretty when she smiled, he thought. Although she was real pretty when she frowned. And when she looked like she wanted to shoot him too. He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. This kind of thinking was dangerous. If he wasn’t careful, he could get to like Abby Miller a lot more than he already did.
    “I hope the children approve,” Abby said.
    “Yeah. But why wouldn’t they?”
    “No reason that I can think of,” she said. “And from the looks of you, I brought her just in time.”
    “What does that mean? From the looks of me?”
    She shook her head at him as if he was dumb as a post. “You’ve got bags under your eyes big enough to store grain for the winter.”
    “No,” he said, resisting the urge to touch his eyes. “I don’t look that bad.”
    He felt that bad, but he didn’t think it showed. Shoot, he’d put on a clean white shirt, combed his hair, and generally spruced up. It bothered him that he didn’t look his best. Hell, it annoyed him that he even cared about how he looked to Abby.
    “It’s all right. There’s not so much damage that a few good nights of sleep won’t fix it right up.” She flipped her long red braid over her shoulder and started toward the house. “Trust me. Bea will see that you get it.”
    “They’re comin’,” Katie said, turning away from the window she’d been looking out.
    Bea glanced at each of the children in turn. “Do you all know what you’re supposed to say?”
    They nodded. The front door opened and Jarrod and Abby walked into the living room. Bea studied the younger woman and noticed a becoming pink in her cheeks that she’d never seen before.
    Something told her it had nothing to do with the sun, but everything to do with one handsome rancher. Her hunch had been right. She couldn’t blame Abby. Why, if she were thirty years younger, she’d set her cap for Jarrod Blackstone. She noticed the attractive indentation in his strong chin and revised that. Twenty-five years younger and the man wouldn’t stand a chance.
    “Jarrod, did you have a nice walk with Abby?” Bea asked.
    He tossed a quick gaze at the redhead beside him. Something flickered in his eyes that Bea was sure he wasn’t even aware of.
    “We didn’t get farther than the swing in the yard. But it was all right,