Free Chief Cook and Bottle Washer by Rita Hestand Page B

except the cattleman's journal. But
one look on her little face, and I understood. She's enraptured by
your voice."
    "Understood what?"
    "That only a loving mother would read to a
child that couldn't understand for an hour and a half."
    "You listened–that long?" Emma's mouth flew
open.
    "No, not exactly." Deke shifted
uncomfortably. "I hope you don't think I was snooping but I went
out to check on a couple of things and when I came back you were
both still wrapped up in that rocker. She was asleep, like a little
angel, and you were smiling at her as you read the same story, must
have been three times."
    "It was her favorite and she was teething. I
read to soothe her."
    "Don't apologize. I thought it was kinda
sweet. Did your mother read to you when you were little?"
    "I don't remember. I was too young. Oh but
you're wrong about not understanding. Doctors encourage reading
even before they are born. They might not understand all the words,
but it's the communications," Emma recited Kate's doctor's speech
nearly word for word. The endless trips to the doctor with Kate had
been a real eye opener for Emma. Little did she know how much she
would need the information for herself.
    "I'd say you communicate very nicely, Emma.
There's something kinda nice about having a woman and a baby in the
house."
    Their eyes met for only a moment then Deke
glanced away and cleared his throat. "Well, I'll have one of the
boys look out in the old shed and see if we can find something
better than this chair. We must have had some kind of contraption
for eating when we were kids."
    "Oh please don't bother . . . ."
    "It's no bother." His eyes met hers for a
long moment, then he cleared his throat again and looked away.
"Don't act like I'm doing you such a favor all the time. I needed a
cook. You needed a job. Your gratitude is not what I'm after."
    Sausage sizzled in the big iron skillet on
the stove and Deke didn't waste any time in moving towards it,
flipping it with the spatula she had lain down.
    "I thought I'd fix sausage and eggs this
morning, since you have an abundance of both and you told me last
night the boys always liked them." Emma tried to sound calm, when
every nerve in her body seemed to scream at her. God, he was being
nice. And she was completely overreacting. He was only her boss,
not a vampire about to scoop down upon her neck and bite her.
Although the very thought sent a wave of goose-bumps over her skin.
She had to quit reacting. She wasn't in the market, she reminded
herself, and Deke Travers certainly had no personal interest in
her.
    "That's a good choice. Smells great. I didn't
expect you to be up so early, especially since you have a baby to
tend to." Deke watched her carefully.
    "That's part of the reason I am up. Sammie Jo
goes to bed early but she also gets up early too. I didn't want her
waking everyone in the house. She's learning to talk and sometimes
it comes out rather high pitched."
    Deke moved to get his hat off the back porch
table. "She's a cute little critter. Don't worry so much about
her." Deke glanced down at the tyke on the floor then at her.
"Look. I'm sorry if I snapped at you back on the road yesterday. I
guess it's my fault you're so jumpy about her, but not to worry, we
all like Sammie Jo and if you need a little extra time to take care
of her, we'll certainly understand. The baby just took me by
surprise is all. But we like kids, all of us, we just haven't had
any since Rusty was a baby. And it looks like you're going to work
out just fine. You certainly know your way around a kitchen. So
quit worrying. You aren't on trial here. You should have guessed
from the little barbecue last night, everyone here likes you. The
boys will appreciate a good breakfast before they start tackling
the herd this morning. And that coffee will have them running in
here any minute. I've been stuck with that job for the past week,
myself. And from the looks on their faces not doing too well,
either."
    "I'm sorry I'm so