Texas Cinderella. Winnie Griggs

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       Chapter Three

      Cassie Lynn pushed open the door to Mrs. Flanagan’s home, her mood considerably different from the cheery one she’d had when she’d left here just one short hour ago. So much had happened in such a short period of time.

      Dapple sat just inside the door, tail swishing impatiently. Seeming to sense her mood, the normally imperious tortoiseshell cat stropped against Cassie Lynn’s legs with a sympathetic purr.

      She bent down and stroked the animal’s back. “Thanks, Dapple. You can be really sweet sometimes.”

      That was apparently too much for the feline. He gave Cassie Lynn a baleful look, then turned and stalked down the hall, the very picture of affronted dignity.

      With a smile, Cassie Lynn headed for the kitchen. “I’m back,” she called out as she set her shopping basket on the kitchen table. “Sorry I took so long.”

      Mrs. Flanagan wheeled her chair into the kitchen. “Rather than apologizing,” the widow said acerbically, “tell me what that father of yours wanted.”

      Cassie Lynn should have realized her employer had known he was there. How much should she say? “He wanted to give me some news about Verne and Dinah.”

      Mrs. Flanagan raised a brow. “They’re expecting a new young’un, are they?”

      “No, at least not that I know of.” She started putting away the items she’d purchased at the mercantile. “But they are moving out and planning to set up their own place.”

      There was a moment of silence, but even with her back turned, Cassie Lynn could feel the keen stare the widow had focused on her.

      “I’ve known Alvin Vickers most of his life,” Mrs. Flanagan finally said, “so I know he didn’t come all the way into town just to deliver news like that. He wants you to move back to his place and take care of him, doesn’t he?”

      Cassie Lynn reluctantly glanced back over her shoulder and nodded.

      “You didn’t agree to go, did you?”

      “Not exactly.”

      The widow’s eyes narrowed. “What does not exactly mean?”

      Rather than give a direct answer, she hedged. “He was very insistent.”

      “You mean he tried to roll right over your objections!”

      Cassie Lynn gave her a tight smile that was part grimace. “I appreciate you’re concerned about me, but—”

      “Ha! Who said I was concerned about you?”

      When she’d first come to work here, Cassie Lynn had been taken aback by Mrs. Flanagan’s vinegary tongue, but it hadn’t taken her long to see behind the woman’s facade to the soft heart beneath. So she didn’t take offense at the words.

      The woman settled back in her chair with a determined frown. “I’ve got a stake in that bakery business you’re trying to start, remember? And you can’t run it from that back-of-beyond farm.”

      Cassie Lynn felt compelled to defend her father. “He’s my pa. I owe him—”

      Mrs. Flanagan actually wagged a finger at her. “Cassie Lynn Vickers, you’re twenty-two years old, a grown woman by anyone’s reckoning. You need to grow some backbone and make that father of yours listen to you.”

      Cassie Lynn grimaced, then turned away. Mrs. Flanagan might not say that if she knew the whole story. “At any rate, I told him I wasn’t leaving here as long as you needed my help.”

      “Well, that’s something.” The widow gave a decisive snort. “And I have a feeling that I may need your help for much longer than we first expected.”

      Startled, Cassie Lynn shot her a quick glance. Then, making up her mind, she decided to share her plan. “I do have an idea about how I might get around this.”

      Mrs. Flanagan straightened. “Well, bless my soul, you do have some gumption, after all.” She leaned back with a satisfied nod. “Let’s hear it.”

      Cassie Lynn took a deep breath. “It appears the only excuse my father will accept is if I was spoken for. So that’s what I intend to do—find a man to marry.”

      The widow’s brow went up. “Just like that, you’re going to go out and find yourself a suitor?”

      “I didn’t say it would be easy.” Cassie Lynn tried to keep the defensiveness from her tone. “And it’s not as if I expect anything romantic.” She didn’t have any notions of finding a fairy-tale prince who would look at her, fall instantly in love and whisk her away.

      After all, she’d already contemplated a businesslike marriage with Mr. Chandler when she’d first come to town. So she’d already come to terms with that kind of arrangement.

      But Mrs. Flanagan was frowning at her. “You’re much too young to СКАЧАТЬ