Her Motherhood Wish. Keli Gwyn

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       Chapter Four

      Ruby sneezed.

      “God bless you, sweetheart! Here. You can use my handkerchief, if you need to.” Callie pulled the lace-edged square from her sleeve.

      “I’m all wight. My nose just tickled.” The little girl rubbed it with the back of her hand.

      “Sawdust can do that, and there’s plenty of it in here. Mr. Chip has been working very hard.”

      Callie looked around the large woodshop. Stacks of boards rested in neat piles. Some were waiting to be cut, others had been planed and a fair number were sanded and ready to be oiled before being assembled into bed frames.

      Her gaze lingered on the handsome carpenter as he kept his saw busy—and his muscular biceps flexing. The steady rasp as he sliced through the pine planks kept time with the rapid beating of her heart. At the rate Chip was going, he’d have the first order of furniture for the new dormitory built in no time. She wasn’t in any hurry. He was fun to be around, and he was so good with the children. She dragged her attention from him.

      Jasper raced up to her on a stick horse. He’d whooped and hollered when Tess had dropped by with it the day before. He stroked the horse’s cinnamon-colored yarn mane. “I know what I’m gonna name him. Gingersnap, ’cause he’s the same color as one of them cookies we had after lunch. Do you like it?”

      Callie smiled. “It’s a fine name.”

      Chip paused, saw in hand. “I like it, too. You could call him Snap for short.”

      Jasper tilted his head. “Like a nickname?”

      “That’s right. Miss Callie has one. Her full name is Caroline.”

      Callie seized the opportunity to learn what his name was. “What is Chip short for? Christopher, Charles or something else?”

      Chip shook his head. “None of those. My name is really Sebastian. The first carpenter I worked for when I was a boy of ten, a Scotsman, said it was too much of a mouthful for a laddie like me since I was no bigger than a wood chip. He called me Chip, and the name stuck.”

      “It suits you. Thanks for telling me. We’re keeping you from your work, though.” She held out a hand to Ruby. “We should find something else to do while Mr. Chip gets the next batch of boards cut. Let’s see if Mr. Isaac has time to lead you around on the pony, shall we?”

      The thumping of Jasper’s stick horse on the wooden floorboards as he rode around the room came to an abrupt halt. “Mr. Chip don’t need my help now. Can I go, too?”

      “He doesn’t need your help or ours just now, so I suppose you could join us.” She leaned toward him, smiled and adopted a playful tone. “If you’re interested in a riding lesson, that is.”

      “Yee-haw!” Jasper galloped over to them, one hand holding the rope reins and the other swinging an imaginary lasso over his head. Ever since Jasper had seen the cattle on the day Chip and Callie brought him to the Double T, he’d been telling anyone willing to listen that he was going to be a cowboy when he grew up.

      The room quieted. Chip stood with the saw hanging at his side and an exaggerated pout on his handsome face. “Are all my helpers going to abandon me?”

      “Just for a short time. The children have spent the better part of three days in here with us. I understand why, but I thought some time outdoors would be good for them. Isaac mentioned that he would be free this afternoon and hinted rather strongly that he’d like to meet Jasper and Ruby.”

      “I see.” Chip crossed the room in a few strides, wearing a smile. “And you’re going to take your brother up on his offer and leave me here to slave away on my own, are you?” He heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Good help is so hard to come by.”

      Callie chuckled. “Since we really can’t do much to help at this point, I figured you might appreciate having some time to yourself. Without distractions.”

      “Ah, but these are the best kind of distractions.” He ruffled the children’s blond heads. And winked at her.

      Chip’s impulsive gesture didn’t mean anything. He was just being his usual engaging self, but even so, a shiver of delight raced up her spine.

      His brow furrowed. “Are you cold?”

      “Not at all.” With him standing so close, she could smell the masculine mix of wood, linseed oil and sunshine that was Chip. Even better, she had a good excuse to look into his intriguing eyes, a far deeper blue than her own, with golden circles around the centers. Those eyes widened, and she realized she was staring. “You’ll СКАЧАТЬ