The Matchmaking Pact. Carolyne Aarsen

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СКАЧАТЬ as Lily and Alyssa slipped past the doorway. “It’s not polite to ignore your Gramma, you know,” she called out with a sharp tone. “And who is that with you?”

      Alyssa stopped, and Josie saw her give Lily an apologetic look. Then she turned and trudged into the living room, holding Lily’s hand.

      “Gramma, this is my friend Lily Marstow. Lily, this is my Great-Gramma.”

      “Pleased to meet you,” Lily said.

      “Is your dad Silas Marstow?” Betty turned her chair around to face the girl.

      Lily nodded.

      “Your mother died two years ago?”

      “It makes me sad to talk about her,” Lily said. “But someday I’ll get a new mother.”

      Her assertion made Josie wonder if Silas had a girlfriend, which then made her wonder why she cared.

      “If you’ll excuse me, Gramma, I have to go make supper.” Josie felt bad leaving Alyssa and Lily with her grandmother, but she had to start.

      “We’re going, too,” Alyssa said, grabbing Lily by the hand.

      “Don’t you want to stay and talk to me?” Betty asked, sounding peeved.

      “I want to show Lily my room before her dad comes.” Alyssa beat a hasty retreat, giggling with Lily as they scurried down the hallway and into the room she shared with Josie.

      Josie paused in the doorway, feeling a moment’s sympathy for her grandmother. Betty had never been a pleasant person, and Josie was sure her injuries gave her a lot of pain. However, she didn’t blame the girls for not wanting to spend more time with her. Betty was unfailingly critical. While her grandmother might have just cause to criticize Josie, given her wild past, Betty had no right to reproach Alyssa.

      “Alyssa is turning out to be more and more like you all the time,” Betty snapped.

      “Alyssa is a good girl, Gramma.”

      “You better hope so” was Betty’s only reply.

      Josie sighed and returned to the kitchen, her brief moment of sympathy melting in the heat of her grandmother’s glare and reinforcing, for Josie, the need to stick to her plan of leaving. That Betty disapproved of Josie was one thing, but to turn that disapproval to Alyssa, Josie couldn’t allow. And she knew her grandmother wasn’t going to change.

      She got the rice cooking, made some more tea for her grandmother and was stir-frying the vegetables when a truck rumbled to a stop in front of the house.

      Josie glanced sidelong out the window in time to see Silas Marstow come striding up the walk. Beneath the brim of his cowboy hat, she saw his face set in the same grim lines she had seen that day of the tornado.

      Why did she feel a rush of guilt? It wasn’t her fault he was late.

      “Lily, your father is here,” she called out, rinsing her hands and drying them off on her apron as she walked to the door. When she pulled it open, Silas stood on the step, one hand raised to knock on the door, the other on his hip, his eyes narrowed.

      She had a feeling of déjà vu as his disapproval swirled around her.

      “I thought this thing went until seven” were the first words out of his mouth.

      Josie slowly shook her head. “No. I was sure I told you six.”

      Silas pushed his hat back on his head, scratching his chin with his forefinger. He hadn’t shaved and his finger made a rasping noise against the stubble shadowing his jaw. “Lily told me seven. I wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to leave my daughter waiting for an hour.”

      Josie bit back her next response, trying not to get baited by his anger. “You’re here now. Come in, and I’ll get Lily.”

      The cabin was an adequate size for Josie, her grandmother and niece, but as soon as Silas entered the kitchen, it seemed to shrink.

      “Have a seat, I’ll be right back,” Josie said, pulling out one of the chairs she and Alyssa had managed to salvage from their home.

      Lily and Alyssa were perched on Alyssa’s bed when Josie entered the room.

      “Your dad is here,” Josie said again.

      “Okay.” Lily glanced at Alyssa who lifted her hands in a pushing motion, then Lily turned to Josie. “I like supper, you know.”

      Alyssa poked Lily and frowned.

      Lily slapped her hand on her mouth. “Umm—I mean, I’m really hungry.”

      “Of course you are. It’s supper time.” Josie glanced from Lily to Alyssa trying to read the unspoken messages flashing between the two. Because, sure as kittens grow up, they were planning something.

      “Let’s go see your dad,” Alyssa said, jumping off the bed and dragging Lily along behind her.

      “Auntie Josie, can Lily and Mr. Marstow stay for supper?” Alyssa was asking as Josie entered the kitchen.

      Josie was momentarily taken aback. Talk about putting her on the spot.

      “I don’t think we can,” Silas said.

      “But I’m so hungry,” Lily said, glancing over her shoulder at Josie. “I don’t think I can wait until I’m at the farm.”

      Josie hesitated, convinced Lily and Alyssa were up to something and not sure she wanted to be a part of it.

      “Oh, don’t be so rude, let the man and his little girl stay,” Josie’s grandmother put in.

      Somehow Betty had worked her way to the kitchen and had decided to add her voice to the fray.

      Josie felt torn between appearing to be rude and feeling as if she was being manipulated.

      “You’re welcome to stay, Mr. Marstow,” she said, giving him a polite smile that let him know she didn’t expect him to.

      “Thank you, but I should get going.” He read her perfectly.

      “But I’m so hungry, Daddy. I can’t wait.” Lily tugged on Silas’s hand, rubbing her stomach with her other hand.

      Silas glanced from Josie to his daughter and she was convinced he was feeling as manipulated as she was.

      “And it’s your birthday,” Lily added. “And I don’t want to eat hot dogs again. Not for your birthday.”

      Now Josie felt like a real cad. Making the guy go home and make hot dogs for his birthday meal. “Please. Stay. I insist. We’ll have more than enough.”

      “Auntie Josie always makes enough so we can have leftovers,” Alyssa put in. “And we had leftovers yesterday even though Gramma doesn’t like it.”

      Josie shot her a warning glance. Mr. Marstow didn’t need to know the minutiae of their everyday life.

      “Please, СКАЧАТЬ