Linda Ford Read Online Free

let the peace of knowing God’s care sift through his tense thoughts then ended as he always did. Help me fulfill my responsibilities.
    He shifted in the saddle as Con rode up to him. Jake gave him instructions on watching the herd but didn’t hurry away. This was about the only place in the whole town where he felt comfortable. Finally, with a belly-cleansing sigh, he turned away. Time to deal with his mother and her needs.
    He tied his horse in front of the hotel, crossed the sidewalk, and flicked a finger at the closed sign. Trust his mother to ignore the sign and the impracticality of staying here. But he feared if he insisted on moving, she’d upset herself and end up in bed. He sighed. Somehow they’d manage, inconvenient as it was.
    He threw open the door and wrinkled his nose at the odor of smoke and lye. He’d sooner sleep with the cows. He heard angry muttering and followed the sound to the dining room. Hannah teetered on the top of a ladder struggling with blackened drapes. What was the woman thinking? Someone should tell her how dangerous ladders were.
    “Miss, get down before you fall.” His voice rang with the same tone he used with his hired hands, expecting them to jump and obey.
    She jumped all right, and put herself completely off balance.
    He leaped forward. “Stay right there,” he ordered, shifting course to avoid the hole in the middle of the floor.
    She pawed at the curtains, trying to right herself. A tear started at the edge where the material had burned. The sound began slow, like a beginning thought, then picked up speed. Her fragile balance shifted as the drapes parted company with the rod. Caught in the drape, she tumbled off the ladder.
    In his haste to reach her, he stumbled over a chair and caught one foot between the rungs. He reached for her. In a tangle of charred drapes and a now broken wooden chair, they hit the floor. Whoofs of air exploded from two sets of lungs.
    Jake couldn’t move. His feet were snarled in chairs and fabric. The ladder had fallen across his legs. He’d have matching bruises to prove it.
    Miss Williams sprawled across his chest, trying to fight her way out of the drapes encasing her. Her struggles landed elbows in his chest and face.
    “Stop it,” he muttered, and when she grew more frantic, he wrapped his arms around her, making it impossible for her to move.
    “Let me up. I can’t breathe.” Her voice was muffled.
    “Take it easy. I’ll get you out.” He kicked away the ladder and chair and rolled to his knees, then set to work untangling the fabric until she emerged.
    She inhaled sharply and pushed hair out of her face, smearing charcoal over her cheeks, and shuddered. “That was dreadful. They stink.”
    He sucked in air filthy with the odor of the burned drapes as he pushed to his feet, feeling a pain in his shins from the encounter with the ladder. He dusted himself off. “You had no business up there. Who’s in charge around here? How can he be so irresponsible as to allow you to do such a dangerous job? Where is he? I’ll speak to him.”
    She scrambled from the drapes and stood up to face him, her eyes boring into him. Very pretty hazel eyes, he noticed. “I am in charge. I am responsible for me. I don’t need someone to take care of me.”
    “You can’t be in charge.”
    “And why is that, Mr. Sperling?” Her voice was low, gentle. But her flashing eyes told the truth. She did not welcome his opinion.
    Not that he cared what she thought. Someone had to see that she didn’t do such foolish things in the future. And when had he gone from being “Jake” to “Mr. Sperling”? “This is not a job for a woman.”
    She pulled herself as tall as she could. Her eyes turned almost green; her cheeks flushed. “Really? And what do you propose to do about the fact that I own this place and intend to fix it up so I can open for guests?”
    He struggled between anger at her stubbornness in refusing to give in to his hard stare and amusement