Saturday's Child Read Online Free Page A

before stepping out into the hallway. There was a small queue of people waiting their turn at the facilities and she nodded pleasantly to one or two.
    She eased back into the apartment as quietly as possible though Colin would, like as not, sleep through a cavalry charge. He'd turned in his sleep and now faced the room. Katie hesitated a moment, noting the lines drawn too deeply about his mouth. He looked older than his twenty-five years. Not even sleep could erase the worry from his face.
    She was frowning as she slipped behind the curtain that surrounded her bed. She'd have given anything right then to have inherited a bit more of her parents' optimism, their belief that something better always waited around the next curve in the road.
    She stepped into a plain gray dress and drew it up over her shoulders, settling it in place before slipping the buttons through the buttonholes. She'd have much preferred to be wearing one of the new shirtwaists that were gaining such popularity. To have a skirt separate from the bodice seemed a wonderful thing but Mrs. Ferriweather thought them an abomination—much too mannish and certainly not something one of "her girls" would ever wear.
    She dragged a brush through her hair with ruthless force before gathering the thick mass into a knot. Holding it against the back of her head, she caught a glimpse of herself in the cracked mirror that hung beside the bed. Your hair is the most beautiful color I've ever seen.
    The voice in her head was deep, with a whiskey rasp to it. She'd been trying very hard not to think of the injured stranger, not to remember the blue of his eyes or the broad shoulders that had filled his dinner jacket to such perfection. Quentin Sterling. The name bespoke quality, even if his manner and the cut of his clothes hadn't already done so.
    Shaking her head, she pushed pins into her hair to secure the thick knot at the back of her head. She was a fool to be letting a man like that into her dreams. No one knew better than she that nothing could come of it.
    Pushing Mr. Quentin Sterling out of her thoughts, she checked her reflection one last time, making sure that she looked neat as a pin. Even if she was only to be bent over her sewing all day, Mrs. Ferriweather expected all her girls to be tidy.
    Slipping through the outer room on tiptoes, she let herself out and hurried down the hallway. Though the church bells were proclaiming only half past the hour, she'd have a brisk walk to get to the shop on time.
    Tattered threads of fog drifted through the streets. Glancing at the gray sky, Katie tugged her wrap closer about her shoulders. It didn't look as if there'd be much sun today. Not that it would matter much to her, since she wasn't likely to get out again until near dark.
    Climbing up one of the city's famous hills, Katie tried not to pant in an unladylike fashion. Why couldn't Colin have settled someplace flat? Reaching the top, she paused to catch her breath. She looked back down the hill she'd just climbed. The city spread out, seemingly at her feet. In the distance, she could see the bay. The sun had burned the last of the fog, leaving the waters blue and sparkling.
    But not as blue as Quentin Sterling's eyes.
    The thought slipped in, unwelcome. Exasperated, she turned away from the magnificence of the view and stepped out briskly. Almost too briskly. As she stepped off the curb to cross the street, a raucous blast of a horn sent her jumping back, nearly losing her balance as she sought the safety of the walkway. The automobile flew by her at a dizzying speed, the driver shrouded in coat, hat and goggles so that it was a wonder he could move at all beneath all those layers.
    He didn't bother to glance her way as he sped off down the street, the gleaming ivory of his vehicle catching the sun. Katie watched him out of sight, one hand pressed to her bosom as she tried to still the pounding of her heart.
    She'd not liked the new mode of travel even before her parents'