City Girl by Lori Wick Page B

I’ll probably need something else, but for right now, I’m doing fine.”
    â€œI’m glad, Reagan. Just come right to the back door if you find you do need something, even if it’s in the middle of the night.”
    Holly took her leave, and Reagan found herself alone once again. Not until that moment did she remember the money in her hand. She looked down at it, her brow furrowed in thought. Had the blacksmith asked where she’d found a place to live only out of curiosity and kindness, or was there something more?
    â€œHis wife is beautiful,” Reagan said quietly, “but more than one man has wandered in spite of that.”
    She hoped she had read the situation all wrong, but why would he return about a quarter of her money in exchange for nothing?
    Reagan had a sudden need to check the already locked door. She went to each window and found them secured as well. Not liking the thought in her mind, Reagan nevertheless faced the fact that Russell Bennett might not be as respectable as she first thought.

    â€œIs she settled, Holly?” Russell asked once the children were in bed. He’d taken his bath and gone to the bedroom to find Holly changing into a nightie and starting on her hair.
    â€œI think so. She looked tired to me, but she didn’t want help with the bed.” A huge yawn escaped her. “If she’s like me tonight, she’ll sleep hard.”
    â€œWhat did she say about the returned rent?”
    â€œNot much, but I’m not sure she liked it.”
    Russell was quiet over this. He had debated what to do about the rent, and in the end was glad he’d given some back, but there was a chance he could have given the wrong impression, or even that they would find themselves taken advantage of. He wasn’t all that keen about being a landlord in the first place, and he and Holly had both decided that if it didn’t work out, they would not rent “the shack,” as they called it, to strangers again.
    â€œOf all the people I tried to imagine would be our first tenant, Holly, I don’t think Reagan fit the bill.”
    â€œWhat type of person did you expect?”
    Russell’s smile was lopsided. “Some homeless man with a drinking problem, maybe. I don’t know.”
    Holly only watched him climb into bed.
    â€œDid you get to know anything about her?” he asked as he lay down on his back.
    â€œNot before I let her rent the place. I mean, she mentioned that she couldn’t afford it, and just now she told me she’s working at the hotel, but you had already mentioned that.” Holly chewed on her lip, a sure sign she was worrying. “Did I mess things up, Russell?”
    â€œNo,” he said quietly. “But when I’m feeling tired, like I am tonight, having someone else in my life to take care of makes me weary.”
    Holly was now ready for bed and joined her husband.
    â€œWell, you might have emotions involved simply because she’s the type of person who causes that, but something tells me that Reagan is used to taking care of herself.”
    â€œYou’re probably right.”
    Both husband and wife had run out of steam. Neither one moved to kiss the other goodnight. Russell simply reached for Holly’s hand to squeeze it, and Holly mumbled a goodnight. Russell was thinking that he loved her and should say so, but sleep was rushing in fast.

    â€œHave you got those biscuits in?” Sally asked a little before five the next morning.
    â€œIn and almost done,” Reagan informed her, her arm still mixing the batter for two cakes.
    â€œHow much longer?”
    â€œOnly about five minutes. The bread is rising nicely.”
    Sally stood back in approval, thinking Reagan was going to work out fine. Sally had all but taken the morning off, since the baking had to be done first, and for the first time in a month, she wasn’t tense before she started to cook.
    Even if Cousin