Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe: A Short Story (The Brides Series 1.5) (7 page)
Read Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe: A Short Story (The Brides Series 1.5) Online
Authors: Lena Goldfinch
Jem handed one of the hunks of cheese across to her, and she made an effort not to grab it from him and shove the whole thing in her mouth. She was that hungry. Instead, she nibbled at it, making it last, and watched with greatest interest as he opened up the packet of crackers. He passed her four, which she took gratefully. Gave two to the puppy, who gobbled them down right quick. Two more he sat on his knee, presumably for Mae, and then he broke pieces off the other hunk of cheese and set them atop his remaining crackers, downing them one by one. It wasn’t nearly enough for a man his size, she guessed, but he wasn’t complaining any. As soon as Mae finished her apple, he took the core from her and passed her one of the remaining crackers with a piece of cheese on it. She munched that down and looked to him immediately for another, the last one.
He gave it to her, then showed her his empty hands.
She frowned. “More?”
“No more,” he said, and showed her his empty hands again, making a bigger gesture out of it, as if the little girl was accusing him of hiding some.
If Annie weren’t so intent on eating her share of cheese and crackers she might have smiled at the sight of them, one of the most dangerous men she’d ever seen sitting side by side with that tiny little girl. They made quite a mismatched pair.
Mae looked over at Annie, down at the last cracker in her hand and the last bit of cheese.
Annie gulped down the mouthful she was chewing. She looked down at the last of her meal and back at the little girl. To her shame, she didn’t want to give up her last cracker. She could barely remember the last meal she’d eaten.
“That’s Annie’s food,” Jem admonished the little girl. “You’ve had yours.”
Mae bit her lip. She glanced down at her lap, then back at Annie again, clearly torn.
I can share,
Annie attempted to tell Mae with her eyes alone
.
She snapped her last cracker in half—simply unable to bear parting with the whole thing—and passed it across to the little girl. She took it and popped the whole thing in her mouth, making Annie smile.
“Mae!” her father said.
She looked at him wide-eyed, her mouth full of cracker. “Whaf dafdda?” she said, muffled and spraying a few cracker crumbs onto his pant leg.
He closed his eyes briefly and brushed off his leg. “You didn’t have to give her any,” he said to Annie, “but thanks.”
Annie grunted, her way of saying she didn’t mind that much. She looked down quickly and finished her last bit of food. The crackers had been crispy and the cheese silky and smooth. They’d tasted like heaven.
She drank deep when he passed the flask of water, amazed he’d let her drink from it. She tried her best to pour it down her throat without touching her lips to the flask, so he wouldn’t regret giving it to someone so dirty.
She wished she could tell him thanks, but after his own swallow, he was back under his hat, likely going over the events of the day: how he’d stuck himself with her, how he probably regretting even stepping off the train at the last stop.
She couldn’t say she blamed him.
She hadn’t much wanted to marry a stranger herself.
***
Let me know when
The Bartered Bride is available.
THE BRIDES
The Unexpected Bride
(
The Brides
Book 1
)
Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe: A Short Story
(
The Brides Series 1.5
)
The Bartered Bride
(
The Brides Book 2
)—A work in progress
ROMANCE FOR ADULTS & TEENS
BOOKS FOR TEENS
Chain Reaction: A Short Story
(Prequel to
Haunting Joy
)
Haunting Melody
(
Sequel to Haunting Joy
)—A work in progress
