Читать книгу Once More A Family - Lily George - Страница 12

Chapter Four

Jack stood in the school’s parlor, his hat in his hands, distinctly ill at ease. This stuffy school always put him on his guard, for it was nothing like home and everything he was used to. He was also facing it alone, as Mrs. Erskine had requested to speak to Ada privately about Laura’s progress. In some ways, he was annoyed that he wasn’t receiving that information. After all, he was Laura’s father, but since Ada would be in charge of Laura’s education, it was likely for the best. Besides, it might be nice to meet with Laura alone and explain everything to her before she met Ada.

The parlor door opened, and a maid ushered Laura into the room.

Jack drew in his breath sharply. She looked more like her mother than ever, more so than when he had seen her at Christmas. Emily had been a regular china doll, with pale skin, golden-blond curls and wide blue eyes. Like her mother, Laura possessed all these features. Also, just like her mother, she wore a fixed expression of angry disapproval. Maybe that’s why she favored Emily so much at this moment. Why was his little girl upset?

“Father.” She stood in the doorway until the maid ushered her in. Then the door closed behind Laura, and they were alone in the room.

“Hey there, my chickadee,” he said heartily, reverting to his pet name for her. He came forward to gather her into a hug, but she put her cheek up, coolly awaiting a kiss. He paused, disconcerted. “How’s my sunshine gal? Don’t I get a hug?”

She drew away from him, gazing up with a grave expression on her face. “Mrs. Erskine told me you married someone.”

“Yes.” He didn’t know what to do with his hands. He’d expected to get the chance to squeeze her and then sit down with her talking excitedly as she always did, but she didn’t seem to be in a happy mood. “I went out and got my little girl a new mama. Now we can all live together as a family.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I have a mama. She’s in heaven.”

“Well, now.” He cleared his throat. This wasn’t going at all as he’d expected. “That’s true. Mrs. Ada is just going to take care of you so we can all live in Winchester Falls together.” A terrible pain stabbed him. “You do want to come live with me, don’t you?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “This is my home, you see, Father. I know where everything is. I know what to do. I like it here.”

He stared at his daughter, unsure he even understood what she was saying. “Your home is with me. This is just your school.”

“I don’t want to go.” She said it firmly and clearly, a mulish expression stealing over her face.

He had never seen her in such a temper before. After recent events, especially the bout with his father-in-law, he wasn’t about to stand for this. “You’re going.” He stated the truth firmly and flatly. “Is your trunk packed?”

“Yes, but I can unpack it.” She scowled at him, lowering her brows in the same way Emily used to when she was in a fighting mood.

“No, you can’t. I’ll make sure they go ahead and load it in the carriage.” He crossed the room and grasped the bellpull, preparing to give it a good hard yank.

“I am not going with her.” Laura stamped her foot. “She is not my mother.”

“What does that matter?” Jack was incredulous. Was he really going to have a fight with Laura after all he had done to make them a family? Did she have any idea what he had been through to make this happen? So many lives had been turned upside down just to bring them together again. “If your trunk is packed, then we’ll get going. I am sure Ada is done with Mrs. Erskine by now.”

“I’m not leaving here.” Laura folded her skinny arms across her chest and glared at him.

He looked at his daughter, still unsure if this was some sort of bad joke or a nightmare. She stood before him in her gray cotton uniform, with her long hair in a tangle of blond ringlets and her black tights bagging at the knees. Her black hair ribbon tilted crazily over one ear, giving her the look of someone who had been scuffling with an unseen enemy.

Laura had always been an easy child, his “little chickadee,” his “sunshine baby.” This new behavior was likely the result of life in a highfalutin boarding school and not enough time out on the prairie. The sooner he brought her home, the better. She would get over this sulk and go back to being the sweet-tempered child she had always been.

“Stop this nonsense and come on,” he ordered. If he gave in to this kind of behavior, she’d end up as spoiled and entitled as Emily.

“I. Will. Not.” She punctuated each word with a stamp of her foot.

Anger and helplessness boiled within Jack. He had no idea what to do. Unless he threw her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, kicking and screaming, there was no way to get her out of this parlor and down to the waiting carriage.

Without another word, he turned and left the room, slamming the parlor door behind him. A walk would cool him off. A walk would enable him to think. He’d been through plenty the past few days, living with a strange woman in his home and then meeting with Edmund St. Clair. A man had his limits.

As he dashed down the stairs, Ada and Mrs. Erskine stepped out of an office on the first floor. “Mr. Burnett,” Mrs. Erskine effused, holding out her hand. “How nice to see you again. I’m so sorry we will be bidding farewell to Laura. She has always been one of my favorites.”

“Well, you might be keeping her, after all,” he snapped. “Seems she likes it so much here that she doesn’t want to leave.”

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Erskine replied with a polite little laugh. “How nice to know our school is so beloved.”

Ada put her hand on his arm, her complexion draining of all color. “You look...rather upset.”

“Going for a walk,” he announced coldly. “Be back in a while. Then we will see if we’re taking her home or not.”

He slammed out of the front door and ran down the steps. The long, curving driveway gave him enough room to walk without having to worry about being knocked down by cars. He tugged on his hat and strode off, walking the same way he did at the ranch, with long and easy strides.

This was what came of allowing a St. Clair to dictate your child’s life. She had gone from being a sweet and simple child to a terror under their tutelage. How was he ever going to turn this around? If he could only get her home, where she would be immersed in prairie life again, she would learn to forget this nonsense. Hard work, clean living and no ridiculous nonsense—that’s what made a strong and sensible person.

He paused at the end of the driveway, before it joined the busy, bustling St. Louis thoroughfare. He was no part of the crowd. In fact, anyone looking upon the scene would recognize him as the piece that was out of place. Tilting his straw cowboy hat back, he gazed up at the blue sky. He wasn’t a praying man, so he couldn’t pray. He wasn’t a drinking man, so he couldn’t drink. There was nothing he could do but walk around until he had calmed himself down and pushed his emotions back so hard they would no longer interfere in his daily existence.

He tugged his hat down and turned the corner into the busy street. Milling around with dozens of other people would help calm him or at least put his trouble in perspective. He made his way past a woman with a baby carriage. Emily had owned a pram that looked almost exactly like that one. She would wheel Laura out into the garden in it when the wind wasn’t too strong, pulling the cover up for shade, draping her shawl over the top so that Laura wouldn’t get sunburned. Then, once their daughter was settled, she would turn to him and say, “You dragged me out here. My poor baby, she’s stifling in this heat. Take us home. I want to live in Charleston.” He would never forget the accusing glare in Emily’s eyes as she turned on him, her hands on her hips.