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Wait until you see the rest of the house, Cheyenne smiled obviously proud to
show off Quinn s home.
Sage frowned as they entered the dining room. It was empty. She hadn t paid
much attention on her way to the kitchen a while ago, but now she looked around. The
beige carpet continued on into the next room so she assumed that the house had wall-to-
wall carpet. But there was no furniture in the dining room. The living room was a little
better, but not by much. There was an old sofa and recliner and one floor lamp. There
were no pictures on the walls or anything to indicate the taste of the owner. This was a
new house and was very large. Quinn must be able to afford to have decent furniture.
Shouldn t he?
Cheyenne led her across the entry to another room. This is Quinn s den. She
pushed the door open to reveal a large oak desk; two old bookcases filled from top to
bottom and two old black file cabinets.
The interior decorator part of Sage s nature surged into gear. The desk was a
beautiful piece of furniture, but the rest was old and in need of replacement. Again there
were no pictures, no treasured items from childhood or collection of favorite things. Sage
frowned.
Just as they retraced their steps to the front of the house to go upstairs the front
door opened. An older man wearing jeans, blue-checkered shirt and Stetson hat entered
carrying Sage s suitcase. Quinn said to bring this here case into the house, Miss
Cheyenne.
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You re a dear, Parker. Would you please take it upstairs and put it in the back
bedroom. It s the largest up there and you should be comfortable, she directed at her
daughter. Parker, this is my daughter, Sage.
Please to meet you, he offered shyly before hurrying up the winding staircase.
Sage and her mother followed more slowly. The thick beige carpet covered the stairs.
There are five bedrooms up here. The master bedroom and two smaller
bedrooms are over there that belong to the twins, she said pointing off to her right when
they reached the top of the stairs. Over here, and she led Sage to the left, is a bedroom
and a second laundry room. Your room is over here. It has a wonderful view of the
mountains.
Twins? Sage asked afraid that she wasn t going to like what she was going to
hear.
Yes, dear. Kate and Cody are eight years old and adorable. You ll meet them a
little later. They re out in the barn now with Will.
You didn t say anything about children.
It simply hadn t come up until now. That is the master bedroom& Quinn s
room.
She hadn t been able to see into the master bedroom because the doors were
closed but the one beyond was done in tan and brown. The one on her left was in green
and yellow. The laundry room sparkled and she would bet that to date it had never been
used. The room where she would be sleeping was much like the others as far as furniture
went. There was a full bed but no head or footboard. The dresser and chest of drawers
had seen many years of service, but they were still sturdy and that was all that mattered
right now.
Mother, I have to ask. How long as Quinn lived in this house? Why are there so
many rooms empty?
Cheyenne opened Sage s suitcase and began unpacking. Slim told me that since
Quinn s wife died he hasn t done anything more on the inside. I assume that without a
wife to see to such things, he s not in any hurry to shop for furniture. You know what I
mean? Everyone has a bed and dresser and there is a sofa in the living room. What more
do they need?
That make some sense I guess. He s probably busy with the running of the ranch
and not too concerned about what the house looks like. But what about the children?
From what I saw of their bedrooms, they could use some improvements. Why build
such a beautiful home and not do something with it? There was a mystery here that
piqued Sage s interest. But then if Quinn loved his wife, her death must have been
difficult for him to handle and accept.
Does he have pictures of his wife and children somewhere? I didn t see any
downstairs.
I ve never seen any. And he doesn t talk about his family. From what Slim told
me, Quinn took her death pretty hard. I can understand that. It was difficult when your
father died. She sensed the deep hunger and grief in Quinn, but as yet didn t have a clue
how to help him& even if she could. Now, would you like to have a bath and change
your clothes? I have to start dinner and you can come and help me when you re done.
Sage smiled. Many an evening she had done kitchen duty with her mother as they
talked over their day. I ll be down in twenty minutes. What s for dinner?
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Fresh fish, salad, potatoes and whatever else I can think up. The potatoes are
your job so don t be too long, Cheyenne grinned as she turned to leave the room. And
I d wear jeans instead of one of those silky outfits you like so much. We have a kitchen
full of men and I don t want then ogling my baby daughter.
Sage rolled her eyes. I promise not to disgrace you, she replied snatching up a
robe as she headed for her bath.
Ten minutes later she donned her robe and entered her bedroom where she
stopped short in front of two dirty children. They were openly staring around and then at
her.
Who are you? the smaller of the two demanded her head cocked to one side as
she studied the pretty stranger in their home.
I m Sage, Mrs. Mendoza s daughter. Who are you?
The little girl just glared at Sage.
We call her Cheyenne. I m Cody and this is Kate. You re pretty! he stated
wiping at the dirt around his left eye.
How do you do, Sage replied formally.
How do we do what? Kate questioned with a frown.
That s a phrase that means that I m glad to meet you.
Why didn t you say that in the first place? Kate shot back.
Sage raised a brow. Oh, this was definitely Quinn O Shea s daughter. They had
the same sparkling personality. At least Cody seemed friendlier. It seemed best to ignore [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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