Had Sentence Examples
They had two adopted children already.
She had a choice.
Certainly she had been under a lot of stress.
All the papers had been signed and the money provided.
A nearby steeple had been broken off short and the fragments lay heaped beside it.
I wish we had never come here.
But they had no handkerchiefs, either.
Would she ever outgrow the things mama had taught her?
But it is a long time since I have had any sleep, and I'm tired.
He had crossed it.
AdvertisementHe had climbed many a tree when he was a boy.
What had they done?
She had to regain control.
Maybe Lathum had a point.
Carmen had already spoken to Mums about it.
AdvertisementShe had to act now.
Alex had provided the money to remodel the home, but insisted that it stay in her name only.
He had just entered, wearing an embroidered court uniform, knee breeches, and shoes, and had stars on his breast and a serene expression on his flat face.
He was not a very large man, but was well formed and had a beautiful face--calm and serene as the face of a fine portrait.
When he had finished, he bowed, and waited, hoping that he would be rewarded.
AdvertisementCarmen had given Josh no encouragement.
I had no idea.
Anna Pavlovna had had a cough for some days.
In fact, he had given her strict orders not to lift anything.
Mom always had a good relationship with her sister and brother.
AdvertisementEach stick was carefully mortised or tenoned by its stump, for I had borrowed other tools by this time.
She had enough for the entire family.
But in the excitement of carrying me to church my father lost the name on the way, very naturally, since it was one in which he had declined to have a part.
He had a lot of investments and...
She had the most expressive face he had ever seen.
They had walked a mile or two towards home, when they came to the edge of a narrow and deep ravine.
Some time later, the shepherd went to the city and told the king that the children had learned to speak one word, but how or from whom, he did not know.
He had simply avoided it.
Anyway, Mom had a brother and a sister.
I hadn't planned on it.
Had the carpenters stopped working on the room?
In a few minutes they had forgotten about the birds.
He sent out among the poor people of the city and found two little babies who had never heard a word spoken.
People have always had the drive and the ability to build, create, discover, and explore.
I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture, but I had not made it worth any one's while to buy them.
The crowd drew up to the large table, at which sat gray-haired or bald seventy-year-old magnates, uniformed and besashed almost all of whom Pierre had seen in their own homes with their buffoons, or playing boston at the clubs.
Surely he had a simple checkbook file.
She had to get a car as soon as possible.
The little girl stood still to watch until the train had disappeared around a curve; then she turned to see where she was.
I determined to go into business at once, and not wait to acquire the usual capital, using such slender means as I had already got.
So far her prayers had been unanswered.
Alex was supposed to be sterile, but they had been wrong about that.
Long dark lashes and black curly hair - he had it all.
He hadn't caused the miscarriage.
Right or wrong, the decision had been made.
How long had Morino lived in America?
The hardwood floor had not been stained.
Still, he had the right to know.
She had accepted the idea that she would never know this moment.
She had forgotten about him.
Many wise men and poets and musicians had also been invited.
I knew my own mind well enough and always had my own way, even if I had to fight tooth and nail for it.
This general, hating Barclay, rode to visit a friend of his own, a corps commander, and, having spent the day with him, returned to Barclay and condemned, as unsuitable from every point of view, the battleground he had not seen.
Alex had destroyed it then with suspicion and accusations.
When Carmen's father died, she thought she was alone in the world, yet all these people had been there for her.
Carmen glanced quickly outside to see if the threatening snow had arrived.
There had to be more.
If Alex knew that, he gave no indication - and she had no intention of telling him.
I had hoped that you would resolve your problem, but it seems to have no end.
Had he heard her conversation with Sarah?
Had they recognized her?
Carmen refrained from looking at Alex or displaying the shock she felt at the introduction of two more siblings he had never mentioned - an entire family.
They had never been anywhere else overnight together.
It was the romancing that had suffered.
Len had regained his composure.
She had to come up with something better than that.
His father and grandfather and great-grandfather had all been shepherds.
The unknown can be worse than reality, and she had no idea what to expect on the flight.
Why hadn't it occurred to her that Jonathan might feel he was being replaced?
Maybe not, but it would have made a difference if I had known how you felt.
He had indicated enough times that he would like to see her in something a little more feminine and fashionable.
Had anyone actually told her that or had she merely assumed it?
With everything going on, Carmen didn't have time to worry about flying, but when they were all sitting at the airport, she finally had time to stew over it.
As always, he had been there when she needed him.
But I have said they did not know you had a wound.
Would it have been better if I had fallen off and broken my neck?
Alex had asked one of the men go into town and rent a car for them.
The last time he made a business trip to Columbia, he had said they needed the money.
I was thinking about buying a new vehicle and wondered if we had the money, so I looked at his financial information on the computer.
He also had a sense of responsibility about it.
Carmen, how long has she had this fever?
Her first thought was that it was a puppy someone had dropped off.
It was possible that his father had given up on him.
No wonder he had been so solemn lately.
It shouldn't be any surprise, since that was what suffered when he had been troubled in the past.
Right now she wished she hadn't started this romancing thing.
The moment had made him acutely aware of the instinct to replicate.
It was a moment that lay in her stomach like a week-long hunger, regardless of the fact that they had been gone only minutes.
To an extent she had even been an accomplice.
What a fool she had been to come here.
How much had Sarah heard?
They had climbed about fifty feet.
No. I just had a bad dream.
Felipa looked to be in her early twenties and had a sunshine smile that made Carmen feel welcome.
Maybe Katie wasn't the only one who had been overlooked by Señor Medena when it came to inheritance.
How much had he told Señor Medena - or how little?
Five years ago that day she had met Alex.
I guess we both had a change of heart, didn't we?
She had admired his work as long as she could remember.
They had talked in front of her, so it couldn't be what she thought.
Dodging cobwebs by the dozens, she pushed on until deciding she had reached a point behind the building.
They had to get away from here - back to the house where there were other people.
Who else had he told?
If you had looked ahead fifty years to 1240, you wouldn't have anticipated much change.
In fact, at times she had been almost brutally clear that she was no longer interested in him.
Thanks to Alex, that chore had been turned into a simple twist of a knob.
Katie said that was because Carmen had been raised poor and had become frugal.
As busy as she was, time had to be set aside for play with Destiny.
Assured that it had not, she turned back to him.
For one terrifying moment the enormity of what they had done brought her close to panic.
Maybe she would have if she hadn't been shoving it from her mind.
But then, he had reason - in his head - to believe it wasn't his.
When they finally got on the plane, she and Jonathan had a window seat - Jonathan in front of her.
Felipa didn't seem to notice anything unusual in his attitude, so maybe he had always treated them that way.
She gazed out the window as if she hadn't noticed anything unusual.
Alex had directed the little he said to her only.
Actually, she hadn't thought how it looked to others - and there had never been any doubt in her mind that she was fortunate to have Alex.
Jonathan and Destiny's room had two twin beds in it, as well as a television.
Once again he had caught her ogling him.
Jonathan leaned forward so that he had a full view of Señor Medena.
If I hadn't taken Destiny...
I heard they had the airport cleared for flights now that it's stopped snowing.
In a way, it was hard to believe it had been that long.
He had been unusually quiet and solemn lately.
She had rehearsed her script earlier, but now the words evaded her.
No one had said anything about Dulce being married, either.
If Alex had known he had a son, things would have been different.
She said he had kicked her out, but refused to say why.
He said he wouldn't offer her any money until he had more facts.
Matthew had thick black hair, but Natalie's was blonde.
In the weeks of natural stimulation, she had been the one who was embarrassed.
In those last moments when it was too late, she had decided to go with them.
His voice had an annoyed edge.
I've never had a maid.
She had fallen off a bluff.
In fact, they held a tenderness she had never seen.
Yet what had she seen?
How much had he heard?
If Howard hadn't come along when he did, Allen might have killed you.
Before the half hour was ended he had written a very neat composition on his slate.
Mr. Finney had a turnip, And it grew, and it grew; It grew behind the barn, And the turnip did no harm.
How had he managed to drive all the frightened little animals into this place of safety?
Then he ordered his treasurer to pay the poet five hundred pieces of gold; for, indeed, the poem which he had recited was wonderfully fine.
But during the first nineteen months of my life I had caught glimpses of broad, green fields, a luminous sky, trees and flowers which the darkness that followed could not wholly blot out.
Standing before the mirror, as I had seen others do, I anointed mine head with oil and covered my face thickly with powder.
Martha Washington understood my signs, and I seldom had any difficulty in making her do just as I wished.
Inspired, perhaps, by Master Gobbler's success, we carried off to the woodpile a cake which the cook had just frosted, and ate every bit of it.
The Indians had advanced so far as to regulate the effect of the wind by a mat suspended over the hole in the roof and moved by a string.
There is actually no place in this village for a work of fine art, if any had come down to us, to stand, for our lives, our houses and streets, furnish no proper pedestal for it.
She added that Her Majesty had deigned to show Baron Funke beaucoup d'estime, and again her face clouded over with sadness.
Pierre went up to the circle that had formed round the speaker and listened.
But scarcely had Pierre uttered these words before he was attacked from three sides.
In the first place, I tell you we have no right to question the Emperor about that, and secondly, if the Russian nobility had that right, the Emperor could not answer such a question.
Many voices shouted and talked at the same time, so that Count Rostov had not time to signify his approval of them all, and the group increased, dispersed, re-formed, and then moved with a hum of talk into the largest hall and to the big table.
Glinka, the editor of the Russian Messenger, who was recognized (cries of "author! author!" were heard in the crowd), said that "hell must be repulsed by hell," and that he had seen a child smiling at lightning flashes and thunderclaps, but "we will not be that child."
Their chairs made a scraping noise as the gentlemen who had conferred rose with apparent relief, and began walking up and down, arm in arm, to stretch their legs and converse in couples.
He stood at the back, and, though he had heard hardly anything, understood everything in his own way.
The day after his son had left, Prince Nicholas sent for Princess Mary to come to his study.
Even so, she had accepted it in her mind to a degree.
To be fair, his father hadn't made things any better by offering money to Alex and not his sister.
In fact, she had made a different decision about it so many times that his head must be spinning.
It wouldn't have been so much fun for him if she had reacted the way he did when she told him she was pregnant.
He picked up the newspaper she had set out for him and started to read.
He had seemed amused by her modesty in the past, and yet it had obviously troubled him.
Alex had been hiding more than a father.
She was the country bumpkin that he had to drag everywhere or be accused of being insensitive.
Hadn't they talked enough?
She was the prettiest Appaloosa Carmen had ever seen.
He had an idea of how his father felt, fearing he would have to watch his little boy grow and not being able to be the provider.
Carmen had been his soul mate for a long time.
Well, for starters, I'd have had to compete with every other guy in school.
In spite of what Allen thought, no incriminating words had crossed her lips.
Even so, she had never suspected the truth – the drugs.
Only luck had kept her from joining her family today.
It had been in all the local papers, but she wasn't sure she could talk about it without getting emotional.
Feeling guilty, she used the card Len had given her and dialed his number.
I wish I had known.
And why had he chosen her?
If Giddon had any such plans, he would soon find they were futile.
He had offered her a perfect way out.
Did he know she had spied on them?
She had to get back there and see what was in the building.
Why hadn't she anticipated these questions?
Or maybe she had a suspicious mind.
Yancey had never mentioned the meeting with Allen.
Everyone had tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen.
She had a rough day yesterday.
Maybe she had misjudged his intent.
He knew she was not in the chair, but he had no way of knowing she had been to the building.
Yancey didn't get out, but he did wait until she had her car started before he turned his car around and headed back to the house.
He had spoken earlier of last night.
His expression softened when he saw she had been crying.
The building she had spent more than a month trying to get into and now was the site of an open house.
Of course, Julia had a lot of room to talk.
The few freckles she had were magnified, but the dark circles under her eyes were a surprise.
Not that Rachel had any reason to complain.
There was another reason she had been turning down Michael's invitations.
I thought I had plenty of time.
If she had come up with Brandon when he asked, she would have been there when Mr. Marsh suffered the heart attack.
They could hardly say she hadn't tried.
Unable to locate him, Cassie had finally agreed to leave the twins with Mr. & Mrs. Hertz, their neighbors.
The Hertz's had not been blessed with children and were adamant that they would love taking care of the twins.
As far as she was concerned, he had relinquished his right to the ranch.
If there had been discord between her parents, she had never seen any indication.
The Frenchman had materialized from the desert on his bay.
Pete laughed and even Davis had to smile.
He had guided wagon trains across Indian Territory and battled the Cheyenne.
That much she knew from a conversation she had overheard between two men in Ashley.
Had he hired Bordeaux?
Her face felt hot when she thought of how she had spoken of him.
You said you had a job.
How many miles had he ridden this morning?
Talking with Fritz was better than nothing, but this young man had an unusual way of thinking.
Throwing back the covers that had protected her from the cold night air, she grabbed one of her boots.
Pete usually had a fire going by the time she was ready to fix breakfast.
Maybe Bordeaux had already talked to him.
She handed Bordeaux a plate full of flapjacks she had been keeping warm by the fire and poured some honey over the top.
By the time Bordeaux returned with the cut up snakes, she had lard sizzling in a large skillet.
Grabbing an armful of the hay they had packed around the supplies in each wagon, she dropped it on the sand and the mules eagerly began devouring it.
If I had a horse like you I wouldn't drag him out in this awful desert.
I had a beautiful black once, but I had to sell it.
Of course, we still had Old Charlie, but he wasn't much account.
Bordeaux stepped forward, and before she had time to protest, he swept her up and deposited her on the back of the bay.
She was going to say that the bitter note in her tone was for someone who had betrayed her, but the whole world didn't need to know about their shame.
She continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.
I just had a sudden chill.
Several times she thought movement around the camp had wakened her.
Had he seen them as well?
Bordeaux was the closest thing she'd had to a friend in a long time... other than Pete, of course.
If they all hadn't been so close, she would have thought he didn't hear the question.
The confusion was partly due to the fact that everything was happening so fast and partly because she had never responded to a man that way before.
She scraped bones from a plate into a hole she had dug in the sand.
That was where she had seen Bordeaux!
She shot a glance at Bordeaux, who had stopped scraping on a plate.
So, why hadn't he said something?
It wasn't merely chance that Bordeaux had found her.
He had used her and she had played right into his hands.
He had used her and she had been fool enough to think he was actually interested in her.
Her only satisfaction was that he had failed.
Had he already sold the ranch?
She had to go back to get them.
Someone had a fire going and a pot of coffee on.
She was angry last night and her voice had been too loud.
Circumstances had merely presented the perfect opportunity.
She poured sand over the fire and waited long enough to make it appear she had given his invitation consideration.
His voice was so calm that she wasn't sure she had heard him right.
After all he had done, he dared talk to her as if she were a child.
The water was cool and had a metallic taste.
If he had buttered up to her, it was merely to make his job easier.
Hadn't he tried to remain aloof?
She was the one who had become serious - and with little encouragement on his part.
Her feelings for Bordeaux had become more than mere friendship.
And yet, Pete had told her to seek out Bordeaux if something happened.
That had to count for something.
She had killed a human being.
Yet his presence reminded her that he was alive because she had taken another life.
Two mules had to be shot.
Cassie had to smile when Bordeaux positioned himself in a spot less than ten feet from her and pretended to settle down for the night.
By the time the wagons were fully engulfed in flames, they had traveled far enough to be out of the firelight.
A month ago she would have said she might never marry, and yet it had crossed her mind a number of times since she met Bordeaux.
He could promise to love her forever, but hadn't her father said the same thing to Mom?
For the first time she thought about the fact that he had no commitment to them at all, yet he had risked his life for them.
He didn't seem concerned that she had refused to go back.
Was it love that had prompted him to propose, or was there something else?
Even though she had made most of the payments on the land, he still had legal claim.
Why hadn't she thought of that?
Even if it hadn't been dark, visibility would have been less than a few feet.
Sure, there were other places to live, but nothing would be like the valley where she had spent her childhood.
If Bordeaux hadn't caught her, she would have fallen.
How long had it been?
But she had hesitated long enough to lend him encouragement.
Desire still a hot ember inside of her, she was tempted to set the record straight, but maybe it was best he didn't know how close she had come to giving in.
How could men possibly have a greater desire or need than she had just felt?
Was it so different from the way her father had felt?
What was it Pete had said?
If Pete had that much faith in Bordeaux, he had good reason.
When the ache had left her legs numb, and her breath was no longer coming in gasps, they started out again - across sand dunes - up and down.
How far had Bordeaux carried her?
What if he had abandoned her?
How many miles had they traveled today?
Maybe Pete and the guys had reached Ashley by now and a rescue mission was already under way to get them.
Was he angry because he had come so far for nothing?
What a wicked thought to have about the man who had risked his life to protect her - not once, but a number of times in the last few days - and with so little to gain.
When the last horse had been gone for a few minutes, he stood.
He led the horse around and they left the ravine, traveling at right angles to the path the Indians had taken.
Apparently he wasn't going to tell her he had killed the Indian to get his horse back.
She had done nothing but cry, complain and faint since this ordeal had begun.
She avoided looking in the area where she had seen the color, and tried to look undisturbed.
How long would the Indians wait before they realized they had been fooled?
The soft sand in the ravine would make it simple for the Indians to detect where they had emerged.
Bordeaux had been leading the horse along the ravine to spare its hooves, but it had been a risk that hadn't paid off.
The landscape around them was bleak, almost as devoid of plant life as the white sands had been.
Had he lost his mind?
She was taking liberties he had been gentleman enough to resist.
Only that he had repeatedly saved her life - at risk of his own, no less.
They had to talk about everything.
It was plain that the Indian girl knew she had created a problem.
And why had he dumped her the minute they got to town?
Neither of them had been in high spirits yesterday.
Once again she had let her desires drive them from her mind.
After all, they had their father.
And yet, now the twins could return to their beloved ranch – the one she had finished paying off.
Was that what Bordeaux had in mind?
He had been preoccupied yesterday with his business in Ashley.
Bordeaux had one arm wrapped fondly around the shoulders of a saloon girl.
I had to come and see if it was you.
We had no control over what happened.
If he had come out here to get the girl, why had he sent the dress and the flower?
How many women had he promised to marry?
Even if he was a Mormon, how could he make plans with this Darcie when he had proposed to her only an hour ago?
If she hadn't witnessed his exchange with the woman earlier, she would have been certain he was disappointed.
It wasn't the way she had envisioned facing him.
I wish someone had told me he was a Mormon.
No, Bordeaux had only one reason for wanting to marry Cassie - the ranch.
He did tell the girl he had a ranch in Texas.
Was she the business he had to take care of?
If life had taught her anything it was that she could take care of herself.
She had changed into respectable clothes and looked painfully beautiful.
Excuse me for staring, but aren't you the young lady that had Ashley in a dither?
So, Bordeaux had coerced her to meet him at the church after all.
It was no surprise that Darcie had accepted his proposal.
Now he had a ranch – her ranch.
Of course, a little make-up and the right clothes could do wonders - which was a good way to wind up straying off the path she had mapped before she left home.
There were only three bedrooms, and because she had to get up the earliest, she was the lucky one to have a room of her own - with the exception of Brandon, of course.
What had come over him, anyway?
Lately he had seemed discontented.
Maybe his mood had more to do with feeling unappreciated.
Had they been taking him for granted?
Right now she only had time for school.
The house rules had been set up to protect the girls from him.
Roxanne had a set her cap for him and Adrienne had no intention of being the one to spoil her friends' plans.
Roxanne had everything; beauty, a good figure, and a sweet personality.
I thought you girls had some kind of a house rule.
He hadn't been his usual jocular self for the last three weeks, and now this spontaneous trip to see his parents - and inviting her along?
He deserved more than the sympathetic ear she had been lending him lately.
All the same, Brandon introduced them as his parents - and Adrienne as a friend he had met in Tulsa.
At the moment, she was fervently wishing she had stayed home.
Like her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Marsh had the kind of marriage she would like to have some day – happy.
It seemed that she had barely dropped off to sleep, before someone was pounding on her door.
Maybe they had time to get over the shock.
Don't you ever wish you had someone to share your troubles with?
Obviously he had forgotten it was there and he thought she had misread his intent.
If she only had a clue what was bothering him.
Come to think of it, he hadn't been out at all since they returned from his parent's house.
Her date with Michael had been uneventful and he hadn't asked her out since.
Julia and Rachel were looking forward to the event, and each had a boyfriend to drag along.
He scowled at the other girls, and his voice had an unfamiliar edge.
Did you know that the female gender had a guardian?
Was she merely a female to hold for the evening - or was this what he had been trying to tell her for so long?
That could be attributed greatly to the fact that she had avoided any relationships.
Then they were locked in a passionate embrace, seeking and finding the love they had been pushing aside for so long.
And yet, his lips had already told her in another way.
Why hadn't they noticed it was getting so much colder?
How could they have missed feeling the light flakes that had been kissing their cheeks?
If she hadn't been there in his arms only minutes ago, she never would have guessed he had been so aroused.
No wonder he had kept his feelings hidden from her for so long.
All her plans were about to blow up – all this because she had allowed herself to be drawn into a relationship.
They had broken the rules.
What had she been thinking of all this time?
Obviously, she hadn't been doing much thinking at all.
Did you really think you had us fooled?
She had no intention of hopping into bed with Brandon before they were married - house rules or not.
Julia had her own ideas about morality, obviously.
She was going to have her lifelong dream as well as the dream she had recently developed - a life with Brandon.
In the last few weeks she had allowed herself to be distracted.
She had come this far, and nothing was going to stop her now.
Even your parents had to come up to see you.
Was he regretting that he had asked her to marry him?
Hadn't she made it clear that she didn't want any distractions?
Dad had a heart attack this afternoon.
Something had to be done before he got them both killed.
Adrienne screamed, cramming her foot into the floor as if she, too, had a break pedal.
There had been an instant bond between them from the day they met.
Had he told them he was going to get her?
She had nearly married a man just like her father.
After all, they had known and loved each other for a long time.
She hadn't been given that much consideration.
So, Bordeaux had told Darcie about the ranch.
Did Darcie think that she had gone because of Bordeaux?
Many times she had thought the same.
Judging by the conversation she had overheard yesterday between Darcie and Bordeaux, the woman had lived through quite an experience of her own.
She wanted to hate Bordeaux for what he had done, but like a shameless hussy, she still longed to hear his voice - feel his touch.
Bordeaux had found what he wanted and claimed his prize.
As for the ranch, she had always known it could be taken away.
She had a little money to buy another place.
Maybe she could convince her father to repay the money she had put into the ranch – if he hadn't already spent it.
Cassie had the stage driver leave her things at the station.
Before she had time to protest, he scooped her into his arms and deposited her in the buggy.
There was no point in telling them that riding with Bordeaux hadn't been her idea.
Why had it never occurred to her that the twins might not want to go with her?
I had another reason to go to Ashley.
How was I supposed to know you had a thing for Davis?
Still, he had been with Darcey only minutes before.
Sure, you had a reason to go to Ashley.
But their conversation... was an expression of love for a sibling – siblings that had apparently been through a lot together.
What had she done?
I'm still not sure why they did - maybe because they had recently lost a lot of their own people.
He had a fight with your mother that night and went into town.
She was home again, and it would be even better than she had imagined.
She had spent too much time hating him to do that all in one day, though.
She had forgiven Chauncey easily enough.
She had once loved her father – probably still did.
A lot had happened in the last few months.
Her life was on a new course now, and the future looked brighter than it ever had.
If all their conversations in the three months he had been coming to the diner were put together, it was doubtful that they would make a respectable paragraph.
When I was taking care of Dad there wasn't time to take classes and he died owing a lot of money, so I had to sell the house.
It was hard to tell whether the sarcasm had gone over his head or he simply wasn't amused.
I said he had interesting eyes.
Obviously it had been a long time since she had seen or talked to Mr. Cade.
Why had Cade singled her out for the job?
Dad's old truck had been sitting at Mary's since it broke down.
What if he had changed his mind?
Have you had anything to eat yet?
The years had not been kind to him.
Apparently he spent a lot of time on the back of a horse, riding his range in all kinds of weather - a fact that prompted more than one comment by townsfolk that he had wasted a good college education.
Obviously he liked ranch work better than anything he had studied.
Even Mr. Cade had hinted that it was unusually large.
Again she wondered if she had bit off more than she could chew.
The large room contained some of the most beautiful antique furniture she had ever seen.
The wood appeared to be cherry, and although it could use a coat of wax, it still had a deep luster.
The best way to decide was to find out what he had in the refrigerator.
Why had he suddenly decided he needed a maid - or was it sudden?
He had probably reached a point that the ranch and house were too much work.
She glanced at the door, realizing she had forgotten to lock it.
She thought of the movie Psycho and immediately wished she had never watched it.
By the time Cade arrived in the kitchen she had biscuits, gravy, bacon and eggs ready.
He shook his head, declining to answer until he had swallowed the food in his mouth.
She sipped her coffee reflectively and finally found the courage ask him a question that had been nagging her since his offer.
Last night she had noticed a few clothes in a hamper in the laundry room.
Cade had been busy this morning.
Three empty bedrooms were closed off to the heat, as well as a full bath that looked as though it hadn't been used in years.
Apparently the water had been shut off up here to keep it from freezing.
As she glanced into the last bedroom, she noticed it had a patio door.
He had made his choice - suggesting something else would be rude.
She stared into the flames, wondering why none of the windows had curtains, and why so many things were left to gather dust in the attic.
Her first day and she had fallen asleep on the job.
But he had warned her about the cold - warned her about the snow.
No point mulling over a decision she had already made.
She had a short career as a writer.
A glance out the window revealed that the snow had piled up to four or five inches.
Working for Cade might not be as dull as she had first thought.
Once the floors had been waxed and the furniture polished, the house sparkled - in an empty kind of way.
Cade had put on enough weight to take the hollows out of his cheeks, making him look a good ten years younger.
Some of the money she had saved would have to go into new clothing - and soon.
She watched from the family room window as he wolfed the food - a habit that had prompted Cade to dub him Scruffy.
The idea was especially welcome, as she had become so organized that cleaning took no more than half the day.
His eyes expressed approval and the thin lips twitched in what she had grown to accept as a smile - fleeting as it was.
He made an excellent companion, a fact that hadn't occurred to her before that moment.
But then, a lot of things had changed since that day.
She stared down at her sandwich, shocked that the thought had crossed her mind.
I had an awful crush on him when we were in high school.
Neither of them had a clue what was on her mind.
Hopefully he had no idea how her heart beat double time occasionally at the strangest things.
Thankfully it had never been one of the times that she was thinking about him though.
It wasn't the first time she had done so, but this morning she had run across some curtains and rugs in the attic.
So far she had never mentioned her excursions to the attic, but when things got too dull around the house, she went up to explore.
For a minute she was afraid she had stepped over the line.
Either she had never seen him angry or he had cleverly concealed it - like every other emotion.
Handing out compliments seemed to be out of character for him, but hadn't he always been honest and direct?
His voice still had a bitter edge, but there was a touch of musing in it now.
He had never used the nickname – always before it had been Cynthia.
Maybe hearing Mary say it so often had burned it into his brain.
Of course, she had never given it much thought, either.
She knew what she liked, and it rarely had anything to do with what was in style.
But then, he didn't say her taste was stylish - he said it had style.
How often had he watched her sunbathing?
It could only have been in the last few weeks since the weather had turned warm.
She didn't own a swimsuit, so bra and panties had been her option.
I forgot my rope in the barn and had to come back yesterday.
She glanced up at his tortured face and had to smile.
Actually, I haven't had enough to do around here lately.
When she reminded him that he was going over the thousand-dollar figure he had thrown out, he merely shrugged.
But it would be nice to know you had a way to get out and do things without fear of taking the only vehicle.
I had no idea it was troubling you.
Little did he know that she wouldn't have left the ranch if her truck had been available.
Had she been flirting - unconsciously?
People had limited control over their emotions, but they could certainly remain in control of their actions.
At Mary's startled look, she was afraid she had stepped over the line.
By noon she had the pictures and mirrors on the walls and was hanging the curtains when Cade came in.
He actually smiled, though it was so brief that she questioned whether she had imagined it.
No, it had been there - brief and beguiling.
The arms that rescued her continued to cradle her gently, and what the fall had failed to do to her heart beat, his close proximity completed.
You must have had some good times.
A fact he had made abundantly clear.
She had large brown eyes with thick black lashes and matching hair that was stacked becomingly on top of her head.
I didn't know Russell had a maid.
Obviously the room had passed an important inspection.
She turned away from the beauty of the ranch, reminding herself that she had made the decision to leave.
All she had to do was put her mind to it.
By the end of the second day, she had adapted to the guests and felt completely at ease - a state that Claudette apparently wanted to shatter.
It didn't fit in with anything Mary had said.
Yet Cade had kept the baby clothes - and the furniture.
If he hasn't been with a woman, it's probably because he's had other ways of...
But it didn't fit the man she had come to know, and she wasn't about to believe it simply because he hadn't made a pass at her yet.
Claudette had gone one step too far.