Brenda Joyce - [Francesca Cahill 06] by Deadly Promise Page A

the children to come down,” Leigh Anne said, slipping Dot gracefully to her feet.
    “Of course,” Mrs. Flowers said.
    Dot clung to Leigh Anne’s hand. “Frack! Desert! Frack come desert!”
    Francesca could not speak.
    “Dot, darling, it’s
dessert
. Katie?” Leigh Anne called, walking to the doorway, still holding the grinning Dot’s hand. “Have you said hello to Miss Cahill?”
    Francesca now wiped her face with her fingertips and turned so she could see into the bedroom. Katie had been standing rigidly with her back to the door. She turned stiffly. “Yes,” she said, unsmiling.
    “Katie! What is wrong?” Leigh Anne asked, releasing Dot and rushing to the six-year-old. She slid her arm around her. “What has happened?”
    Katie looked up at her and said, “I don’t want her coming here.”
    “What?” Leigh Anne stroked her hair. “Dear, what are you talking about?”
    Katie cast a baleful look at Francesca, who became horrified. “Tell her to leave.”
    Leigh Anne was startled, and she straightened, glancing at Francesca. Then she swiftly turned back to Katie. “Katie, a lady always minds her manners. That was beyond rude. Please apologize to Miss Cahill. And have you forgotten how kind Miss Cahill has been to you? Please apologize.”
    Katie bit her lip, cast an angry glance at Francesca, and said, “Sorry,” clearly not meaning it.
    Leigh Anne stared at the child and Francesca knew she was debating whether to take Katie to task now or later. Then Leigh Anne said, clasping Katie’s thin shoulder, “I know how much you have been through in the past two months. We’ll talk about this later, after the ladies have left.”
    Katie nodded, suddenly looking close to tears, and to Francesca’s shock, she suddenly threw her arms around Leigh Anne, hugging her hard, sobbing.
    Leigh Anne rocked her, murmuring, “There, there, darling, there, there.”
    Francesca backed away, realizing that this was all her fault. Katie had felt abandoned even before her mother had been murdered, due to Mary’s hectic work schedule, and then her death had escalated those feelings. Francesca realized that Katie felt abandoned by her now, as well, as she had disappeared for an entire month. “Katie, I’m sorry,” Francesca heard herself say. “I had to go out of town, and I am so sorry.”
    Katie stopped crying, sniffling now and wiping her eyes. She ignored Francesca.
    “Do you feel better?” Leigh Anne asked, her arm still around her.
    Katie nodded.
    “You don’t have to join the ladies and me for dessert if you do not want to.”
    Katie hesitated. “Did Peter buy those chocolate éclairs?”
    Leigh Anne smiled. “Yes, he did.”
    Katie smiled back. “I’ll come.”
    “Good.” Leigh Anne kissed the top of her head, told Dot to be a good girl, and joined Francesca in the hall. Their gazes met and held, both women pausing.
    Francesca stared into her unusually dark green eyes, thinking that any woman who cared for two orphans this way was a good person.
    “Shall we?” Leigh Anne asked, staring back at Francesca as intently.
    Francesca realized then that Leigh Anne was also thinking about her, not that she had a clue as to what the other woman’s thoughts or real feelings about her were. She nodded grimly, but before either one of them moved, Leigh Anne’s gaze dropped to Francesca’s hands. A silence ensued; then Leigh Anne looked up and said frankly, “That ring is simply stunning.”
    An image of Hart, smiling and confident, flashed through Francesca’s mind. In spite of the terribly uncomfortable encounter with Katie and Leigh Anne, his presence seemed to touch her and it was vastly reassuring. “Thank you. It’s far too much for me, however.”
    “No, it’s not.” Leigh Anne smiled a little then.
    Francesca thought about the way Leigh Anne had been with the girls and then thought about the extremely daring negligee in her boudoir. “You are truly fond of the children.”
    Leigh Anne pinkened