Page 17 of If The Fates Allow
“Today was about gaining baseline measurements on your sister’s overall health, but there is much more work to do.”
Assessing the abrupt change in him, Willa tilted her head. If she didn’t know any better, she would think he was jealous. “And what do you plan to do with me, Dr. Anderson?”
Noah fixed his gaze on her. “I mean to test your limits, Ms. Fairweather. I hope you’re ready.”
Chapter 6
“The tapestry in the hall comes from the Fairweather ancestral home all the way in Scotland,” Lucy said, pouring tea to serve John Richards. “It’s rather ugly, if you ask me.”
Willa smiled politely, waiting for John to speak, but he had yet to do so—at all. In the full hour that had passed since his arrival, she had received only a nod in greeting.
Through this entire ordeal, her saving grace had been Lucy. Her sister played the part of hostess beautifully, and Willa wished Paul Anderson was here to see it. The stupid man had hardly paid Lucy any attention at The Gathering, too busy watching the local girls with Cal.
“We have another one in the dining room,” Willa said, attempting to participate in the conversation. “Lucy, do you remember the time Cal almost caught it on fire when we were younger?”
“Oh, yes!” Lucy took a seat next to Mr. Richards, keeping a proper distance. They didn’t often have male callers at Haven House, but both she and Lucy had been trained to a fault on how to behave. “And he would have caught the entire dining room on fire if not for Grace coming to save the day.”
When Grace was mentioned in public, she and Lucy’s lightness dimmed—it always did.
“Grace is your sister?” John asked, sipping at his tea. “I’ve heard of her.”
Of course, he had. The entire county had heard of Grace. A beauty with wit and brains, the eldest Fairweather daughter had once been the most sought-after prize for miles.
“Is she happy?” John asked, lowering his voice. The door to the parlor had been left wide open, and the man was smart enough to know that there were eyes and ears everywhere in this house. “You don’t have to tell me if you do not wish, but whatever her reasons were for running off with him, I hope it was worth it and that she’s happy.”
Willa did too, but God was the only one who would know for sure.
“Yes,” Willa replied, thinking it best to leave it at that. “Tell me, Mr. Richards, how are your children?”
She wanted to completely understand what she might be getting herself into. She had never entertained the idea of children because she couldn’t. From as far back as she could remember, every individual who ever treated her had warned against having them.
But she might like them—a built-in family at the ready. It wouldn’t be easy, not with the children having lost their mother a year ago, but perhaps she might find herself falling into the role with ease.
“My little Clara has lost her first tooth.” With a soft smile, John tried to make eye contact with her but failed and spoke to Lucy as if she had been the one to ask the question. “It was quite the scene. My oldest son, Christopher, tried to help. It ended well, but children are children.”
The fondness in his voice told Willa this might not be so bad after all. John Richards held genuine affection for his family, a foreign concept to Fairweathers to be sure, but it spoke more for him than any other recommendation.
“Am I correct in thinking that your youngest is not yet two years old?” Willa asked. “That must be quite a feat to raise all those children on your own and manage the farm.”
“The older children help.” He set his teacup on the end table, a nervous tremor in his hands. John Richards married his wife when theywere both terribly young, and this courting business was likely just as nerve-wracking for him as it was for Willa. “I have a staff as well. We might be a small farmhouse, but it’s large enough to maintain one.”
This meant she would have a household to run. Nothing similar to Haven House, but it sounded like enough to occupy her time.
“Then we have the farm hands,” John continued. “There are seven in total, rotating between the livestock and crops.”
Livestock?
She was going to have to manage childrenanda householdandlivestock?
Lucy appeared absolutely enthralled. “You mentioned at The Gathering how you have a large pasture. What kind of animals do you keep there?”
A knock at the parlor entrance interrupted her sister, and Willa’s heart jumped into her throat when she saw Noah standing in the doorway. With a fresh shave, his hair swept back from his face and dressed in a form-fitting coat and vest that hugged his muscled frame perfectly, the man looked ready to devastate every female within miles.
“Are you ready for me, Ms. Fairweather?”
“Dr. Anderson!” Lucy and John rose to stand. “Won’t you join us? We were just having tea with Mr. Richards.”
Willa remained seated, too stunned by his appearance to move. She had been expecting him later and thought there would at least be time to have tea with John Richards before Noah arrived to turn her into a befuddled fool.
