Page 22 of Mail-Order Bride Secret
It was the potato soup one of the ladies had brought over. “My favorite.” He’d said it before, but he said it again.
“Mine too.” Ivy beamed, perhaps liking the idea they shared this.
“I remember you told me your mama made it.” Madeline tested Jonathan’s soup to make sure it wasn’t too hot. “Maybe you can teach me how she did it.”
From the pleasure glowing on Ivy’s face, you might have thought she’d been offered a huge gift.
The child’s gaze shifted to Wally. “Did your mama make it for you?”
He guessed she wanted to share another connection point and hated to disappoint her but— “Mrs. Shannon did. Guess she was sort of like my ma.”
“Did she ‘dopt you?”
“No. I was too old to be adopted.”
“Then how could she be your ma?”
“Well, it was this way.” He spoke slow and lazy and the children leaned forward as if expecting a story. He would do his best not to disappoint them. “I was nigh unto sixteen years old when I joined the Shannons. Been on my own a few years.” The words conveyed none of the worry and loneliness of that time. “I worked for anyone who would give me a job. That’s how I took care of myself.”
Ivy and Otis looked at each other, their expressions set, revealing nothing, but he understood their fear and determination as clearly as he remembered his own.
“I hadn’t had work for a spell and was getting mighty hungry. Winter was coming on. I had no job. Couldn’t find one. I’d seen Mr. Shannon from time to time. His father owned the wheel and wagon shop. I swallowed my pride when I saw him leaving the place. I knew he had family and figured he might feel sorry for me thinking one of his boys could be in the same situation. When I asked if he had any work for me, he looked me up and down. Said I looked strong enough to be of some use. Asked if I’d like to tend cows and feed the animals on his farm. I jumped at the chance. He gave me responsibility and I always did my best to live up to his expectations. He was a fair man. More’n fair. He included me in his family. Only demand he had was that I attend church with them.” Warmth thathad nothing to do with the soup he ate filled his insides. “Thank God for bringing me to the Shannons.”
Ivy looked from Madeline to Wally. “And now us too.”
He understood Ivy saw herself and Otis belonging now as he did. He’d meant to do his best to make that dream come true. “God is good.” His voice deepened, vibrating in his chest. The conversation had been largely about him. He wanted to know more about Madeline. “What’s your favorite soup?”
She looked at each of the children. Out the window. Then her gaze went to the picture on the wall behind the table. It was one Mrs. Shannon had brought with her. She said it was calledJesus and the Children. It had always made him feel loved. Or maybe the love came from being included in the Shannon family.
Madeline faced him. Her intensity was like a warm blast of air laden with wildflower scent. She drew in a breath. “When I was sick at home my mother made chicken noodle soup.”
Otis nodded. “That’s what I like. Can you make it?”
“I’m sure I can.”
Otis grinned. “Then we’ll really be a family.”
Madeline’s eyebrows rose. “What do you mean? How does chicken noodle soup make a family?” Her puzzlement reflected Wally’s.
Otis shuffled his feet and studied his bowl. “I didn’t mean it.”
Wally and Madeline studied each other. He nodded, indicating he understood the boy had meant it. But exactly how did soup and family go together?
“Otis.” The boy’s head met Wally’s gaze. “Can you explain what you meant? Don’t be afraid to believe in family because that is what we are.”
Otis studied him a moment, his gaze examining, searching, demanding.
Wally hoped his own gaze offered all that and more. Forever, if that was possible.
“Family knows what everyone likes. That’s all.”
“And makes your favorite soup when you’re sick,” Ivy added.
“You’re right.” Wally could have added a few more things—hugs and kisses, trust and confidence that they were bound together until death parted them.
“I think that’s a wonderful description of family,” Madeline said. She smiled at the twins, patted Jonathan on the shoulder then brought her eyes to Wally.
At the silent promise he told himself he saw, there blossomed within him something akin to joy, cousin to hope.
