Page 54 of Mail-Order Bride Secret
Matt and Luke were going to check on the herd that had been eased down to winter pasture. Riley and Andy were each going to a line cabin to close it up for the season.
“What about me?” Wally rocked back on his heels.
Riley pointed a finger at Wally. “You’ll be staying home to do chores and look after your family.”
“Yes, Boss.” He gladly accepted the assignment, nor did he care that they all chuckled. He took the bucket of milk to the house, strained it, and put it into the cold entryway.
Breakfast was ready, and Jonathan at the table.
“The twins?” Were they worse? His gaze went to their bedroom. His heart jerked.
“I thought they should rest. Is that all right?”
Catching the uncertainty in her voice, he smiled. “Of course. I was only concerned they might be…” He didn’t finish.
“They both seem fine to me except their eyes are still sensitive.”
“Let’s hope and pray it’s temporary.” He sat at the table and added prayers for the twins to his grace.
A little later, he left the house to help the Shannons prepare for their tasks. He watched them ride away then returned to the barn. Things were always shipshape at the ranch, but he’d seen a plank that could use another nail in it. The alley needed cleaning. He grabbed a hammer and nails and headed toward the pen that required his attention. His house came into view, and he paused to stare at it. Behind those walls was everything he wanted to complete his life. Children and a wife. A future blessed by God. Whatever existed in her past, or his or the children’s, they’d put it behind them and look to better things.
Only one little question bothered him. What about Jonathan’s father? Would he be claiming the boy at some point? There was one way to find out. He left the hammer hanging on the fence and trotted across the yard.
Maddie glanced up at his entrance. “It’s not dinner time yet, is it? I don’t have the meal ready.”
“No. I came to—”
Jonathan sat in the middle of the floor, stacking up pots and pans, laughing when they fell down in a crash of ringing metal.
Maddie flinched at the noise but didn’t scold the boy. “He’s having fun,” she said.
Wally noticed the twin’s bedroom door was closed. It might be they weren’t enjoying the racket.
“Why don’t I take him outside with me?”
Jonathan rushed to Wally. “I go with you?”
“Why not?” He put a sweater on the child. They waved goodbye and rather than return to repairing the fence, he showed Jonathan the horses, the chickens, the cows, the cats, and the dog.
If his father hadn’t shown any interest in the boy by now, surely he never would. Except a cable of tension coiled inside Wally. How often in the orphanage had children been claimed when they were big enough to work?
He had to do something to ensure that wouldn’t happen to Jonathan.
14
Maddie pulled golden loaves of bread from the oven. The days had fallen into a lovely routine. Or as Wally had read to her from the Bible, ‘pleasant places.’
The twins were doing better every day. Ivy no longer complained that light hurt her eyes. They’d let her go out to play. However, although Otis daily gained strength, he still preferred a dim room.
Wally showered them all with his time and affection. He was teaching the twins how to read better and how to do sums. He’d made wooden blocks for Jonathan and never seemed to tire of helping him stack them up.
Bedtime had become special. Together they put the twins to bed. Wally read a Bible story to them and heard their prayers. He would kneel beside Otis withIvy next to her brother. Maddie knelt on the other side of Ivy. She put her arm around the little girl. Wally put his around Otis. Their arms joined across the twins binding them together over the children.
At first, Wally prayed aloud. On the third day, he suggested it was Maddie’s turn.
She hesitated. It had been a long time but believing was easy here. God seemed close. And good. She recalled praying at her mother’s knee. Listening to Miz Allie praying for her.
So she prayed. And joy flowed through her with each word. God was real. God had not forgotten her nor turned His back on her.
