Page 229 of Conveniently Wed
His voice broke into her troubled thoughts. Uncle? Her breath eased out of her tense lungs. “That would be acceptable.” Hopefully he didn’t notice the way her words rushed out, driven by her relief at his suggestion.
“Uncle Bruce,” Donny said. “There’s the turnoff.”
Stella curled her hands into knuckle-popping bunches. She’d not been back to the farm since Flora and Kade had taken her more than half dead to the Kinsleys. The low barn still stood. Had she expected it to disappear? The corrals were empty. The chicken yard overgrown. Kade had taken her livestock to his farm to care for it.
Bruce pulled to a halt in front of the house.
Stella climbed down before he could make his way around to help her. She ran to the door and flung it open. Her heart overflowed with joy, and she laughed. “It’s so clean. Flora has been looking after it.”
Bruce stood behind her. “Flora?”
“She’s one of the Kinsley girls. Remember, I told you she and her husband Kade rescued me. They live further along the trail. They have my livestock.”
Bruce grinned at her. “I can see you’re glad to be home.”
“I can’t deny it.” She laughed again, out of pure pleasure. “My home.” She sobered. “Your home too.” She couldn’t forget that. “And Aunt Mary’s. Let’s get a place ready for her.” She headed for the middle bedroom then stopped. “She won’t want to be shut up in her room all day long.” There was nothing in the small living area that would be comfortable for her.
“She might be glad of a few hours to rest after the ride out here.”
“Of course. I’ll prepare the room.” The bed was made up. It had been where she and Frank slept. After his death, she had chosen to sleep in the third room, which would now become Bruce’s room. She moved a table closer to the bed so Aunt Mary could reach things without moving. She glanced around. Frank had always liked an easy chair in the room. An idea grew.
Stella turned to Bruce. “We could move that chair out to the other room and make a stool for her leg.”
“Good idea.” Before she could offer to help, he grasped the arms and shuffled it from the room. “Where do you want it?”
“Here.” She indicated a place which would put Aunt Mary out of the way of traffic. The last thing Stella wanted was the children bumping into her. But it was a spot that would enable her to be part of the activities of the home.
As if on cue, the children ran inside. “The cats are gone,” Donny yelled.
“I expect Flora and Kade took them to their place.”
“Are we getting them back?”
Stella was about to say they would when she realized she had to now confer with Bruce before she would make a decision. It would take getting used to. “It depends on Uncle Bruce.”
He blinked. “Me?” He shrugged. “A farm needs cats. Kids need kittens.”
The children raced back outside.
Bruce waited until they were away from the door. “Stella, I don’t object to you making decisions.” His eyes turned the color of night.
She held his gaze, not wanting him to guess how uncertain and unsettled she felt. “My pa made all the decisions.” The words stumbled from her mouth.
“Did your husband too?”
“Frank? We had a division of labor, as he called it. He ran the farm. I took care of the children and the house.”
“Sounds like living separate lives.”
She’d sometimes thought the same thing. Frank didn’t think it necessary for her to concern herself with outside things apart from the garden and chickens. “It worked.”
He nodded. “Let’s get Aunt Mary into bed, then we’ll discuss how we are going to handle our shared lives.”
He carried his aunt in, and they got her settled.
“I’ll bring tea,” Stella said, hoping it would provide an excuse for delaying that talk Bruce had in mind. Her mind had jittered from one thing to another since his announcement. How did he plan to run things? She should have thought to ask before she said I do. Now she was trapped.
“I’ll rest for now, if you don’t mind.” Aunt Mary’s face was drawn.
