Page 236 of Conveniently Wed
Realizing how much it meant to the boy, Bruce turned to Stella. “How ’bout if I check the fences this afternoon, and then tomorrow I can ride over and see about your livestock?”
She met his gaze across the table, then she nodded. “I’d appreciate that.”
He couldn’t begin to guess what thoughts ran through her head and made her so cautious about accepting anything he said. But he had plenty of time to learn about her.
The soup was tasty, the biscuits fluffy, and the chocolate cake sweet and delicious. He finished and leaned back. “That was very good. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad to please you.” Did she sound a little surprised? Again, their gazes caught and held. Again, he wished he could guess what she thought. Was she expecting him to be ungrateful? Or was she unused to being thanked? Or—he tried to dismiss the thought that came up from the depths of his being—did she expect less from him, knowing he had been a street urchin?
Aunt Mary had been watching him. “He’s thinking you are surprised to hear that he’s so polite. Seems he feels he has to wear the labelstreet urchinhis entire life.”
“Aunt Mary!” The last thing he wanted was for Stella or her children to see him as needy. Worse, unworthy.
“Mama, what’s a street urchin?”
Stella smiled at Donny. “It just means someone whose parents have died so he has no home.”
Donny and Blossom looked at Bruce with eyes as wide as the biscuits they’d just eaten.
“At least we had you, Mama.” Donny’s voice trembled and Blossom’s eyes watered.
“Yes, you did.”
Aunt Mary spoke again. “And now you have all of us. Come and give me a hug.”
The children hurried to her side.
“Mind my leg now.” She pulled them close. “One big happy family.”
Stella looked at her children in Aunt Mary’s arms, gave Bruce a look he could only describe as challenging, then gathered up the used dishes and carried them to the dishpan.
Did she object to the children developing a fondness for his aunt? Or was she simply surprised by how readily she responded to them? She shouldn’t have been, knowing that Aunt Mary had taken him off the streets. Given him a home. Taught him to be a decent man.
But he understood her caution. Even admired her for it. A business deal, a farm to run, was one side of their agreement. Children and an aunt formed a different side. One they would all have to learn together. He could only hope and pray that, as they learned about each other, she wouldn’t regret the arrangement.
Bruce looked from Aunt Mary and the children to Stella. Then he pushed from the table, grabbed his hat, and strode from the house.
Stella’s hands lay idle in the wash water. Something had transpired in the last few minutes, but she couldn’t say what it was. Aunt Mary hinted at Bruce seeing himself as something other than the big strong man Stella saw. Ready to sacrifice for the good of others.
She dashed the dishes through the water and left them to dry on their own, put the food away, and swiped the table clean. “Children, stay here with Aunt Mary while I go outside.”
“She’s gonna talk to Uncle Bruce,” Donny said.
“Seems like a good idea,” Aunt Mary answered.
Stella saw Bruce kneeling at the corral fence examining one of the rails and hurried over before she could change her mind. “Why did you rush away?”
He kept his attention on the fence though she wondered what he saw. The rail looked solid to her.
“No one likes to be reminded of how poorly people once saw them.”
“Isn’t how you arenowwhat matters?” She didn’t like talking to the top of his hat, but he stayed on the ground. Fine. She could do the same. She sat down with her back to the fence so they faced each other.
“Is your past something that the gal back in Kansas mocked you for?”
“Maybe.”
“From what you’ve told me, it seems she’d be the last one you’d listen to.”
