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happened to me. Please excuse me.”
“Of course,” Karola replied.
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” With that, Emma headed down one of the aisles.
“Good day, Miss Breit,” Charlotte said with a definite lack of warmth. Then she followed her friend.
Karola stared after the two young women, who were whispering to one another again. Had there been a time in her life when she’d had someone with whom she could laugh and whisper and share secrets like that?
Ja. Jakob. A long, long time ago.
She turned and left the store, her steps slow and heavy as she headed toward the hotel.
Jakob leaned over the crib and covered Aislinn with her favorite blanket. She slept on her stomach, her face turned sideways on the mattress, sucking on her thumb. Several women in Shadow Creek had volunteered pointers on stopping the habit, but he hadn’t paid them any mind. He figured she’d stop on her own when the right time came.
Turning from the crib, he stepped to the side of Maeve’s child-sized bed. With his fingertips, he brushed her unruly red hair from her face, then bent low to kiss her freckled cheek. Maeve murmured in her sleep before rolling onto her side.
“Happy dreams,” Jakob whispered. He walked from the girls’ room into Bernard’s.
The boy had been asleep no more than fifteen minutes, and already his sheet and blanket were twisted in knots and his nightshirt was bunched underneath his arms. He slept crossways on the mattress, his legs hanging over one side.
Jakob gently repositioned his son on the bed. Then he pulled the bed coverings back into place, knowing they wouldn’t stay there long. He ruffled the boy’s hair with one hand and kissed his forehead. Bernard was oblivious to it all.
Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep that soundly? Jakob thought as he left the boy’s bedroom and went down the stairs.
He walked out onto the front porch and settled onto one of the rocking chairs as he stared across the valley to the east. The clouds along the horizon were stained red and orange by the setting sun, and the mountains were a deep blue hue.
Jakob sniffed the air, hoping for the scent of rain. Farming, even with the benefit of the Shadow Creek Irrigation Project, was a gambling proposition. The weather always mattered. So far, spring had cooperated, sun and rain coming in their proper turns.
This year, Jakob had nearly half his acreage in alfalfa, the rest in wheat. They were crops that needed no weeding or tilling and relatively little water and thus were easier to raise for a farmer who was short on extra hands. Some of his neighbors had switched to more labor-intensive—and lucrative—row crops, such as sugar beets and potatoes, but Jakob was sticking with the tried and true. Too many unknowns at present for him to add something else.
In the east, the bright colors faded from the clouds, and the sky and earth blurred together, awash in shades of deepening gray as dusk turned to night. The chirping of crickets filled the air, punctuated occasionally by the deep ribbet of a frog.
Tomorrow, he would ride into Shadow Creek for the third time in three days. Yesterday, he’d expected to return with a bride. Tomorrow, he would return with a housekeeper and nursemaid for his children.
Maybe that was for the best. He hoped so. He supposed only time would tell.
Chapter Nine
E xcept for the rattle of harness and the creaks and groans of the wagon, the ride from Shadow Creek to the Hirsch farm had been a silent one. Jakob’s children had been left for a second day in the care of Lance Bishop, Jakob’s part-time farmhand. Lance never complained about that particular duty—he said he liked kids—but Jakob wasn’t keen on paying him to watch the children when there was so much other work to be done. Thankfully, after this morning he wouldn’t have to worry about it. Now Karola would be there.
He glanced sideways at her and wondered what she was thinking. Did she resent him for his insistence that
“Of course,” Karola replied.
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” With that, Emma headed down one of the aisles.
“Good day, Miss Breit,” Charlotte said with a definite lack of warmth. Then she followed her friend.
Karola stared after the two young women, who were whispering to one another again. Had there been a time in her life when she’d had someone with whom she could laugh and whisper and share secrets like that?
Ja. Jakob. A long, long time ago.
She turned and left the store, her steps slow and heavy as she headed toward the hotel.
Jakob leaned over the crib and covered Aislinn with her favorite blanket. She slept on her stomach, her face turned sideways on the mattress, sucking on her thumb. Several women in Shadow Creek had volunteered pointers on stopping the habit, but he hadn’t paid them any mind. He figured she’d stop on her own when the right time came.
Turning from the crib, he stepped to the side of Maeve’s child-sized bed. With his fingertips, he brushed her unruly red hair from her face, then bent low to kiss her freckled cheek. Maeve murmured in her sleep before rolling onto her side.
“Happy dreams,” Jakob whispered. He walked from the girls’ room into Bernard’s.
The boy had been asleep no more than fifteen minutes, and already his sheet and blanket were twisted in knots and his nightshirt was bunched underneath his arms. He slept crossways on the mattress, his legs hanging over one side.
Jakob gently repositioned his son on the bed. Then he pulled the bed coverings back into place, knowing they wouldn’t stay there long. He ruffled the boy’s hair with one hand and kissed his forehead. Bernard was oblivious to it all.
Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep that soundly? Jakob thought as he left the boy’s bedroom and went down the stairs.
He walked out onto the front porch and settled onto one of the rocking chairs as he stared across the valley to the east. The clouds along the horizon were stained red and orange by the setting sun, and the mountains were a deep blue hue.
Jakob sniffed the air, hoping for the scent of rain. Farming, even with the benefit of the Shadow Creek Irrigation Project, was a gambling proposition. The weather always mattered. So far, spring had cooperated, sun and rain coming in their proper turns.
This year, Jakob had nearly half his acreage in alfalfa, the rest in wheat. They were crops that needed no weeding or tilling and relatively little water and thus were easier to raise for a farmer who was short on extra hands. Some of his neighbors had switched to more labor-intensive—and lucrative—row crops, such as sugar beets and potatoes, but Jakob was sticking with the tried and true. Too many unknowns at present for him to add something else.
In the east, the bright colors faded from the clouds, and the sky and earth blurred together, awash in shades of deepening gray as dusk turned to night. The chirping of crickets filled the air, punctuated occasionally by the deep ribbet of a frog.
Tomorrow, he would ride into Shadow Creek for the third time in three days. Yesterday, he’d expected to return with a bride. Tomorrow, he would return with a housekeeper and nursemaid for his children.
Maybe that was for the best. He hoped so. He supposed only time would tell.
Chapter Nine
E xcept for the rattle of harness and the creaks and groans of the wagon, the ride from Shadow Creek to the Hirsch farm had been a silent one. Jakob’s children had been left for a second day in the care of Lance Bishop, Jakob’s part-time farmhand. Lance never complained about that particular duty—he said he liked kids—but Jakob wasn’t keen on paying him to watch the children when there was so much other work to be done. Thankfully, after this morning he wouldn’t have to worry about it. Now Karola would be there.
He glanced sideways at her and wondered what she was thinking. Did she resent him for his insistence that
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