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  Clearing his throat, he turned his attention to her and nodded. “Yes, everything’s fine. I was just thinking that it’s nice to come home and see…” He hesitated to say my family since he still wasn’t used to having a wife again. Finally, he settled for saying, “It’s nice to see everyone, that’s all.”

  “I suppose coming home to an empty house got lonely,” she replied.

  “Yes, it did.” Which was ironic since while he was drunk, he hated being around people at all. But that had more to do with the shame he felt at sinking to such a low point in his life than anything else. “So,” he stepped into the kitchen, “did anything good happen today?”

  “As a matter of fact, it did.” Eva continued cutting the carrots in front of her. “Rachel invited us to supper next week. I thought you might like that, what with you being Herb’s friend and all, so I accepted.” With a pause, she glanced at him. “Is that alright?”

  “Sure.” He stopped halfway between the worktable and the kitchen table where Hannah watched him. He wasn’t sure if he should remain standing or sit down and hesitated to ask Eva what she preferred. “It’s good you have a friend in this town.”

  “Rachel and I were never actually close while we were in Nebraska. We knew each other, but I was her teacher. We got to know each other better on our way to this state.”

  “You were her teacher?”

  “For three years. I taught for four, but she quit going to school when she turned seventeen last year. Since we’ve always known each other as teacher and pupil, we never developed an actual friendship.”

  “But that changed when you two traveled together?”

  She nodded and motioned for Leroy to put the carrots in the bowl full of lettuce and tomatoes. “For the first time, I didn’t have to grade her work. I think it put her at ease.”

  He smiled at her joke. “Is that because you were a strict teacher?”

  With a slight shrug, she admitted, “I might have expected a little more than other teachers do from their students, but I was fair.”

  “I’m sure you were.” Just looking at how well she managed things with his children, he could tell she was organized. She probably did everything efficiently. He glanced at Hannah who watched everything they were saying and smiled. Her lips curled up slightly. “Did you have a good day with Leroy and Hannah?” he asked Eva.

  “Yes, I did. Leroy taught me how to button Hannah’s shoes.”

  Leroy beamed up at him. “She wasn’t sure how to do it so I helped.”

  “And did a good job of it,” she added as she wiped her hands on a towel. “I think that’s everything. Want to help me set the table?” she asked Leroy.

  “Sure!”

  Boaz watched as he grabbed the utensils she handed him and quickly ran to the table to put them in their right place. Deciding to do his part, he picked up the plates and went along the table to set them down. The process went smoothly, and soon, they were all seated. As he looked around the table, he blinked back his tears. For the longest time, he’d imagined what it’d be like to enjoy supper with his wife and children. He used to feel envious when he saw Mitch and Heather with Leroy and Hannah, slipping into the role he was supposed to have with his first wife. And now so much had been restored, and it gave him such a wonderful feeling of completeness. Finally, the horrible aching loneliness was gone.

  ***

  “You sure you don’t mind?” Boaz asked on Sunday.

  Eva turned to Boaz as soon as she finished putting the bonnet on Hannah’s head. “I already said I don’t.” She had to resist the urge to chuckle at his worried expression. “It’s fine, Boaz. Besides, I met your family last week.”

  “That’s what I mean. Are we going out there again too soon? I haven’t given you time to get settled in. Maybe you don’t feel like going out there right away.”

  She went to the front door and retrieved her own bonnet. “We’re only going there for dinner. It’s not like we’re going to live there.”

  “Well, that’s true.”

  Smiling, she tied her bonnet under her chin. “You worry too much. I don’t mind visiting your ma, Heather and Mitch. They’re nice people.”

  Though he nodded, she sensed something was still bothering him. She bit her lower lip and tried to debate whether or not to ask him what it was then decided she might as well. If she didn’t, he’d probably fidget all the way to their place. As it was, he couldn’t stop fiddling with his hat and shifting from one foot to another.

  “Hannah, why don’t you go into the parlor with Leroy?” she encouraged, patting the girl on the back.

  Hannah obeyed and when they were alone in the entryway, she stepped closer to Boaz and lowered her voice. “What’s wrong?”

  Boaz blinked. “I didn’t say anything was wrong.”

  “Not in so many words but the way you can’t keep still speaks for you. Now, come on. Tell me what’s going on.”

  He tapped his hat a few times then sighed. “What if Leroy and Hannah don’t want to come back? What if they want to stay out there?”

  “Surely, they won’t.”

  “How can you know they won’t? Mitch and Heather are all they’ve really known. I might be their father, but I,” he swallowed, “I wasn’t there for most of their lives.”

  “You’re here now.”

  “But what if I’m too late?”

  “Boaz, if there’s one thing I believe, it’s that it’s never too late for another chance. What happened can’t be changed. There’s no point in dwelling on it. The point is, you’re doing your best, and I think Leroy and Hannah know that.”

  “Even though they’re only four and three?”

  “They’re happy to be here. I see the way their eyes light up when you walk into a room. They love their aunt and uncle, but no one is ever going to take your place as their father.”

  “You think so?”

  “I know so.” She squeezed his arm. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I wish I had your assurance.”

  She laughed and shook her head. If only he knew how much she doubted things, but this was one thing she knew for sure. “It’s not assurance. It’s just the way things are. I’ve been a teacher long enough to understand how important a child’s ma and pa are.”

  He released his breath and nodded, looking more at ease about the situation.

  Glad he felt better, she asked, “Are you ready to leave?”

  “Yes.”

  She called for Leroy and Hannah to join them, and soon they were on their way to the livery stable so they could take the wagon out to Mitch and Heather’s.

  Chapter Nine

  During the course of the meal, Eva mostly listened as Boaz’s mother insisted on reliving some of Boaz’s and Mitch’s more memorable moments while growing up. Though neither Boaz nor Mitch seemed particularly happy about it, they didn’t stop her, even when she regaled Eva and Heather with an account about the time they brought home a frog they believed could grant magic wishes.

  “Can frogs grant wishes?” Leroy piped up, his interest piqued.

  “I’m afraid not,” she replied with a giggle, “and your pa and uncle spent two days rubbing its back and head trying to find that out.”

  Boaz cleared his throat. “Ma read me a book about a genie. You are supposed to rub its lamp and a genie grants you a wish. I thought if I tried it on a frog, it would do the same thing.”

  “But a frog isn’t anything like a genie,” Eva spoke up, wondering how he came up with such a strange connection.

  He shrugged. “I was five.”

  “But why didn’t you rub a lamp instead?”

  “I don’t remember. It was a long time ago.”

  Heather giggled and passed around the pie. “That’s not the worst of it, Eva. Mitch is older and he believed Boaz.”

  Mitch sighed and shot his mother a pointed look. “See what trouble you cause when you tell people about our childhoods? Now Heather is going to keep me up all night asking me
all kinds of questions like, ‘Are you going to tell our child that a frog can grant wishes’?”

  Catching the humor underlying his tone, Eva and the others chuckled.

  “Well, that is a good question, isn’t it?” Heather asked, her eyebrows raised in an attempt to engage him in a friendly banter.

  With a shake of his head, he turned his amused grin her way and leaned closer to her. “A good question would be, what would happen if there was a frog out there that really did grant wishes?”

  “I can see that I’m going to have to watch what you tell our child.”

  He laughed then turned his attention to Eva. “You can’t be too hard on Boaz. I’m the one who told him he should try rubbing a frog.”

  “You did?” Boaz asked, glancing up from his half-eaten slice of pie.

  “I’m surprised you don’t remember it.”

  “All I remember is Ma reading the story.”

  “And,” their mother continued, “you brought a frog into the house and hid it in your room. I tell you,” she looked at Eva and Heather, “I thought there was something wrong with me. I kept hearing a croaking sound but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.”

  “Now that, I do remember,” Boaz replied. “I saw you searching all over the house, ready to pull your hair out over some strange noise you heard.”

  “Why didn’t you tell her it was in your room?” Eva pressed, trying not to laugh.

  With a shrug, he said, “Because I didn’t know she meant the frog. I thought she was talking about some other noise.”

  At that, everyone chuckled.

  “Can I bring a frog home?” Leroy asked.

  “No,” Eva quickly responded. “Please never do that.”

  Her response earned her another round of laughter, but when she noticed the disappointment on his face, she added, “I’ll tell you what. If we get a large bowl and food and other things a frog needs to be happy, you can have one. But, you will need to take care of him and make sure he doesn’t get out. I don’t want it to end up in my bed or somewhere else that’s unpleasant.”

  His face lit up. “I’ll be careful with it.”

  She returned his smile then focused on finishing her dessert. Once the meal was over, she offered to help wash the dishes, but Boaz’s mother insisted on doing it herself, saying that it’d be good for her to get better acquainted with Heather.

  As Heather and Eva sat on the porch, Boaz and Mitch went to the barn. Not far from her and Heather, Hannah played quietly with a doll, and in the yard, Leroy searched for a frog.

  “How are things going?” Heather asked from where she sat in her rocking chair.

  “Things are fine. The children are sweet. Leroy wants to help out whenever he can. He taught me how to properly button Hannah’s boots.”

  Heather grinned. “He wants to be older than he really is. I kept telling him, he should enjoy being a child. But he’d be right there with Mitch when it was time to milk a cow.”

  “He likes to be with me when I make a meal.” With a glance at Hannah who had moved to the swing further down the porch, she leaned toward Heather and lowered her voice. “Is Hannah always quiet? I can’t seem to get her to say more than one or two words.”

  “It takes her a while to open up to new people. She’s always been shy. Give her time and she’ll come out of her shell.”

  Relieved, Eva nodded and settled back in her chair. She was glad Hannah wasn’t only shy around her. She’d taught some quiet children before, but she had no experience with one who was as shy as Hannah. “I want to be a good mother to them.”

  “I can tell you already are. Leroy sure is excited about finding a frog. I’d never have let him actually bring one into the house. Those things are too slimy for my liking.”

  “Well, I did tell him he had to keep it in the bowl, and I have no intention of touching it. He’ll have to learn to feed it and clean its bowl in order to keep it.”

  “I bet you were a good teacher.”

  Surprised she said that, Eva turned her gaze from Leroy so she could look at her. “I don’t know if everyone thought I was good at what I did, but I did my best.”

  “I’m glad you’re with Boaz. He needs someone like you, someone strong and decisive.”

  After a long moment passed between them, Eva ventured, “Was his first wife that way?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know what his first wife was like. I only know what Mitch told me, and he just said she was a gentle and sweet person.”

  Eva wondered if anyone would use those words to describe her. Probably not. She knew they’d say that about Rachel, and she and Rachel were nothing alike. So she guessed they wouldn’t say she was sweet and gentle. Those who didn’t like her had referred to her as cold and stubborn, but that was usually when she insisted on following the rules set by those who hired her. And who knew? Maybe Boaz didn’t want someone who felt a sense of duty and obligation to do what she felt was right. Maybe he preferred someone softer, someone who relented if it meant getting along with others.

  Mitch and Boaz emerged from the barn, laughing and having a good time.

  Heather smiled. “It’s nice to see them getting along so well.”

  “They didn’t always get along?” Eva asked, surprised. She got the impression the brothers were always close.

  “They did, but things were difficult between them for a while when Mitch had to keep bailing him out of trouble. Boaz used to drink and gamble a lot. It was hard on Mitch to watch him go through the cycle of trying to stop and then falling back into it. Every time he bailed Boaz out of a jam, he felt that he was only making it easier for Boaz to keep drinking and gambling.”

  “That’s only natural. And he was right. He was making it easier.”

  She nodded. “He finally stopped and had to sit and watch while Boaz suffered the consequences. It was hard for all of us, but seeing Boaz today, it was worth it.”

  “Sometimes you have to be tough in order to be kind. And,” she looked at Boaz who knelt down by Leroy and Hannah and talked to them, “I can’t argue with how things turned out. Mitch did the right thing.”

  “He did. If you could have seen how differently things were back then, you’d be amazed at how much things have changed. Boaz was sad all the time. He never laughed. Sometimes it’s hard to believe I’m looking at the same person.”

  Boaz picked up a frog and his children followed him on his way to the porch.

  “I was afraid they’d find a frog,” Eva told Heather, unable to hide the humor in her voice.

  “Well, you did say Leroy could keep one if he found it,” Heather teased. “As soon as you said that, I knew it was a matter of time before he found one.”

  A smile tugging at her lips, she let out an exaggerated sigh and shook her head. “I set my own trap on that one.” When the three reached them, she asked, “Is it time to go home?”

  Boaz looked at the children. “Are you ready?”

  As she expected, the children eagerly nodded and headed for the wagon. “I told you they’d want to come back with you,” she told Boaz, catching the flicker of relief on his face.

  Mitch came over to them and walked up the porch steps so he could stand next to Heather. “I missed you.”

  She giggled. “You’re silly, Mitch. We see each other all the time.”

  “Not all the time. Sometimes I’m in the barn or in the field, and you’re in the house.” He took her hand in his and kissed her. “I never get tired of seeing your smile.”

  Eva felt a twinge of envy. She wondered if Boaz would ever extend such a simple but heartwarming gesture to her. So far, there had been no kissing or touching in their marriage. Well, he did touch her hand when he helped her into the wagon. Those were actions borne of necessity, not desire.

  She glanced at Boaz who didn’t seem to even notice the romantic scene just played out before him. He was too busy petting the frog. But the way he laughed as the children huddled around him to pet the amphibian was cute. H
e really was a good man, the kind a woman would be very happy to have for a husband. Turning her attention back to Mitch and Heather, she thanked them for a lovely meal and joined the three who were trying to figure out what to call the frog.

  “Alright you three,” she said when she approached them. “We need to get back home so we can put the frog in a bowl and give it some food. Then,” she quickly added before Leroy could get too excited, “you and Hannah need to go to sleep.”

  Leroy grimaced but Boaz playfully nudged him in the shoulder. “Listen to her.”

  Leroy gave a reluctant nod then Boaz helped him and his sister into the wagon. After he helped Eva, she expected him to release her hand right away, but he didn’t. Curious, her gaze met his and she caught a flicker of something in his eyes before he cleared his throat and released her hand.

  She wanted to watch him as he went to his side of the wagon, but she lost her nerve and decided to focus on the children instead. Something was changing between them. She could feel it. She turned her gaze to Mitch and Heather once more and saw him wrap his arm around her shoulders then lead her into the house. With a smile, she considered the very real possibility that soon enough, Boaz might do something similar with her.

  ***

  Boaz led the wagon off his brother’s property, for the first time feeling conflicted about his relationship with Eva. It’d been a mistake to hold her hand longer than necessary. Then to make it worse, he’d let his gaze linger on hers. Because in the moment he did those two things, something changed between them. It was just as it’d been with his first wife before he married her.

  They’d grown up together. They’d gone to the same schoolhouse. Then one day, he accidentally brushed her hand with his and started to apologize when he looked into her eyes and realized he loved her. The whole thing had hit him all at once.

  The look and touch he’d just shared with Eva had the same effect. It made him much too aware of her. Granted, he didn’t love her. But he knew it was only a matter of time before he did. She was good to the children, intelligent, pretty, and kind. It’d be easy to fall in love with someone like that. And it was also a very scary proposition when he thought of where that could lead.