“Did you have a good ride out here?” Joseph asked as he sat beside her.
“Yes, I did. The weather is perfect this time of year,” she replied, aware that Bob and Doug stood by her. She looked at them and saw that they were content to watch her and smile. She blinked. Somehow, this didn’t seem like normal childhood behavior. “Don’t you two want to play?” Isn’t that what children did? Play?
“We’re fine,” Bob replied, rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet.
“They’re excited to meet you.” Joseph shifted on the couch so that he could put the boy he was holding on his other leg. “Ben is shy.”
She knew the feeling, so she had one thing in common with the boy. She didn’t remember Ben’s age, but since he was the smallest, he was the youngest. Ben is the youngest. Then there’s Doug, the oldest, and Bob, the next in line. She glanced at the boy still staring at her. She’d have to pay attention to what the others called him because she didn’t remember his name either.
“I got hired at the paper in town,” Joseph said. “I start work on Monday. It’s not a full-time position, so I picked up a second job at the mercantile making deliveries. I’ll make enough to support us, but I’m afraid things will be tight, at least until I can find a better second job.”
“But we can still have cookies and pie, right Pa?” Bob asked, looking startled.
“Yes.”
Doug and Bob visibly relaxed.
She couldn’t deny that this aspect of the children amused her.
“However,” Joseph continued, directing her attention back to him, “I did purchase that home you said you liked.”
Her ears perked up at this announcement. “The one on the edge of the park with the blue trim?”
Smiling, he nodded. “I thought you might like to hear that.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” She turned to Doug and Bob. “It has a nice backyard for you to play in.”
They nodded but just stood quietly by her side with their hands behind their backs.
She was beginning to feel like an animal at an auction. She figured that the boys would be curious about her, but she didn’t expect all four of them to be fascinated enough to watch her every move.
“We’ll be good,” Bob said.
“Yes,” Doug agreed. “We hardly cause any problems at all.”
“And the ones we do cause, we can correct.”
“I don’t expect you to be perfect,” she told them.
Joseph sighed. “I asked them to be on their best behavior while you’re here. Why don’t you two go play with Charles?”
Charles. So that was the boy sitting in the corner. She mentally repeated each boy’s name in her head so she wouldn’t forget again.
“Yes, Pa,” they both said and rushed over to sit by their younger brother.
“It takes them awhile to get used to new people,” Joseph explained.
“It takes me awhile to do that too.” She spread her skirt out, still feeling nervous but not quite as much now that all but one boy—Ben—had stopped watching her. “I suppose you’ll miss working at the paper where you used to live. You said you worked there full-time?”
“Yes, I did. But it was a bigger area, so there were more opportunities.”
“I know the owner of the mercantile. He’s nice. I don’t expect you to have any problems with him.”
“He seemed reasonable when I talked to him. I suppose in a place this small, it’s only logical that everyone knows everyone else.”
“Yes. Sometimes it’s a good thing.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And at others?”
A smile tugged at her lips. “There’s always one or two people you don’t want to come across.”
“That’s true no matter where you are.”
“Really? You mean there’s someone from Dayton you’d rather not deal with?”
Before he could answer, Jessica and Jenny came into the parlor carrying a tray full of cups. “Anyone thirsty for lemonade?” Jessica asked.
“Me, me, me!”
All but Ben ran over to them to grab a cup and gulp their drinks down.
Bob glanced over and nudged his brothers. After whispering something to them, they each thanked Jessica and Jenny and quietly sat back down in the corner to keep playing.
Margaret thought the whole thing was odd. Did they always behave like this or were they trying to warm her up for taking on the role as their mother, who would obviously be baking pies and cookies, before they showed her what they were really like?
Jessica approached them. “Would you like some lemonade?”
Joseph nodded and took a cup. “Thank you.” He shifted so that Ben was sitting up straight. “Here you go.”