“If you want to shop, I can put your purchase in with the other goods I need to deliver and take you and the boys home,” Joseph said. “They might like a wagon ride.”
“Yay!” Charles agreed, as if on cue.
“Oh, that’s alright,” she quickly replied, her mind anxiously trying to think up a good excuse. “Actually, we were going out for a walk. It’s such a lovely day. It’d be a shame to waste it.”
“It is a beautiful day,” he agreed. “I bet I could take a lunch break and walk with you all.”
“What?” Her eyes grew wide.
“Our house isn’t that far. I’ll have some leftovers. It’ll save on time.”
“But...”
“Podder,” Charles said.
She shot the boy a startled look. If she wasn’t careful, the kids would rat her out! “I thought I’d go see Jessica. She’s in town today, and we already ate so you should get some of that great pot roast over at the restaurant down that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction of the way she expected Debra to be coming.
His face fell. “I suppose I could. You already had lunch?”
“Yes. You didn’t miss anything. They were just sandwiches. Boring and bland.” She waved her hand and shook her head. “It’s not worth the walk home for.”
“I don’t think your sandwiches are boring or bland.”
She inwardly groaned. “Well, these are. I don’t put anything good on them. Just a slap of cheese.”
“And tomado,” Charles added.
“You mean like the sandwich you made on Monday? That was good,” Joseph said. “You even baked the bread.”
She resisted the urge to put her hand over Charles’ mouth so he wouldn’t cause her anymore problems.
“But if you have plans to meet your friend, then I can have one of your delicious sandwiches some other time,” Joseph said, setting Ben on his feet. “I’ll see you when I get home.”
Overwhelmed with relief, she laughed. “I’ll make you something better than a sandwich.”
Giving them a smile, he nodded and went into the store where Doug and Bob were finally paying for their pieces of candy from an amused looking Ralph Lindon who waved to Joseph as soon as he noticed him.
She tensed. Would Doug and Bob give her plan away? She purposely held off on telling them what she wanted until Joseph left for work that morning. Only, he was supposed to work at the paper, not at the mercantile! Otherwise, she would have picked a different street to walk down.
She bit her lower lip and glanced down the street. No sign of Debra yet. This whole plan was going to go awry if those two boys didn’t get out of that store soon.
Doug and Bob talked to their father, and Bob pointed to Margaret and smiled excitedly. Her heart beat frantically in her chest. Oh no. This couldn’t be good. Not with the way Bob patted his stomach and pointed to his piece of candy. He was giving her away. She just knew it! And that was when she learned the cold, hard truth. Kids didn’t know how to keep a secret.
Chapter Thirteen
Joseph looked over his shoulder and gave her a look of disbelief. Then he said something to the two boys and the three of them headed in her direction. Her hold tightened on Charles’ and Ben’s hands. Her stomach tensed. She glanced down the street. No sign of Debra Potter.
As soon as Joseph and the boys exited the place, she blurted out, “I can explain.”
“I won’t allow my children to be with Debra,” he said, his tone unusually firm.
She blinked and it took her a good moment before she came up with the perfect response. “Well, these are my children too. That means half the decision goes to me.”
“What?”
“When I married you, I became their mother, and that means I get half-rights to deciding what will and will not happen with them.” She narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to challenge her.
He placed his hands on his hips and met her challenge. “I will take care of Debra.”
“So I keep hearing, but she still makes it a point to come by the park or find me in town to bother me.”
“Ignore her. That’s what Hannah did.”
“Well, I am not Hannah. If you wanted a woman who would handle things Hannah’s way, then you should have married someone just like her.”
He gave a low grunt and looked at the boys who watched them in open fascination. Sighing, he dug into his pocket and gave Doug and Bob one coin each. “Get some more candy.”
“Yes,” Margaret quickly agreed. “And make sure it’s nice and sticky for that horrible Miss Potter.”
“Margaret,” he said through clenched teeth.