Mary’s eyes narrowed. “Daed’s still going to be upset we’re using this room.”
“I will ask your father about it when he gets home.”
At that moment, the back door opened wide. “Here he is,” Hannah announced. “Daed’s home!”
Katie heard Jonathan carefully remove his coat and hang it up. “Daed, we’re in the sitzschtupp,” Mary called out.
Slowly, he walked to them. “Hi, Jonathan,” Katie said, greeted him with a sunny smile.
Once again, he met her gaze, then cleared his throat. Somewhat gruffly, he said, “What are you all doing?”
“I was showing the girls some fabric. I’m going to teach them to quilt.” Katie grinned again, hoping her enthusiasm would catch on.
To her dismay, Jonathan didn’t look encouraged. “They already have school, homework, and chores. Isn’t that enough?”
Before Katie could explain how quilting gave her joy, not the burden of work, Mary snidely interrupted. “She wants to take over this room.”
A muscle in his cheek jumped. “There is no reason for that.”
Katie made a decision. “Girls, please go put your things away.”
However, Mary and Hannah did not instantly obey. Instead they looked to their father for guidance. It was only after he nodded that they stood up and walked out of the room.
When they were alone, Katie motioned for Jonathan to sit. Like the girls, he seemed terribly reluctant to do so. Instead of leaning back in the chair, he perched on it, looking eager to rise and leave at a moment’s notice.
“What is it about this room that makes you uncomfortable?”
“It doesna make me uncomfortable. It’s rather that it is a special place. You see, it was Sarah’s pride and joy.” His words sounded bitter. Resigned.
To her eye, the room looked as plain and unwelcoming as the rest of the house. “It is a pleasing room, to be sure.”
“I would rather you not dirty it.”
“Since I am the one cleaning, I think that option should be up to me.”
“The girls—”
“Need something to do at night,” she interrupted crisply. “You read The Budget.”
“Even Winnie—”
Katie was tired of being compared to his sister. “I’m sure Winnie had other things to do. Jonathan, when you asked for my help, you didn’t say I had to follow your directions like a child.” She stood up and stepped toward him, consciously pulling her shoulders back and lifting her chin. “I am not a child.”
Something flashed in his eyes that she couldn’t quite recognize. Embarrassment? Awareness? “I know you aren’t, Katie.”
Something about the way he said her name—the way he looked at her so directly—made her heart beat a little faster. She felt flustered and at a loss of words. Suddenly she wasn’t all that sure what had upset her so much. “I…I had hoped we would be getting to know each other better, Jonathan.”
As the air surrounding them thickened, he murmured, “We are.”
A second passed. Two. Katie could hardly look away.
He spoke again. “I’m…sorry if I haven’t seemed appreciative of your efforts. I…I am, Katie.”
She wasn’t sure what to say to that. So many feelings were brewing inside her, she felt disjointed, confused. Finally, she settled on claiming practicality. “Then, would you please help me build a fire in here? It would make this room cozy and welcoming. I’d like to instruct the girls on quilting this evening.”
After a long moment where he seemed to be at war with himself, he finally nodded. Rubbing the scar on his thumb, he said quietly, “Katie, I did not plan for this.”
She hadn’t planned on many of the things that had happened at the Lundys’. She hadn’t planned on feeling so alone, or having to constantly prove herself to the girls. She hadn’t planned on being so aware of Jonathan’s moods. Of being so excited to see him at the end of each day. Of the keen sense of disappointment when a meal passed and he’d hardly dared to look her way.
But things seemed to be changing. “I know you didn’t,” she murmured, wondering if he, too, might be feeling the pull between them.
“When I asked you here, I was only thinking of my daughters. I had only wanted you to watch over them.”
“There’s more involved with girls than simply making sure they are fed and clothed. I want to get to know them, and have them know me. Jonathan, I can’t help being myself. I can’t merely sit meekly for two months. That is not who I am.”
“No, it’s not.” His eyes lit up. “I…I am starting to see that I hadn’t known you before.”