“No I did not, thank you very much,” Thomas snapped.
Rosaline took a step back from him and frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry won’t repair any of the damages. You’re late, the breakfast isn’t cooked yet I see,” He looked around the kitchen.
“I thought I would read to Robbie while I got things on the go. It’s not that late Thomas. I wasn’t expecting you to be up earlier than usual,” she defended herself.
He saw her Bible on the table and picked it up. “Is this what you’re reading to my son?” he asked angrily.
“Yes, I’m telling him about Noah and the ark,” Rosaline said drawing further away from him.
“Fairy stories!” Thomas erupted and waved the book in her face. “Take a look outside at what this God of yours has done!” He threw the book onto the kitchen table. “Instead of reading my son stories about a giant boat, why don’t you tell him that God took his mother and that’s why he’s stuck with a replacement!”
Robbie began to cry at his father’s angry outburst as Rosaline drew him closer and began to soothe him.
“I thought my father made it clear that God was not welcome in my house! I don’t want to see that book around here again. What you do in your own time is your own affair, but don’t poison my son with this nonsense!”
She lifted her head in defiance and shifted Robbie higher on her hip. “The Bible tells us that opposition and difficult circumstances are a test of our faith.” She looked down at her Bible. She walked over and hastily began leafing through the pages. “In fact, there’s a passage in here that refers to you by name.”
He frowned, taken aback by her outburst. He was coming to find that there was a defiant side to Rosaline.
(John 20:24-29) But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”She read aloud and looked up at him. “How long are you going to wait, Thomas? Until Jesus forces you to place your fingers in the nail marks?” Rosaline said more gently. “Don’t be a doubting Thomas.”
He clenched his jaw and glared at her, not saying another word.
“This is supposed to be a partnership. Thomas. I’m holding up my end of the bargain.” She hugged Robbie closer to her in an attempt to stop him from crying. “I haven’t had any support from you.”
Thomas saw the hurt look in her eyes and stormed from the room. He stomped down the hall and angrily slammed the door shut behind him. Leaning against the door he closed his eyes and drew in a ragged breath as his temper eased.
He knew he’d gone too far. The hurt in Rosaline’s eyes made him angry at himself. His son was still crying in the kitchen. Why did he keep taking his anger out on everyone around him?
If Rosaline was indeed planning to leave, he would have nobody to blame but himself.
Chapter Fourteen
Rosaline busied herself with laying the plates and bread on the table as Robbie continued to cry on her hip. She had baked her very first loaf of bread the day before, the way she’d seen the cook do it a million times back at Vosses’ farm. There had been a faint hope in her heart that Thomas would notice how much effort she had put in.
The Vosses were another problem she had to deal with. If it was true that Mr. Voss was trying his best to locate her, she would have to tell either Arthur or Thomas. The prospect seemed like a daunting task at the moment.
She lowered herself into a chair and attempted to soothe Robbie. “Shhh, shhh, it is alright.” She placed a hand on his head and guided him to lay on her shoulder.
He jerked away and cried.
Arthur came into the kitchen and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “Thomas will come around, Lass.”
She shook her head and sighed, beside herself with weariness. “You keep saying that Arthur, but I’m finding it very hard to believe just now,” Rosaline confessed. “How can you be so sure that he will come around? He finds every excuse possible to push me away. I don’t think we will ever find any common ground if he keeps this up.”
He walked around the kitchen table and sat at a chair across from Rosaline. “I think it is time I told you the truth.”
Rosaline cocked her brow and stared at Arthur as she bounced a crying Robbie on her lap. She wasn’t aware that there was still anything that Arthur needed to tell her. He had been so open and forthcoming in his letters. Her mind raced with the possibilities.
“It is no secret that I have been praying for a solution to our problems since the passing of my late daughter-in-law. Thomas has been troubled, but I had a recurring dream about a young woman that would come and help our family.”
“You can’t be sure that it was meant to be me, Arthur. We could have made a mistake, perhaps there was another young woman that was supposed to get that advertisement, and I only got it by mistake.”
Maybe it was supposed to be Donna.She thought of her friend. Rosaline had no problem picturing her friend taking care of the house and settling Robbie with her firm but lively personality. Perhaps it was Donna who was meant to be here instead of her.
“You see, lass,” Arthur smiled faintly as he looked at her. “The young woman in the dream had long auburn hair that hung down to her waist with loose wisps that could not be tamed.”
