"You up to coming for the meal?" Of course Jericho new better, but it might help Jonah to think about doing normal things. Remind him what he could look forward to.
Jonah's smile became a little more real. "Already had mine. Broth and mashed potatoes." His voice sounded drowsy, and his eyelids lowered again.
"Sounds good." Did that mean they would be eating something similar? He hadn't had a good plate of mashed potatoes streaming with gravy in a while. A long while. "I'll leave you to sleep then. Work hard on getting better."
When he closed Jonah's door and turned back to the others, most of the boys were seated, and Miss Wyatt and Lillian carried bowls of food to the table.
The water in the wash basin had turned a brownish color, but he used it anyway, then moved to his seat. His brothers had taken the seats each of them used to occupy, and Sean sat in the one Jericho had always used back when their parents were alive. That left Lucy's old chair, Jonah's, and both ends, where Mum and Dat used to sit.
He swallowed. He was the head of the family now, but taking Dat's seat—that felt like trying to fill his shoes. He was doing his best, but Dat had excelled in so much. Not the least of which was his faith.
Jericho couldn't even bring himself to try in that area. There were too many walls between him and the Almighty to break down.
But the boys would expect him to take Dat's seat.
He eased into the spindle-backed arm chair. He was taller than Dat had been, but the frame fit well.
Lillian and Miss Wyatt set the last of the dishes on the table, then his niece sat in the chair her mother had once occupied. The girl patted the seat beside her for Miss Wyatt.
Mum's old chair. Lillian wouldn't know that. She probably only wanted her new friend close. The two of them seemed to be getting along well after working together all day.
Miss Wyatt settled into the chair and looked around at the rest of them. Of course all the boys were watching her. He needed to have a talk with them. Needed to tell them not to let themselves get attached. These women would be leaving soon. As soon as the sister felt better and Jonah healed enough not to need such constant care.
Her gaze met Jericho’s as though she could hear his thoughts. Those blue eyes had the power to lock a man's focus and keep him from turning away. That dress sure brought out the depth of their color.
"Bow for grace, boys." Sampson's voice broke through the hold of Miss Wyatt's eyes, and Jericho ducked his head while his brother's voice rose again. "Thank you, Lord, for these thy gifts, and for the gift of the people here to share them with."
It was the prayer Dat often said. He should be glad Sampson still remembered it. But thinking of the Miss Wyatts asgiftswould get him into trouble.
He opened his eyes at the "Amen," then focused on loading his plate with food as the others did. No one spoke while the sounds of eating filled the room. The mashed potatoes were even better than he remembered, especially with gravy drizzled on top. Why hadn't he thought to make this instead of simply cutting potatoes into stew?
"I tell ya, Miss Wyatt, this food's better'n any of us've had in years." Gil raised a fork full of meat and potatoes.
She offered a smile that leaned toward sheepish. "I'm glad you like it. And, um, most people call me Dr. Wyatt. My sister is Miss Wyatt." She sent a glance around. "Although, I suppose you could call us Dinah and Naomi." She licked her lips. Was she nervous?
She'd looked so confident every other time he saw her—even when faced with a strange Salish brave entering the house. But correcting a room full of men, and offering to let them use her Christian name…he could imagine that would be unnerving.
"Those are both right nice names, Miss Dinah." Gil nodded, then poked another bite of meat into his mouth. Maybe that'd keep him quiet for a while.
Sampson looked at Lillian. "You haven't come to see the new donkey yet." He shot a look to Sean. "Someone should give him a name."
Sean turned a gap-tooth grin to his sister. "You should see him, Lil. He's got the longest ears. And when he brays, it sounds like he's crying."
Miss Wyatt—or rather, Miss Dinah—raised her gaze to Sampson. "A new donkey?"
Sampson shot a look at Jericho that showed he wondered why he'd not shared the news. In all the fuss about Two Stones, he'd forgotten to give that detail.
"That's why Two Stones was here,” he explained, “bringing the donkey."
She nodded. "I see." Then she turned to Sampson. "A jenny or a jack?"
"A jenny." He sounded impressed by her knowledge of the male and female names.
"Well then." She looked from Sean to Lillian. "My pop has a jack donkey who pulls his cart when he needs to make sick visits. We named him Adam, and I always thought it would be fun to have a female named Eve."
Lillian's eyes lit. "Oh, that's good." She turned to Sampson. "Can we go see her now?"
Lillian wanted to visit an animal? She'd never seemed this excited about anything on the ranch. He couldn't help looking at Dinah, who was smiling at his niece with an expression that seemed almost motherly. Like she was proud of her.
