“No, sir,” Roger said.
“Why don’t you take a seat and I’ll show you how it works?” Merrick gestured at the nearby stool.
Roger climbed up and sat, watching carefully as Merrick grabbed hold of the tongs.
“This is iron,” he said, holding up the glowing piece of metal. “I’m turning it into a spade.”
“For a farmer?” the boy asked.
“Yes. Or even for a lady to use to tend her garden.” Merrick brought the metal to the anvil and picked up a hammer. “This is the loud part.”
Roger dutifully covered his ears as Merrick brought the hammer down over and over until the iron needed heating again.
“When it gets too cold, it doesn’t shape the way I need it to,” he said.
“Roger! There you are! You scared your sister, not telling her where you went off to.” Eleanor’s voice sounded from the doorway. She rushed to where Roger sat on the stool.
“I want to be a smithy,” the boy declared. “I’ll make spades, and you and Mama can have a garden.”
Merrick couldn’t hide his grin. The boy sounded so sincere, and he reminded Merrick of himself. He’d spent hours watching the town blacksmith as a child.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea, but now you need to thank Uncle Merrick and get back to your mother or she’ll worry,” Eleanor said.
“I’ll tell her about the garden!” Roger jumped down. “Thank you, Uncle Merrick,” he shouted as he ran out the door.
“That one’s a handful,” Merrick said. “Reminds me of myself.”
Eleanor turned toward him, smiling herself. “He is certainly rambunctious, although he seemed awfully attentive in here.”
Merrick shrugged. “Perhaps he’ll take a liking to the trade.”
“I think he already has.” She moved around the stool, casting her gaze from him to where the tongs rested in the fire. “What are you making?”
Merrick resisted the urge to swipe his hand across his brow. Having Eleanor stand so close made it feel even hotter than it already was. “A spade. It was on the list from the hardware store.”
She glanced up at him. “I only ever had a repaired shovel back in West Fork. It made for some hard work in the garden each spring.”
“If you want to have a garden, I’ll see to it you have a good shovel, a hoe, a spade, and anything else you need,” Merrick said. She wouldn’t ever want for a thing, if he had his way.
Her forehead furrowed. “There’s no need for all of that. A good shovel is plenty.”
“That wouldn’t be necessary.”
A moment passed. She didn’t say anything, and when she finally turned to look back up at him she appeared more at ease than she’d been all day.
“I’m so happy that Rebecca came by. She said that Mr. Whiteside’s brother has offered to marry her. He’s set her and the children up at one of the boardinghouses.”
“Darby’s?” he asked. If it were anywhere else, he’d need to find the man and set him straight.
“She didn’t say.”
“It needs to be Darby’s.” He caught her eye, wanting to make certain she knew he was serious.
“I’ll ask her.”
He turned the tongs in the fire. “Good. If it is, then I’m glad she’s found a good man. Did she accept his offer?”
“She hasn’t. She said she wishes to think about it some more.”
