“Well, now there will be two of us, and everyone can relax,” Grace declared.
“I’ll show you to your room,” Seth said, reaching out to help Alex with the suitcases. “I hope you like it. We sent all the way to California for the mattress on the bed.”
“Goodness, you needn’t have done that,” Grace replied.
“Speak for yourself,” Alex countered, laughing. “I’m excited about the new mattress. If it suits us, we may have to order one for the farm.”
Faith laughed, as did the others. “It’s so good to have you both here.”
Nancy came waddling out of the front room. She looked miserable but still smiled. “Mama. Papa. I’m so glad you’ve come.”
Grace went to her daughter and hugged her. “We wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Just look at you. You look wonderful.”
“I look fat, like an overstuffed sausage casing. Did Meg come with you?” Nancy looked around for her younger sister.
“No, she still has classes. She wanted to come, but we promised she could spend some time helping you this summer. The thought of getting to spend time in Portland without her mother and father’s watchful eye ever upon her softened being left behind,” Nancy’s mother explained.
“It will be good to have her here. I’ll definitely put her to work. We’re going to plant a big garden. Since the storm destroyed the grounds, we’ve been reworking things and trying tofigure out what we want and where. We all decided that since I intend to keep up with the boardinghouse, we should have a sizeable garden to help feed everyone.”
“I think that’s wise,” her mother said.
“It’s even wiser to show your parents where they’re going to be staying these next few weeks,” Seth said, pretending to be overburdened by the weight of the suitcases.
“Yes, by all means.” Nancy grinned. “We turned another of the empty downstairs rooms into a bedroom. It’s just down the hall from the bath we added last year, so while you’ll share it with us and Faith, at least it will be close.”
“It’s nice not worrying about outhouses,” her father called over his shoulder.
Once he had his in-laws settled, Seth excused himself. “I have a lot of work to contend with today. Don’t wait supper for me. I’ll be at the courthouse a good part of the day and then back at the office until late, working on yet another project.”
“But tomorrow’s Saturday.” Nancy was less than delighted at the news.
“I can’t help it. This matter will be resolved first thing Monday morning. I’ll work all day Saturday if need be.”
“Do you want me to send someone down with your supper?” Nancy asked.
Seth shook his head. “No. I’ll have the secretary go out and bring something back.” He kissed her forehead and gave her belly a pat. “Take good care of our baby.”
The tenderness between them stirred Faith’s heart and desire for such a life. She knew the threats Lakewood had made caused more problems than ever before, but they didn’t put an end to her longing. She was grateful that he’d said nothing more on the matter, but she knew her father was still trying to resolvethe issue, and what might come out of that was unknown. Mama had written a beautiful letter reminding Faith that she was blessed of God and that He would continue to oversee her entire existence just as He always had. She told Faith to be strong and not fear what man could do. And she assured Faith that she wasn’t afraid of what man could do to her. If the truth was told, then it was told.
Without classes to attend, Faith did what she could around the house. Since the day was dry and quite warm, she went out to the large plot of ground that they planned to plant. David, the young Irishman who worked for Nancy and Seth, had helped mark it off and plowed it up. Each of the ladies had been working the soil to ready it for planting, and Faith found churning and hoeing the dirt to be therapeutic.
She pondered how Andrew might be. A part of her wondered if she’d ever see him again. She had acted quite wanton in her response to his touch. She couldn’t blame him at all if he’d been offended. He seemed upset when he’d left. Maybe he somehow knew of her Indian blood. Faith reached down, plucked out a large tuft of grass, and threw it beyond the garden plot.
“The kiss meant nothing.” It could mean nothing. Faith continued to remind herself of this truth over and over. She had thought it would help if she told herself this enough times, but it made it no easier. The truth was still the truth. That kiss had meant everything.
Faith lost track of time as she worked in the garden. She was surprised to see how much ground she’d covered when Bedelia showed up to announce that supper would be soon.
“I’m sorry. I should have been in there helping you.” Faith pushed loose strands of hair away from her forehead.
“You were doing some good work out here,” Bedelia said, looking at the garden plot. “It looks nearly ready to plant.”
“We always had big gardens at home.” Faith glanced over the turned earth. “Much bigger than this, but then, we were feeding a lot more people. I think this will give us a great bounty to put up for the winter.”
“It should cut the cost of the food budget considerably,” Bedelia replied. “I am more than pleased to help, but for now I need to get back to the stove. I left Cornelia to oversee the casserole in the oven, and there’s no telling what might happen.”
Faith began to walk toward the house, and Bedelia fell in step beside her. “Have you always watched over your sister?”
“Oh yes. Our mother insisted. Cornelia is rather ... well, she isn’t quite capable of taking care of herself.”
