“I don’t know exactly how long I’ll be, so please wait here.”
Curtis gave a nod.
Laura made her way to the house and knocked on the door. The evening was still a bit chilly, and she was glad she’d chosen one of her heavier cloaks.
Faith opened the door and smiled in greeting. She stepped back and motioned Laura inside. “Come in, come in. What brings you here?”
“I know it’s the height of bad manners to show up this way, but I wanted to check on Will’s recovery and bring him—well, really all of you—some of Mrs. Murphy’s gingersnaps in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow.” She held up the basket.
“That was so kind. Will isn’t here. He’s been spending most every evening at the Vogels’, where he’s making baby cradles. He’s quite good at building furniture, you know.” She took the basket Laura held out. “These will be well received. They’re my husband’s favorites.”
“Will’s too,” Laura replied, not quite sure what to do. If she stayed and visited for a while, she wouldn’t have time to go to the Vogels and see Will. But to show up as she had and then not stay for at least a brief time was also rude.
“Come with me, Laura,” Faith commanded, and Laura did as she was told.
Faith paused at the opening to the front room. “Gentlemen, Miss Evans has brought us gingersnaps. I shall bring some for you with the evening coffee.”
“Thank you, Miss,” one man after another offered.
Laura smiled and gave them a nod. “You’re quite welcome.”
She went with Faith to the kitchen and waited for further instruction. Faith took the cookies from the basket and transferred them from Laura’s plate to one of her own.
“Now you’ll be able to return these things to Mrs. Murphy. I know she keeps a tight hold on her kitchen.”
Laura laughed. “She does indeed. I once baked cookies without speaking to her about it first. I thought she might pop a blood vessel. She was quite firm on telling me not to do that again.”
“I can well imagine.” Faith took down another plate and set several of the cookies aside. “I’ll keep these for Will. If I know these fellas, they’ll gobble these down without concern for anyone else. My own husband will be the worst of offenders.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that you would do that for him.”
Faith put the cookies under a cloth, then hid them away in the cupboard. “You like him a lot, don’t you?”
Laura was taken aback by the question. “Well ... I suppose I do. We got quite close when I was taking care of him after the accident.”
“He seems to esteem you as well. He often talks about you.”
“Me?” That was strangely pleasing to Laura. The thought of Will talking about her to others surely suggested he kept her in his thoughts.
“Don’t be so surprised. I think he cares a great deal about you, and how could he not? You probably saved his life. He might have died in the hospital without constant care. Many’s the man who has passed on due to blood poisoning or some other condition that might never have been an issue had he received decent care.” Faith held up her hand. “I’m sorry. That was overly critical of me toward the hospital. It’s just that I know they need more staff, and that alone makes it difficult to have any confidence in them.”
“It was my privilege to care for Will. He wasn’t a bad patient, and once he managed to get past the truly darkest days, he was quite agreeable. Of course, Edward Vogel and Charlie Decker are mostly to thank for that. They were good to visit him and help him deal with his anger.”
Faith nodded. “I’m glad he wasn’t able to come back here. These fellas would have kept him quite bleak, I fear. Most don’t have a faith in God, or if they do, it is nominal at best.”
“I was grateful for the company. Now that Will is gone, the house seems very quiet. I’m so glad to be hosting our sewing group tomorrow. It won’t seem so lonely.”
“Say, I have an idea.” Faith reached back into the cupboard and took down the smaller plate of cookies. She wrapped the three she’d saved for Will in the cloth that covered the plate. “Why don’t you make your way over to Marybeth’s house and take these to Will? It will give you the perfect excuse to see him.”
Laura felt her cheeks heat and lowered her gaze. “Am I that obvious?”
“Only to me. Maybe Marybeth. The menfolk won’t have a clue. They seldom do when it comes to matters like these.”
Laura took the cookies. “Thank you for not making me feel bad about ... well ... about ...”
“Caring for Will?” Faith laughed. “You would never receive condemnation from me for falling in love.”
Was that what she was doing? Was she falling in love with Will? For so long she’d ignored that question, and once more she pushed it to the farthest reaches of her mind. She would contemplate that later. Right now, she needed to get going before she lost the evening light.
