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ELLA
Ella curled up on the sofa at the end of a long day of work on the farm. Her daughter, Dove, was snuggled in her lap and hanging on every word the way only a six-year-old can as Ella read her another chapter fromCharlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The whole house smelled like the homemade bread that was currently baking in the oven. And the only sounds besides Ella’s soft reading were the crackle of the fireplace, the gentle click of her mother’s knitting needles, and the occasional clearing of her father’s throat. He was reading a book of his own while he waited for his bread to be done, but the fact that he hadn’t turned a page since she sat down made her think he was really just listening to the familiar tale of Charlie and Grandpa Joe that she had been reading to Dove all week.
If she closed her eyes, Ella could almost imagine she was a child again herself, listening to Dad read this same book to her and her brother, wrapped up tight in thecomforting rhythms of the farmhouse where they had been raised.
It’s the right place for Dove to grow up too. This was a good choice.
Not that she had thought the move through all that carefully before coming home. Four years ago, after Lee died, Ella had packed up her toddler daughter and flown home to Pennsylvania on pure instinct, like a migrating bird.
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want,” her mother had said, so much warmth and compassion in her voice it had brought tears to Ella’s eyes.
“Forever,” her father said firmly.
At the time, forever had seemed like a wild suggestion. But now Ella couldn’t imagine things any other way. Life was good here. She felt safe. And Dove might have to grow up without a dad, but at least she would be surrounded by other people who loved her.
Ella missed her husband—she always would. But there were plenty of people in this house for her to love and plenty of chores to keep her busy.
The timing of the move had been good for her parents too. Ella’s older brother, Andy, had been deployed right around that same time. Ella and Dove had arrived just a few weeks after he left.
Unfortunately, she had been a little too late to save Dad’s back. He’d always had troubles, and he’d been foolishly trying to double his workload to make up for Andy being away. In those few weeks, Dad managed to do enough damage to his lower back that the doctor said he shouldn’t do physical labor at all anymore.
Which meant that Ella and her mom took care of pretty much everything now. There had been a steep learning curve in the beginning. After all, Ella had been away, and Mom was a retired schoolteacher who had never really worked the farm. But Dad was there to advise, so they’d hired some help and applied themselves fiercely.
Four years later, they seemed to have a good routine going on their little sweet potato and green bean farm.
Even so, Ella did lose a little time to worry as she tried to get to sleep each night. Mom was getting older too. She probably shouldn’t be pushing herself much longer. But Ella just didn’t have the physical strength to do on her own what her father had done all his adult life.
If Andy were here, he could run this thing in his sleep.
But Andy never made it home. It was still hard to believe that she would never hear his gentle laughter or be able to ask her big brother for advice again.
Losing her husband and her brother in the span of just a few years made her heart want to crack open whenever she thought about it.
Then don’t think about it. Think about what you do have instead.
If Ella was counting blessings, she had plenty—a wonderful daughter, a safe and comfortable home, a mom she loved working with, and a dad who wanted nothing more than to take care of them all, in any way he could.
After being forcibly retired from physical labor on the farm, Dad had turned his attention to the kitchen. The bread making the house smell so good right now was justthe everyday stuff he made for toast and sandwiches. Tomorrow morning, he would rustle up a nice big breakfast, like always. He told them that if they were going to work like farm hands, then they needed to eat like them.
When she first arrived home, Ella had begged her dad to sleep in and enjoy some rest after a lifetime of hard work. But she was pretty sure his internal rooster had him awake in the wee hours anyway, and she sensed that he was glad to have something to do.Everyone should take pride in their work, he used to tell little Ella and Andy when they were kids. Now she saw that philosophy playing out every morning in pans of biscuits in thick sausage gravy, or delicate slices of apples and strawberries fanned across mountains of French toast.
Life can be so good,she reminded herself, brushing the top of Dove’s head with her lips when the chapter was done.
“One more?” Dove asked eagerly.
“No, no,” Ella laughed. “We have to make it last. Go on up and get ready for bed, and call me when you’re ready to be tucked in.”
Dove formed her lower lip into an adorable pout, but slipped out of her mother’s lap without arguing. She was a well-mannered little girl and Ella tried to just be grateful for it and not worry too much that the child was being good because she didn’t want to cause upset in a family that she sensed was still in mourning.
Ella did her best to put on a cheerful face each day and apply herself to her work and her life with the optimism that used to fill her chest so easily. But some days itwas harder than others, and she worried that her sensitive daughter took it all in.
“It’s going to be Thanksgiving soon,” Dove said as she stopped at the stair landing and turned back to Ella with a big smile. “We’re going to help Grandpa cook.”
“We sure are,” Ella said, feeling deep relief that at least for now, Dove wasn’t worrying.
