“Hey, Matt,” Jonah said as he stepped out from behind the chicken coop.
“Hello Jonah,” Matt replied, a bit shamefaced. “I didn’t know you were there.”
“I figured. Ma giving you a hard time, ain’t she?”
Matt looked at the tow-headed boy and nodded.
“That’s one way of putting it,” he admitted.
“You love her,” Jonah stated confidently. “I think maybe you love us, too.”
Matt walked closer and ruffled his hair, nodding.
“Good, ‘cuz us boys had a talk, and we think Ma should marry you. We reckon you’d be a good Pa.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to know someone sees the good in me.”
“Oh, we do, and we know you wouldn’t whoop us for no good reason. I guess Pa didn’t need no reason, or for hitting Ma neither.”
“I’m truly sorry you all had such a hard time,” Matthew said soberly. “It shouldn’t be like that. Do you miss him much?”
“Not a lick,” the boy replied. “Jonas and Josiah don’t much remember him, but I do, and no, I don’t miss him. I know it’s a sin to say so, but it’s the truth. He was a misery.”
It about broke his heart to hear such words coming from this young man about his Pa. Matthew himself had nothing but good memories of his own childhood. Going down on one knee, his eyes met Jonah’s.
“No matter what happens between me and your ma, I want you all to know you can always count on me.”
“We figured. You seem like the kind of fella we could depend on. We all say so.”
“That’s good to hear. Hey, how about you and the boys come out to the farm for dinner on Sunday? You can bring your Ma too.”
“That would be great. She needs a day off now and then,” he stated in a manly manner.
“Well, see if you can convince her, and I’ll bring the wagon to church on Sunday.”
“We’ll work on it,” Jonah offered, sticking out his hand to shake Matthew’s. “Can we come even if she don’t? She looked pretty riled up,” he pointed out nervously.
“You sure can, with her permission,” Matt agreed, shaking Jonah’s hand with a firm but gentle grip. “I probably won’t be back for the rest of the week. I better give her time to cool off.”
“Good idea, and my brothers and I will work on her. See ya, Matt, and thanks for chopping the wood. It takes me a long time and Josiah nearly chopped his foot off last time he tried.”
“Hell’s bells, he’s too young to be swinging an axe.”
“Try tellin’ him that,” Jonah snorted.
Picking up his hat from the back porch railing, Matt slapped it on his head, nodded at Jonah. Giving one last look at the back door, he walked down the side of the diner. At the hitching post, he took hold of his horses’ reins and led him the short distance to The Duchess. He was just in time to see Morgan leaving?
“Where’s he off to?” he asked, entering the saloon and strolling up to the bar.
“He’s gone to collect Callie Mae from Doc Brubaker’s,” Marilee replied, moving behind the bar.
“What’s she doing at Doc’s? Is she sick?”
“We’re not sure,” Marilee replied, glancing at Fancy and Annalise, who were playing cards at a table. “He hasn’t told us much. All we know is that he took Callie Mae to the Blue Bonnet this morning and came back without her. Morgan didn’t seem interested in answering our questions.”
“In fact, he was a little testy about it,” Fancy added, her voice filled with sarcasm. “This was a much nicer atmosphere before Morgan came here to work.”
“Is that so?”
