Joshua nodded at Davy, feeling a bit embarrassed that he’d spent the night in a pile of hay.
He couldn’t believe it himself when he awoke to the neighbor’s rooster crowing, having very little recollection of why he’d been unable to make his way to the house. All he remembered was feeling so very tired as if sapped of all strength, but then again, he hadn’t known such a deep night’s sleep in years.
“Hay’s quite comfortable,” Joshua said as he ruffled his son’s light brown hair. “Maybe we should all try it together, you and me and Emily.”
“Not me, Papa!” Emily piped up, finishing her breakfast of eggs and bacon. “I like my bed, and hay’s too scratchy.”
“So it is,” Joshua agreed, a bath having been in order first thing when he’d returned to the house, his skin itching and bits of hay flecking his hair. Yet somehow his unexpected bedding hadn’t bothered him at all while he’d slept so peacefully. “Time to leave for school, Emily. Davy, you have plenty of books to read and Inez to keep you company until we return home. Don’t try to go upstairs with your crutches and don’t forget Miss Hagen will be coming over later with the day’s lessons for you.”
“Don’t, don’t, don’t,” Davy murmured, looking disgruntled as he pushed his scrambled eggs around with his fork. “I’m not sick, Papa. My leg’s broke, is all. Why can’t I go to school with Emily?”
“You need to stay at home for a while to make sure everything’s healing properly. Doc Davis’s orders. We’ll see you this afternoon.”
Joshua got up from the table and followed after Emily, who had run into the kitchen to give Inez a hug and then pushed open the back door to head outside.
Clearly she was excited to ride with him to school, her normal mode of walking across town with her brother curtailed while he was on crutches. Strangely, he felt somewhat nervous at the thought of seeing Ingrid, especially since he didn’t feel the same about everything as he had last night.
Something was different.Hewas different, though he couldn’t put his finger on what might have happened to make him wake up not bitter and hopeless…but hopeful.
Ingrid had been angry when he’d left her with Andreas and ridden away, and Joshua couldn’t blame her. He had every expectation that she might not even want to speak to him, though how she would avoid doing so when she came over to his house later remained to be seen.
He still wasn’t convinced that he was the right man for her, the dangerous reality of serving as sheriff of Walker Creek never leaving him. Yet something deep inside him had inexplicably changed, he could feel it…the same words echoing in his mind since he’d awoken in that pile of hay.
Don’t throw love away with both hands, Joshua, it’s too precious a gift.
Had he remembered them from a dream? A glimmer of memory suddenly struck him like a brilliant ray of light—a melodic voice, a compassionate smile—but then it vanished so quickly he must have imagined it. Emily calling to him from the stable made him focus again on the task at hand, the timbre of his daughter’s voice reminding him so much of Mary.
Mary.
For the first time since her death, Joshua didn’t feel anger warring with anguish, only a strong sense of unfinished business long overdue. After he dropped off Emily, he had another destination a quarter mile past the schoolhouse that he’d rarely visited over the past year.
Yes, God forgive him, unfinished business long overdue.
* * *
“Good morning, Miss Hagen!”
“Good morning,” Ingrid greeted each student climbing the steps to the schoolhouse. All of them looked fresh-faced and eager for the day’s lessons in spite of the trouble in town yesterday, children so blessedly resilient.
She was glad to be back, too, Ingrid feeling as if she’d been gone such a long time for all that had happened since last Wednesday, not even a full week ago!
She hadn’t counted heads yet, but she was certain almost everyone had arrived except for Emily, and of course, Davy, whom she would see at his house later. Nervousness sluiced through her at the thought, but she lifted her chin and told herself it didn’t matter one whit to her if Joshua was there or not. She had no intention of interacting with him. Her sole purpose was to give Davy his lessons and then leave at once for home—
“Hello, Miss Hagen!”
Ingrid spun around, having already turned to go inside the schoolroom. At once her face began to burn to see Emily waving to her from atop her father’s horse, Joshua walking the animal right up to the steps before he pulled up on the reins.
“I’m sorry we’re running behind—”
“Yes, Miss Hagen, you’ll never believe it!” Emily said breathlessly as her father dismounted first and then lifted her to the ground. “Papa slept in the stable all night long on a pile of hay and then he needed a bath because he was itching so badly, and then breakfast was late because we were waiting for him and—”
“Emily, isn’t it time for school to begin?” Joshua interrupted his daughter, bending down so she could give him a hug before she darted up the steps to disappear inside. He straightened and tipped his black hat at Ingrid. “You look lovely today, Miss Hagen…or might I still call you Ingrid?”
You look lovely today? She stared at him incredulously, as taken aback by his compliment as his unexpected smile.
Had he forgotten everything he’d said to her last night? Rejecting her so soundly and in so harsh a manner that she hadn’t been able to sleep for half the night?
“Very well, Miss Hagen for now, just as I deserve. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have no wish to forgive me—”
