Jessie (20 page)

Seth scrambled for something to say to this suddenly quiet child. It saddened him to think that if she couldn't order him around, she had nothing to say. He thought he would welcome some questions right now and even tried to come up with one for her. His mental gymnastics made him want to laugh and just a hint of a smile came to his lips. Seeing it, Hannah had a small smile of her own. Seth's smile grew a little, as did Hannah's, and before long the two were grinning at each other.

“Come here,” Seth invited and Hannah moved close. Seth fixed the turned up collar on her pink gingham dress and smoothed her hair. The action seemed to tell Hannah that all was forgiven, and she asked a question.

“Does Bri feed you at their house?”

“She does.”

“What do you eat?”

“Whatever she serves me,” Seth said, not admitting that he wasn't at his best in the kitchen and was thankful when anyone offered him food.

“I like chicken,” Hannah volunteered.

“So do I. With dumplings.”

“What are dumplings?”

“Have you not had dumplings? Your mother makes great dumplings.”

Hannah looked surprised and would have moved away, but Seth caught her arm.

“I don't want you to ask your mother why she never makes dumplings. If you haven't had them, then she has a good reason.”

“Time.”

Both Hannah and Seth looked up to see that Jessie had joined them.

Seth sat back in his chair and looked at her.

“Not even on Sundays?” he asked, remembering that's when she would serve them to him.

“I'm tired on Sundays.”

“I'll bet you are,” he agreed softly, seeing for the first time just how much had changed. The two of them working the store even after Hannah came along was nothing to watching both girls and still keeping track of customers at the same time. For a moment Seth wondered if she looked forward to school starting, but then realized he knew the answer. Jessie would not want her daughters away from her just so things could be easier. It wasn't her way.

“Will you make dumplings sometime, Mama?” Hannah asked, her voice not at all demanding.

“Sometime, yes, but you're not to pester me about it.”

Hannah nodded and swiftly left the room. Jessie knew she would tell Clancy about the mystery food and Clancy would demand all the details, but at the moment she let her go.

“I won't tell the girls until I close the store,” Jessie said to her husband, “but we're invited to Ry and Bri's tomorrow night for supper.”

“Good,” Seth said, nodding with satisfaction.

Jessie was opening her mouth to ask why that was good when Hannah came back to the storeroom to tell her that Patience Dorn was looking for her.

Seth went back to work as soon as Jessie left the storeroom. He thought it might be nice to sit for a while longer and relax, but something in Jessie's face had disturbed him. He didn't know how to read her anymore. Some things were the same and some looks were unmistakable, but as angry as she had been with him in the past, there had never been distrust, and he was sure that's what he was seeing now.

A part of him knew he was holding back. His faith in Christ was real, but he was still Seth Redding, a man who loved to tease and have fun with others. In just the few days he'd been back, he'd been tempted to tease Jessie a dozen times but didn't dare. He wanted to do the same with his daughters but didn't know how that would be taken.

Pete Stillwell, the local livery owner, came in looking for shoe polish just then, and Seth had to go out front and put his mind back on the job, but he did so with a prayer that he could someday be himself again. Not the selfish man he had been, but the peaceful man he now was—the one who loved his family but had no idea how to show it.

Chapter Ten

“H
OW ARE YOU?”
P
ATIENCE
wasted no time in asking Jessie. The women had walked only to the back of the store, but it was private enough. “Jeb wanted me to come yesterday and then decided you might need a little more time.”

“It's all right. Seth is good with the girls.”

“And with you?”

Jessie put it plainly, “He doesn't have to be good with me.”

“Jeb wants to know if he's treating you well.”

“Well, tell him I'm fine. We're getting along fine. How is Jeb doing, by the way?”

“It's hard on his back to lie around, but other than that he's doing well.”

“Good. The girls and I will come by on Sunday to see you.”

“We'll plan on that. Do you want to come for dinner?”

“That sounds good. What shall I bring?”

“Just the girls. I'll take care of everything else.”

“What time?”

“Come at noon. If we're running late, just use the back door. Now, Jessie, before I forget, do you have thread in this color?” Patience asked, bringing a piece from the reticule that hung from her wrist.

“I don't know,” Jessie said, fingering the small piece of cinnamon-colored thread. “You might have to check with Jeanette.”

“Jeanette isn't open on Mondays.”

“Well, then, let's go look.”

The women found Seth at the front counter, but he was working with a pretty, dark-haired woman who wanted to order something from the catalog. Clancy sat on the counter looking on, and Hannah lingered near the door. The moment the woman had placed her order and walked from the store, Clancy started in.

“Tell me now,” she ordered her father.

“Well,” Seth said, trying to think. “Dumplings are like wet biscuits.”

The look of distaste on Clancy's face caused her mother and Patience to laugh. Not until that point did Seth realize he was being listened to and watched. He turned and leaned one hip on the counter, his arms crossing over his chest and a challenging look covering his face.

“Well, ladies,” he said with mild sarcasm, “if you think you can describe dumplings better, be my guest.”

Jessie opened her mouth and then shut it. Patience, however, was ready to give it a try.

“The dough for dumplings is a little like biscuit dough, Clancy, but it doesn't bake in a pan. You drop spoonfuls of dough onto the top of the gravy and they cook there. They end up a little wet on the bottom, but the inside is light and fluffy.”

“Why are they wet?” Clancy asked, not able to let this go.

Her mother tried to explain, but it didn't go very well. Jessie looked over at one point and found Seth watching her, a more-than-satisfied look on his face that she hadn't had a ready explanation.

“You had to mention dumplings,” Jessie muttered, shooting him a look.

Seth did not look the least bit repentant. He shrugged a little and said, “We were talking about foods we liked.”

Jessie rolled her eyes at him and realized that if she was going to settle Clancy on the topic, she was going to have to make dumplings sometime soon.

“I didn't know,” Seth told Jeb that evening near the end of the meal, “how much I would want to talk to Pastor English. I had so many questions when I was still in prison. When I lived in his house, I didn't know there would come a time when I would give anything to have answers from him.”

“Did you actually remember some of the things he said?” Patience asked.

“Not specifics, but I remembered that he was so open and honest about praying for me. I might have thanked him, but never once did I think to ask him why he believed that way.” Seth stopped and stared at the couple and then asked, “Is he dead now?”

“Yes,” Patience volunteered. “He was quite ill when he left here and went back to Denver. I'm not sure he lived another year.”

“But he's in heaven,” Seth said.

“Yes, he is.”

“He's the first person I've ever known who I thought went to heaven. For a long time I didn't know if heaven was real or not, but now I do, and I realize I have a friend there in Pastor English. It changes the way I think about heaven and eternity.”

“That's a special gift,” Jeb agreed. “For me, it's my father. I want to talk to Jesus more than anything, but knowing that my father is there, the man who told me about my need for salvation, means so much to me.”

Seth looked at the couple for a moment and said, “I can't tell you how much I want to be able to talk to Jessie the way I talk to you and Rylan and Bri, but I can't do it. She doesn't understand.”

“Her father didn't either,” Jeb said. “Maryann was a little more receptive, but never Hiram.”

“And Jessie is so much like him,” Patience added. She had been a little uncomfortable when she learned that Seth was coming, but was very glad she had listened to her husband and given him a chance.

“She certainly is,” Jeb agreed. “How are you doing with the girls?”

“I can tell they like me but don't know quite what to do with me. And Jessie is still very tentative, not that I blame her.”

“I'm not condoning what you did, Seth,” Jeb offered, “but I hope you know that after Clancy was born it wouldn't have mattered when you returned. I knew better than to even ask if she'd heard from you. After Clancy's birth she was calling herself Jessie Wheeler again. She didn't seem bitter. It was more like you'd never existed.”

“I think it was the only way she could survive,” Patience guessed.

“I think so too,” Jeb agreed. “The Wheelers have always been very good at surviving.”

Seth hadn't thought about any of this, but it was true. She was Jessie Wheeler again in nearly every way. Were it not for the girls, it would be hard to find any evidence that he'd even been in Token Creek.

“Have we given you too much to think about, Seth?” Jeb asked, having watched the younger man's face.

“It's a lot to take in, but I'm all right.”

“Well, I don't want to pile more on you, Seth, but I do need to repent to you about something,” Jeb stated.

Seth had all he could do not to blink in astonishment at his host.

“We didn't have you over enough and befriend you as we should have all those years ago. You might have come to me about the way you were feeling instead of just leaving, and for that I'm sorry.”

“Thank you, Jeb,” Seth said quietly, his heart overwhelmed.

Patience could feel tears at the back of her eyes and rose long enough to get the cake she had made. She did not make a fuss over it but simply served up large pieces and set them out.

Over dessert, the men continued to talk about the changes God had brought to both of them in the last eight years. Before Seth left for the Jarviks', he knew he would not make the same mistake again. Even if he was tempted to leave, he would come here first.

Jeanette had never seen anyone move more slowly than Sheriff Nate Kaderly. Since commenting to Heather months past about his possible interest, Jeanette had simply kept her eyes open. And she had not been disappointed. Nate was interested in Heather—Jeanette was sure of it—but doing nothing about it.