The scene pulled at Daryl’s heart strings. He imagined the Fisher home was a very miserable place to live.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
FOUR PRECIOUS BLESSINGS
FOUR PRECIOUS BLESSINGS
Daryl herded the children to the wagon and lifted the little ones and Bethany into the back. They sat near the front of the wagon, huddled against each other as if they were frightened. As he went around to the front and watched Johnny climb up into the front bench seat of the wagon, he thought about how sad it was that the two-year-olds were so young and so frightened of their father.
He got up into the front of the wagon and picked up the reins. “Do you want to drive, Johnny?” he asked. “Have you done that before?”
“I sure have, Mr. Daryl, but if you want me to, I’d be glad to. I just don’t know where we’re going.”
“We’re going to see Miss Laura.”
Johnny’s face lit up. “Really? I like Miss Laura! She let us come and eat cookies at her house today. She had two different kinds of cookies but I only liked one kind. I don’t think butter cookies are very good because they don’t taste good. But I like sugar cookies because I think they taste good. We don’t ever have sugar cookies at my house. Momma would probably make them, but she doesn’t seem like she’s happy enough to make cookies.”
“Aww, I’m sorry to hear that, Johnny. Did she ever make cookies for you?”
Johnny shook his head. “No, she doesn’t like to make the house hot with the fire in the oven.”
Daryl nodded. “I understand.”
“And she says Pa don’t deserve no treats and sweets.”
“She said that?”
Johnny looked up at him. “Yeah, she did. And she’s right. He don’t do nothing to deserve ‘em.”
“Doesn’t your pa go to work every day?”
“He goes to work most days, I guess.”
Daryl wanted to probe further but stopped for several reasons. One of them was that it felt horrible grilling a child with such personal adult questions and the second was that none of it was even his business.
However, Esther had made it his business when she told James outright that she was leaving him for Daryl. Moreover, allowing the children to overhear was unacceptable. He wasn’t going to marry her. She had to know that. She was already married and even if she was widowed or got a divorce, Daryl had no interest in being more than friends with her. Lately, her antics were putting even their friendship in jeopardy.
One thing he wasn’t about to do was leave those children to fend for themselves. If Esther didn’t take care of them, he would. He didn’t mind. He’d been caring for them in some way for years, making sure they had firewood and blankets during the cold weather, making sure they were fed every day.
The trip to Laura’s house was quiet. Daryl was deep in thought and apparently all of the children were, too. Not one made a peep the entire way. When he looked down at Johnny’s profile as they were on the road, he noticed how serious the boy looked. One day, when he was older, he would be a handsome man with a strong profile. Daryl was sure he would be a formidable opponent for anyone who stood in his way.
Daryl pulled up in front of Laura’s house and got down from the bench seat after pushing the lever for the brake. He went to the back of the wagon and could hear Bethany telling the twins excitedly that they were at Miss Laura’s and they were to be good little children because Miss Laura would reward them with something good to eat. The twins giggled as Daryl lifted them out.
“You tickle me!” said the little girl. Her giggle made Daryl laugh. He set her down and she took off down the path to the front door. As soon as his feet hit the ground, her twin brother waddled after her, his little legs pumping as fast as they could to catch up with her.
He watched them with amusement. Johnny came up next to him and looked up at him. “I do wish you could be my pa, Mr. Daryl. But I understand why you can’t.”
“I hope you aren’t too angry with your pa for his behavior.”
Johnny looked toward the front of Laura’s house, not really seeing what he was looking at. His eyes became spacey and he said quietly. “I’m not mad at Pa. I know things got to be really hard on him. I guess they are, anyway. I don’t see him much and he don’t like to talk to me when he’s home, so I kind of watch him when he’s not lookin’, you know. I like it when he smiles. Sometimes he’ll find a reason to smile. That’s what I like.”
“Does your mother make him smile sometimes?”
Johnny finally looked up at Daryl and said something that surprised Daryl into silence for a moment. “Nah,” he replied. “He only smiles at the babies. The twins. They are the only ones who make him smile.”
Daryl lifted his eyebrows. “Oh? That surprises me.”
Johnny sighed, shrugging his thin shoulders. “I’m just glad someone can make him smile. I don’t think any of us make Momma smile anymore.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, son.”
By that time, they were in front of the door and Daryl lifted one hand, grasping the knocker on the outside of the door and clapping it a few times against its base. The sound went through the house beyond and he stood expectantly.
After another few moments, the door opened and Laura stood on the other side, smiling. Her eyes dropped to the children and instant pleasant surprise smoothed over her features. “Well, look who is here! I think I just saw a couple of you earlier today, didn’t I? Why yes, I’m sure I did.”
She opened the door all the way and allowed the four children to come in. She looked up at Daryl with raised eyebrows. “Are we babysitting tonight, Mr. Parker?”
He grinned. “For a little bit. I came to get you for our dinner. There was a tiff at the Fisher residence and everyone ended up at my house.”
Laura blanched. “Everyone?”
Daryl nodded slowly. “Everyone.”
“Oh my.”
“Yes.”
“I see you are not wounded, though,” Laura looked down at his hands. “You must let me see your knuckles. You didn’t punch the man, did you?”
Daryl shook his head, taking the question very seriously. He lifted one hand and noticed how warm she was when she took it in both of hers. She inspected his flawless knuckles as if she was sure he had somehow just healed very quickly. “I… I didn’t want to fight him. He was drunk. I made him coffee and had him sit down to sober up. When he’s sober, they can talk and he can take his family back home. Then we’ll have our nice steak dinner.”
“Mmm. Steak and potatoes. My favorite.”
He smiled at her. “Mine, too.”
“Do you have any more cookies, Miss Laura?” Bethany asked, interrupting their conversation. Laura smiled down at her.
“I do have some more, but you will need to only take one or two. You had some earlier today and too many sweets in one day are bad for you. And make sure you give a few to your brother and sister. They weren’t here earlier today.”
“Okay, thank you, Miss Laura.” Bethany led the children into the kitchen. Moments later, Laura and Daryl could hear Johnny moving pots and pans, opening cupboards and drawers to take out plates for his siblings.
“Those children are very smart.” Laura looked into Daryl’s handsome dark eyes.
“Yes, they are.”
“I wouldn’t mind if they were mine. I hope Esther knows how lucky she is.”
“She’s blessed with them and I do think she knows that. I know she tries to do everything she can for them.”
“Even find them a new father?”
He grinned softly. “As much as that flatters me, I don’t think she’s interested in me because she wants a father for her children.”
Laura grinned back, teasing him. “Not these children anyway. But maybe in the future…”
“Stop it,” Daryl demanded, trying not to smile at her. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“Aww, now, Daryl.” Laura stopped when Daryl contorted his face to warn her of impend
ing danger if she continued her teasing.
They both laughed.
CHAPTER TWENTY
EXTRA GUESTS MAKE IT A PARTY
EXTRA GUESTS MAKE IT A PARTY
Johnny jumped down from the wagon first and went up to Daryl’s front door before Daryl and Laura could even step down from the bench. Daryl tried to catch up, but Johnny was in his house before he had a chance to stop him. He was afraid for a moment about what Johnny might see and was hoping beyond hope that James had not hurt Esther. He wouldn’t have left the woman here if he’d thought James would really hurt her before they got home.
Johnny left the door wide open and did not react with fear, so Daryl assumed everything must have gone well for Esther and James while he was gone. He took the steps up to the front porch two at a time, and there were only six, so he was at the door quickly. He went in, stopping just on the other side of the door. James was laid out on the couch, snoring loudly. Esther was sitting in the chair James had been in first, flipping through a newspaper. She looked up at them and then stood.
“There’s my precious children,” she said, holding out her arms. “Come to Momma. Come on.”
All of the children surrounded her, encircling her with their small arms linked. They called to her and smiled at her. Daryl thought it was a beautiful sight to see. When he looked over at Laura, he could tell she was thinking the same thing. She turned her pretty smile to him and he couldn’t help returning it.
“It looks like James is out for a while,” he said. “Did you get a chance to talk?”
Esther looked at him and then moved her eyes to her husband. “He didn’t have much to say. He never does. He said that we need to go home. That we can work things out.”
“Do you think you can?” Laura asked.
It was a moment before Esther answered. She looked down at her children and then up at Daryl with such a longing look that it made him a little uncomfortable. “I reckon I don’t have much choice. My children need us both.”
Daryl nodded. “That’s a good way to think of it. And you know you can always come here when you need to and the children can, too. You know that. I am your friend.”
“And I’ll be your friend, too, you’ll see.” Laura smiled at Esther. “We will get together with the other ladies and have a fine time laughing and reminiscing.”
“I suppose.”
Daryl breathed deeply before speaking. “Would you like to stay and eat some of this venison? It’s big. I know it will feed us all.”
Esther’s face brightened and she almost smiled. “That… that would be so nice, thank you.”
“We get to stay and eat?” Johnny looked at his sister with delight. “We get to stay and eat!”
Bethany reacted to her brother’s excitement with her own. “Oh, oh!” She clapped her hands like she always did when she was happy about something. Laura giggled.
“What a sweetie!” She looked at Daryl. “Do you need any help cooking?”
“I’ll help you,” Esther said quickly. “I… I’d like to talk to you for a moment in private if I could.”
Daryl looked at Laura. “Will you play with the children while we talk?”
Laura nodded. “Of course I will.”
“Why don’t you take them out in the yard? There’s still enough light to play on the lawn. That way you don’t have to…” He jerked his head in the direction of James, who was snoring steadily and loudly. Laura chuckled.
“I will do that. We can play chase for a while.” She looked at the children. “Well, they can. I don’t know how long I can do that.”
“You are still a young woman, Laura,” Daryl said softly. “You can do it.”
Both of them laughed and Laura proceeded to usher the children to the door. She leaned over and picked up the baby girl, who giggled at being touched. She looked at Esther. “What an adorable little girl. What is her name?”
“Her name is Eve.”
“Eve. Such a pretty name. And her brother?”
“Jacob.”
“Jacob.” Laura repeated with a nod. “Okay, come along, Jacob, Johnny and Bethany. And Eve.” She poked one finger in the little girl’s tummy, making her bend forward giggling. “Let’s go see if we can get dirty before dinner.”
“Oh no,” Esther groaned in a light-hearted way. Laura looked back at her.
“I’ll help clean them up. I promise.”
Esther nodded. “All right, thank you.”
For the first time, Laura saw Esther smile. She went out the door, letting it close softly behind her.
“Come along, you can help me shuck the corn.” Daryl went through the door into the kitchen, Esther right behind him. Esther sat at the table while Daryl went to a lower cabinet and pulled out a bag of ears of corn to be shucked. “Do you think one each will do?”
“I don’t see why not. Eve and Jacob won’t eat them. I’ll take some of mine and give it to them.”
Daryl nodded, taking out the appropriate number of ears, with an extra one for himself. He grinned at Esther. “I like corn. I’ll have two.”
She smiled back.
“What did you want to talk to me about, Esther?” He brought the corn to the table and they began stripping them. “I hope that you’ve had a change of heart and don’t want to break up your marriage.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay with James forever, Daryl. He’s such an unstable man. I don’t know if I can trust him to take care of us.”
“I think he wants to try.”
“He has been trying for years. Johnny is starting to notice how bad it is and I don’t want Johnny going down that road, too. But I don’t know what to do about it. I… that’s why I was hoping you… you would be able to…”
“I can only do so much, Esther.” Daryl waited until she hadn’t said anything for a second or two, not wanting to interrupt her. “I am not his father. His pa is the one he will learn the most from. And from you.”
“But… but you are a better man.”
Daryl stopped shucking the corn for a moment, holding it in front of him. He looked closely at her. “Esther. You are a married woman. You aren’t going to leave him and come stay here with me. Do you know what trouble that would cause? I can’t do more than I’m already doing for you. I know… I know you believe I would be a good husband to you and a good father to your children. But, Esther, even if that were true, it couldn’t happen. I don’t… I don’t feel that way about you.”
“I wish I could show you… how good we would be together.” Esther’s voice sounded like she was about to cry. “I know we could be good for each other.”
Daryl shook his head. “I can’t have you thinking that, Esther. We are not going to be a couple. Not now. I doubt ever. It just isn’t going to happen. Please stop thinking that way. You need to concentrate on your husband. You need to fix things there or… or do something else.”
“What else can I do?” A stray tear slipped from her eye and she wiped it away impatiently with the back of her hand, her eyes staring at the ear of corn in her hands.
“You have to find a way to work this out with James. Do you have any relatives you can stay with?”
“No, I’ve told you before that there is no one. No one in my life that will help me with the children. I need to be rescued but… I…”
Once again, Daryl shook his head. He resumed shucking the corn, dropping the bald ear into a large bowl on the table. “No, Esther. Not me. I can’t be your hero. I’m sorry. You have to find a way around this without thinking I’m going to rescue you.” He tried to speak as gently as he could. He looked up to see her face had turned red and she was trying hard not to cry. “I’m sorry, Esther. I know you have feelings for me. I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
She nodded vigorously. “I know, Daryl. Thank you for helping me tonight and letting us eat dinner with you.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Esther. I really am.”
EPILOGUE
EPILOG
UE
Laura and Lily watched as Daryl and Heath spread out the large blanket on the grass, pulling at the corners to make it as flat as possible.
“This is a beautiful day for a picnic with friends,” Lily said, looking at her sister. “I’m so glad we got to do this today. Especially after the last few days. It’s been tough for you, hasn’t it, Daryl?”
Daryl raised one eyebrow. “I can handle it.”
Laura laughed. “He really can, Lily. He handled the entire situation with dignity and class. I’m proud of him.”
“I bet you are,” Lily grinned. “I just bet you are.”
“Oh now you!” Laura playfully slapped her sister’s arm.
“Well, you might just be a little biased, I don’t know.” Lily feigned ignorance and stepped lightly over to where Heath was setting out the picnic basket. He was kneeling on the blanket, removing items from a large basket they had brought along.
Laura joined Daryl on the other side. He had stretched out on the blanket and was resting there, looking up at the sky with one hand blocking the sun.
“Lie next to me, Laura, and let’s see what we can find in the clouds. I think I already see a puppy dog. I bet you’d see it if you laid down and followed my finger.”
Laura obliged him, sitting down and smoothing out her skirts before laying back. She stared up at the puffy clouds. He lifted his hand and pointed to the sky, outlining a cloud he thought looked like a dog. When she saw what he saw, she gasped and laughed. “I do see it! I do!”
Daryl laughed, too. “What do you see?”
“I don’t know, let me look.”
“You know, I’ve heard that if two people can look at the clouds and see the same things, they are meant to be together.”
An Unexpected Dilemma Bride Page 28