She tested the handle and found the door opened easily. She peeked into the parlor and noted it could use a good straightening and dusting. “Mrs. Howard?”
She stepped into the entryway of the house. “It’s Leah Bennett, ma’am. Your son said I could come in and visit with you.”
Leah pursed her lips when no answer came. She set down her basket and looked around. On the right was an open door to a bedroom. From the manly clothing hanging on pegs on the wall, she knew that was Dan’s room. She tiptoed through the parlor and into a short hall that separated the bedrooms. Mrs. Howard lay on her side, facing the wall. A light quilt covered her body. How could she stand the heat with that cover on and the windows shut? Leah crept back to the parlor and looked around.
She should probably leave. But wouldn’t it surprise the older woman to awaken from her nap to a clean house with a meal already prepared? Looking around, she decided the kitchen would be her first chore. She opened the back and front doors, along with the kitchen and parlor windows, to let in some fresh air and cool things down.
The morning dishes had been washed, probably Dan’s efforts. She found where they belonged and put the plates and coffee cups on the shelf with the other dishes. The silverware rested in a tin can that had long ago lost its label. Taking the cleaning supplies she’d borrowed from Rachel, she washed every surface from the windowsill to the shelves to the top of the canned goods that resided in a tiny pantry. She wiped down the table and chairs and found a broom and mop and tended to the floors. Lastly, she washed several small glass decorations that she suspected were Mrs. Howard’s treasures. Standing back with her hands on her hips, she surveyed the spotless kitchen. Her heart warmed at having something to do and being able to help someone.
Rachel had given her a ham hock and some meat. As much as Leah hated lighting the stove and warming up the house even more, she found a large pot and started stewing the meat. She added a pinch of salt and a few other seasonings she found in the pantry and went to clean the parlor.
An hour later, she’d finished cleaning everything she could see, except for Mrs. Howard’s room. She’d like to wash the woman’s sheets like she had Dan’s, but she didn’t want to overstep her bounds and embarrass Dan’s mother.
The only other thing she could think to do was the laundry. Dan’s sheets and blanket were already nearly dry in the warm afternoon sun and brisk wind. The hardest task was heating more water, but Dan had made that duty less difficult with the device he’d made for his mother. An iron rack stood over a campfire in the backyard, and she just had to fill the pot with fresh water. She’d done the task once already when washing the sheets. With the water warming, she added a few chopped logs to the fire, and then stirred Dan’s clothes into the water. While they simmered, she went back inside to cut up vegetables for the stew.
She halfway expected to find Mrs. Howard sitting in the kitchen or parlor, and when she didn’t, she tiptoed back to the room. The woman was sleeping in the same position. “You must really be tired,” Leah whispered. Poor woman.
She made quick work of cutting up the potatoes, carrots, and onions for the stew. Then she mixed up a batch of cornbread and put it in the oven. At the back door, she took a moment to rest. If she were to marry Dan, this would be her home, and these would be her daily tasks. She could easily see herself in the sturdy home. Rachel had told her that Dan’s father had built the house when Dan was just a boy.
Turning back to look at the inside, she allowed her eyes to adjust. All the rooms could use a fresh coat of paint and maybe even some wallpaper in the parlor. She could do so many things to pretty up this house if she had the chance.
“Please, Lord. I ask that You’d give me that chance. Thank You for saving me from marrying Mr. Abernathy.” A snakelike shiver coursed down her spine. “If it be Your will, please allow Dan to fall in love with me. I’d take good care of him and his mother. I promise You that.”
After a few more moments of resting and praying for her family back home in Carthage, she washed and rinsed Dan’s clothes and hung them on the line. Then she took the clean sheets inside and made Dan’s bed. His quilt would need another hour on the line before it was dried. She straightened and rubbed her lower back. Doing the washing and cleaning the whole house in one day was a lot of work, especially since she’d been so inactive the past months with nothing much to occupy her time. She would sleep well tonight; that was certain.
She tiptoed back to Mrs. Howard’s room, hoping to get her dirty clothing. The woman still hadn’t moved. Leah wondered how Mrs. Howard kept her back from aching. If she’d slept in the same position for so long, hers surely would hurt. Leah studied the quilt for a moment, and she felt a sudden catch in her heart. She bent down and stepped closer. Surely the quilt was moving. Maybe she just couldn’t see it in the dim light.
But moving closer didn’t change a thing. The quilt didn’t move in the least. With a trembling hand, Leah reached out to touch the woman’s wrinkled cheek. It felt cool, but how could that be? Leah was sweating from the heat of the stuffy room.
Sucking in a steadying breath, she held her fingers in front of the woman’s nose.
Nothing.
Not a single breath.
Leah gasped and jerked back her hand. No!
What to do? What to do?
She had to know for sure if Dan’s ma had perished. Pressing her quivering fingers to the woman’s neck, she hoped—she prayed—to feel a pulse.
She dropped onto the bed, knowing now that Dan’s mother had gone to meet her Maker. She had to tell Dan, but how did one do such a thing? Maybe she should get Rachel?
But no, Dan was the man Leah loved. She was the one who had to tell him. She pulled the quilt up and covered Mrs. Howard’s face, sad that she’d never get to know her.
Back in the kitchen, she removed the cornbread from the oven and stirred the stew. Dan would not likely have an appetite tonight.
She glanced out the back screen door at the light blue sky. “Lord, give me the words to say.”
Ten minutes later, she stood in the back of the livery. Dan patted the rear of a black horse and told a man that he’d be happy with his purchase.
“Thank you. You came highly recommended.” He handed Dan several double-eagle coins, mounted, and rode off.
Dan pocketed the money and smiled. She suspected he thought he’d had a good day. She hated disappointing him. Her heart ached for him. How had her feelings grown so swiftly? She hadn’t even fallen for Sam this fast.
“Leah? Have you finished over at the house?” He walked toward her. “I was just heading over there to see if things were going all right.”
“I—” Tears filled Leah’s eyes and burned her throat.
Dan jogged toward her, a concerned expression marring his handsome face. “What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?” He grabbed both her hands, turned them over and back, as if searching for an injury. “What’s the matter, Leah?”
She tried to form the words but couldn’t get them out. She reached forward and laid her hand on his chest. His brows crinkled.
“It’s your ma.”
He shot out of the livery like a cannonball. Leah picked up her skirts and hurried after him. She didn’t want him to be alone at such a time. The front door was open when she arrived, and a wail rose up from the bedroom. Dan knelt on the far side of the bed, clutching his mother’s body to his chest. He rocked back and forth, tears streaming down his face. Leah had never heard such a heartrending sound other than the one she’d made herself when she’d learned of Sam’s death.
She hurried to Dan’s side and laid her hand on his shoulder. His rocking ceased, and he laid his mother back on the bed, staring down at her. Finally he stood, covered her face, and turned to Leah.
“I should have stayed home today. I knew she was feeling poorly.”
Leah shook her head and patted his chest. “No, I should have checked on her when I first arrived here, but I thought she was just sleeping.”
<
br /> Dan shook his head and wiped his eyes. “It’s not your fault. Ma had been ailing for a while.”
“But maybe if I’d done something—” Tears burned Leah’s eyes again.
Dan cupped her cheeks with his calloused hands. “Leah, this isn’t your fault. Ma was getting older. She had me when she was in her late twenties, and I’m no spring chicken.”
In spite of her grief, Leah smiled.
“There’s nothing either of us could have done. Ma has been missing Pa for a long while, and now they’re together.”
“ What are you going to do?”
He stared up at the ceiling, and his chin quivered. Suddenly, he sobbed and pulled her against him, crushing her in his grief. She held him, caressing his back and cooing soft words of comfort. If he’d give her the chance, she’d always be there for him. She wasn’t sure how long he held her, but finally his tears abated.
He pulled away and wiped his eyes again. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m happy I can be here so you don’t have to be alone now.” Leah rested her hand on his arm. She admired a man who wasn’t afraid to allow his emotions to show, especially a big manly man like Dan. Her father rarely had, other than to express his displeasure.
His damp eyes warmed. His long, dark lashes stuck together in spiky clumps. He ran the back of his fingers down her cheek, and his gaze intensified. He leaned toward her, and she stretched up to meet him. If he found comfort in kissing her, so be it.
Their lips were just a hair’s breadth away when someone pounded on the door.
“Dan, you here?” The marshal’s voice intruded. “The livery’s open, but no one’s over there. Everything all right?”
Dan wiped his face on his sleeve, then patted Leah’s cheek and walked to the parlor. “C’mon in, Luke.” He dropped onto a chair and sat with his head hanging down, arms on his knees.
Luke’s gaze shot over to Leah, his surprise at seeing her come out of the bedroom evident. He narrowed his gaze. “What’s going on here?”
Leah waited for Dan to respond, but he just shook his head. Luke turned to her. “Dan’s mother passed away.”
Luke hurried to his friend’s side and draped his hand over Dan’s shoulder. “I’m right sorry to hear that. Tell me what I can do.”
Dan cleared his throat and sat up. “I reckon you could fetch the pastor, if you don’t mind.”
Luke nodded and glanced at Leah again.
“I came over to help out Mrs. Howard. I did some cleaning, laundry, and made a ham stew, and didn’t even know….” Her lip quivered, and fresh tears stung her eyes. She sniffled, causing Dan to look up. He stood and hurried to her side, putting his arm around her shoulders.
Luke’s surprise was evident, but her heart ached too much to be concerned about his reaction. She’d wanted to get to know Dan’s mother, to become her friend, and to learn what Dan was like when he was young. She’d wanted Mrs. Howard to know that she’d fallen in love with her son.
Luke pushed his hat back and scratched his head. “I’ll…uh…go by the house and send Rachel over and then collect the pastor.”
Dan nodded and Luke left. Another wave of grief hit Leah again, and she turned into Dan’s arms, laying her face against his shirt. His arms embraced her tightly.
“It’ll be all right, darlin’.”
Leah stood beside Dan at his mother’s funeral, longing to reach out—to touch him, but such an action wouldn’t be appropriate for an unmarried couple in public. She wished Dan’s sister and brother could have attended the funeral, but his sister was in the early stages of pregnancy and having trouble keeping food down. Travel was out of the question. Dan’s brother couldn’t come, either. His wife was away, caring for her best friend’s children while her friend was down with a strange case of influenza, so Dan’s brother was tending their five children. Surely having family present at this time of loss would have been a comfort.
The pastor’s voice droned on about what a wonderful woman Clara Howard had been and how she was now in the Lord’s arms. Leah wished again that she’d gotten to know the woman instead of wasting so much time doing a whole lot of nothing the past few months.
How would Dan get along living alone? He’d lived with his parents all his life and had worked side by side with his dad until the older man died. Dan had probably never done any cooking until his mother had taken to her bed. He would certainly be lonely and would have no one to comfort him during his grieving. She stepped closer to him, wanting him to know she was there for him.
He didn’t look down, but the back of his hand brushed hers. He looped his little finger around hers and gave it a quick squeeze and let go. Leah’s heart soared, but she hoped no one noticed Dan’s finger hug.
After the service, she wandered over to stand by Shannon while the townsfolk offered their condolences to Dan.
“’Tis hard to lose your mum.”
“How long has it been since yours died?”
“Over a year now, it has. At first, I just wanted to crawl in a barrel and die, too. I didn’t know how I would survive in a strange country without my parents, but God watched over me. I was angry for a long while, but I’m coming to see His hand in my life.”
Leah hugged her friend’s shoulders. “I’m so glad He kept you safe and brought you here.”
Shannon chuckled. “Aye, me, too. I never dreamed I’d end up in Texas, though.”
“Me, either. I just wanted to get away from that awful man my pa wanted me to marry. I’d have gone to California if I had to. At least Texas was closer.”
Rachel hugged Dan and then walked up to the women. “People have been donating food for Dan. I thought I’d take it over to his house and set it up in the kitchen. He asked that we all join him.”
She caught Leah’s gaze, and her eyes gleamed as if she knew something. Had the marshal mentioned finding her alone with Dan?
“We’d be happy to help, right, Leah?”
She nodded her head, glad to have a reason to be with Dan for a while longer. “We can take an armload over there now, if you’re ready to leave.”
“Just let me find Jacqueline, and we’ll both help.” Rachel’s gaze scanned the crowd. “Dan said it was all right for us to go on into his house, so go ahead if you want and get started. I’ll be there as soon as I track down that rascally daughter of mine.”
On the table at the back of the church, they found all manner of food. A small ham. Jars of canned beans, beets, and other vegetables and fruit. Several cooked dishes had been prepared and also three desserts. Leah needn’t worry about Dan having food for the next few days. With their arms loaded, they made the trek across town to the Howard home. Leah’s arms ached by the time they arrived. “Let’s put all this on the kitchen table, and then we can arrange it once everything is here.”
Shannon nodded and followed her into the kitchen. “’Tis a lovely house the Howards have.”
“Yes, it is.” Leah surveyed the house. It looked much the same as it had yesterday, except that Dan’s bed wasn’t made. She hurried back to his room and made quick work of that task, lest he be embarrassed to have guests see it a mess.
“There’s already enough food to feed every Texas Ranger in the state. I don’t know how Mr. Howard will consume it all before it spoils.” Shannon stood looking at the food with her hands on her waist, shaking her head when Leah reentered the dining room.
“I suspect that’s why he invited us over. Let’s put the canned items on that shelf next to the stove.” Leah picked up two jars. “We’ll serve the fresh food now, and Dan will have these for later on.”
“Dan, is it? You sound right at home here.” Shannon flashed her a teasing grin.
“Well, I’m not. I just spent half of yesterday here, so I guess I’m more familiar with things than you are.” Leah’s cheeks heated. “Besides, being the oldest of eleven children, I’m used to bossing others around.”
“I would have liked having an older sister like you. All my siblings die
d before birth or passed shortly after.”
“I’m sorry. Siblings can sure try your patience, but there’s something nice about having a big family.”
Shannon leaned against the counter. “Do you miss them?”
Leah ran her finger around the top of a jar lid. “Yes, sometimes, especially the younger ones, but I don’t miss all the names they called me.” She placed the jar on the shelf. “The older ones resented it when I was in charge and had to tell them what to do.”
“Must have been difficult for you.”
“It was, but it was the only life I knew.”
“Will you go back someday?”
Leah opened the back door and stared out. “I don’t know. I’d like to see my family, but I can’t go back unless I’m married. Pa would give me to Mr. Abernathy faster than a magician could make a coin disappear.”
Shannon crossed the room and laid a hand on Leah’s shoulder. “I have no one, and you have no relatives here. Perhaps we can be family.”
Leah turned, her heart warming at Shannon’s offer. “I’d like that.” She gave her friend a hug and saw Rachel and Luke come in the door.
Things turned hectic as the women set out the food and the men gathered in the parlor, talking. Both Corbett brothers had come home with Dan. Leah set out plates and forks and filled a pitcher of water from the outside pump while Rachel sliced a small ham and Shannon mashed some boiled turnips a woman had dropped off at the house. Delicious scents filled the air and made Leah’s stomach rumble.
“The food’s ready,” Rachel called to the men a short while later.
Dan glanced at the door. “The reverend’s family was coming.”
“Why don’t you men go ahead and dish up and eat. We’ll need to wash some of the plates in order to have enough.” Rachel tapped her index finger against her mouth. “Or I could run home and get a few of my plates.”
Leah reached up onto a shelf and took down several bowls. “No need. We can make sandwiches for the pastor’s youngsters and send them out back and use these bowls for us womenfolk.”
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