by Barbara Goss
Hannah tapped her chin. “I believe I wrote this in one of my letters, but I’ll say it again: I’m a Christian woman, and I won’t lie under any circumstances.”
Cam ran his fingers through his hair. He’d forgotten about that. “I’m sure no one will be bold enough to ask personal questions. I’ve kept a low profile here in Hunter’s Grove as far as my personal life. I don’t think people even know if I’ve remarried or not.”
“What about the children? Annabelle said she hadn’t been to school.”
“School?” Cam scolded himself. Why hadn’t he thought about school? “Well... um... I felt that Annabelle wasn’t ready for school.” Cam snapped his fingers. “Would you be her teacher?”
“Of course. I’d be delighted. I’ll need to know more about the children, of course, like their birthdays, and if they remember your first wife at all.”
“I’m not good with that sort of data, but I’ll get it to you. I have their birth information filed away. Georgie was just an infant when his mother died after giving birth to him. Annabelle was a toddler, and I don’t think she remembers much.”
For some reason, telling lies in court didn’t make him feel as guilty as telling them to his new wife. He shook off the guilt quickly. “Any other questions?”
“I didn’t see a church when I gazed around the town. I will need one as I never miss church on Sunday, and I’d like to attend as a family.”
Cam tried to hide his delight at her suggestion. How perfect it would be for the town to see them attending services?
“We don’t have a church here in Hunter’s Grove yet, but we do have Sunday services.” Cam tried to think quickly as to where the services were held, as he’d never gone to one. He did, however, recall Bessie telling him where the church meetings were conducted—she went every Sunday. “The church services are held in Farley Goodman’s barn.”
“A barn?” Hannah said as if he’d said a bad word.
“It’s a huge barn… and it's a clean barn,” Cam said quickly, though he had no idea as to the barn’s state. “I have to admit that I haven’t been there as much as I should since my workload keeps me so busy.”
Hannah looked him square in the eyes and nodded with a look of understanding.
Once again, Cam felt guilty. It wasn’t a good way to start a marriage, but what could he do?
“What about us?” Hannah asked. “Did you marry me just to get elected?”
“No!” Cam exclaimed. “I can show you the stack of replies my ad brought in, but your letters were special. You were the only one I replied to. I felt a connection with you right away. I’ve been lonely, and I’m not as good with the children as a woman would be. They need a mother, and I need a wife.”
“Is this going to be a marriage in name only, or are you going to... sort of court me after the fact?” she asked, tapping her toe impatiently.
Cam covered her hand with his. “I want our marriage to be real eventually, and I think we can find a way to court without raising any eyebrows in town.”
He was relieved when Hannah smiled. She was a lovely woman when she smiled.
“As long as I don’t have to do anything dishonest,” she said.
Cam turned his head so she wouldn’t see him grimace. He’d never felt so guilty.
“How will the household work? I understand that Bessie has been the housekeeper for a long time—will she resent my giving her daily orders? Who will be in charge of the children?”
Cam rubbed his temples. He hadn’t thought about any of that. “How did it work in your household... when your parents were alive?”
“My mother gave the housekeeper a weekly list of what to cook for meals and what needed doing that wasn’t a part of her usual routine. My mother was in charge of us children during the day, and when my father came home in the evening, he spent time with us before bedtime. My parents did the bedtime routine together.”
“Bedtime routine?”
“Yes. One of them read me a short story until I was able to read myself, and they always listened to my prayers until I was about thirteen.”
Cam stroked his mustache thoughtfully. “Then, that’s how we’ll do it. I’ll speak to Bessie, too.”
After a brief meeting the next day with his new client, Cam began working on a case defending a man accused of stealing a pig from a farmer. He sighed. He wanted the job of senator more than ever now.
Joe stuck his head in the door of Cameron’s office. “Too busy for a little chat?”
Cam closed the legal book he’d been reading. “Never too busy for a chat. Come on in.”
Joe closed the door and took the seat in front of Cam’s desk. “You have a lovely wife.”
“Yes,” Cam said with a smile. “I was relieved. The photograph she sent wasn’t too clear, and I was somewhat concerned. She’s lovely and poised, but she has one big fault.”
Joe’s eyes widened. “What?”
“She’s religious, and she refuses to tell a lie.”
Joe laughed. “Then if I were you, I’d tell her the truth about everything.”
“I’m not really dishonest,” Cam said, “just a bit... a bit—”
“Dishonest?” Joe finished for him.
“You’re the one who got me into this.”
“I made a suggestion that you jumped on like a hawk on a field mouse.”
Cam held his head in his hands. “I just can’t tell her, Joe. She’d leave, I know she would, and I am already fond of her.”
Joe stood. “Tell her the truth.”
Cam had a hard time concentrating on his stolen pig case, so he left and went home early.
Hannah dressed slowly that morning. She could hear the children in the playroom across the hall. She didn’t feel like talking to Cameron yet, so she fiddled with her hair until she heard him ride off to work in his stately carriage.
Her first stop that morning was the playroom. When she entered the room, both children bolted upright as if they’d been caught doing something wrong.
She smiled at them. “Did I startle you?”
Georgie’s thumb immediately found his mouth, but Annabelle smiled back. “We were playing with the new toys Father bought for us,” Annabelle said.
Hannah wanted a less formal relationship with the children, so she took a seat in a nearby sofa chair.
“My, your father was certainly generous. Is that toybox filled with new toys?”
Annabelle walked closer. “Yes. He said he missed our birthdays this year.”
Hannah gazed at the box and then the nearby shelf. “Is that doll new, too?”
“No, I brought that with me.”
Hannah felt her eyes widen. “Brought it with you? From where?”
Annabelle bit her lower lip. “From... from my bedroom. I used to sleep with it at night, but now I’m too big to sleep with a doll, so I brought it in here.”
“She’s very cute—may I hold her?” Hannah asked.
Annabelle walked over to the shelf and brought the doll to Hannah, who studied the rag doll. It was about six inches tall, old, battered, and torn in places. Her dress was soiled and faded. Dolls like that were usually homemade. The face had been painted on and was a bit crooked.
“I had a doll similar to this when I was very young. I think you’re a brave girl to give up sleeping with it on your own. I had a very hard time parting with mine. Actually, it fell apart, and I had to part with it.” Hannah smiled and handed the doll back.
Annabelle grinned back at her. Her eyes sparkled, so Hannah knew the smile was real.
Just as suddenly, Annabelle’s smile faded, and she came a step closer and looked up at Hannah. “Should we call you Mother?”
Hannah took hold of Annabelle’s small hands and said, “I’d love for you to call me Mother or Mama. I always called my mother Mama. I’d feel proud if you called me Mama.”
“I like Mama better, too,” Annabelle said. “Georgie doesn’t talk much yet, but I’ll teach him to say Mama.”
> “What do you call your father?”
“Just Father. He told us he liked that name best.”
“Not Papa?”
Annabelle shook her head. “No, he likes Father.”
“I see.” Hannah stood. “I’m hungry as a bear—have you had breakfast yet?”
“No,” Annabelle said. “We’re supposed to wait for Father to go to work first.”
“Really?” Hannah wondered at that. “Well, then, the three of us will be breakfast partners.”
Annabelle gave Hannah another eye-sparkling smile, and she exclaimed with enthusiasm, “All right!”
After breakfast, Hannah suggested that Annabelle show her around the yard and barn. Annabelle dragged little Georgie out of the house. She pulled Georgie faster than his chubby little legs could manage, so Hannah scooped him up and followed Annabelle to the barn. There, she showed Hannah three horses, a wagon, and a litter of kittens behind a bale of straw.
They played with the kittens for a while. Hannah loved cats, and she could see that Annabelle did, too.
Georgie was more interested in playing in the straw.
“We’ll start our school lessons every day while Georgie is napping,” Hannah said.
“You will be my teacher?”
“Yes. That’s how I made a living before coming to Hunter’s Grove. I taught schoolchildren, so your father and I decided that I would teach you.”
“Will I learn arithmetic? I’m not good at that.”
“Yes, and physical exercise, too. I feel that exercise improves the blood flow to your brain and helps children learn.”
Annabelle clapped her hands together. “Yes!” She stood up from her seat on the straw. “Come—I’ll show you the creek and my favorite tree.”
Hannah scooped up Georgie and followed Annabelle. They came to what Annabelle called a creek, but to Hannah, it was just a babbling brook.
Annabelle said, “I like to sit here and listen to the sound of the water as it hits the rocks.”
“It looks like this might be a good place for our science lessons,” Hannah said as she bounced a restless Georgie.
“Come on.” Annabelle led her into some nearby trees. She pointed to one that looked dead, but it had an interesting bare branch that was low and long. Annabelle grabbed the branch, pulled herself up, and straddled the branch. “This is my horse, and his name is Bullet.”
By then, Georgie was rubbing his eyes.
“It’s time for Georgie’s nap,” Annabelle announced. “Now, we can have our first lesson.”
Chapter Five
When Cameron came home, he couldn't find his wife anywhere in the house. He peeked in the children’s room to find Georgie sound asleep. Cam returned to the first floor to find Bessie in the kitchen, basting a roast.
“Where’s Mrs. Hart and Annabelle?”
Bessie turned. “I imagine they’re still outside.”
“Outside,” Cam repeated to himself as he walked to the back door. He stood on the porch, watching Annabelle and Hannah as they sat beneath a tree, apparently reading.
Hannah was holding the book between them, and he could see Annabelle’s mouth moving as she read.
He stepped from the porch and walked toward them. “Hello,” he greeted them. He addressed Hannah: “I didn’t realize you’d start lessons so soon.”
Hannah closed the book and patted Annabelle’s head. “That’s it for today. Your homework is to finish reading the chapter and tell me tomorrow how it ended.”
“Thank you, Mama.” She grabbed the book and ran to the house.
Cam took Annabelle’s place on the grass beside Hannah. “How did the first lesson go?”
Hannah shook her head. “I’m shocked. Annabelle picked up reading so fast. I’ve never taught a child her age who picked up reading so quickly. She stumbles over the bigger words, but I know she’s read before. You must have taught her.”
Cam thought that perhaps the orphanage had given her lessons. “I...a...well, we did some reading together.”
“She’s very smart. I imagine she takes after you. Or was her mother smart as well?”
Cam shrugged. “She was average, I suppose.”
“And Georgie,” Hannah said, “needs to stop sucking his thumb or he’ll have protruding front teeth. Do you have any suggestions for helping him to quit?”
“He only does it when he’s scared or nervous. I suppose we could bandage his thumb. I’ve heard that helps.”
“Your first wife must have been blonde with blue eyes.”
“Yes.” He answered quickly. “Yes, she was.”
Hannah smiled. “I love being called Mama.”
Cameron stood and held out his hand to help her to stand. “I thought you and I could have dinner at Parker’s tonight as my first attempt at courting you.”
“Parker’s?”
“It’s the closest thing we have for fine dining here. The hotel’s food is awful, but Sam Parker makes some delicious soups. Mind you, it’s not a fancy place, but just an old stable Sam made into a little place to cook. He used to cook and sell the food for people to take home. Then, recently, he added a small addition with wooden tables and benches.”
“I would love to, but Bessie has been working all day on a roast for dinner.”
Hannah tapped her chin as he noticed she often did when thinking.
“I have a better idea,” she said. “We’ll eat at home with the children, and tomorrow we’ll make sandwiches out of the leftover beef and have a picnic by the river. Tomorrow’s Saturday, and I’m thinking you won’t have to work.”
“I often go in on Saturday, but I can miss this week. The case I’m working on is an easy one. I can’t wait to move up to being a state senator. The cases here are boring.”
“And Sunday we’ll all go to church... or whatever you call it when it’s held in a barn.”
Cam liked her poise, and she was well-spoken if not slightly bossy, yet her manner let him know exactly what she wanted, and that was good. He had courted a woman a few years before, and he never knew what she wanted, so it seemed as if he couldn’t please her. This woman knew what she wanted, and he believed she could become quite testy if she didn’t get it. He liked her, though. She was fair-looking, seemed good with the children, and she would make the perfect senator’s wife.
They walked slowly to the back door of the house, which led to the kitchen.
Bessie looked up at them and smiled. “I was just on my way upstairs with the children’s dinner.”
Hannah stopped walking abruptly, causing Cam to bump into her. She turned to him.
“The children eat upstairs?”
“Yes,” Cam answered. “In the playroom. There’s a table and—
“No, no, no,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “That’s not how families eat dinner.”
Cam gave her a puzzled look and shrugged. “Why not?”
“Bessie, set two plates in the dining room for Georgie and Annabelle,” Hannah ordered.
“But—" Cam tried to explain.
Hannah turned and said, “You brought me here to be their mother, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. How will children learn proper dining manners if they eat upstairs?”
Her overbearingness took Cam aback for a few moments, and he wanted to tell her that he didn’t want to dine with children who might have runny noses and food on their faces, but he kept still.
She wasn’t wrong. If he wanted her to be the mother of his children, he’d have to take a step or two back and let her do her job.
He smiled at his new wife. “I stand corrected. You’re right, of course.”
Hannah led them in a speedy prayer when she saw Cam stab his beef with his fork. He dropped it when Hannah started the prayer.
Dinner with the children went well, and Hannah showed Annabelle the correct way to hold her fork and the proper way to cut her meat. She taught Annabelle how to ask for a dish on the table when she couldn’t reach it, and how to put her napkin on her lap, but
she left Georgie to make a mess because he was much too young to teach.
Bessie had found a large pillow to put under him so he could reach the table.
Hannah stifled a laugh when Cameron grimaced after seeing the mashed potatoes and peas stuck to Georgie’s face.
She also taught Annabelle to ask for permission to leave the table when she’d finished eating.
“May I be excused?” Annabelle asked, looking at Cameron for permission.
This seemed to confuse Cameron for a few moments until he saw Hannah give him a nod. “Yes, you may.”
“Don’t go far, children. We’ll be going on a family walk as soon as we’re finished with our coffee.”
Cam’s mouth dropped. “Family walk?” He sighed. “That...um...sounds delightful.”
After their walk, Cam headed toward his study, but Hannah called him back. “It’s time for the children’s bedtime.”
“Goodnight, children,” he said and turned once more toward the study.
“Cameron Hart—we are going to begin a bedtime ritual with the children.”
“Huh?” He turned and gave her a puzzled look.
“We will tuck the children into their beds, read them a story, and listen to their prayers.”
Cameron frowned. “You’re joking, right?”
With her hands on hips, Hannah said, “No. It’s what parents do. Then you can do whatever it is you do in the study, and we shall not bother you again tonight.”
Hannah lay in bed that night, knowing she’d made a huge mistake. She wasn’t sure she even liked Cameron Hart. His letters had started out cold and business-like. They had turned warm later, but now he was cool and distant again. She yearned to have a husband with whom she could laugh, and she couldn’t see that happening. He seemed... she wasn’t sure how to phrase it in her mind. Perhaps disinterested was the word to fit his relationship with the children. She saw him show no warmth toward them at all. He didn’t have any sense of humor either—how strange.