Authors: Jill Lynn
Her Texas Family (22 page)
“Lloyd was your age.”
“And she is barely ten years older than Timothy.”
“True. That might have made a difference years ago, but now you are adults with
kinder
. And you need a wife.”
“I don't need a wife right now. I need someone to watch the
kinder
.” He held up his hand. “And Rebekah lives too far away for me to ask her to do that.”
“What about the housework? The laundry? The cooking? Rose did much of those chores for you, and you eat your other meals here. Deborah can do some of the work, but not all of it. With Esther having to do my chores as well as her own around the house and preparations for the end of the school year, she would appreciate having fewer people at the table each night.”
“
Mamm
, I doubt that,” he replied with a laugh, though he knew his sister worked hard at their local school.
His
mamm
wagged a finger at him. “True, true. Esther would gladly feed anyone who showed up every night.” As quickly as she'd smiled, she became serious again. “But it's also true Rebekah Burkholder needs a husband. That poor woman can't manage on her own.”
He didn't want to admit his own thoughts had gone in that direction, too, and how guilty he felt that he'd turned his back on her.
His face must have betrayed his thoughts because
Mamm
asked, “Will you at least think of it?”
“Ja.”
What else could he say? Rebekah likely had no interest in remarrying so quickly after Lloyd's death, but if she didn't take another husband, she could lose Lloyd's legacy to her and his
kinder
. The idea twisted in Joshua's gut.
It was time for him to decide exactly what he was willing to do to help his best friend's widow.
Copyright © 2016 by Jo Ann Ferguson
ISBN-13: 9781488007255
Her Texas Family
Copyright © 2016 by Jill Buteyn
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