Love Inspired Historical November 2014 (17 page)

“Assuming he doesn't already belong to someone else, I'm okay with it. But this is Mrs. Pierce's place. She's the one you really need to ask.”

Joey turned his pleading eyes on Eileen, and she gave a big sigh. “I don't suppose I could say no after we've gone to so much trouble to fix him up.”

Joey let out a triumphant whoop.

But Eileen held up a hand. “However, Buddy is an outside dog, not an inside dog. You can make a place for him in the carriage house if you like.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

She reached over and scratched the dog behind the ears. “I suppose, though, while his foot is bandaged we really ought to keep a close eye on him. So, just until he's better, he can sleep here in the kitchen.”

Joey's face lit up at that. “Yes, ma'am!”

“But just the kitchen, mind you—he's not to run loose in the rest of the house. And that's just until his paw is better.”

Joey nodded.

“And you are responsible for cleaning up any messes he makes, without any fussing or foot-dragging,” Simon added.

“I will. I promise,” Joey said.

“Very well then,” Eileen said, “I guess Buddy is part of the family now.”

Simon caught her eye and didn't try to hide his amusement.

She tilted up her chin, then reached for the soiled shawl and towel. “Now I need to go clean up. You two get your uncle Simon to help you fix up a bed for Buddy over there in the corner. Then get yourselves cleaned up for lunch.”

And with that she marched out of the kitchen without a backward glance.

Simon's grin widened. Who would have guessed she'd have such a soft spot for animals? It made him curious as to what other vulnerabilities she was hiding. Perhaps, now that he was going to be spending more time here, he'd have the opportunity to find out.

Then he turned to the kids. “You heard Mrs. Pierce. Let's hop to it.”

* * *

Eileen twisted her hair back up in a smooth chignon, still unable to believe she'd let herself be won over by the scruffy little dog. But when he'd looked at her so trustingly, and borne his affliction so resignedly, she hadn't been able to abandon him to his fate.

So now Joey had his longed-for dog, and she had an animal invading her home. Well, she'd just have to see that Joey followed her instructions and kept the animal contained.

Of course, she was honest enough with herself to admit that the real source of her discomfort was the look Simon had given her when he first walked in. She really should have left the room to dry her hair before Simon arrived, but she hadn't wanted to leave Joey and Molly alone with the animal.

What had he thought of her disarray—hair down and messy, clothing damp and smeared with mud, and feet bare? She'd looked a complete hoyden, she was sure.

Yet disapproval was not what she'd read in his glances. There was a warm appreciation there that had set a little pinwheel spinning crazily in her chest.

Perhaps it was best she not try to interpret just what it
had
been.

Chapter Twenty-One

U
nlike the day before, Tuesday promised a day of sunshine and mild temperatures. Eileen could hear Joey and Buddy playing on the back porch and smiled at the way the boy talked to the dog as if the animal could understand him.

The other kids in the household had accepted Buddy as part of the family immediately. It hadn't mattered to any of them that he was a scruffy mutt or that he had an injury; they were all ready to make a fuss over him and claim him as their own.

And she hadn't been unaware that several scraps had been slipped to the animal as the kitchen was being cleaned up after supper. Buddy had definitely found himself a loving home.

Just as Eileen was putting the last of the breakfast dishes away, she heard the door chimes. Reflecting that she'd had more visitors in the short time since she'd taken in her houseguests than she'd had in the past two years, she hurried to see who it might be.

When she opened the door, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline stood there with his hat crushed in his beefy hands. “Good morning, ma'am. I'm Eldon Dempsey.”

“Good morning, Mr. Dempsey. If you're looking for Mr. Tucker, I'm afraid he's not here. You can catch him down at the lumber mill.”

“I have his chickens.”

The chickens—she'd forgotten all about that. “As I said, Mr. Tucker is not in right now. Perhaps you should come back—”

“Oh, that's okay. He told me if he wasn't around, I should just put the cages in the carriage house. I only wanted to let you know I brung 'em.” And with a friendly wave, he turned and moved back before she could think of something else to say.

Feeling at a loss as to what she was expected to do, Eileen tracked down Dovie in the parlor.

“Mr. Dempsey has brought the chickens.”

Dovie looked up with a smile. “That's nice. It'll be good to have fresh-laid eggs again.”

“What should I do?”

“I don't reckon you need to do anything until Simon comes home.”

Molly popped up from the sofa where she'd been playing with Flossie. “Can I go see the chickens?”

Eileen hesitated. “Perhaps we should wait until your uncle Simon comes home.”

“But—”

Dovie spoke up. “While those birds are still in their cages is a good time for you to get acquainted with them. Come along. Let's go have a look.” She turned to Eileen. “You, too. You need to get used to being around them.”

Eileen started to object that she had no intention of getting acquainted with farm animals. But the protest died in her throat when she saw the determined look in Dovie's eye. Instead she meekly nodded. Perhaps she should at least look in on the fowl.

By the time they headed out the back door, they found Joey already on Mr. Dempsey's heels, asking him questions about the birds in the cages, and Mr. Dempsey was patiently answering each one.

The man dropped off four cages containing two chickens each. When he was done he tipped his hat Eileen's way. “Just tell Mr. Tucker to drop off those cages back at my place when he's done with them.”

Eileen assured him she would and then he was gone.

She looked at the squawking birds and decided she didn't care to get any closer than she was now, regardless of the security of the cages. The other three, however, had no such compunction.

“Are we really going to get our very own eggs from these birds?” Joey asked.

“Sure will,” Dovie answered. “Probably get the first few bright an' early tomorrow.”

“Can I come get 'em?”

“I tell you what. Until you get the hang of it, why don't we come collect them together.”

“Okay.” Joey turned to Molly and puffed out his chest. “I'm gonna be a chicken farmer.”

“I want to be a chicken farmer, too,” Molly said quickly. “And so does Flossie.”

“Well, now, there's a lot more to taking care of chickens than collecting their eggs.”

“Like what?” Joey asked.

“Well, for the first few days I reckon your uncle Simon is going to want to keep them penned up in here so they get used to this being their new home. That means they'll have to have feed and clean water. It'll also mean everyone will have to be real careful when going into and out of the carriage house so one of the birds doesn't escape.”

“I can do that,” Joey said.

“Me, too,” Molly echoed.

“Then, once he's ready to set them loose, someone will need to make certain they get shut up tight in the carriage house at night so owls and other critters won't get them.” She gave Joey a stern look. “And that includes your dog. Buddy's going to have to be trained to protect them, not chase after them.”

“Don't you worry. Buddy is going to be the best chicken watchdog there ever was.”

Eileen let them continue their discussion about the chickens while she quietly slipped back inside the house.

She had given in on the matter of the dog simply because Buddy's plight had touched her heart.

The chickens, on the other hand, were not nearly so endearing. She was perfectly happy to stay away from them as long as she was able.

* * *

Wednesday morning dawned cold and overcast, and Eileen guessed they wouldn't have many more days to wait until the first frost arrived. School was out until the following Monday and the lumber mill was shut down for the same period, so everyone was home. The children were nearly vibrating with anticipation for the festival the next day and Eileen sincerely hoped it lived up to their expectations.

Simon slipped out right after breakfast to run a mysterious errand of some sort.

Eileen, Dovie and some of the girls were still working on cleaning the kitchen when he returned.

“Here you go,” he said, setting a very large ham on the table with a proud expression on his face. “I told you I'd provide the main course for our contribution to the town's Thanksgiving meal.”

Dovie bustled over to examine his purchase. “Now, this is a very fine ham indeed. I'll spread some molasses on it and let it bake nice and slow today. It'll be juicy and tender for tomorrow.”

“You should let me do that,” Eileen said. “It hardly seems fair for you to do all this work since you won't get to come with us.”

“Oh, I forgot.” Tessa looked suddenly stricken. “You can't leave the yard or your heart will hurt.”

Eileen had noticed the seven-year-old seemed to have formed a special attachment to Dovie.

The child walked over and took Dovie's hand. “Do you want me to stay with you so you don't have to spend Thanksgiving alone?”

Dovie looked down at the little girl with an aching tenderness. “Thank you, Tessa. I think that's just about the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. But you need to go on to the festival with the others so you can come back and tell me all about it. Okay?”

Tessa nodded tentatively, obviously still worried about Dovie.

“Besides,” Dovie added, “I won't be alone the whole time. Ivy promised to fill up a plate of all that good eatin' and bring it over so she and Mitch can take their meal with me.” She winked at Tessa. “You make sure she puts a big old slice of peach cobbler on there for me.”

Tessa nodded more enthusiastically this time.

“Good. I know I can count on you.” Dovie straightened. “Now, you girls finish with the dishes while I find a pan big enough to bake this ham in. And you two—” she turned to Eileen and Simon “—you get to work shelling pecans for me. I plan to bake an apple pecan pie to go with this ham.”

By midmorning a soft rain had started falling. That, combined with the dropping temperatures, drove everyone indoors except Joey, Audrey and Albert, who were in the carriage house playing with Buddy. Simon made certain there was a roaring fire in the parlor fireplace and most of the other children drifted in there to enjoy its warmth.

Eileen sought out Simon and found him on the front porch, carving on a flat piece of board. “What are you working on?”

He held it out to her. “What does it look like?”

It was square and had lines carved into it going both vertically and horizontally. “A chessboard?”

He smiled. “Close. A checkerboard. I thought it would be good for the kids to have something to do. I actually plan to make two of these so they won't have to wait so long for a turn.”

“Perhaps you can try chess pieces for the second one?”

“I can make playing pieces to go with a checkerboard without much trouble. Chess pieces would be more difficult.”

She swallowed her disappointment. “Of course.”

He went back to work. “So you're a chess player?”

She drew her shawl more tightly around her. “I know the basic moves, but I haven't played much.”

“How are you at checkers?” He blew the wood dust from the board.

“I've never played, but it's a child's game, isn't it?”

He gave her a sideways look before eyeing his board again. “It
is
simple enough for a child to learn, but for the serious player, there's a whole different level of complexity and strategy to be learned, as well.”

She settled for a noncommittal
Hmm.

He leaned back and gave her a look that she assumed was meant to be stern but somehow failed.

“I can see you don't believe me,” he said. “I guess I'll just have to prove it to you.”

Her pulse quickened in response to that look of challenge he gave her. “And how do you plan to go about doing that?”

“By teaching you to play.”

“Whenever you have the game ready, I am at your disposal.”

“Just give me about twenty minutes.”

She glanced at the board and frowned. “But it's not even painted yet. And we can't use it while the paint is still wet.”

“I don't plan to use paint.”

“Then how—”

“Watch.” He used his knife to start carving shallow diagonal stripes into one of the squares. When he had that one done to his satisfaction, he moved over to another, leaving an untouched square between them.

Eileen studied the affect and smiled appreciatively. The alternating grooved and smooth squares were as distinctive as the inlaid board her stepfather had had in his study. “Will you be marking the playing pieces the same way?”

“No. I'm using something much simpler.” He nodded toward a pile of round discs on the porch beside his chair and she stooped down to study them.

They were surprisingly uniform in size and thickness. But they were made from two different woods, one light and one dark. A simple but effective means of differentiating the opposing pieces. And there appeared to be enough of them to use with the two boards Simon planned to make. “Clever.”

He grinned. “You don't have to sound so surprised.”

She smiled back at him and realized that her current position put their faces nearly level. When she inhaled, she caught the scent of sawdust and soap and outdoors—of him. The sounds of the rain and the wind and voices from the house were drowned out by her own heartbeat. Could he hear it, too?

* * *

Simon saw Eileen's eyes widen and heard the little hitch in her breathing. There was a tiny smudge just below the corner of her lush lips. She would no doubt be mortified if she knew it was there, but he found it endearing. He tightened his hold on his knife, forcing his fingers to ignore the overwhelming urge to reach over and stroke that sassy little smudge away for her. Even stronger was the urge to kiss it away.

Would she slap him if he tried?

She swayed forward slightly, and he decided it might be worth finding out....

The door opened behind them, and Eileen blinked, then stood up as if something had propelled her.

“Whatcha doing?” Lily asked.

Eileen brushed at her skirt, not making eye contact. “Your uncle Simon was just showing me the game he's making.”

“What kind of game?”

“Checkers.”

“Oh, can I play?”

Simon finally looked away from Eileen and toward the little girl. He smiled at her eager expression. “I promised Mrs. Pierce I'd teach her first. But you can play afterward.”

Lily looked at Eileen. “Don't you know how to play checkers already?”

Eileen shook her head.

“But even Joey knows how to play.” The confused look on Lily's face was almost comical.

“Don't worry,” Simon said, keeping his expression appropriately solemn. “I'm a good teacher. I'm sure she'll pick it up in no time.”

Simon felt Eileen's glare without even looking at her and knew she'd definitely be playing to win when the time came. He was looking forward to it.

By the time they sat down at the dining room table with the handcrafted checkerboard between them, all of the children had heard about this being Eileen's first game of checkers. Not only were they gathered to watch, but sides were being taken, mostly along gender lines.

Simon won the first game handily and tried not to let his amusement show when Eileen's lips pinched in irritation.

She recovered quickly, though, and gave him an arch look. “I believe I have the hang of it now. Shall we try again?”

“If you insist.” And he set up the board again.

He won the second game, but this time he had to make more of an effort.

“I think I really have the hang of it now.” There was definitely a glint of determination in her eyes. “Shall we try once more?”

And to his surprise, she did indeed manage to win that third game.

Delighted by the flush of triumph on her face, he stood and made a short bow. “Well done. Congratulations.”

She smiled graciously. “I did, after all, have a good teacher.”

Before he could explore this playful side of her further, several of the children began clamoring for a turn at the game, and Eileen gave up her seat with a smile and excused herself to help Dovie in the kitchen.