a man, still rail-thin to be sure, but his shoulders had filled out and he walked with an assured air.
Thaddeus stuck his head inside the hotel’s front door.
“Martha! Run and get your grandmother,” he shouted, and then he walked back to meet his son.
Luke’s face split into a grin as he reached his father. Then Thaddeus folded him into a bear hug before pushing him away at arm’s length to inspect him.
“You look well,” he said. “You’ve filled out and grown an inch or two. You must be as tall as your brothers now.”
“I’m taller than Will. I still haven’t quite caught up to Moses.”
Luke turned as the door opened and Betsy came out on to the verandah. Thaddeus noticed that his son’s posture suddenly stiffened as he saw his mother. Time and illness had worn Betsy down and she no longer resembled the woman who Luke probably remembered. She hesitated on the step, peering, unsure of why she had been summoned. Then, when she saw Luke and realized who he was, she sat down on the step and burst into tears.
Luke hurried over and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her. “Well that’s quite a welcome for a long-lost son,” he said. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
“Don’t tease,” she said. “It’s just such a shock. I thought never to see you again.” And then she flung her arms around his neck, still sobbing with emotion. Luke let her sob, a bemused expression on his face.
They might have sat there forever, Thaddeus thought, if Francis hadn’t appeared at the door. “Sophie’s put the kettle on,” he said. “I’m assuming you’d like this gentleman to come in and sit down?”
Luke stood, and then helped his mother rise, holding her arm carefully as she mounted the steps. She swatted at him. “I know I’m old, but I’m not entirely decrepit yet,” she said. “You don’t have to treat me like I’m porcelain.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Luke replied meekly, and Thaddeus laughed. Their son dwarfed his mother, but it was obvious that she still held the whip hand.
She led the way to the kitchen, motioned for Luke to sit down, and hurriedly set a cup of tea in front of him. Then she hobbled over to the stove where Sophie was dishing up the noon dinner. It was Saturday and they currently had eight guests staying over the weekend and another couple who had arrived just for a meal, but they had long since established an efficient routine. Thaddeus, helped by Francis and Martha, scurried back and forth to the dining room, while Betsy helped Sophie with the last-minute sauces and garnishes. That left Luke alone at the table,
and Thaddeus could see that he was wide-eyed at the bustle around him.
The flow of the traffic changed as leftovers were brought back to the kitchen, used plates taken to the sink room, and dessert delivered to the tables. Thaddeus was the first to sit down beside Luke. He helped himself to a cup from the teapot in front of him.
“We’ll have our dinner when the others are done,” he said.
“Is it always like this?” Luke asked.
“Like what?”
“Are mealtimes always this hectic?”
“Oh, this? This is nothing.”
“I must admit, I never thought to see my father wait at table.”
Betsy joined them. “Oh, he’s got quite good at it, hasn’t he?”
Just then an older woman hobbled in from the sink room.
“Well, hello to you, young sir,” she said.
“Eliza, this is my youngest son, Luke. Luke, this is Eliza Carr, Sophie’s mother. And, of course, Sophie is the genius over there by the stove.”
Sophie turned then and smiled at her mother, displaying two extraordinary dimples. Her glance took in Luke as well, a friendly welcome for unexpected family.
“It’s actually Mrs. Carr who has bought the hotel, although Francis and Sophie run it,” Betsy explained. “It’s nice that we’ve all been able to more or less throw in together.”
“Uncle Daniel has gone back to farming then?” Luke asked. It had been Daniel and his wife Susannah who had owned the hotel when the Lewises had moved to Wellington.
“Oh yes. Daniel decided that he wasn’t cut out to be an innkeeper, and I think Susannah was quite relieved, since so much of the work seemed to fall to her. Sophie’s a natural though, and it was fortunate that Mrs. Carr came into money just when Daniel wanted to get out. It allowed Francis and Sophie to marry, and it’s provided a home for us all.”
The dining room service had been completed, and now Francis and Martha returned to the kitchen and plunked themselves down close to Luke. Everyone had a question for him, and each was asked before Luke had time to provide an answer to the last.
“Wait, wait, wait, one at a time,” Thaddeus ordered, and then promptly jumped in first with his own comment: “Why didn’t you let us know you were coming? It’s a wonder your mother didn’t expire on the spot with the shock of it.”
“I wasn’t sure when I was going to get here,” Luke replied. “I stayed to help Moses until after the spring planting, and of course that always depends on the weather. By the time I realized it was time to go, it was too late to write. The letter would have arrived long after I did. Besides, don’t you like surprises?”
“Tell me about the children,” Betsy demanded. “They must be nearly grown by now.” It was a constant source of grief to her that she had no chance to see her other grandchildren.
“They’re noisy,” Luke said. “And mischievous.”
“And how is farming in the west? Is it as good as they say?” Thaddeus asked.
“Better,” Luke replied, “once you get the land cleared. The chopping is hard, but the wheat practically jumps out of the ground once it’s sown. Wheat and potash, those have been the cash crops.”
“Who are you?” Ten-year-old Martha finally found an opportunity to break into the conversation.
“This is your Uncle Luke,” Thaddeus replied. “We’ve told you about your uncles who went west. Now this one, at least, has come back home. Do you remember him?”
She didn’t. She had been too small when they left. “Hello,” she said. “I’m Martha.”
“I know,” Luke said. “I figured you had to be, but I wouldn’t have recognized you. I remember you being very small, but now you’re all grown up.”
Martha beamed. “You look like Grandpa.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” Betsy said. “He’s a tall, dark stranger.”
Sophie began dishing up the family meal, setting heaping bowls of early potatoes and snap beans in front of them, followed by a platter of fried chicken and a basket of crusty bread. Finally, when all of the food was on the table, she took her place beside Francis and waited expectantly for Thaddeus to say grace.
Luke
