everyone sit down.” Sadie motioned toward the chairs.
He perched on the stool. Sadie ended up kitty-corner to his right. Beth sat across from him, sliding her chair as far to his left as possible, likely so she could be close to Jeannie, who sat at the other end. That left Sammy to sit next to him.
Logan was relieved when the boy grinned at him as he took his place. “Us men got to stick together,” Sammy said with a great show of expanding of his chest.
Beth ducked her head but not before Logan caught the smile on her face.
He only wished she’d looked at him long enough to see his answering smile. He turned to Sammy. “We sure do.” He was about to pat the boy on the back when he remembered how he’d flinched and settled for squeezing his arm.
“’Course, I am the man of the family now,” Sammy boasted.
Beth’s head came up, her eyes wide with shock. The same sense of shock raced through Logan and he looked to Sadie. Her eyes narrowed, her lips tightened. She’d heard the boy and, like Logan, wondered what he meant. It was surely a slip of the tongue.
“While your father’s away?” Logan prompted.
“Yeah. That’s right.” Sammy studied his plate, then gave the pot of stew a longing look. “Sure smells good. Makes my taste buds work really hard.”
Sadie blinked away her shock and curiosity. “Shall we eat before it gets cold? Logan, would you say grace?”
Logan nodded and looked about the table for the children to bow their heads.
Sammy and Jeannie did so quickly. Beth, however, held his gaze for a moment. He couldn’t read her expression. She was far too good at hiding her feelings. But he sensed something challenging in her look before she clasped her hands and bowed her head.
He bowed his head and gathered his thoughts. “Lord God, thank You for family to share the plenty You have provided. Thank You for the food to bless our bodies and Your love to bless our souls. Amen.”
He lifted his head and turned toward Sadie to help her serve the meal. His gaze brushed past Beth and then jerked back at the glisten of tears in her eyes. “Beth, is something wrong?”
What a silly question. There were so many things wrong. Her mother dead. Her father missing. And now being shuffled off to live with strangers. “I mean did I say something, do something, to upset you?”
She shook her head, blinking her eyes until all sign of tears disappeared. “No. I just remembered something. Nothing important.”
Sammy handed his plate to Sadie to fill it with stew. “You remembered—ow. Why’d you kick me?”
“Sorry. It was an accident.”
Logan looked from brother to sister and back again. It had been no accident. Beth meant to stop Sammy from saying something. But what? No point in asking. The children weren’t about to tell them anything. He took Beth’s plate and handed it to Sadie to fill, and then Jeannie’s and Sammy’s. Last, he handed his to Sadie.
Their gazes connected and held as a dozen thoughts blazed through his mind that he wished he could share with her. She lowered her eyelids enough for him to know she had the same questions he did. He gave a slight lift of one shoulder and she raised her brows in acknowledgment. They would do their best to discover the truth about this family, but if the way the children withdrew was any indication of how reluctantly they’d give answers, it wasn’t going to be easy.
The children each took a slice of bread and turned their attention to the meal, eating quietly and neatly, their silence such a marked contrast to mealtimes at the ranch that Logan wasn’t comfortable. He much preferred the noisy interaction of people talking.
Jeannie had stopped eating after one mouthful and Beth took Jeannie’s spoon and offered her some stew. Jeannie opened her mouth, leaned forward and cleaned off the spoon.
“Beth?” Jeannie said, as soon as she could speak around the food.
“What?”
Jeannie leaned closer to whisper to Beth. “He’s not like the man.”
“Hush. Eat your supper.”
This time Logan let his gaze roam from one child to another, then to Sadie. When he saw the uncertainty in her eyes, he turned back to Jeannie. “What man is that, little one?”
Beth pressed a restraining hand to Jeannie’s arm. “Don’t talk. Just eat your meal.”
Jeannie studied her sister for a moment, then nodded and concentrated on her food. But every few seconds her gaze would jerk to Logan. As soon as she saw he watched her, she quickly ducked her head.
There were far too many mysteries surrounding this family. Logan would begin looking for their father tomorrow morning and allow the man to answer the questions racing through his mind.
They finished the stew and Sadie cut the remaining cake to give everyone a piece.
Jeannie had two mouthfuls left when she started to whimper.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Sadie asked.
The child’s whimpers turned to wails.
Beth rose. “I’m sorry. She’s tired.”
Logan rose, too. “Do you want me to carry you to the bedroom?” He reached for her. Her wails turned to screams and he backed away. “I’m sorry. I should have thought.” Of course she was frightened. He was a stranger.
Beth scooped her up and took her away, closing the bedroom door behind them. She could be heard murmuring softly to the distraught child.
“She always does this,” Sammy said. “Ma used to say she ran out of sweet before she ran out of day.”
The crying moderated and, after a few minutes, ended. Beth sang a soothing song. Logan couldn’t make out the words.
Sadie rose and began to clean up the kitchen.
Logan looked about. Should he go or should he stay? Was he welcome? Or was he part of the problem? He didn’t know and wasn’t about to ask. Instead, he followed his instincts and carried a stack of dishes to the dishpan and filled it with hot water.
“You don’t have to do that,” Sadie protested.
“I know I don’t, but my ma taught me to do my share.”
She put away the butter. “I can’t see the men doing dishes on a busy ranch. Don’t they rush in to eat and leave again as soon as the food is gone?”
Sammy carried the cups they’d used for water and stopped halfway to the cupboard to watch and listen.
Logan grinned at him. “Hey, us men can do dishes as well as we can rope a cow. Right, partner?”
Sammy gave Logan a look of disgust. “Dishes is women’s work. And the sooner they learn that the better for ’em.” He put the cups down and whacked one fist into the other palm.
A
