Boot steps clacked against the wood floor. Then Mr. Barns handed her a leather pouch that resembled a saddlebag. “Shew wee is right.” His warm voice brought a grin to the child’s face. Emily experienced an unusual feeling in the pit of her stomach. What would it feel like to have someone’s happiness within your power? She’d probably never know since she had chosen another direction for her life. One where she decided which path to take instead of a man doing it for her.
Emily Jane took the bag and found the clean diapers. As soon as she got the cloth pinned into place, she handed the first little girl over to Mr. Barns and took the second child.
“Thank you, miss, but you really don’t have to do that.” He moved as if to change places with her.
“I don’t mind,” Emily Jane answered as she proceeded to change the second child. The big man hobbled about the room. He touched the fireplace mantel and sighed. She wondered what had happened to his ankle but didn’t think it was her place to ask. As soon as the second child was diapered, Emily Jane stood.
“Did Grandmother sell this house to you?” he asked. His voice broke, and he turned his face away.
Emily Jane shook her head. “No, a few days before her passing, she gave me a key and told me that if any of her kin should show up to let them in. I suppose she was worried you’d arrive after bank hours and wouldn’t be able to get the extra key from the bank and so therefore wouldn’t be able to get into the house.”
Confusion furrowed the skin of his brow. “Does the bank own the house?”
“I’m not sure. All I know is what she told me. That Doc had done all he could for her and to give you the house key. Oh, and she also instructed me to tell you that you need to go to Mr. Fergus at the bank and tell him you are her kin. He has further information as to what is to become of this place.” Emily Jane knew her words were rushed, but she hadn’t expected a handsome man with two small children to be the “kin” that Mrs. Barns had predicted would come.
Mr. Barns frowned and voiced his thoughts. “How did Grandmother figure I was coming? There was no way she could have known. I didn’t even know myself until a short time ago.”
Emily Jane shrugged. “I’m not sure if she knew which of her grandchildren would arrive. She sent a letter off, but I don’t know to whom. I assumed, since you are here, it was you.”
He shook his head. “Maybe her letter was one of the letters that Mary dropped on the day she died. The wind blew several letters away, but in all the ruckus no one heeded them.”
The soft words were spoken as if he were talking to himself. Emily Jane was pretty sure he wasn’t speaking to her. His blue eyes were focused in the past as if he’d forgotten she and the little girls were in the room. But now she knew the little girls’ mother’s name and that she’d recently died.
Not willing to be ignored, both of the children began to whine and fret once more.
He seemed to snap out of the memories and return to them. His voice sounded tired and hopeless as he said, “They are hungry. I was hoping Grandmother would be able to feed them and help me get them ready for bed.”
Emily Jane looked about the house. It wasn’t fit for children, at least not without a good cleaning. She sighed as her motherly instincts took over. Being the oldest of twelve, Emily Jane was used to helping her mother by taking matters into her own hands, while her father took care of business. “Let’s go over to my house, and I’ll find them something to eat.” She didn’t wait for his answer, simply scooped the child off the couch and headed to the door.
She heard him follow and decided to have a quiet talk with herself regarding the Barns family. It was her Christian duty to help him get settled into their house. After that, William Barns and his girls were on their own. She didn’t have time for children, and no matter how much he might need a wife, she did not need a husband. Emily Jane glanced back at him. William Barns was a handsome man; he’d find a woman to marry soon and it wouldn’t be her.
The last thing Emily Jane wanted was to get married, especially to a man who already had two children. She didn’t want children. After helping her parents with eleven brothers and sisters, Emily Jane had had enough of kids to last her a lifetime. Plus, she also didn’t want a controlling man in her life. She’d had twenty-three years of her father controlling her and her mother. No, sir, Emily Jane Rodgers wasn’t going to allow a man to control her again. She had bigger plans for her life. Someday she’d open her own bakery and be able to support herself. She’d own her home and be able to buy new things instead of having to wear hand-me-downs, supplied by the local church ladies.
Emily Jane opened the door to the house that she shared with Anna Mae Leland. Anna Mae was the local schoolteacher. They’d met when they’d both answered Levi Westland’s mail-order-bride advertisement. Well, Anna Mae had willingly answered it; she, on the other hand, had been forced to answer it by her father. He’d decided twelve children were too many to feed, and Emily Jane was the oldest and the one he could get rid of the easiest. It hurt that her father and mother had so easily sent her away, to a man she’d never met in a place she’d never been. How could a parent do that to a child, especially their firstborn? Emily Jane didn’t plan to have children, but if she did, they would be loved unconditionally; that much she knew for sure.
The screen door shut behind him as Mr. Barns followed her inside the house. Emily Jane led him to the kitchen. She set the child she held on the braided rug beside the table, walked over to the cabinet and scooped up two empty pans and two large metal spoons. “Please, have a seat, Mr. Barns, and I’ll have dinner ready in just a few moments.” Emily Jane handed the little girl on the floor a spoon and placed one of the pans down in front of her. That would keep the child busy for a few minutes. She motioned for Mr. Barns to set his bundle of joy down beside her sister.
He did so with a sigh and a smile that said thank you.
Emily Jane nodded and then handed the second little girl the other spoon and pan. She’d have to stop thinking of them as little girls and ask what their names were. While he pulled out a kitchen chair, she turned to the stove.
Again, she had something to be thankful for. Emily Jane had already fried up chicken, made mashed potatoes and warmed up a jar of green beans just before she’d seen him and the girls arrive. She expected Anna Mae to arrive home from school any minute now.
And then what? He couldn’t stay in the dusty house tonight, and he couldn’t stay here.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. His deep blue gaze met hers. Emily Jane could get lost in the depths of his needs. She could...but she would not. She simply couldn’t allow that to happen.
The girls banged happily on the pans. The noise filled the room and prevented the need for polite conversation. Emily Jane didn’t want to enjoy the sound of children playing, but deep down she did. She also didn’t want to be aware of the man sitting at her kitchen table. But she was. They reminded her of home and all that she’d lost when she’d answered Levi Westland’s mail-order-bride ad all those months ago.
Would she be able to ignore the man and children in her kitchen? Had things just changed in her life? If so, how was she going to distance herself from the handsome man and his beautiful girls?
“Thank you for the offer of supper. I’ll
