no, they were just hungry. Now that they’re eating, they seem content and happy.”
The front door opened and closed in the sitting room. A voice called out, “Emily Jane, I’m home.”
This must be the Anna Mae that Miss Rodgers had mentioned.
“I’m in the kitchen,” Miss Rodgers called back. She offered him a smile. “I’m sorry for the yelling, but if I don’t answer she will think it strange.”
He grinned back. “So the yelling back and forth is normal?”
“It’s become a part of our routine.” A slight blush filled her cheeks, and he wondered why.
“You would not believe my day.” The woman called Anna Mae stopped abruptly, her gaze taking in the scene at the table.
Light brown hair, piled on the top of her head in a bun, and big brown eyes made Anna Mae Leland look plain next to Emily Jane. At least, that was William’s first impression of her. She wore a simple gray dress, dusty brown shoes and a beige apron. He wondered if she dressed like that as a way to hide or become invisible to those around her.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we had company.” Her brow crinkled, and then she looked at the two girls. A smile replaced the scowl. “Who are these darling ladies?” she cooed.
The little children smiled happily in return and kicked their legs back and forth. Who wouldn’t smile at someone whose tone of voice had gone from normal to doting?
Miss Rodgers introduced them. “Anna Mae Leland, this is William Barns, Mabel’s grandson, and his daughters, Rose and Ruby.”
William stood and shook the hand Anna Mae extended toward him. His hand engulfed her smaller one.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Leland, but I have to correct Miss Rodgers. Rose and Ruby are my nieces, not my daughters.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I assumed they were yours.” Her voice drifted off as if caught in a high wind.
“Nothing to be sorry about, Miss Rodgers. It was an understandable mistake,” William assured her, returning to his seat.
Both ladies were seated and, after a short grace, began filling the girls’ plates with soft food. Mixed emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or offended at this liberty. He’d been the only caretaker of the girls since their mother had been killed. To suddenly relinquish that duty left him floundering, a bit as if he’d lost something precious. He shook his head. What on earth was wrong with him? This was what he’d needed his grandmother’s help with. It was as simple as that.
William then filled his plate. As he sank his teeth into the first bite, he closed his eyes in pure pleasure. “Ummmmm,” he all but groaned. He hadn’t tasted fried chicken this good in... He didn’t know how long. “You are a wonderful cook, Miss Rodgers,” he praised.
“Thank you.”
Miss Leland wiped Ruby’s mouth and then said, “Wait until you taste dessert. Emily Jane is the best baker in these parts.”
William watched Emily Jane finger a loose tendril of hair on her cheek as if embarrassed at her friend’s praise.
“Thanks, Anna Mae.” Her voice was smooth but insistent. “But we both know that isn’t true. Violet is the real baker. I still have lots to learn from her before I can ever open my own bakery.”
So she wanted to open her own bakery. Which to his way of thinking meant she wasn’t lazy. Good for her. His sister had been a hard worker with dreams of her own, also. Too bad her life had ended before she’d had a chance to realize them.
William listened to the women talk. His gaze moved to his nieces, who were making a mess of their dinners but were so happy he didn’t have the heart to make them stop. He was surprised that neither Miss Rodgers nor Miss Leland asked him questions regarding the girls and the lack of their mother and father.
In the short time since he’d arrived in Granite, Texas, he’d learned that Anna Mae Leland was the schoolteacher who loved children and that Emily Jane Rodgers was a friend of his grandmother’s and an aspiring baker. Yet, neither knew much about him, which to his way of thinking wasn’t all bad.
The last thing he needed was for either of them to start looking at him as an eligible bachelor. Since Charlotte’s rejection, he had no interest in women. His focus would be on the girls until their father returned. They were his sole concern now.
“Will you be staying long in Granite, Mr. Barns?” Miss Leland asked.
William rubbed his chin. “I guess that depends on what the banker says about the house and if I can find a job.”
Miss Leland nodded as if she understood. “Well, you might talk to Mr. Moore over at the general store. His wife just had their first child, and I hear he’s looking to hire someone.”
Working at the general store wouldn’t be so bad, at least until his money arrived at the bank. Selling the mercantile in Denver had made him a wealthy man, but until the money arrived he’d need to work. Not that he wouldn’t work after the money came in. It wasn’t in his nature to be lazy and watch others labor. “Thank you, Miss Leland. If all goes well at the bank tomorrow, I’ll stop by the general store.”
Rose and Ruby chose that moment to let everyone know they were done eating and ready to move to another activity. Their cries filled the house and had both women jumping to pick them up.
“I need to get these two down for the night.” William reached for Rose.
Miss Rodgers caught his attention. “Where?”
“I’ll take them to my grandmother’s house. Her bedroom isn’t that bad.” He hoped she didn’t think he was yelling at her. The girls’ cries were so loud that he had to raise his voice to be heard.
She shook her head. “It’s too dusty for them there.”
Before he could respond, both women handed him a little girl.
“Try to comfort them. We’ll be back in a little while. Between the two of us, we’ll have the house livable in no time,” Miss Leland instructed him as the two ladies walked out of the kitchen.
William hurried after them. The screaming children seemed unaware of the noise they were making. “I can’t let you do that,” he protested.
“It’s no trouble at all,” Miss Rodgers called over her shoulder as they left the house.
He continued after them, aware of several older women looking out their windows or standing on their porches. Instead of protesting further, William hurried across the road to his grandmother’s house. I’ll be glad when I get control of my life once more, he thought as the children howled and the women charged onward, on a mission to clean his grandmother’s home. He hurried into the house behind them, then stopped abruptly and sneezed; not once, not twice, but three times in a row. Dust particles swirled so thick he could hardly see the ladies jerking covers off the furniture. Then the twins sneezed. “I think we’ll just sit out on the porch awhile,” he muttered to himself, since the ladies paid him absolutely no attention.
*
