Family of Convenience by Victoria W. Austin

Author:Victoria W. Austin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Things I’m grateful for today:

Genie calling me Mama

Caty asking me to do her hair like I do mine

Millie looked at the list and fought the urge to rip the page out of her notebook. Specifically identifying the good things in her life still felt dangerous. As if by putting all the things that gave her joy down on paper she would somehow lose them all. When she had mumbled her concern to Edith, the woman had completely shocked her by understanding.

“Me, too. It took me a long time to put people on my list. But, God knows what is in your heart. He knows the real list. And He’s not a God who takes away the things people care about most for fun. I might not know why things happen the way they do, but I believe He has a reason.”

Two weeks had passed since then. Two weeks full of time with her children. Adam finishing the cradle. Him teaching her how to ride a horse. Two weeks of wonder.

How could Millie list the good things in her life and not list people? The list was a lie without them.

The last two weeks had also been filled with watching the crops droop. Wither. Start to turn from green to a sickly brown. Even though she wasn’t an expert, Millie knew the poor plants were all but screaming signs of distress. And yet they still lived. Adam’s estimate of them making it only a couple of weeks without rain had been wrong. They were definitely dying, but weren’t dead. Yet.

Millie closed her notebook and set it aside when she heard Adam go into the barn. “Caty. Genie. Daddy’s home. Clean up your toys and help me set the table for supper, please.”

The children did as she asked, and the table was set and ready by the time Adam came inside.

“Hello, Beale Family. How are you all on this fine day?” Adam was obviously trying for a light mood, but he looked tired. And filthy.

“Daddy, you need a bath.” Caty’s voice was serious as ever as she looked at her father’s clothes. Clothes that had been colors other than brown when he’d left the house early this morning.

“A bath? What are you talking about, Caty-girl? I’m clean as a whistle.”

“No, Daddy.”

Adam’s eyes looked big and white in his dirt-caked face. Had he rolled around in mud today? “Well, lucky for me today is not bath day. Saved again.”

Caty crossed her arms, looking at her dad with narrowed eyes. And, unlike her brother who had run up for a hug, Caty kept her distance from the dirt and grime. “Mama says you have to take a bath when you’re dirty, even if you just had a bath.”

This was only a few days old. Though Caty was not calling Millie Mama to her face, she had started referring to Millie as Mama when talking about her to other people. Millie and Adam were trying to not make a big deal out of it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.