Minding the Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Author:Suzanne Woods Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance;Young women—Fiction;Mate selection—Fiction;Quakers—Fiction;Christian fiction;FIC042040;FIC042030;FIC027050
ISBN: 9781493413911
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-05-09T16:00:00+00:00

Daphne arrived so early that no light was on in the keeping room of Centre Street yet. She knocked gently on the door until Ren opened it, a surprised look on his sleepy face. “I’m so sorry, Ren. I tried to leave yesterday afternoon, but Mother, she . . . she shanghaied me. I couldn’t break away.”

“No need to apologize.” He backed away from the door to let her in. “It worked out rather well.”

Oh. Daphne felt a tinge of disappointment, though she wasn’t sure why.

“It’s you I have to thank, Daphne. You pointed out to me what was needed.” Ren fanned the flames of the fire and set the teakettle on the trammel. “Look how self-sufficient I’ve become. Soon I won’t need you or Patience.”

Another tweak of disappointment. “Where is Patience?”

“Today is Saturday. Her day off.” He poured her a cup of tea. “The very day, I’ve been told, that you promised to take the children clamming.”

Daphne bit her lip. How kerfuffling! She thought it was only Sixth Day. She thought the children would arrive in an hour’s time for the day’s Cent School. She felt a rosy bloom creep up her cheeks. She’d woken Ren up for no good reason. She thought of telling him about the conversation she’d just had with Tristram, that they were now officially betrothed, but something held her back. She would let Tristram tell him. “I’d told Henry and Hitty that I would take them clamming over in the salt marsh during low tide on Seventh Day.”

Ren took a pitcher off the shelf, filled the tea into the small, screened scoop, and poured boiling water over the filter. He waited patiently—as long as he could—before pouring the tea into two china cups. Clearly pleased with himself, he handed Daphne a cup of hot, pale-colored tea. “I’ve had a serious hankering for clam chowder lately. Might anyone object if I tagged along?”

Daphne sipped her tea to hide her smile. The tea tasted like hot water, but her disappointment in the day vanished like the steam rising from her cup. “I think not.”

Ren found clamming rakes in the yard, and after a hurried breakfast of bread and soft-boiled eggs, the four of them walked over to the marsh. Salt breezes swept across the sand, carrying the fragrance of bayberries and beach plums. Henry and Hitty set right to work. They pulled off their shoes and stockings, and ran down to the water’s edge to start digging. Ren set them up with buckets, and showed them how to find clams: as soon as the undertow pulled a wave back, revealing a soft sand, dig when a bubbling hole emerged. Clams!

Daphne stayed a few rods distance, holding a clamming rake, watching them. Something had changed between Ren and his children. Or was starting to change? Whenever, whatever, it pleased her to see their comfort grow with each other.

Ren walked back toward her and plopped down on the sand. He scooped sand in his hand and let it fall.

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.