The Ultimatum Bride by Leah Atwood

Author:Leah Atwood [Atwood, Leah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-03-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Jesse rounded the corner and entered the barn, looking for his father. Spotting him in a stall, he walked to where Pa stood. “How is Mollie doing?” The mare had belonged to his ma, but her advanced years were beginning to show.

“Not very well. I don’t expect her to be around much longer, but she’s had a good and long life.” If Jesse didn’t know his Pa so well, he probably would have missed the fleck of sadness that shaded his eyes.

“We all learned to ride on her. Things won’t be the same without her.”

A moment of reflective silence filled the space between them. They didn’t always see eye to eye, but they were father and son. Consistently through the changing course of time, that relationship would always be a constant.

“There’s something I need to speak with you about, Pa.” He leaned against the barn wall, loosely crossing his arms over his chest.

“Marital advice?” George West asked with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

“In a roundabout way. Faith is having trouble feeling like she belongs. There’s no work for her to do in the house because Marta takes care of it all. I know it sounds strange because there’s always work to be done, but Marta’s been here so long, she has a system. Faith has tried to help, but Marta sends her away. I’m sure Marta thinks she is being kind, not allowing Faith to help, but it has the opposite effect.”

“Faith is a good woman. Much of her personality reminds me of your mother—there was nothing that could keep that woman idle.”

“She does remind me a lot of Ma. Do you have any suggestions to appease Faith without offending Marta?”

“Actually, Son, yes I do. I was going to have a talk with you later about it. When your sisters were here last week, Ellen confided to Marta that she is expecting. Some women have a difficult time while they’re with child, and you know how delicate Ellen is. Edwin approached me after church yesterday with his own worries about Ellen. Marta and I spoke, and we agreed that she would stay in town with Ellen until the baby arrives, helping out with the household duties. By autumn, when the baby arrives, your and Faith’s house should be completed.”

“My baby sister is going to be a mother.” The notion was hard to comprehend. To him, Ellen would always be a little girl chasing behind him.

“It’s more difficult to believe I’ll be a grandpa again. Your Ma would have been so proud of each of you.”

Jesse swallowed hard, fighting the lump of sentiment lodged in his throat. Poignant moments such as these were rare between him and Pa. This was the closest his father ever came to showing approval to him.

“Even you, son.”

The sentimentality between the two men proved too much. Pa reached out and tousled Jesse’s hair, like he would to a small child. Jesse picked up a pail of oats from the floor.

“Who still needs to be fed?”

“Just Mollie.

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