Winter Kisses by Beth Wiseman

Author:Beth Wiseman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2017-07-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Barbara and Ruth cleared the breakfast dishes, the same way they’d done the past four days, while Eli went with Naomi to feed the chickens and milk the goats. Naomi had a new bounce in her step. Barbara had prayed Naomi would open her heart to the possibility of love, but now she worried what would happen when Eli had to go back home.

Jethro and Wayne left shortly after breakfast, and each day after they were gone, Barbara felt a wave of relief meld with a surge of disappointment. When she closed her eyes at night, she could almost feel Wayne’s lips on hers. But such desire was wrong, and Barbara was doing her best to forget what almost happened, even though the entire scene replayed in her mind all day long, especially during breakfasts and suppers.

Ruth stashed the jams and jellies in the refrigerator. “Jethro likes banana nut bread, so I made him a loaf early this morning.” She went to the far corner of the kitchen counter and picked up a bread pan covered with foil. “I’m going to take this to him shortly.”

Barbara wiped her hands on the kitchen towel, scowling. “If he likes it so much, why didn’t you offer it for everyone to enjoy this morning?”

Ruth’s glasses fell off as she set the bread on the kitchen table. She scooped them up and quickly put them back on her nose, the glasses promptly sliding down as usual. Barbara rolled her eyes but stayed quiet.

“I forgot about the bread.” Ruth smiled as she moved toward the door.

“The poor man hasn’t been gone ten minutes. Do you really need to deliver it now? You can give it to him tonight at supper if you really made it especially for him.”

“Unlike you, Barbara, I’m not on a schedule. And I can come and go whenever I choose. You are not—”

“Don’t say it! Do not tell me one more time that I’m not the boss of you! If anyone tells you what to do, you say that.”

Ruth glared at Barbara. “Nee, I don’t say that when anyone tells me what to do, only you.” She huffed and marched out the door.

Barbara knew that wasn’t true, but as she leaned against the kitchen counter, she wondered when things had become so tense between her and Ruth. They were so different, but Barbara could still see her mother-in-law’s face the day Ruth’s husband passed. And she saw it again the day her son left this earth. The pain wasn’t something Barbara could put into words, and she didn’t have to. She’d felt it, along with Ruth, both times. She’d loved her husband very much, but she’d also loved her father-in-law. It was something she and Ruth had in common—maybe the only thing—their immeasurable grief. And Naomi had picked up on the shared misery, adding her own to the mix, until they’d become three old maids living under one roof for longer than any of them expected.

Barbara was lost in her thoughts when she heard the door in the living room open and shut.

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