“I know. We’ll be there after church for sure.”
“And don’t forget, Terry and Judd usually take your kids in, so they’ll need to pick them up here. You’re going to need to let them know that they need to stop by with the horse and wagon.”
“Are they doing that again already?”
“They are. They would have started last week, but one of the horses needed a shoe.”
“I see. I’ll text him right now.” He pulled his phone out while his mom said, “I’m going to head out. I know Isadora’s children are going to be going down for naps soon, and I usually try to give her a hand.”
“All right. You know you’re welcome to come here anytime you want to to get away from all the noise and hubbub if you need to. And to use my awesome kitchen.”
His mom smiled and looked around once more as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “It’s a beautiful house. And the kitchen really is awesome. Larissa is going to enjoy it.”
“I know she will. And if you hear that anyone has any horses for sale, I’m in the market for a couple of good, calm horses for the kids.”
“I’ll keep an ear out,” his mom said, then she waved and headed out the door.
He felt strangely lonely after she left. The house was so big, and… He hadn’t really felt alone, not even after Desire died. He’d always been with his family, his sisters and their husbands coming in and out at his mom’s house, as well as his brothers, and there was just always something going on. Of course, he was spending so much time rebuilding his business too, and now… He felt lonely.
“Can I have the bedroom with the blue walls?” Robert asked as he came running downstairs.
“You sure can,” he said. “As long as no one else wants it. If someone else does, we’ll have to flip for it or something.”
“We’re all going to get different rooms. So, are we allowed to pick what we want?”
“Yeah. I want the one at the end of the hall. Is that one open?”
“Why do you want one? It doesn’t have a bathroom with it?” Lucas asked Robert.
“If you have a room with a bathroom, you know you’re going to have to clean it, right?”
“Okay. I know how to clean bathrooms. Grandma taught me.”
Another thing he should thank his mom for. He nodded, and then the kids went tearing back upstairs. He was going to have to go to the store and grab linens, and he probably ought to try to figure out what size the beds were. But first, he wandered into the kitchen.
It looked a lot more dreary without the plants. Maybe he’d have to try to find some, although he’d never been verygood at keeping anything alive. Not like Summer obviously was. Maybe he could ask her what kind of plants grew well there, but… Where would he ever find her to ask?
Lord? Did I get ahead of You somehow? Is this really what I was supposed to do?
He knew now was not the time to start questioning it. He should have asked for God’s direction back when he was buying the farm, but he’d been so sure everything was falling into place that it hadn’t really occurred to him to check and make sure that God was in it.
Not that he would have been able to tell if He wasn’t. It just seemed so perfect, it almost had to come from the Lord.
The feeling would pass, and he would settle down and be content here, as would his children. He was sure of it.
Chapter Eleven
“Thanks so much for letting me work here. I am not sure what to do, and it’s nice to just have a place to stay. I promise I’m not going to be here forever.” Summer spoke to Sunny, who had agreed to allow her to work in her bakeshop and live above it for a time, until she could figure out what to do.
“I’m always looking for good, reliable help. And someone who lives in my place where I can beat the door down and yank her out of bed if she’s late for work is my idea of an ideal employee,” Sunny said with a grin.
Summer laughed. One of the benefits of living with Sunny was she got to listen to her practice, which she had done the last two nights. Today, Monday morning, she started her new job at the bakery. She wasn’t cooking anything, thankfully, since she was a terrible cook, but she was responsible for running the cash register and making sure that the display case stayed stocked, as well as filling orders as they came in, either online or over the phone.
It wouldn’t be too hard. There were a few tables where people could sit and enjoy the goodies that they had bought, and she was responsible for keeping them cleaned and wiped as well.
Nothing difficult, nothing that would be taxing for her brain, and it would give her plenty of time to think.
Not that that was necessarily a good thing, but at least she didn’t worry about messing anything up. And she had a soft place to land until she figured out what she was going to do next. She had sent her resume to a few places that were looking for a therapist to add to their practice, and she had scheduled several appointments to go and look at office space in Harrisonburg.
