She laughed. “They didn’t say that when I was a child. Believe me.”
“You weren’t always happy as a child?”
She shook her head, taking his hand and pulling him to the parlor with her where they could sit and talk. Her feet hurt from all the hours she’d worn shoes, and she couldn’t wait to take them off.
“In my town, they called my brothers and sisters and me the ‘demon horde’ because we were always playing tricks on people. Or doing other things no one approved of.”
His eyes widened. “Like what?”
“Oh, the usual. Snakes in the teacher’s desk. Tying a rope to the back of the outhouse, and when she goes inside, pulling the building over. Frogs were a favorite. I remember one time we caught one hundred frogs. I know because it was my job to keep count of them all. And we set them loose in the schoolhouse just before it was time for school to start. My sister lured Miss Allen out the front of the school with a question and we went in the back. When the teacher rang the school bell, it was absolute pandemonium. The girls screamed. The teacher screamed. I think I even screamed for good measure!”
Thomas’s eyes widened, but he laughed softly. “Why did you do things like that?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I was one of the youngest, remember? My family already had a reputation by the time I came along, and I just helped perpetuate it.”
He shook his head. “Remind me not to let you teach our children about playing pranks.”
She laughed. “If they’re anything like my family, they’ll be born playing tricks on people. We used to throw rotten apples at people who drove by our farm. Sometimes from the apple trees. We were not well-liked.”
“I should think not!” he said, shaking his head. “Oh, I worry about our future children now!”
“Oh, you can wait until I’m expecting to start worrying about them. I don’t mind.”
He chuckled as she leaned down and took her shoes off, wiggling her toes. “Are you going to make my children wear shoes at least?”
“To church!” she said, winking at him. “I can just see them all in little banker’s suits and no shoes. Won’t they be adorable?”
He sighed. “I have a feeling we’re not going to agree about child rearing.”
