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“I’ll bring a few loaves of bread,” Ada said. “Will that help?”
“Now it sounds easy,” Charlotte said. “We’ll cook all day, won’t we, Walt?”
Walt nodded. As far as Earl could tell, he wasn’t shy. He just didn’t speak. It was odd.
The pastor stood up then and told them which hymn to sing, and everyone took their seats. It was going to be a good day. Earl was certain of it.
Chapter Six
Charlotte spent the afternoon cooking and cleaning her home. She’d planned to take Sundays off now that Earl was there, but he insisted on starting to put in the garden, even though it was still below freezing at night.
While he plowed, Walt walked along beside him, one hand on the plow to help with the workload. Every time Charlotte looked out the window, she could see a huge grin on her son’s face, and finally, she stopped where she was and said a quick prayer to thank God for sending Earl into her life. He was a godsend in the truest sense of the word.
She took out cold water a few times, making sure they both were able to drink as much as they wanted. Baking cookies seemed to be a good thing, and she called them in a couple of hours before supper to serve them their treats along with big glasses of milk.
Walt looked to be in his element. He had become Earl’s shadow, and surprisingly, Earl was even more patient with the boy than Howard had been. She was starting to think Earl was perfect, but then she remembered that he’d been known as a member of the demon horde. It made her smile to think of him misbehaving as he readily admitted he had.
By supper time, Walt could barely keep his eyes open. It wasn’t that Earl had let him do any truly difficult work, but that he wasn’t used to hurrying around and “helping” as much as he was. Even when she’d taken him on the range, she’d made sure Walt didn’t do too much. Earl seemed to think it was fine to push the boy past his comfort zone, and Charlotte was pleased to see her son doing so well.
As they sat down, Earl said, “Don’t go falling asleep now, Walt. I still need your help with the milking.”
Walt nodded, but he seemed to be fighting to keep his eyes open. Charlotte knew he would sleep late into the day on Monday, but that wasn’t a bad thing as far as she was concerned.
She’d simply served what was left of the chicken and dumplings from the night before, and Walt had been as eager to eat them again as he had the first time.
“What do you think I should cook for this supper party you have planned?”
Earl shrugged. “I have no idea. I think I’m going to smoke some beef, so if you want to do potatoes and green beans or something, that would be perfect. I know the other ladies will handle the bread and dessert, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“In all the years I was married to Howard, he never once invited anyone to have supper with us. I always wondered if he was a little bit ashamed of me.”
“Did you go to church together on Sundays?”
Charlotte nodded. “Truly, it was the only thing we did out of the house together.”
“He wasn’t ashamed of you then. If he had been, he’d have found an excuse to miss church and let you and Walt go on your own.”
“That makes sense,” she said.
After supper, Walt went out to help with the milking. He looked like he was about to fall over, and Charlotte started to suggest he go straight to bed, but Earl must have read her mind because he shook his head.
When they came back in, Earl picked Walt up and praised him for putting in a day of men’s work. “You did everything I asked you to do. I’m really proud of you, Walt. You’re going to grow into a hard-working man, and that’s all a papa can ask for from his son.”
Walt preened at the words, resting his head on Earl’s shoulder.
“I think we should take our hard-working man and put him to bed,” Charlotte said, grinning. The way Earl handled Walt was amazing. He was so good with her boy.
Walt snuggled into his bed, too tired to keep his eyes open for another minute. Charlotte smiled down at him and kissed his cheek. “Love you, Walt. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Once they were out of the room, Charlotte shook her head. “I never would have pushed him so hard. Did you see how tired he was?”
“He was tired, but he was also proud of himself. I have a theory, and I’m going to see how it works.”
“What is that?” she asked.
“I think if he gets too tired from me pushing him too much, he’ll speak up. I just need you to stand back and let it happen.”
She bit her lip, leading the way into the parlor, where they’d taken to spending their time after Walt went to bed. “I’ll try. It just doesn’t seem like a great idea to me.”
