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Joseph pushed off from the bureau. “Now that I know you’re all right, I need to feed and water the animals.”
Gil bounded up. “Before you go, I need to tell you that I’ll be moving into Mr. Willems’s house. I’ll take care of things for him and do his mail routes.”
Joseph gaped at Gil. “When did you talk to the minister and deacons?” The church leaders always made the decisions when someone in the church was sick or injured.
“I didn’t. Onkel Bernard and I figured it out.”
Joseph snorted. “Well, for someone who’s been gone so long, you’ve sure managed to weasel your way back in again.” He stared at the hay in Gil’s hair. Hay from the barn attached to Ava Flaming’s house. “Go ahead and move into Mr. Willems’s house. Go ahead and make his deliveries for him.” He pointed at Gil. “But there’s one place you aren’t going to weasel your way back in again, and that’s in Ava’s affections.”
Gil frowned. “What are you saying?” Then his eyebrows shot high. “Are you…and Ava…in courtship?”
Not yet. But Joseph would eventually win her heart. “Stay away from her, Gil.” He slammed the door behind him.
Chapter Eight
Ava
As always happened when acatastrophe assailed someone in the community, word concerning Mr. Willems’s accident spread quickly. By midmorning, everyone in town knew he’d fallen down the back stairs of the bank building and was with Dr. Graves in Aiken. The minister’s wife, Rosa Ediger, sent her children door to door with an invitation for all women to meet at the church at three that afternoon to discuss ways to minister to Mr. Willems in his hour of need.
Ordinarily, Mama napped between two and four, but today she refused to lie down in case she overslept and missed the meeting. Ava hitched the gentlest of their horses, Pansy, to Papa’s carriage and drove Mama to the church. Several wagons and horses already surrounded the building. It heartened Ava to see such a turnout. After all, Roald Willems was a bachelor. He didn’t have a family to support, and she’d worried that people might think a single man would be self-sufficient.
“Ach, so many wagons,” Mama said in a happy voice, as if speaking Ava’s thoughts.
Ava drew the horse to a stop and set the brake. “I’ll walk you in, Mama, then wait out here.”
“What? Nä, you come in, too.”
Ava fiddled with the reins. “I’m not sure I should. I havemore pies to bake for Dirks Café. Besides, all the other women are wives and mothers, and I…” She swallowed. It hurt too much to say the words aloud.
Mama shook Ava’s wrist. “You are as much a part of the community of women as anyone else.”
Ava didn’t feel as if she was. How could she be, without a husband and children of her own? When other women her age gathered to talk, they bragged—or complained—about their husbands and compared stories about their babies. If she had a husband and children, she would never complain about them. But would she ever have the chance to brag? A tiny hope fluttered in the center of her chest. If God answered Mama’s prayer to erase the love Ava still carried for Gil, she would finally be able to accept Joseph’s attentions. She deliberately counted his attributes. Joseph was handsome. Hardworking. A churchgoer. Yes, he was a good man.
He just wasn’t Gil.
“Come in, Ava,” Mama said again.
Ava sighed. Mama had skipped her afternoon rest. She might grow weary and need help coming down the porch steps when the meeting ended. Ava would do her daughterly duty and go in with Mama.
They entered the building, and Mama pointed to the back pew, where Dorcas Baty sat alone. Mama gestured Ava in first, and the two of them sat. They’d barely had a chance to get settled when the preacher’s wife stepped onto the dais and briskly clapped her hands.
The women’s chatter ended, and all turned their attention to the front.
Mrs. Ediger smiled at the group. “Thank you, each of you, for coming. I apologize for the very short notice, but notknowing when Mr. Willems will be released from the doctor’s care, I felt it wise for us to have a plan in place. According to Bernard Flaming, Mr. Willems will be unable to work or care for himself for a significant length of time.” She raised up on tiptoes and searched the room. “Is Maria Flaming here?”
Mama raised her hand. “I am here, Rosa.”
“Oh, Maria, how good of you to come, especially since you bear your own health burden.” The woman held out her hands in a gesture of invitation. “Since your Bernard witnessed the fall and took poor Mr. Willems to the doctor at Aiken, you probably know more than any of us about the situation. Is there anything else of value you can share?”
Mama stood and braced her hand on Ava’s shoulder. “Bernard has asked Gil Baty to take over Mr. Willems’s postal delivery routes until he is able to work again, and Gil readily agreed.”
A soft murmur swept through the room, heads bobbing in apparent approval.
“I believe,” Mama went on, “Gil also intends to reside with Mr. Willems and see to his chores.”
Mrs. Baty stood. “Jo, he does. He informed us at the breakfast table this morning that he is moving into Mr. Willems’s house, taking over all his chores, and doing his work.” She sat and folded her arms over her chest.
Mrs. Ediger led the women in a short round of applause. “Dorcas, this speaks well of Gil and also of you and Hosea. You raised him well.”
