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As tired as he was,Aaron was smiling when he entered the house and inhaled the scent of bacon and fresh coffee. His stomach grumbled as he shut the front door.
His mother was carrying platters of food back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room when he stepped up to the sink to wash his hands.
“You’re just in time. I was about to send Nate out to fetch you.” She stopped short, her head tilting to one side. “What is it?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What is what?”
Her smile was as big as any he’d ever seen. “Something happened, didn’t it? I’ve never seen that look on your face before. You look—well, you look happy.”
He rinsed his hands, holding back a smile when he grabbed the towel by the sink. “I suppose I am.”
“Did you ask Betsey to marry you?”
“Not yet.” He kissed her on the top of the head and walked into the dining room, saying, “but I will soon,” before taking his seat at the table.
Their plates were filled and blessed by his ma before thestares coming his way caused that smile he’d been trying to hold back to curve his lips.
“Are you going to make us wait all day?” Sophie Ann said. “We can tell something happened by that silly grin on your face.”
He wiped his mouth and took a sip of water, setting the glass back down before saying, “Betsey finally forgave me for leaving.”
“Wonders never cease.”
Aaron ignored Sophie’s teasing barb. “I’m going to talk to the fellow who owns that piece of land I’ve had my eye on later today. Once the bank sends the money through, I’m going to buy it.”
His family seemed as excited about the prospect as he himself was. The noise at the table grew in volume as everyone tried to talk at once and when they settled again, he turned to Noah. “I’ll need help building the house. I know ma’s not going to want you on any ladders but I’d be grateful for whatever you could do.”
Noah glanced at his ma and grinned. “Well, I doubt your ma will be there making sure I keep both feet on the ground.”
Keri scoffed. “With talk like that I will be!”
Noah ignored her and said, “How big of a house are you thinking about?”
Aaron shrugged. “I don’t need anything extravagant.” He took another sip of water. “Something similar to this place will work just fine.”
“What if Betsey wants something extravagant?”
Aaron looked at Sophie. “Well, she might. I guess I should ask her.”
“That would be the smart thing to do.” She pointed at him with her fork. “And don’t go dismissing her wants regardless of how silly you might think it is. You men don’t know nearly as much as you think you do. The women-folk are the ones who have to clean and keep the house and it should be set up exactly the way she wants it.”
Sophie and his ma started discussing plans about decoratingand what colors of fabric to make the window curtains from. He hadn’t even asked Betsey to marry him yet and they were already planning what their house would look like.
Noah said, “Are you going to draw up your own plans or model it after this one?”
Aaron swallowed the bite of food in his mouth. “If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said I was going to build it like this one but Betsey has lived in that tiny two bedroom house her and Ben live in her whole life. Sophie Ann is right. I think I should find out what she wants before I draw up any plans.”
Sophie Ann gave an unladylike snort of amusement. “Well, he can listen, ladies and gentlemen.” She grinned and speared a bit of egg with her fork. “Betsey should design the whole house if you ask me.”
“I didn’t.”
She smirked. “Well, luckily for you, I’m available to offer my opinion on a number of subjects, your new house being one of them.”
The sun had paintedthe sky in streaks of purple and red and as beautiful as it was, Betsey couldn’t muster up one ounce of happiness. She’d been miserable all day and had been out on the small porch in front of the house trying to find the right words to say to Aaron. They never came. When she saw his familiar figure coming across the prairie toward the house, that misery dug in a little bit deeper.
Samuel was staring at the wind chimes nailed to the overhanging roof leaning over the porch. He’d been content and happy as a lark most of the day and she hoped he stayed that way. Telling Aaron what she’d done would be hard enough without Samuel squalling in the background.
By the time Aaron pulled to a stop in front of the house andjumped to the ground, her stomach was cramping something fierce. She’d never dreaded anything the way she did this.
