AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Actually, he found he didn’t mind talking to her. She seemed to care about him. Or maybe she just seemed interested. Or maybe she was just good at working him. He didn’t like that last thought, but the fact remained that she did have a lot of experience. Experience he didn’t have. And that was where she was going to need to give him grace.
He could ask someone, and like he told her, he could Google it, but neither of those two things sounded good to him. It wasn’t something he wanted to talk to his siblings about; it wasn’t exactly something a man ever talked about. Not in the context that he wanted to talk about it.
Maybe it was just best that, like Alaska said, they learned about each other together.
Beyond that, he probably ought to let her in on the working of the farm. He didn’t want to push her into a job right away, but maybe she’d be happier if she felt like she had a place. She’d done such a good job of organizing the wedding...
“Do you think our sisters will have a problem with Alaska joining them? They’d give her a job?”
“Yeah.” Caleb’s word was easy, casual. “Are you sure Alaska wants a job? She’s got two children, and that’s a lot of work for one person. Maybe she doesn’t want anything extra.”
“I just thought having her do something would make her feel more included on the place.”
“It might. Why don’t you talk to her about it. I can’t tell you what Alaska wants.”
“No. I was asking you about our sisters. I’ll find out what Alaska wants.”
He was a little irritated. And he knew it came out in his voice. He didn’t want his brother to think that he was asking for advice about his wife. He definitely didn’t want his wife to hear that hewas asking for advice about her from his brother. What did his brother know anyway? Not that he didn’t respect his brother and think that he knew a lot about some things. Just... Caleb had never been married, so he could hardly give Ezra advice.
They worked steadily, with Ezra taking a moment or two once in a while to look up at the bright blue sky, see the puffy clouds go by, and watch the grasses bend in the wind. Part of what he loved about farming was being able to be outside and enjoy the wide open spaces. It seemed silly to do it, and yet not enjoy it.
The funny thing was, he wanted Alaska to be enjoying it with him.
As they finished up, rolling up what was left of the wire and putting their tools away, he said to Caleb, “Think I’m going to take tomorrow off.”
“What?” Caleb said, probably more from shock than because he hadn’t actually heard.
“I’m going to take tomorrow off.” Ezra stated it like it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
“But I can’t remember the last time you took a day off.”
“I know. That means it’s time.”
“All right. I was okay with this whole marriage thing, but if she’s going to turn you into someone I don’t recognize, I might develop a stronger opinion about it.”
“No. I just think that... Dad always made time for mom. You know?”
“Their marriage was a good example. Maybe that’s why I’m not married. I can’t find anyone who’s like mom. She seemed to be the perfect mix of humor and fun and responsibility and work ethic. And she knew how to make Dad smile.”
“She knew how to make our lives fun as well. I know she disciplined us, but she must have done it when we were little, because I don’t remember it.”
“Mom always said that if you could train a child when they were little, you wouldn’t have a problem with them when they were older.”
“I remember her disciplining the younger ones, so, I guess it’s true. As they got older, they needed it less and less.”
“Yeah. She was quite a lady. I wish...” Ezra knew that there was no point in wishing. Wishes didn’t make anything better, and they didn’t make anything happen either. His dad always said that if you wanted something, you’d better be prepared to work for it.
He supposed that applied to a marriage as well. If he wanted a good marriage, he’d better be prepared to work for it.
He thought he was. But, part of having a good marriage was spending time together. At least... That’s what he thought. Was that right?
He supposed they were just going to have to figure it out. The thought made him smile. Because, the more time he spent with Alaska, the more time he wanted to spend with her. And he didn’t mind figuring things out with her. She brought a perspective into his life that he hadn’t realized he needed and hadn’t known he was missing in the first place.
“Hey, have you heard from Asher?” Caleb asked as they got into the ATV and started driving back toward the farm.
“No.” He hadn’t even given Asher thought, which scared him a little. He was the head of the family, and he should have an idea of what was going on. Asher was a grown man, of course, and could take care of himself. But everyone should have someone who cared about them and wanted to know that things are going well with them. For now, that was Ezra’s job.
“I think I’ll call him.” Caleb said.
