The Homesteader's Sweetheart

by Lacy Williams

  Penny moved Breanna a little ways away, turning the girl so she wouldn’t be able to see her brother’s injury quite so well, and said a short prayer for Maxwell’s healing and that the doctor would arrive quickly.

  Matty banged inside with a pail of water splashing all over his pants, just as Ricky screeched into the room with an armful of worn towels.

  “We should move him to his room so he’s more comfortable ’til the doc gets here,” Jonas said, and it took Penny a moment to realize he was speaking to her.

  “Of course.” She moved to Maxwell’s side, averting her eyes from his leg but being careful not to bump it. Jonas heaved the boy to his feet and Penny accepted part of his weight, her arm wrapped around his waist.

  “Breanna and Seb, why don’t you make sure the table is set and get everyone else to sit down and eat?”

  Penny shot a questioning glance at Jonas as they maneuvered Maxwell through the other room, painful step by painful step.

  “Good for them to have something to do instead of just worrying,” he muttered.

  “What happened?” Jonas asked as he shifted Maxwell onto the bed. Penny’s heart clenched at the boy’s smothered groan.

  “Thought I heard kittens mewling in the barn loft,” Maxwell said through heavy breaths, obviously in pain. “That barn cat’s been missing for a few days. Thought she might’ve had her litter up there.”

  Jonas nodded. “I’m going to take his pants off,” Jonas told Penny, and she obediently turned away, catching sight of Matty and Ricky at the door. She accepted the water pail and towels from them and shooed them back into the dining room when they wanted to watch with craned necks.

  “Didn’t think the ladder was that rickety,” Maxwell continued, “but something broke and I fell. Landed funny on the leg.”

  Suddenly, he cried out and Jonas muttered, “Sorry, sorry.”

  “Do you need help?” Penny asked, still careful to keep her back turned.

  “It ain’t that bad. I’ve had worse.” Maxwell’s terse statement did not comfort Penny, only made her heart squeeze for his broken childhood.

  “We’ve got it—you can come back now,” came Jonas’s strained answer.

  When she returned to the bed, both he and Maxwell were sweating, but Maxwell now had a blanket draped discreetly across his middle with the injured leg exposed. She squeezed Jonas’s knee briefly, knowing he hadn’t wanted to hurt his son.

  Penny set about wetting some of the towels and draping them carefully over the injury. “This should help keep the swelling down. I hope.”

  “How d’ya know?” Penny could tell Maxwell was trying to put on a brave face. She gently brushed the damp hair off his forehead.

  “I found some medical books in my mother’s old room over at my grandfather’s. I guess my mama might’ve wanted to be a nurse…or something…before she met my father.” She honestly didn’t know how the books had come to be there, but she’d read snatches of some of them in the few moments she’d had to herself in the last few weeks.

  “Used to think about being a doctor some…” Maxwell said.

  “I didn’t know that,” Jonas said quietly, kneeling beside the bed at Penny’s elbow.

  “You should get something to eat and rest for a bit,” Penny told Jonas. “You were already gone when I arrived this morning and you’ve been working hard all day.” As evidenced by the layer of dust on his clothing and in his hair. When had his hat gotten knocked off?

  “Maxwell needs—”

  “Someone to stay with him, I know. I’ll sit with him for a bit while you rest, and then if the doctor isn’t here yet, you can take a turn.”

  Jonas agreed grudgingly, after Maxwell insisted he go eat something. He left with another indecipherable look at Penny, but she chose to ignore it and focus on the teen in front of her.

  “I don’t see any reason you couldn’t be a doctor,” Penny told Maxwell just before she heard Jonas’s bootsteps fade away.

  “I cain’t read.”

  “Yet,” she told the boy firmly. “You can’t read yet. You’re doing very well so far.”

  He rolled his head to the side and remained silent. She dipped the corner of one of the towels in the water pail and dabbed his face, removing some of the day’s dust.

  “It takes money to go to medical school,” Maxwell said softly, still looking away.

  “Mmm,” Penny agreed. “But you’re a hard worker. I know you could find a way to do it if that’s what you truly want to do. You might even be able to find a benefactor who would help pay for some of your expenses.”

  “How?” His brows creased and he looked right at her, the word spoken almost angrily. “Who’d want to help me?”

  “I would,” she replied in the same even tone she’d been using. “I could write a few letters on your behalf. My father also has some contacts back East.” Although her father might not be too pleased with her once she returned home.

  Maxwell looked away again, as if he was afraid to hope in her offer.

  “I cain’t believe someone would just give me money for schooling. It don’t make sense.”

  What didn’t make sense was that someone—his mother?—had stolen this boy’s hope. “Maybe they wouldn’t. But it couldn’t hurt to ask. And I’m happy to do that for you, if it’s what you want.” She paused. “You can do whatever you set your mind to, Maxwell. Your father is an example of that. He had no family, an uncertain future.” She purposely left things vague as she didn’t know how much of his past Jonas had revealed to the boys. “But he’s built this homestead, made a family with Breanna and you boys. He’s created something to be proud of.”

  Maxwell nodded slightly but didn’t say more. Penny knew he was in pain and this wasn’t the time to push him. She simply took his hand and waited with him, praying that he would find healing for his leg. And his heart.

  * * *

  After a long night, Penny blearily made her way to the Whites’ homestead before it was even light.

  She found the house dark, and a bent-shouldered Jonas sitting on the porch steps. The lightening sky provided enough light to see his head held between his hands. Was he sleeping?

  “Jonas?” she called softly and his head jerked up. Not sleeping, then. “Everyone all right?”

  He stood and raised a hand to the back of his neck, half-turning from her so she couldn’t see his face.

  “Yes. The doctor arrived just after you left—”

  “After you made me leave.”

  “—and set Maxwell’s leg. It’s splinted now with a plaster cast. He’s supposed to stay off it for a few days. Or as long as I can keep him down.”

  “Did he get any sleep last night?”

  “Doc gave him some pain medication, knocked him right out.”

  She couldn’t resist reaching out to touch his arm. He jumped at the contact but didn’t pull away.

  “And you?”

  He shook his head, ran his other hand down his face. “Couldn’t get my mind to quiet. We’re already behind on the haying, and with the Sumners’ fields to cut, too…without a driver, without Maxwell, I don’t see how we’ll finish.”

  “Can you hire someone else?”

  He was shaking his head by the time she’d finished her question. “Everyone’s hired out for the season.”

  “Well, what about my grandfather?” As she said the words, she thought about her grandfather’s continuing exhaustion, though he’d been trying to hide it from her. “No, he probably shouldn’t be out in the sun all day.”

  “There’s no one.”

  She’d never heard Jonas so disheartened before. She knew part of his defeated attitude was because of his worry for Maxwell and loss of sleep. Maybe that’s why he’d overlooked the last obvious answer.

  “What about me?”

  Now he did turn to her, the rising sun illuminating the disbelief on his face.

  “You think you can drive a team all day?”

  “I’m stronger than I used to
be.” She was, from hauling all those water buckets and chasing chickens, pulling potatoes.

  “If you’ll teach me, I know I can do it. Breanna can ride along.” She spoke aloud as she thought through the idea, liking it more and more. “You’ll have to bring your lunch along, won’t have us to bring it to you fresh.”

  He shook his head again. “You can’t—”

  “Why not?” Couldn’t he see she wanted to help? “Maxwell isn’t full grown yet. He’s not much taller than me. If he can handle the team, then surely I can.”

  “Yes, but it makes for a long day and you’ll be sitting in the hot sun—”

  “And I want to help, all right? Why can’t you just let me, you stubborn man?”

  “I just don’t understand why you’re always over here helping.”

  Because my heart is here. She couldn’t say the words. Not yet, not when the emotion was so new and overwhelming.

  A light went on inside the kitchen, throwing yellow beams onto the porch between them.

  “If I can’t get the hang of driving the team in a couple of hours, you can fire me,” she offered.

  “Fine.”

  It wasn’t the enthusiastic answer Penny had hoped for, but she would take what she could get.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jonas never imagined a haying crew could be so giggly. He guessed he should be grateful that Penny was able to keep Breanna occupied during the long days, but after two days of her constant presence, all those smiles…

  He felt a bit like Maxwell did being confined to bed. Cranky.

  Thankfully, today was almost over. He didn’t know how much longer he could hide his feelings from Penny, not with her close all the time. He appreciated her help with the haying, even if he didn’t understand why she offered it. They’d struck a deal regarding Breanna, but how would he repay her for this?

  Settling in the back of the full wagon along with Sam, Jonas prepared for the ride back to the barn. The last load for today.

  “You all right back there?” Penny hollered back to them.

  “Yep. Go,” he called up to her. The sooner they got home, the sooner she could go back to Walt’s place.

  “They’re having too good of a time for this to be considered work,” Sam muttered, throwing his arm over his eyes and leaning his head back.

  Jonas was proud of the boy. Sam had been taking it upon himself to come over in the afternoons to help with haying, once his chores at Walt’s place had been completed. Without being asked, he’d begun to act responsibly, like a real neighbor, a real man.

  Who now dozed in the hay, snoring slightly.

  Words passed between the two females on the wagon bench and Breanna giggled again.

  The close relationship Penny had developed with his daughter was another cause of concern for Jonas. What would Breanna do when Penny had to return home to Calvin? He knew now that she needed a woman’s presence in her life, but how could he make that happen? Especially when his heart was knotted over the banker’s daughter?

  His thoughts distracted him and the wagon was slowing to a stop near the barn before he even realized it.

  “Pa, you asleep back there?”

  Breanna rounded the back of the wagon and he tried to force himself into a better state of mind. No need to take out his worries on his precious daughter.

  “No, not asleep.”

  “Good.” Penny approached, rounding the wagon from the other side. “Breanna and I want to play a little trick on Davy and we need your help.”

  “What?”

  Sam roused and jumped out of the wagon with a quick, “Leave me outta this.”

  Penny lifted Breanna to sit next to Jonas on the wagon bed. Both girls’ faces shone with mischief. He vowed he would never forget Penny’s sparkling eyes, not after she left, not ever.

  “I didn’t mention this before, but last week Davy put a frog in one of the cooking pots and it jumped out at me and Breanna.”

  “Scared us real bad,” his daughter confirmed.

  “And Breanna told me he’s deathly afraid of snakes…”

  Jonas nodded, wary, not sure where this was going.

  “Well, I ran over this earlier today.” Penny held up a large black snake, making Jonas yelp and jump off the back of the wagon.

  Breanna dissolved into giggles and Penny’s hearty laughter rang out over the quiet yard. Heart thudding in his ears, Jonas realized the snake was decapitated. It must’ve been run over by the wagon wheel.

  “Guess Davy’s not the only one afraid of snakes,” Penny murmured, eyes glowing with mirth.

  He shuddered theatrically, cracking a smile when Breanna laughed again. “Just what are you planning on doing with that?”

  “Tricking Davy!” Breanna exclaimed gleefully.

  Jonas just shook his head. He knew his sons had a propensity for playing practical jokes, but he never would have guessed it of Penny, and now she’d roped Breanna into helping.

  She’d melded with his family. He couldn’t deny it. Desperately wanted to stop fighting it, but he was afraid…

  “You do know Davy will just retaliate, don’t you?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

  “Oh, I’ve got lots more tricks up my sleeve,” Penny confided, her eyes drawing him in, drawing him closer, though he stayed on the side where she wasn’t holding the snake.

  “’Sides, Davy needs some of his own medicine,” Breanna added.

  “What do you want me to do?” He wondered if this was a mistake but was curious to see where they were going with it.

  “I’m going to distract the boys and Breanna’s going to sneak into Davy and Edgar’s room to open the window. We need you to go around back and pass Breanna the snake.”

  “You’re going to put it in their room?” Jonas was suddenly glad he hadn’t played any pranks on Penny.

  “Worse. In Davy’s bed.”

  * * *

  Penny stretched her legs out in front of her, settling her skirt modestly. She rested her aching back against a gnarled tree trunk and watched the children frolic in the little tree-lined stream she hadn’t known ran through both Jonas’s and her grandfather’s properties until just this morning.

  They’d finished harvesting the last of the Sumners’ hay fields yesterday and she’d thought they would start on Jonas’s crop today, but this morning Jonas had declared they were taking a day off. He’d shooed everyone, including her, away from the house and yard, stating he’d catch up with them after he’d taken care of the basic chores.

  The boys had unanimously declared they wanted to fish and had dragged her and Breanna along. It didn’t appear they were getting much fishing done, though, with all the shoving and dunking they were doing with each other in the stream. Sam was right in the middle of the action, laughing more than Penny had heard in a while. She was glad he got along with the Whites and seemed more settled than when they’d first come to visit their grandfather.

  Even Breanna was getting in on the action in her petticoat, though Maxwell was relegated to the bank with Penny, as he had instructions not to get the plaster binding on his leg wet.

  Penny thought it likely any fish around had swum upstream to escape the ruckus. But she couldn’t reprimand the children for their fun, not after they’d been working so hard.

  With a sudden roar, Jonas appeared through the woods and attacked, sending shrieking boys and girl in all directions. He chased them through the knee-deep water, shouting and splashing as much as they were. Penny couldn’t look away from the utter contentment revealed in his features. She also noticed the children seemed to allow themselves to be caught and thrown into the water. Wanting to be near their father.

  She thought her heart might burst from the joy of being with this family. Was this truly love? How could it be anything else?

  Finally, Davy and Edgar teamed up and jumped on Jonas’s back, wrapping their arms around his neck, while Seb tackled his feet and the whole group splashed into the water. Penny couldn’t help but laugh, al
ong with Maxwell, but that drew Jonas’s attention.

  He emerged from the water, dripping, his shirt plastered to his broad chest. “What are you doing sitting over here? You should be getting wet with the rest of us.”

  “Jonas…” Penny warned, trying to gather her skirt.

  He kept coming.

  “The boys agreed they wouldn’t splash me. Jonas—”

  “Get ’er, Pa!” someone shouted gleefully. Probably Davy, who’d screamed when he found the snake in his bed.

  Penny tried to scramble to her feet, but got tangled in her skirt. Before she could stand up, Jonas pounced, scooping her into his arms and holding her tight against his chest.

  “You’re getting me wet!” Penny shivered as a cold drop fell from his nose onto her over-warm cheek. Her clothes were damp where she pressed up against him, but it wouldn’t take long for that to dry in the warm summer sun. If she got soaked, however…

  “Not as wet as you’re going to get.” He moved toward the stream with purposeful strides.

  “But the boys—”

  “You might’ve come to an arrangement with my children, but not with me.”

  “Jonas!” she shrieked as he feigned tossing her into the water. Her stomach swooped and it wasn’t only due to the motion—being close to him like this set her heart to pounding.

  He waded into the water, still holding her. “I’ll allow you to make me an offer, but I can’t guarantee I’ll take it.”

  “Do it, Pa! Throw her in!”

  She glared over her shoulder at Davy, who still held a grudge about the snake prank she and Jonas and Breanna had pulled on him.

  Jonas loosened his hold and Penny clutched at his shoulders.

  “Wait!” she cried out in desperation.

  Jonas stilled, and she looked up, realizing how close their faces were. Close enough for her to run her finger along the tan line where his hat covered his forehead most of the time. Close enough to see how his lashes spiked from the water.

  His warm brown eyes looked down on her with no guile, nothing hidden in their depths.

  So Penny reached up and smacked a loud, casual kiss against his lips.

  He froze, eyes wide.