by Naomi Musch
The comments and questions continued until Marilla noticed Jacob Hessman waiting off to the side, his hat in his hands. He stepped forward, fidgeting with his hat. "Good morning, Marilla."
"Good morning, Jacob. How are you?"
He nodded. "As well as can be."
"The store is doing well?"
"I can't complain. May I?" He dipped his chin at Emmett.
Marilla pulled the blanket back an inch or two from the sleeping baby's face. Jacob leaned close to have a look. He smelled minty like shaving cream. "A fine boy. He looks like you."
She smiled down at Emmett. "Do you think so? I think he favors Langdon." When she glanced up, Jacob was smiling directly at her.
"I am sure he will look like you both in one way or another. I hope he has your cheerful disposition."
"Thank you, Jacob. I guess you've never seen me when my disposition isn't so lovely."
"I can hardly believe there is such a time."
"Marilla." Delia stepped up to them. "Did you spend the whole morning in the basement?"
"Not quite."
"He'll be a giant if he eats that much."
"Strong like his father," Theo added. "Hello, Jacob. How are you?"
The two men exchanged pleasantries. Then Jacob excused himself. "I hope you have a good day. Perhaps I will see you soon."
"Yes, this week. I have butter to bring in," Marilla said.
Jacob nodded and, with a goodbye, strode out of the church.
"He's such a nice man," Delia said.
Theo put his arm around her. "But you picked me."
"Yes I did. I'm surprised he didn't snatch Marilla up before Lang did."
Marilla gave her a narrow look. "That's enough, Delia."
Delia laughed, and they turned for the door. Theo looked ahead and dipped his head with a nod at the old wagon as they walked down the church steps. "Did you drive in by yourself?" Theo had purchased an automobile soon after Emmett's birth. He said Marilla had given them such a panic that night that he didn't want to be caught off guard again for any reason. He’d had to go running down the road to his parents' house to borrow his brother's car. Delia assured Rilla her labor was just the excuse Theo needed to take the plunge.
She nodded. "I like the drive. It's still nice out. Another winter will be here before we know it. I have to take advantage of all the nice weather while I can."
"If you'd like, you and Delia can take the car with the baby. I'd be happy to drive your wagon back."
Marilla was tempted.
"I can see you want to, so don't be stubborn."
"Are you sure, Theo? It's your car."
"Ach. Go ahead."
"Thank you."
Marilla followed Delia and got inside the three-year-old Model T Ford. Having only ridden inside on one other occasion, she relaxed against the seat with Emmett. Theo helped start the car with a crank of the engine and sent the ladies on their way.
"I swear, Delia, this makes me want to let Langdon have his way about buying one for us."
Delia maneuvered the car onto the roadway. "Why don't you want him to buy one anyway?"
"We'll never get a bigger house if we spend the little we have saved."
"He should get a job on the railroad like Theo. It's not like Daddy can afford to pay him much more than he does already."
"He's given Lang a part of the profit from the corn crop."
Delia raised her brows. "That's something. I suppose since Theo has a bit of income from his own family's farm and also the railroad, Daddy will want to leave things to you two someday."
"But it's your inheritance too."
Delia shrugged as she turned the wheel to take a corner. "I don't see why he wouldn't. He doesn't have sons. But"—she glanced with a loving smile at Emmett—"he does have a grandson."
"You'll have children too. Then what?"
"I'm not sure."
"I am. You'll inherit your portion of the farm for you and Theo."
Her sister gave her another quick glance. "Not that. I mean, I'm not sure if we'll have children."
Marilla couldn't believe her ears. "What? Of course you will. What do you mean you're not sure?"
"I went to the doctor. Nothing seems to be wrong, but... It isn't happening, Rilla. Look at you." She sped up the road as she shifted gears. "You probably got pregnant on your honeymoon. Theo and I have been married a year already."
"And you've not tried preventing it?"
She shook her head. "Not even a little."
"Oh." Poor Delia.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you and Lang have another one next year."
Marilla hadn't thought of that. "I can't imagine it."
"You know..." Delia watched the road ahead with a faraway look. She changed subjects. "The way the country is talking, we might go to war."
"I hope not!" Her shout startled baby Emmett, and he started to cry. Marilla kissed his brow and shushed him.
"It's true. President Wilson doesn't want us to, but you never know. After the Germans sank that British ship, the Lusitania, last year with all those Americans on board, the President said America is too proud to fight. But Theo says the Germans believe we're weak. He says he doesn't think they'll stop attacking our merchant ships with their U-boats even though they have so far. He told me he doesn't expect their disregard will last. He believes America needs to be prepared."
A fear Marilla had never experienced in her whole life wormed into her stomach. "Why does he think that?"
"Because the Germans know we're supplying food and arms to the Allies. Besides, Germany wants all the power in the whole world, and if they can take it they will."
Delia fell quiet for a few minutes, and Marilla thought about the war going on a world away. Her own daily battles seemed enough. Taking care of Emmett and Lang, trying to win Lang's love again... A world at war was more than she had courage to consider.
They turned on the road to home, and Delia spoke up again. Her voice was soft, concerned. "Theo says if we have to fight the Germans, he'll sign up."
Marilla tensed and stared at Delia whose eyes were large and full of her own secret fright.
~~~~~
Langdon had already put in a full day's work by noon. Mr. Eckert didn't like him to work Sunday afternoons. He said it was a time for rest and reflection. That would suit Lang fine, except Rilla had her own expectations.
If he was to really rest and reflect, he would take a fishing pole down to the Clam River and catch a creel full of brook trout. Ages had passed since he and Theo last went over there and fished. The girls had cooked them up. Delia wore a yellow dress with tiny, white polka dots on it. A big straw hat shaded her eyes, keeping her skin its soft, creamy color.
He heard the car coming before he saw it. He looked up when it turned into their yard. Delia was driving. He'd taken his shirt off to split some firewood, and now he ran it over his chest, wiping off the sweat and dirt. A slow smile inched up his face as he walked toward the car. Then the passenger door opened.
Marilla.
Whatever thought might have been wheedling around in his brain died before it could root. He hastened over to help her. She handed him his son while she straightened her dress.
"Where's the wagon?"
"Theo said I should ride with Delia. He's bringing the wagon." She adjusted her hat and took the baby back.
Delia leaned an elbow out the window. "We missed you at church today."
He gave her a smile. "Too much work to do."
"It's supposed to be a day of rest."
"Tell your old man's cows."
She chuckled, her mouth wide and lovely, her eyes shining. "I'll be sure and do that. Bye!"
He gave a nod and watched her back out of the yard, the wheels turning up dust on the road as she squeezed the horn and sped off.
"Crazy woman," he muttered to Marilla, but without incrimination in his tone. He took her by the elbow and helped her up the uneven stone path to the house. "How did you lik
e it? Riding in her car, I mean."
"I liked it well enough."
"I'm going to get one for you, so you don't have to keep hauling out that wagon every Sunday and every time you need to go to town."
"But Lang—"
"Everybody's getting cars. Pretty soon you won't be able to drive a buggy on the street without it being a hazard. Everyone will be in a car."
"What about the house?"
"The house will come when the time is right."
"I guess I don't mind sharing our room with Emmett, but he won't stay little forever."
He held the cabin door open for her. Did it matter? They hadn't been intimate since Emmett was born. He was six weeks old. "It'll do."
"What if we want more children?"
He looked at her as she sat down in her rocker and pulled off her hat. "We'll worry about that if and when we ever need to. Look at that big house Theo built for Delia, and they haven't been filling it up with children."
"They want to."
He studied her beneath his brow. "That right?"
She nodded. "Delia told me just today. They've been trying since they got married. It just hasn't happened."
Lang moved to the icebox and reached in for a pitcher of milk. He poured a glass and drank it all down. So was it Delia or Theo having the problem? Not that it mattered at all to Lang. With Delia's perfect figure, she didn't need a baby ruining it. He glanced again at Marilla nuzzling Emmett's soft head. He set the glass on the sideboard. At least the baby hadn't ruined Marilla's figure. If anything, the child had improved it.
"You're spoiling him." He walked a little closer.
She glanced up with a smile. "You can't spoil a baby. They need love all the time." She crooned almost imperceptibly. Her voice was a whisper against his downy hair. "Who doesn't?"
She looked pretty, sitting there in her white Sunday dress, her wispy hair wound up, her body shaped in a way that pleased him. "Why don't you put him in his bed?"
"I suppose I could. He's sleeping." She rose. "Want me to fix you something?"
Lang shook his head. She carried Emmett into their bedroom and laid him in his cradle. With a soft smile on her lips, she tucked his blanket around him. She straightened and almost ran into Lang as she turned. "Oh. You startled me."
He lifted her chin. Her eyes swirled. Ocean blue on the outer edge, aquamarine on the inner, trapping tiny flecks of gold like sand on the seashore. His other hand slid around her waist and drew her in. Kissing her unleashed his need. He nipped her ear. "Is it too soon?"
"I—I don't think so."
He moved her over the bed and lowered her to it, pulling the pins from her hair. "Tell me if it is."
"Oh, Lang..."
Perhaps he’d have a day of rest indeed.
Chapter Thirteen
November 1916
Her life slowly returned to normal. Marilla supposed it wasn't unusual for one's daily existence to be turned on end after the birth of a baby, but it took some getting used to. However, by the time the first cold, damp winds of November hit northern Wisconsin, she felt like she had found her footing once again. She started going with Lang to the farm to help with the evening milking while her mother sat with Emmett. While not much progress had happened with their piece of land beyond a little bit of clearing for firewood, Lang had promised they would get more done next year, since they had settled into their home.
A whole year. She could hardly believe they had been married so long. Marilla set the dinner table with care. A tablecloth edged with lace she'd gotten as a wedding gift covered the table. She'd not used it before but took it out of her trunk today to mark the special occasion. She had put a roast into the oven two hours earlier, and the aroma made the little cabin extra cozy against the wet, dreary weather outdoors.
After taking the roast out and making gravy, she moved it to the back of the stove and tended to Emmett. She didn't want his need to nurse to interrupt her and Lang's anniversary dinner. Then she changed into one of her Sunday best dresses to wait for Lang. He should be home any minute.
He came through the door forty minutes later and hung his wet coat on a peg. "Sorry I'm late." He kissed her cheek. "Smells good in here."
She hoped her roast hadn't dried out. "What kept you?" She carried the warm food to the table.
"I had to run some stuff up to Theo's."
"Tonight?"
"I promised." He pulled her chair out for her. "But I didn't forget." He kissed the top of her head as she sat. "Happy anniversary." He pulled out his own chair and sat down.
A breath of relief released from her chest. She was sure he had forgotten. Though she had thought all day of nothing else, Lang hadn't said a word. He had left the house early while she and Emmett lay curled together asleep. Now a strange emotion flooded her. She thought she might cry. She blinked away the prickling behind her eyelids and reached for the serving bowl of carrots and potatoes. "I made your favorite."
He smiled. "I see that. Later on, I'll help with dishes."
She had to blink again. This time he noticed and frowned. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. I just love you, that's all."
"That's something to cry about?"
She shook her head again and sniffed. Silly crying. Just silly. He hadn't forgotten, and he wanted to help her tonight. Spend time with her. He loved her. He just didn't usually say it. There was nothing wrong with that.
She cut a piece of meat. "A year already. It's been a busy one. Who would have thought we'd have Emmett?"
He took a bite and shook his head as though he, too, was amazed at what had transpired over twelve short months. "I was thinking of hunting in the corner where that old stand is just off the north end of the corn field this year," he said, changing topics. The Wisconsin deer hunting season would begin in a couple of days.
"That spot always produces something. Daddy usually hunts right behind the house now."
"Theo's going to stay up the road a ways. He has a stand by the creek." Theo had gotten a nice buck there last year. Lang hadn't gotten anything until the end of the nine-day season. He had taken a large doe. Having just returned from their honeymoon in Duluth, he'd not had time to prepare for hunting. Now a light shone in his eyes talking about it.
"Delia and my mother and I will have a big pot of chili on for when you fellows come home."
"Sounds good. We might have snow by then."
"You sound like my father, predicting the weather."
"I've learned a lot about the wiles of the northland from him over the past few years."
A cry from the bedroom called her attention. She pushed back from the table.
"Stay there. I'll get him." Lang headed off to the bedroom and returned with their son tucked in his arms. She admired him as he shushed the infant whose tiny arms flailed for a moment. It warmed her to see them together. Lang didn't spend a lot of time holding Emmett. He was always so busy. If it wasn't the farm, it was other business here at home or even helping Theo with some project at his place.
Spooner had grown to almost two thousand residents in town, and with sixteen passenger trains a day coming through the depot, Theo worked long hours. Lang was kind to lend Theo a hand at his place, but she wished he could spend more time with her and Emmett.
Lang bounced the baby, drawing a coo from him. "He's getting heavy."
"He'll be eating roast beef like his father before we know it. I hope you get a deer. I'll smoke some of the meat if you do."
He kissed the baby's forehead. "Hear that, son? Mama's going to smoke us some venison. You'd like that if you had teeth."
Marilla giggled. How it filled her heart to see father and son snuggled together. Sometimes she worried Lang's heart didn't belong to her, but if anything could keep their love stitched together, it would be Emmett. Together, their love for the baby would strengthen their own love. She was sure of it.
~~~~~
Lang heaved the ax over his head and split the log on the cho
pping block clean through. Picking up one of the halves, he settled it back in place to split again. He finished quartering the log just as Theo pulled in and climbed out of his car.
"Lang, working hard I see."
Lang gave a nod and reached for another chunk of wood. "What brings you over?" He raised the ax and split the wood.
"Did you see the paper?"
"I don't pay much attention."
Theo held up folded newsprint. "The Krauts sunk a British hospital ship. 'Britannic Sunk by Mine in Aegean Sea.'"
Lang glanced at him by way of acknowledgment but kept at his work. "War is lousy. We can be thankful Wilson hasn't dragged us into it." He grunted out the words as he swung his ax.
"We'll be going. You mark what I say. Sinking a hospital ship... Can't get much dirtier than that, even for a Hun."
Lang gave him a sidelong glance. "Don't call them that."
"Why not?"
"Just stirs up trouble."
"What trouble?" Theo looked around. "It's only you and I."
"This time." Lang set the ax aside and started stacking the wood. He had been splitting for an hour and had a good-sized pile. That he had expended his energy before Theo arrived was a good thing, or he would be tempted to argue harder with his brother-in-law.
Theo had kept abreast of all the goings-on in the war theater on the other side of the world, even though America had kept itself out of things for three years. The fact the news let them know Europe's Entente was taking a beating at the hands of the Central Powers was starting to stir up the country. There were plenty of Americans who thought the president didn't do enough to respond to the 128 deaths of their fellow countrymen when the Germans sank the Lusitania. Yet, he had just won reelection because of his stance.
"Wilson kept us out of war," Lang said, quoting the president's recent campaign slogan. "No use us fighting amongst ourselves."
"What do you mean?"
Lang shrugged. "There are plenty of German people in Wisconsin. You really want neighbors hating each other?"
"Maybe we should be keeping an eye on some of them."
