She heard him follow and decided to have a quiet talk with herself regarding the Barns family. It was her Christian duty to help him get settled into their house. After that, William Barns and his girls were on their own. She didn’t have time for children, and no matter how much he might need a wife, she did not need a husband. Emily Jane glanced back at him. William Barns was a handsome man; he’d find a woman to marry soon and it wouldn’t be her.
The last thing Emily Jane wanted was to get married, especially to a man who already had two children. She didn’t want children. After helping her parents with eleven brothers and sisters, Emily Jane had had enough of kids to last her a lifetime. Plus, she also didn’t want a controlling man in her life. She’d had twenty-three years of her father controlling her and her mother. No, sir, Emily Jane Rodgers wasn’t going to allow a man to control her again. She had bigger plans for her life. Someday she’d open her own bakery and be able to support herself. She’d own her home and be able to buy new things instead of having to wear hand-me-downs, supplied by the local church ladies.
Emily Jane opened the door to the house that she shared with Anna Mae Leland. Anna Mae was the local schoolteacher. They’d met when they’d both answered Levi Westland’s mail-order-bride advertisement. Well, Anna Mae had willingly answered it; she, on the other hand, had been forced to answer it by her father. He’d decided twelve children were too many to feed, and Emily Jane was the oldest and the one he could get rid of the easiest. It hurt that her father and mother had so easily sent her away, to a man she’d never met in a place she’d never been. How could a parent do that to a child, especially their firstborn? Emily Jane didn’t plan to have children, but if she did, they would be loved unconditionally; that much she knew for sure.
The screen door shut behind him as Mr. Barns followed her inside the house. Emily Jane led him to the kitchen. She set the child she held on the braided rug beside the table, walked over to the cabinet and scooped up two empty pans and two large metal spoons. “Please, have a seat, Mr. Barns, and I’ll have dinner ready in just a few moments.” Emily Jane handed the little girl on the floor a spoon and placed one of the pans down in front of her. That would keep the child busy for a few minutes. She motioned for Mr. Barns to set his bundle of joy down beside her sister.
He did so with a sigh and a smile that said thank you.
Emily Jane nodded and then handed the second little girl the other spoon and pan. She’d have to stop thinking of them as little girls and ask what their names were. While he pulled out a kitchen chair, she turned to the stove.
Again, she had something to be thankful for. Emily Jane had already fried up chicken, made mashed potatoes and warmed up a jar of green beans just before she’d seen him and the girls arrive. She expected Anna Mae to arrive home from school any minute now.
And then what? He couldn’t stay in the dusty house tonight, and he couldn’t stay here.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. His deep blue gaze met hers. Emily Jane could get lost in the depths of his needs. She could...but she would not. She simply couldn’t allow that to happen.
The girls banged happily on the pans. The noise filled the room and prevented the need for polite conversation. Emily Jane didn’t want to enjoy the sound of children playing, but deep down she did. She also didn’t want to be aware of the man sitting at her kitchen table. But she was. They reminded her of home and all that she’d lost when she’d answered Levi Westland’s mail-order-bride ad all those months ago.
Would she be able to ignore the man and children in her kitchen? Had things just changed in her life? If so, how was she going to distance herself from the handsome man and his beautiful girls?
“Thank you for the offer of supper. I’ll be happy to pay you for what we eat.” William laid his hat on the table and ran weary fingers through his hair.
The young woman, Miss Rodgers, turned from the stove with a platter of fried chicken. She set it down on the table. “That won’t be necessary. I always make more than we can eat.”
“We?” It hadn’t dawned on him that Emily Jane Rodgers would have a husband and her own children to take care of. He’d been so absorbed in the loss of his grandmother and the dilemma of what to do with the girls that he’d not even considered the marital status of the woman before him.
She nodded. “Anna Mae and I.”
Was Anna Mae her sister? His gaze moved to the sisters, who banged happily on the pans with the spoons she’d supplied. They were very close and affectionate with each other. He had heard that was the way with twins. Would they someday live together? He sighed tiredly. Right now, their future was as unclear as his own.
Miss Rodgers walked back to the stove for more food. She turned with a bowl of green beans and a plate of biscuits. His stomach rumbled with hunger. It had been a while since he’d had a good home-cooked meal. During the trip, he’d made sure the girls had food and milk but hadn’t worried about his own stomach.
She gave him a knowing smile. He had no doubt in his mind that Miss Rodgers had heard his belly rumble. “Anna Mae Leland is the schoolteacher here. She should be home any moment.” She placed the rest of the food on the table. Her gaze swept over the girls before she moved to the sideboard and pulled out plates and silverware.
“Are you sure she won’t mind having company?”
“I’m sure. Anna Mae loves children, so these two will be a welcome sight to her.” Miss Rodgers smiled at him again as she placed the plates on the table.
Her pearly white teeth flashed, but her eyes didn’t hold the smile. Did she feel obligated to help him? Miss Rodgers seemed nice, but her gaze seemed dubious at best. Was it because they were alone in the house together?
He cleared his throat. “I need to go take care of the horse and wagon.” He looked to where the girls played contentedly. Should he ask her to watch them while he unloaded the wagon and found housing for the horse? Or just assume she knew he needed her to do so.
They looked up at him with their mother’s trusting eyes. Rose and Ruby were his responsibility. He’d take them. William stood and stepped toward the girls. Weariness rested upon him like the shroud of death that seemed to haunt his family at the moment.
“If you’d like, you can leave the girls with me.”
Her soft voice held no regret at the suggestion, so William nodded. “Thank you. I won’t be gone any longer than it takes to get the horse and supplies settled.”
“Your grandmother kept her little mare in the lean-to in the back. It’s small, only two stalls, but you are welcome to put your horse there also,” she offered as she poured milk into two cups.
He nodded. “I’ll look into putting him up at the livery tomorrow.”
Just as William got to the door, Miss Rodgers called after him. “What are the girls’ names?”
He turned to face her. “The one with the yellow ribbon is Rose and the other is Ruby. Those ribbons are the only way I can tell them apart, so please don’t take them out of their hair.” Shame filled William. What uncle, who had taken care of his nieces for as long as he had, couldn’t recognize them without their silly bows? He hurried out the door before Emily Jane could ask him the question he’d just asked himself.
What must she think of him? Showing up with two little girls, dirty little ones at that, and not knowing that his grandmother had passed away? William crossed the dirt road. He moved to the back of the wagon and began pulling out the few belongings he’d brought.